Gusty Emotions on Wet Roads

Ch. 6 - Welcome to the Frainkenden

The next day, she sat in her father's office, shifting through the finances. A heavy sigh escaped her as she ran her hands down her tired face. Evelyn was stressed – even after her run the night before. She had been sitting in the office for four hours trying to fix the finances of the pack. Four hours. Her economics webinar had helped some... But, she had been pouring through her pack's finances for longer than she wanted.

She had to wipe her hands against her jeans several times because they were getting too sweaty. Her leg continuously bounced as she sat at the desk. Evelyn was a leader – a luna by birth - but she wasn't THE Alpha. But nothing seemed to be helping with the pack's situation – no matter who did them.

Evelyn was always tense – acting above her station was making her face a double-edged sword. If she did nothing, she ached with a need to do something; but if she did anything that was above her station, she ached with the wrongness of it all.

A low growl escaped her lips. This was hard – so hard, but she had faith. Their situation was slowly getting better even though more pack members were residing in the den than ever before. The rate at which the families were coming in had been reducing drastically from the year before. She refused to believe that it was because there were only a couple of families left outside of the den and more because the situation was getting better.

Their situation was finally going up after the recession had hit them hard. That was it. It eased her ache. She ignored the reason why she was having to go through the finances to begin with.

A knock was heard at the door. Evelyn sighed. Hopefully nothing bad had happened.

"Come in," she called, moving the papers around on the desk to clear it up just a little bit. It produced an air that she had everything under control if the desk that wasn't even hers was clean. The older beta Oscar walked in. The smile lines around his brown eyes made his tight-lipped frown seem more forlorn. He smelt of smoky burnt meat – frustration.

Evelyn gave a tired smile in response.

A frustrated growl escaped the older Beta as he caught sight of the finance papers Evelyn seemed to be slaving over. He understood at first why she had begun sneaking peaks at the finance papers. A pressing need to provide a better life for her pack and the drive to tackle anything to provide that was something he could understand; he felt it too. However, Oscar was beginning to think she was stressing herself more than she needed to because dark bags under her eyes were becoming a constant feature for her. He rubbed his salt and pepper stubble harshly as he moved closer to the desk.

The tired woman put all her attention onto her father's Beta after he had entered the room. She began playing with her hands, apprehensive about what she was going to be told. It was going to be bad news. She could tell by the way the old Beta's laugh lines were warped by a frown and how his scent singed her nose. It was the last thing she wanted or needed now, but she had to know. She had to do something about it.

"What's wrong?" Her voice came across strong, but her breathe came out in short breaths. Evelyn's chest felt light, but her shoulders felt heavy. Oscar took a few seconds too long to answer; Evelyn let out a heavy sigh, "Oscar?"

"I was looking for your father - the Clarks are foreclosing on their house," he said as he gripped the back of one of the guest chairs.

A frustrated sigh escaped her as she ran her hands through her hair. Her lips curled up into a silent snarl as her neck tensed from a chill. Another family to fit into their stuffed Frankenstein den. Where was she going to find the room? They haven't built an add on after the last one had filled at the beginning of the summer; Everything had looked like another family wouldn't need to be added before one lucky family got to move out. Her eyes searched around the office as she tried to find a place for the new family within the stuffed den.