Master Class: Beginning to Understand

The wonderful folks over at Our Write Side gave us a great choice of prompts this week for our Master Class assignment.  I chose supreme dishonor to continue my White Wolves serial.  If you've missed previous pieces of the story, click here.  Also, be sure to check out the wonderful stories others have written for Master Class this week via their button below.

                Rhys stared down at the table, tracing designs in the drops of condensation that had run down the side of his glass of beer.  He could feel her watching him, sense the desperation and pain at the absence of her son, and all but taste the need for a distraction from that abject misery. 

However, he also knew he couldn’t answer her question.  At least not as truthfully as she wanted, and he wasn’t prepared to lie to her.  Something about her was different from most of the people the White Wolves worked with.  Something that kept pushing past his defenses, making the case more personal than he cared to allow it to be.  And Rhys knew she wasn’t ready to be that fully indoctrinated into his world.  It would come.  Of that there was no doubt.  Jen had taken that chance, and there was no way out of it.  Dumping a whole new world, literally, on her in one night was too much, though.  For anyone.

Jen cleared her throat.

“Let’s just leave it at there’s quite a bit more to my world than what you currently know.  Trust me when I say it is better to learn about it in small doses.”

Jen sat in the ensuing silence, slowly stirring her drink.

“I know how difficult this is for you, but we must remain focused on your son and your ex.”

“What does he have to do with any of this other than dragging me into some fairy tale world?”

Rhys arched an eyebrow at the venom in her voice, “We have reason to believe he and his pack may have instigated the abduction of your son.”

“Why?”

“I am still checking in to some things, so I’m not certain I have the full answer to that.  If you were part of our world, it would be the most supreme dishonor imaginable among the packs.”

“What do you mean?”

Rhys noticed her ability to compartmentalize the subject so she could keep her emotions locked away.  Admirable and valuable considering the circumstances, but he knew from experience that it could only last so long before everything fell apart.

“To take a child, a pup, from its mother is effectively saying the mother is incompetent of raising her own young.  The primary purpose of a mother in the packs.”

“In other words, she’s considered useless.”

Rhys nodded, “I’m sure that has a little to do with it, but it’s not enough to explain the risk as you knew nothing about this world until tonight.”

“So now what?”

Their conversation was interrupted by the door to the run down bar opening.  Three lean, middle aged men in torn jeans and biker jackets sauntered in.

“Waylon.  We’ve been looking for you.”