I sat on the couch with a cup of coffee, staring at my phone. I had asked Robby to give me twenty minutes to call him back so I could focus on getting into the right head space.

"I know I met a lot of people," I said to Beans as he sat curled into my legs, grooming his belly. He paused mid lick to look over at me, tongue still hanging out and toes splayed. "But to make that kind of a contract means I either impressed someone or pissed someone off. Possibly both." My mind flashed to Gordon's expression when he realized he had disparaged me and my profession and I quickly shook the thought away.

Morph hopped up and gave my hand a headbutt for pets as he settled on my lap. "I know Luna Jessica was interested, but she's Cobs and they're the Highrock Pack, not the Bitterroot Pack."

I took a sip of coffee and sighed. "Something feels off," I added out loud, "as if there is a piece I'm missing." Morph looked up and gave a slow blink, purring contentedly. Beans adjusted his furry butt a tad and busied himself with grooming my bare ankle with his rough, sharkskin tongue.

"This is going to drive me nuts," I grumped, picking up my phone with my free hand and redialing Robby.

"Hello again, Boss Lady," greeted Robby's bubbly voice after two rings. "I take it you are now sitting down with a strong drink."

"Extra-caffeinated coffee. Aka rocket fuel in a cup," I said, taking another sip and putting the phone on speaker so I had a free hand to scratch Morph behind the ears.

"At two in the afternoon? Bold of you to assume you'll ever sleep again," he replied with a pop of his gum. I rolled my eyes.

"With the anxiety you've presented to me, I don't think I can sleep for a week. Anyway, give me the skinny."

"Sorry...." he replied, before his fingers clacked away on his computer keys. "Ok so Bitterroot Pack is pretty remote. Not too far from IronPine actually."

"Cool — the middle of nowhere. Super helpful, thanks."

"I know I'm trying though. Ok, here's something - he's a widow." His fingers clacked loudly against the keys some more and he added, "And he's got three daughters."

I made a sound between a gasp and a groan as the picture clicked into place.

"I take it you have an idea who it is now?"

"Kinda? I hung out with the girls during Equinox and the oldest mentioned they needed help. Never thought their dad would actually listen to a preteen."

"So the notes say that this was all set up by his secretary and she sounded pretty young."

"How young do you think they meant?"

"I have zero idea, this was taken by Millie and she thinks anyone under seventy is a child."

I gave a chuckle and took a sip of my coffee before swapping the pets to Beans' belly. I found the good spot right in his left armpit and just about his whole body went limp.

"And did Millie take the name of this secretary?"

"...yes..."

I gave a chuckle as Beans leaned forward and gave a warning bite that he was done with belly rubs. "Let me guess, the name rhymes with Miss Elle?"

Robby paused, probably scrolling through the intake document. "Says here her name is Margaret."

I tilted my head, "Are you certain?"

"Margaret, plain as day. Though maybe if you say it slow enough it sounds like what you want." I could hear his shit eating grin.

"Oh never mind. I thought I had puzzled it out on my own."

Morph gave a soft mmrr as if he too wasn't buying it.

"Ok details, please," I said, taking another sip of cooling coffee. "What exactly are they wanting out of the stay?"

"Interpack work, help with alliances, and teach the daughters to be leaders," exhaled Robby.

"Sounds pretty standard honestly."

"Yea..." replied Robby hesitantly, his voice pitching higher an octave in discomfort. "But the next part isn't."

I sucked air through my teeth noisily, making both cats look up at me. "How bad?"

"Not bad, per se."

I slowly blinked, staring into space. "If you can't feel that, I'm giving you the stare."

"It's just...an odd request," he hedged. I could hear him cringing. "They specified that it must be you and only you. The contract term is a minimum of six months, but could be up to a year. They negotiated that you're to remain onsite the entire time. No exceptions. If you leave, it's a breach of contract—voids the whole deal."