Chapter 2: Connection to the Past

(Jenna POV)

The day that Mr. McMahon returned, I began our meeting by going over the retainer agreement with him.

“What the f&&k is this?” he asked as he looked over the contract terms.

I leaned back in my chair and smiled.

“Which part bothers you?  I believe it is all pretty standard.”

“$650 per hour?  That is highway robbery!”

“Is it?” I asked with fake sweetness.

“Gary said that your standard rate is $450 per hour.”

“You are not the standard client.”

“That doesn’t mean you get to screw me over,” he complained.  Then, as though an evil lightbulb went off in his head, he added, “Unless what you are really looking for is a good screw.  In which case ---”

I held up my hand.  “Before you go any further, you might want to read paragraph 7.2.”

“Each sexual comment or innuendo Client directs towards Lawyer that is not directly relevant to case processing shall result in client being fined $1,000,” he read out loud.  “What the f&&k???? That isn’t a standard term.”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“No, you have me there.  I did add that paragraph just for you.  However, I already told you that I don’t put up with bullsh&t, Mr. McMahon, and I thought it made sense to put it in writing so that we all know what the expectations are of us working together.”

Mr. McMahon grumbled, and then he moved on to the next term he had problems with.

“You want me to bring coffee for you to every meeting that I have with you?”

I held back a laugh.  That term I added at Willow’s suggestion, because both of us were feeling a little bit petty.

“Yes,” I said as seriously as I could.  “Black with two sugars.”

Mr. McMahon looked at me as though I had grown two heads.  “You cannot be serious.”

“Sign or find someone else,” I said calmly.  “Your choice.”

Mr. McMahon tried to growl, in the weak way that human males try to growl… but eventually picked up his pen and signed.

****

Four hours later, after I wrapped up with Mr. McMahon, Gary walked into my office.  He found me with my forehead facedown on my desk.

“How did it go with Alex?” he asked.

“I hate you,” I replied.

“That bad?”

“Worse than bad.”

“He talk you down in hourly rate?”

“No.”

“He balk at the coffee?”

“Yes, but no.”

“So what’s the problem?”

I lifted my head off the desk and looked at him.

“The problem is that defending that a&&hole means that I have to go back to Blue River Mountain Pack.”

Gary looked at me in surprise.  “Your old pack?”

“Yeah.”

“How long has it been since you’ve been back?”

“I was 16 when I left for law school… so…. 8 years?”

“Oh, well, that’s a good thing, right?  See your mom, catch up with old friends.”

I sighed.  “I didn’t have any friends and my mom hates me.”

“I’m sure that isn’t the case.”

“Oh, it is.  According to her, me being born is what destroyed her life.  Why do you think I haven’t been back there for so long?”

Gary slumped into the chair.  “I guess we’ve never really talked about it.  I just assumed you were a workaholic.”

“Yeah, that too,” I said, feeling defeated.

“Why do you have to go back?” Gary asked, genuinely curious.

“Because the only lead your a&&hole friend has on the identical twins is that they also apparently slept with the alpha there.”

“At the same time?” Gary asked, seeming slightly impressed. 

I swear, if Gary wasn’t my boss, and if I didn’t know he was a teddy bear and family man under all his stupid comments, I would throw him out too.

“Yeah.  That’s why we need to talk to him, and anyone else at the pack who may have seen them together.”

“Eh, send an investigator.  There is no reason you need to go if you don’t want to.”

“Mr. McMahon has already sent multiple investigators there.  They have all been turned away at the pack border.”

“Okay, so ---”

“So I have to send someone who can’t be turned away.  As in, someone who has the right to demand an audience with the alpha.  As in, a pack member.”

“Just call and ask one of your friends ----” Gary stopped himself.  “You don’t have any friends there, so it has to be you.”

“Bingo.”

“Do you know the alpha well?”

“No.  I have only ever seen him from a distance.  I used to have a crush on his beta, Danny, but they were about 6 years older than me, so we didn’t have any classes or activities together, and I didn’t run in any of the popular circles.”

“Do you think the alpha will talk to you?”

“Hmmmm…. Let’s think about this…. I am a pack member who has blown off my obligation to do yearly check-ins for the past 8 years… who was either ignored or hated by pack members while I lived there… who he doesn’t know or trust.  I’m sure Alpha Rivers will be happy to talk to me about his sex life.”

Ignoring my sarcasm, Gary ran a hand down his face. 

“So why go then?”

“Because I have to do something.  Mr. McMahon’s case sucks.”

“Worse than I thought?”

“He’s a human being sued in werewolf court, which the plaintiff can do because of some weird agreement the werewolf council made him sign when he wanted to do business with werewolf packs in the NW region.  He admits to cheating on his wife, which means that a werewolf jury is going to eat him alive, and he fired the employee 48 hours after they got back from the conference. 

“On top of that, he is a walking liability case…. I spent 3 hours with him today and I have already fined him $7,000 for inappropriate comments he has made to me.  The only way I’m going to be able to win this case is to get it tossed out on a technicality.”

“The technicality being that he is being sued by the wrong twin.”

“Exactly.”

Gary stood and walked over to my office window, staring out for a minute.

“If you can’t do it, Jenna, just tell him that.  He’s heard it before.”

“I have to try, Gary.”

“Why?”

“Because I boxed myself into a corner.  I told him that I could do the impossible, despite my age.  If I bail on him now, it will be like admitting that all the things he said about me were true.”

“So…. your pride won’t let you give up.”

I blew out a breath.  “Yeah.”

Gary turned around, and I saw the widest smile on his face that I had ever seen.

“That’s what I was hoping you’d say.”

“You mean you knew that I was going to say that,” I replied, suddenly realizing that I had been played.  To what extent I wasn’t sure, but it was clear I had been.

“Yeah, that too.”

“I hate you.”

Gary laughed and started to walk out of my office.  “Just let me know what type of coverage you need while you are gone.”