C7 Chapte 7

“You got it, Chief.”

After they drop Rose off at Dr. Pravda’s clinic – one of the three wolf doctor’s in town; she being the primary doctor to all the higher ranking pack members – Snow’s taking to an innocuous looking, brownstone building in the center of town; with a small sign out front that simply reads “Tom’s Security”.

Snow lets out a small chuckle under her breath; then, turns to Tom, and quips, “Wow … you guys don’t spare any expense; do you?”

Tom glances down at her with a raised eyebrow; then, starts walking her into the building. “Come on; let’s go.”

Roger … the behemoth who had her legs pinned down before at the glade … escorts Snow to a secluded interrogation room down in the basement. Before he leaves the room …

“Excuse me … Roger’; was it?” He nods. She asks, “Where’s my backpack?”

“Chief’s got it upstairs.”

“Oh … so, I guess that means you guys will be rummaging through it?”

He just chortles, as he slowly shakes his head, then, starts to leave the room again; but, stops before stepping out, and, informs Snow, “I’ll be sitting right outside this door; so, call me if you need anything.”

Snow quips, “Just my freedom.”

He chortles, “I like you … you’re funny.” And, he steps out; closing and locking the door from the outside.

Snow sits down in one of the chairs at the table in the center of the room, and waits to see what’s going to happen next. That’s all she can do at this point.

Five hours later …

Snow’s still seated in the chair, asleep, with her head resting on top of the table; and, her thumb in her mouth. Suffice it to say, Snow has been anxiously nervous over what her fate may be; and, because of this … since she doesn’t have Amanda anymore to listen to her heartbeat to soothe her … Snow had resorted to her childlike ‘back up plan’ of sucking on her thumb. Of course, she hadn’t planned on falling asleep with her thumb in her mouth; but; it had been a long, tiring day.

The door slowly opens. He enters; then, slowly … and, quietly … closes the door. He stealthily walks up behind Snow; and, stands hovering over her, looking down upon the slumbering, detained rogue.

But soon, Snow’s wolf senses kick in; and, she catches his scent in her nostrils. Snow shoots up straight in the chair; and … realizing that she was still sucking her thumb in her sleep; and, feeling the residue left behind … she quickly starts wiping the drool off of her face. While she does this, he walks around to the other side of the table, and, sits in the chair across from Snow; grinning at the, now embarrassed, detainee. He pulls a handkerchief out from his suit jacket pocket and hands it to her.

“Here …“ He gestures while using his face as a reference. “… you got a little something right about …” Snow wipes off the missed spot. “There you go. Got it.”

Snow, still embarrassed, and, mad at herself for getting caught in such a childish state, is averting her eyes downward to avoid eye contact; while, he flips through pages in a manila folder containing the report involving her. After a minute or two of skimming through pages; without looking up from the file, he quips …

“Well … you certainly don’t look like a hardened criminal to me.”

Snow, without looking up, still avoiding eye contact, retorts, “So … what do I look like to you?”

He looks up from the folder at her, and grins. “Before I tell you that; do you mind doing me a favor?”

Snow finally looks at him; her curiosity piqued now, wondering what kind of favor this well-dressed, not too bad looking guy, wants from her. “Sure … what is it?”

Still grinning; he points down at the table in front of Snow. “Would you mind wiping that up?”

Snow looks down, and sees a small pooling of her drool left on the table; and, immediately starts wiping it up quickly … with her face starting to turn red from embarrassment. He just starts laughing; which, surprisingly to Snow, the sound of his laughter starts to relax her. Her embarrassment starts subsiding; and, she softly laughs, too. Then, she says …

“Sorry; didn’t mean to ruin your table.”

“Relax; you didn’t ruin it. If anything; you polished it up with a nice spit-shine.”

Snow lets out another short laugh; starting to relax even more. “Yeah, well; I still shouldn’t be drooling on people’s furniture … especially the … Beta’s?”

The grin quickly leaves his face; and, a more serious expression replaces it. He’s extremely curious now. “Did someone tell you I was the Beta?”

Snow’s starting to feel not so relaxed; besides his facial expression, the tone in his voice has changed. She’s starting to worry if she has insulted him in some way … it certainly wasn’t her intention to.

She sheepishly replies, “No. … No one told me.”

“You sure?”

Snow nods. He looks at her quizzically for a brief moment; then asks …

“Then; how did you know I was the Beta?”

“I … I … I just sensed that you were.”

“Really?”

Again; Snow just simply nods. He leans back in the chair, folding his arms across his fairly, broad chest … as far as Snow could tell … and, meticulously looked her over; without saying a word for a few moments. Then …

“Interesting.”

“What?”

“Oh; I just find it interesting how you were able to sense that I was a Beta. Actually; I find it quite surprising that a … rogue … would be able to so accurately distinguish a pack member’s status.”

Snow’s starting to really worry now. She’s thinking she might have made a huge mistake by acknowledging him as Beta before she was told … but, she couldn’t help it; spending all those years in her pack’s Gamma household, with all levels of pack hierarchies passing through and visiting, Snow had grown accustom to being able to differentiate between the various levels by the auras that they give off. She’s hoping that this doesn’t tip him off about her identity; but, she can see that she has already stirred some suspicion in his mind about her. She tries to divert his attention …

“I’m Snow, by the way.”

“That’s right; we never did know who you were; or, what to call you.” He quickly flips through the pages in the folder. “The Defensive Security Detail didn’t find any ID on you; or, in your backpack?”

“Yeah, well; if you had a name like ‘Snow’ … I’m sure you wouldn’t want to advertise your name that much either.”

He lets out a short chortle. “Yeah; I suppose not.” He puts the folder down on the table, and extends his hand out to shake hers. “I’m Daniel. Nice meeting you; Snow.”

Snow takes his hand to shake. “Nice meeting you, too … Beta Daniel.”

He laughs. “Yeah … I suppose you can call me that … it is after all one of my titles.”

“One of your titles?”

“That’s right.” He grins; as finally let’s her in on his little ‘secret’, “I guess you can say that my other title … and, probably more demanding one … would be ‘Rose’s big brother’.”

Snow’s shocked; but, not in a bad way … just, totally surprised.

“Oh my God; you’re kidding? … Seriously?”

“Yes; seriously.”

“Wow … oh … how is she? Is she alright?”

“She’s good … well … as good as can be expected, under the circumstances.”

“Great; I’m glad to hear that.”

After a brief moment of silence; Daniel tenderly smiles at Snow. “Thank you.”

“Uh … for what?’

“For saving Rose from those bastards.”

“Oh that. It’s nothing. … I’m just glad you believe me.”

He grins. “Well … we didn’t have a choice not to … since, Rose let us know what happened out there when she woke up.”

Hearing the news that Rose is awake instantly elates her spirits; and, she nearly jumps out of her seat in jubilation. “Oh my God; she’s up, now? … Can I go see her? I just want to …”

“… Hold on there. Slow down. … There’s still some matters that need addressing here.”

Her happy excitement is immediately consumed by the harsh reality of the situation at hand; which she had momentarily forgotten about while being in the pleasant company of the amicable Beta.

“You mean … about me being a rogue … and … I kind of … might have … sort of; came on your territory without permission?” Daniel nods. She tries to explain, “Yeah; about that … you see …”

“… What are you doing in our territory; Snow?” Not only has he cut her off; but, he’s speaking again with an authoritative tone. “What’s your business here?”

“I … I don’t have any business here. Honestly; I didn’t even know I entered into a pack’s territory. I’m sorry for disrespecting your pack, and …”

“Saying ‘I’m sorry’ doesn’t always make things right now; does it?”

Snow’s at a loss for words. She can’t believe this is the same friendly Beta that was here just moments ago joking around with her. This was an official, inquisitorial Beta who was now ‘raking her over the coals’. But, she can understand why; for years now, there has been a climbing increase in the occurrences of rogues raiding pack territories and attacking their members … case in point; look at what just happened today … to his own little sister, no less … but, Snow wasn’t some disgruntled rogue trying to usurp their pack’s life; she was just a wolf on the run, trying to avoid a horrible situation of her own. She just sits there; keeping silent.

“Well … what about it, Snow? Are you going to answer me?”

Snow looks at him with somber eyes. “I’m sorry. I can’t tell you anymore than I already told you.”

“You can’t? … Or, you won’t?”

After a brief moment of silence; still looking at him with somber eyes. “I guess … sort of … both.” She momentarily looks down to the table; then, back up to him. “I’m sorry; I really didn’t mean to trespass on your territory and disrespect you … and, I certainly don’t mean your pack any harm … but; I can’t tell you any more than that. Sorry.”

They sit in silence for the next few minutes. Snow keeps her eyes mostly averted to looking down at the table; occasionally glancing up now and then in his direction to see what he’s doing. Daniel just sits there, with his arms folded across his chest; meticulously watching Snow; trying to figure her out. Then, he finally breaks the silence by rapping his hand on the table, while standing up; and, says …

“Alright, then; if there’s nothing more you’re going to tell me … let’s go.”

Snow just sits there, nervously watching as he heads to the door and opens it. He repeats …

“Let’s go.”

Her anxiety is rising; and, she starts to tremble … ever so slightly … as she asks with trepidation evident in her inflection, “Wh … wh … where are we going?”

He keeps a stoic look on his face … as long as he can anyway …. then, breaks into a grin as he tells her, “To Dr. Pravda’s clinic. … Rose wanted to see you, too.”

And, in a single swoop; all her anxiety is flushed away. She joyously leaps out of the chair; and, happily follows him out.

When they arrive at the hospital; Tom, Roger, and the other two behemoths are waiting in the reception area … they’re just finished getting Rose’s statement about the incident; and, some details from Dr. Pravda regarding Rose’s medical condition. Truth be told, this could have been done by only one of them … two at the most … but, since Rose was involved; they couldn’t stay away. She’s the Cerberus Pack Defensive Security Detail’s honorary little mascot; being how her godfather is the Chief of Security … and, like the creed behind the detail; she has a fighting spirit and unwillingness to back down. Unfortunately today; that unwavering bravado of hers cost her a severe beating and raping … but, fortunately for her, Snow had arrived in time enough to prevent it from costing Rose her life. And, they all realize that now; and, are feeling guilty for treating her the way that they did at the glade … even considering the fact that she’s still a trespassing rogue … especially, Tom. As soon as he sees Snow, he immediately walks up to her.

“Look … um … I want to apologize for what happened before out there …”

Snow, in a good mood now, eagerly anticipating her visit with Rose; sees this as the perfect opportunity for a slight ribbing … so, with an impish grin etched upon her face, “… For what … the kick to the ribs … or, the bitch slap across my face?”

This being the first he’s heard of this; Daniel sharply turns to Tom, and, shoots him a stern, admonishing look … which when Snow sees, she quickly interjects in hopes of smoothing the tense situation out … being how she created it in the first place with her innocent ribbing …

“You know, what … it’s all water under the bridge. … The important thing is that Rose is safe and sound now … am I, right?”

Roger chimes in, “That’s right. Amen, to that.”