Chapter 4: One Small Thing

The Alpha arrived at the Greer house an hour later with the healer at his side.

Father met him on the porch in his shirtsleeves.

"This is a family matter, Alpha."

"An elder of mine heard a threat made in your hall," the Alpha said. "That makes it mine."

They stood in the dining room, all of us, with the cold supper still on the table.

Linnet sat in the corner chair with the healer's hand on her wrist.

She looked small and gray and very sorry.

"It was an episode," the healer said. "I've treated her six years. She says things she doesn't mean."

"She said midnight," the elder from the east lodge said. "She said a burial gown."

"Words spoken in an episode can't be held against her," the healer said. "It's the law."

The Alpha turned his head slowly toward Linnet.

"Child, do you mean to harm your sister tonight?"

"No," Linnet whispered. "Never. I love her."

Mother put both arms around her.

I watched Linnet's gloved hands.

They lay folded on her knees, perfectly still.

Not one finger moved.

The Alpha rubbed his eyes.

"I can't lock up a sick girl on a sentence she doesn't remember. But I can keep my eyes on this house."

He looked at the elder.

"You and the elder with the cane will stand in the upstairs hall tonight. You'll be at the stair end. Nobody enters a room without being seen."

Father's face went red.

"In my own house?"

"The night before my son's bonding, Beta, yes. In your own house."

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