#Chapter 354 – The Problem
Ella
Cora blinks rapidly in disbelief and my own mouth falls open. I see Roger go tense in his chair and feel Sinclair do the same beside me.
“Wha- what?” Cora asks, aghast, leaning forward to stare more closely at Henry. “The problem that is HankJ; FJA
Hank? What the hell kind of problem is Hank?”
I grimace a little when I see her get defensive and dart my eyes to Roger, seeing him rankle at it, just a little bit. Roger, I know, is jealous of Hank – not very jealous, not in a bad way. Just…as much as he doesn’t blame Cora for her previous hesitations, or hold them against her…
…well, he’s not going to be thrilled about Cora’s ex’s continued presence in our lives, is he? Especially when he sees Cora defend Hank like that..
“Please, Cora,” Henry says, putting a peaceful hand out towards her. “Just… hear me out.”
“What is wrong with Hank,” she insists, continuing to be angry, which just upsets Roger more. I glance at Sinclair, worried. His face is a mirror of my own.
“Please “Henry says again, leaning forward and staring at Cora only at Cora intensely. “I mean no insult. I just want to…discuss.”
Slowly, not giving in yet, Cora leans back against her chair and crosses her arms over her chest again, not happy about it but willing to listen.
“I am just concerned,” Henry continues, “about this man’s continued connection to this family.”
“Damn straight,” Roger mutters, his face turned down towards the table. Cora shoots Roger a dirty look he pretends he doesn’t see.
“Why?” I ask, confused. “He’s he’s our doctor – he did such a good job caring for Rafe -”
“Yes,” Henry says, turning to me and holding my eyes. “He did a very good job taking care of Rafe. He was at your beck and call. He was very conveniently available when you were hurt after the temple and worked incredibly hard to keep you and Rafe alive beyond the point when other doctors would have given up.”
Henry stops there, staring at me, letting me figure it out. “No,” Cora says, breaking in and shaking her head vehemently. “Henry, you’re wrong-”
“Oh my god,” I whisper, a frightened hand going to my mouth. “Do you seriously think…”
“This is ridiculous!” Cora cries, but Henry speaks as if he didn’t hear her.
“We know that the Cult is incredibly good at infiltrating lives,” Henry says to me and to Sinclair. “We also know that they tend to place their people in high-powered positions – lawyers, bankers, doctors. We also know that Xander, if he is behind this, is very content to play the long game.”
“Christ,” Sinclair mutters, and I turn to see him again covering his face with his hand. “How did we not see this coming-”
“Because it didn’t happen!” Cora cries, standing up now. “Hank is not part of this – he – he’s my colleague! We work together!”
“At a clinic that we built, Cora,” Roger points out, clearly working hard to keep his temper even. “At a clinic that we pay for. This man is…very suddenly very involved in our lives. Dad has a good point
“You’re all ridiculous,” Cora growls, shaking her head around at all of us.” Hank is a good person who has only done wonderful things for this family. I know him. I know that he only has good things in his heart, and wants to help, and to bring wolf and human culture together.” She pauses, furious, glaring around at all of us. “And now you all owe him an apology for doubting him for a single second.”
I nod, understanding, and feeling sorry because Cora has a point. Henry does too we need to be careful, especially because we know that the Cult has a history of deploying sleeper agents. But Hank himself? He hasn’t given us a single reason to doubt him.
But Henry, Sinclair, and Roger don’t nod along with me. Instead, they just quietly look away from Cora, not saying the words that echo in the back of my mind as well.
That Cora…she might just not want to believe bad things about Hank because she got so close to him. That if he tricked all of us, then he tricked her the most. And that would be a horrible thing to realize.
“You’re all ridiculous,” Cora growls, and when I look up at her I see that she intuits what we’re all thinking. Without another word Cora seals her mouth shut and strides from the room, slamming the door shut behind her. Roger gets to his feet to follow but I hold up a hand.
“Let her go,” I advise, sighing. “Just… let her cool off. It’s…harder for her to hear than for us. All right?”
“Why does she even care,” he growls, and I can almost feel the jealousy radiating from him.
“He’s her ex, Roger,” I say softly, “but …they didn’t have a bad breakup like I did with Mike. If anything, she’s the bad guy in this situation who cheated on him and got knocked up.” I slowly shake my head at my brother-in-law as I watch his jaw drop when he considers the situation from Hank’s side. “Cora doesn’t hate him,” I say softly. “And you can’t ask her to.”
I see Roger clench his jaw as he processes my words, and then turns away from us with a sigh, raising both hands to twist his fingers frustratedly in his hair.
“I’ll handle it,” Sinclair says softly to me, gently offering Rafe to me so that he can stand and go to his brother. I take the baby and watch my mate slowly walk over to Roger to say a few words, or talk it through, or just be there with him while Roger processes his emotions. And I’m suddenly very glad, again, for my steady mate who cares so deeply for those he loves.
“Are you all right, Ella?” Henry asks softly beside me.
“I am,” I say, turning to him and heaving a big sigh. “I…it was a lot of news, wasn’t it?” I ask and Henry raises his eyebrows as he nods, communicating that he thinks that’s a bit of an understatement. “But I’ll get through it,” I say, sure of it. “We all will, because we have each other.”
“That’s the spirit,” Henry says, reaching out to pat my hand. And then he leans forward further to look at little Rafe. “See the trouble you’ve caused, grandson?” he says to the baby, teasing him. Rafe lets out a little squeal that sounds like a protest, making us both laugh.
“He’s no trouble,” I coo, smiling at my baby and wrinkling my nose at him as well. “That’s everyone else’s job. Rafe is just here to be our perfect little prince,” I sigh.
“Truer words,” Henry says softly, shaking his head a little as he watches his grandchild. “A prince he is. And some day, a king.”
“Goddess willing,” I murmur, shaking my head at the idea. Rafe’s future – on days like this, it feels so far away, like there are so many obstacles ahead of him. But I steel myself, knowing that it’s my job to work through those for him.
Because my little boy deserves the world, and I will give it to him. And anyone who stands in my way had better watch the hell out.
