“We were waiting for me to finish healing before we made the big announcement and invited everyone for dinner, but we are mated,” Luc said and pulled the chain out from under his shirt. He knew that Meg’s was visible to most of the people.
“Oh, Okay. Good enough. Let me know when it is,” said the man as he stepped back into the crowd.
“Luc, we all know he’s crazy as a loon. Whacha gonna do?” asked another man.
“You know the rules,” said Sandy before Luc could answer. There were more murmurs and nods across the room.
“Duke is my brother. I know him best of all, and he’s gone over the edge,” said Ginny stepping to the front of the crowd. “We are all sorry that his marriage went off, but it isn’t news to any of us. The events of Bitty’s coming of age were just a repeat of history. Duke and Penny are both coyote crazy. Right now I’m doing my best to hold those children together and give them some kind of life. However, he had no right attacking Meg,” she growled sub-vocally. A shudder went through the people.
The cousin and Jeff walked back over to the group of people. Behind them, the wolf was pacing the length of the dog run. The two men stopped in front of Luc.
“Luc, I’ve checked him out as best as I could. No one’s home,” said Jeff. The sadness in his voice hushed the low chatter.
“It’s how I see it too,” said the cousin. “He wouldn’t talk. Just growled and slobbered like a dog with rabies. I can’t defend someone who won’t help himself. Sorry Ginny,” he said turning to her.
Ginny nodded. She went to stand next to Luc and turned to face the crowd. “Way I see it, Duke needs to be put in the care of Jeff here up in the mountains. Maybe he’ll come to his senses, maybe he won’t. At least up there, he won’t hurt anyone else,” she said with a heavy heart.
Luc stood up slowly and wrapped his arms around Ginny. He hugged her and then turned back to the rest of the people. “Jeff, will you take charge of Duke?” Luc asked.
“Yes, I will take responsibility for Duke,” said Jeff.
“Ginny, will you take charge of the children?” asked Luc.
“Yes, I will take responsibility of the children,” said Ginny.
“Does anyone wish to challenge me?” Luc asked.
Meg was trying to follow this and had figured out the ‘trial’ part of what had gone on. This last bit confused her. Luc was going to have lots of explaining to do afterwards. She looked around at the people present and watched as a huge man stepped forward.
“Luc,” said the huge man.
“George,” answered Luc.
“Anyone wants to challenge you will have to go through me first,” said George who scanned the crowd as he talked. No one said a word.
“Thank you George,” said Luc. He breathed a sigh of relief and then taking Meg’s hand in his, he addressed the crowd once more. “For the records keepers, gossips and anyone who just might be curious, Margaret Stewart, is our mate.” “There, now it’s official,” he thought.
Meg looked up at Luc and then out at the crowd. There were smiles and then the sound of people clapping hands. “oh geeze! I think I just got married. Too late to back out now,” she thought as a smile played across her face. She wasn’t sure of the protocol, but she reached up to Luc and kissed him. Luc took her in his arms and kissed her. Whistles, clapping and a howl or two erupted from the crowd. Next thing she knew, there were people clasping her hand, patting her on the back, introducing themselves and in general welcoming her to the family.
Luc bent down to Meg’s ear after a few minutes. “Get me back in the house. I’m about to collapse,” he whispered.
Meg nodded. She thought about things for all of two seconds and then looked for Sandy. She didn’t know him, but Luc seemed to respect him. “Sandy, would you give me a hand please?” she asked.
Sandy turned around and saw that Meg was helping Luc stand. He could see and smell that Luc had over extended himself. “Sure Meg,” he said and moved to Luc’s other side. Between the two of them, they got Luc into the house and on the couch. “Should have seen he was wiped out,” he said softly to Meg. “Anything else I can do?”
“Um, yeah. I have no idea of any of the protocol. Ginny is busy with Jeff and Duke. Help?” she said.
“No problem. You just sit next to Luc and soak up the handshakes. I’ll take care of this,” Sandy said and began to talk to various people in the crowd. Soon there were three women heading to the kitchen and two men along with Sandy began to clear the dining room table. People were coming and going with bags and boxes. Meg watched with fascination as Sandy took over like the head chef in a hotel kitchen.
Luc sat and tried to keep from passing out. He was starving, exhausted and overwhelmed by all the people in his house. Peter and Kevin didn’t look much better. The three of them were enthroned in chairs or on the couch. He thought of asking Meg to help him to bed, but there were so many people coming up to congratulate them on their mating or to offer condolences over the attack, that all he could do was breathe, shake hands and nod.
Sandy moved to the middle of the room and called for everyone’s attention. “There is food on the table! Come and eat!” he said in a voice that didn’t need sub-vocals. Then he turned and took plates from one of the women who had disappeared into the kitchen earlier. He walked over to Luc and handed plates to him and Meg. “Sorry this turned into such a circus, but look at it this way, you’ve gotten the majority of the people taken care of when it comes to the dinner,” Sandy said and winked at Luc.