Chapter 46-The Arrangement

Zion’s POV

  “That is what we are arranging,” I assured her with quiet respect.

  “But the reports made you think there may eventually be more people who want somewhere else to go,” Joshy concluded thoughtfully.

  “Yes,” I admitted. “I wanted land ready before need became an emergency.”

  Odett unfolded the first map but did not study the marked properties. She turned it over and placed the blank side across her knees. Then she asked Joshy for a pen.

  “If we are discussing what the pack needs, I want to start with what it is for,” she said.

  “What do you believe it is for?” I asked carefully.

  “Somewhere hybrids can choose to live, without being sent there because their own packs don’t understand them,” Odett said. “It should protect people without requiring them to abandon the families they already have.”

  Joshy wrote choice at the top of the blank map. Beneath it, he added connection to existing families, equal laws, and support beyond pack boundaries. The first plan for Odett’s territory contained no acreage at all.

  “I want room for people who need permanent homes and temporary places for families coming for healers or training,” Odett continued thoughtfully.

  “That affects how close you may want to be to roads and established services,” Orian observed cautiously.

  “Close enough to reach help, but not close enough that Dad’s guards count who comes to breakfast,” she replied.

  Everyone looked at me. I accepted the judgment with as much dignity as the situation allowed.

  “The eastern tract has already been removed for that reason,” I admitted.

  “You found one close enough to watch breakfast?” Odett asked with disbelieving laughter.

  “Only with a powerful viewing spell,” Orian answered helpfully.

  “You are supposed to be on my side,” I warned him with fading patience.

  “I was until Rain arrived,” he replied without hesitation.

  Odett laughed, and I could breathe a little easier. She hadn’t forgotten the maps. She was teasing me while we worked through them, which meant I still had a chance to get this right. I would gladly put up with a few jokes if she kept talking to me.

  We discussed possibilities without opening the inspection reports. Odett wanted natural boundaries rather than walls wherever possible, enough land for expansion without requiring immediate construction, and privacy from the royal pack. She also wanted a route to the Academy that did not turn every visit into a journey.

  “I do not know whether I want an abandoned village or empty land,” she admitted.

  “You do not have to know today,” Rain reassured her warmly.

  “Can I see both kinds before we eliminate anything?” Odett asked.

  “Yes,” I answered. “We will arrange visits after your second-term assessment, unless you decide you want to wait longer.”

  I wanted to book the visits at once. Instead I left the date open until after her second-term assessment, with room for her to wait longer. Sam’s return might happen by then, but I would not make her first decision depend on the road bringing him home.

  “I want him included when he returns, but I do not want everything paused until then,” Odett said.

  We all knew she meant Sam. She had missed his judgment long before his absence became complicated, and she wanted him included. I made sure she could begin asking questions without waiting for him to arrive.

  “We can begin with information and make no permanent decisions before you speak with him,” Rain suggested.

  “That works,” Odett agreed.

  We established one final boundary before ending the meeting. The hybrid reports would remain protected, and Odett would receive only general policy information unless an individual requested contact. Her future title did not give her ownership of anyone else’s private circumstances.

  “I would rather meet them as people than read them as cases anyway,” Odett said.

  Jess moved from the wall and sat on the arm of the couch beside her. She asked what kind of training grounds Odett imagined, then stopped herself before listing the three she had already designed. Rain noticed the effort and hid a smile behind her hand.

  “Space for different abilities,” Odett answered after considering it. “Not everyone will fight the same way or even have the same senses. I do not want one standard that teaches half the pack they are wrong.”

  “That is better than my answer,” Jess admitted.

  “Your answer involved an underground shelter,” Rain reminded her dryly.

  “It remains a good shelter,” Jess insisted with stubborn affection.

  Odett took the map with questions written on its blank side. She left my inspected properties folded on the desk. I watched her carry the page out, relieved that she had found something here she wanted to keep.

  Joshy remained long enough to collect copies of the public founding laws. He did not receive the hybrid reports or private land inspections. Their Academy proposal could benefit from real legal requirements without becoming a doorway into protected information.

  “We will bring back our questions before changing the proposal,” Joshy promised.

  “Keep the Academy project separate from any actual founding decision,” I instructed with measured trust.

  “We know,” Odett called from the hallway with amused impatience.

  The door closed behind them, leaving the four of us with the plans we had made too early. I expected Rain to tell me I had handled the conversation well. Instead, she handed me the inspection cancellation forms.

  “You still have to stop the orders you issued without her,” Rain reminded me with affectionate firmness.

  “I knew there was a reason you kept these,” I complained while accepting the pages.

  “Consequences build character,” Orian offered with false wisdom.

  I gave him half the forms. Helping me create the problem qualified him to share its character-building benefits.

  That evening I filed the orders for current hybrid support apart from the maps of Odett’s possible pack. One folder concerned people who had asked for help. The other waited for my daughter to tell me what help she wanted.

  I could help with laws and resources. I could answer when Odett called, and so could the rest of the family. Starting the pack would still be hers to do. I put the folder away and sat for a moment, resisting the temptation to open another map and find something else to arrange.