Dancing with the Shadows // #wattys2019

Chapter 4

Caia paced the length of her room, which admittedly, was about four steps, and resulted in her becoming dizzy more than anything else.

Cedric's scent had been on the doorway when she'd gotten home, which had both terrified and pissed her off to no end. And now, she was supposed to be finishing some reading for her class tomorrow, but she couldn't concentrate.

She pulled out her phone and dialed the only number she could think of.

"Who is this?" The voice was clipped, abrupt.

"Caia," she said.

"Who are you calling for?"

"My uncle."

There was a long breath on the other side of the line. It was their way of parsing out who they needed to be. On her end, Caia, the niece, or Kimber, a Midnight Star member and Morninghill employee. On his, Uncle Will, or William Fitch, Delta of Wild Thunder.

"I'm just wrapping up a Council meeting right now, I can meet you in about an hour? Tell me where to go."

Caia pulled her phone away from her ear, checking the time. It was only eight.

"Yeah, let's go to Bryant Park, there are cafes and Starbucks and stuff there, meet me at the station and we'll go from there?"

"See you in a bit." Will hung up.

Now, he was Uncle Will, aka one of the very few people who knew who she really was. He was quite a bit younger than her mother and had taken a more 'big brother' role when Caia had moved to the city. He understood why Caia had made the decisions she had, had helped get her set up in Midnight Star under the fake name, but ensured that the Council knew who she and what her birthright position was. They all referred to her new chosen name, and she'd earned their respect, but having the introduction from Will had proven invaluable.

She was waiting at the stairs leading to the station when he arrived, and they smiled and hugged each other. He ruffled her hair as he always did.

"I still hate it, lovely."

"Everyone does." Caia grumbled.

Something in her expression made Will pause and look at her carefully.

"What happened?"

"It's what I need to talk to you about, let's get some coffee first." She nodded towards the coffee chains across the street, and they began to walk together.

"How was the meeting?" she asked him.

"Same old, same old. Housing prices up, funding for certain projects has gone down. You know a good chunk of our pack is involved in the arts, we supply pack housing where we can, but we're not out in the woods. We don't have a large house where we can put all our lower ranking members, and as the market's gotten worse, we've had more and more people moving farther out in Brooklyn and Queens and switching to Ember Moon. As of now, it's still manageable, but how can you consider yourself a pack if you can't take care of your members? Or if you have to turn those in need away?" He sighed. "We need to have a meeting with Ember Moon and Midnight Star and see if they have anything that they can offer us." He shrugged.

"I'm sorry." She said, sincerely.

"I know you are. But, I know you didn't ask me out to hear me complain, I can do that any time. So, tell me. What's happening?"

Caia sighed as they approached the counter. She decided on tea, for a change, feeling that the last thing she needed now was yet more caffeine. Will ordered a black coffee, and they took their seats at the counter by the window.