He Never Noticed I Stopped Talking, Until My Wolf Woke novel · Chapter 4 of 24

Chapter 4: The Vote

The silence went on long enough that I heard the radiator tick.

Bronwyn looked at Conall. Adelaide looked at her knitting.

I decided that if I was going to lose my seat, I would lose it standing up.

"May I speak?" I said.

Conall's eyes came to me. "It's your table."

"Then I'll say it plainly." I put both hands on the oak. "Three years ago I took a silver bullet meant for the Alpha. I'm not asking for thanks. I'm asking the council not to retire me for it."

Nobody moved.

"I'm in pain, and I'm tired, and I'll be in surgery again in three weeks. But I can sit in a chair and make decisions. I can walk into the Solstice Run on my own two feet."

Adelaide looked up. "Sweetheart, no one doubts your courage."

"Then no one needs to replace me."

A council member in the third seat cleared his throat. "I'll second Adelaide's motion. With respect."

"Then put it to a vote," Conall said, in a voice I didn't recognize.

He didn't say it to me. He said it to the room.

The clerk took the count by name.

Two seats voted yes, quickly, without looking at me.

A third voted yes with his eyes on the table, and a fourth said, "Yes, I'm sorry, Rowena," and meant it.

Two voted no, loudly, and Bronwyn made the third, though she wouldn't look at her aunt when she did.

That left the elder.

He was a stooped old man with hands, and he had sat on that council since before Conall's father was born.

He hadn't said a word to me in years, beyond good morning.

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