Let me just quickly preface this story. Â I actually wanted to write this story and post it yesterday, but I didnât want to influence the US readers too much. Â It is not my place to tell you how to vote/who to vote for. Â But, post-election, I feel comfortable posting this little tidbit as per request. Â I changed the one name, but I mean we all know who this is.
âHow did you get her to register?â Â Adam asked me with a raised eyebrow as we watched Jesse pouring over several articles about the hopeful candidates for congress, town council, and presidency. Â
âI didnât have to do much other than bring her to register.â Â I said honestly, âSheâs a part of an age group that is very emotionally invested in the election. Â This is the first election she can vote in.â
âI think we can give her twenty more minutes and Iâll take her with me to vote before work.â Â I turned around.
âWho are you voting for?â Â He followed me up the stairs to get changed. Â I laughed out loud.
âYou know I keep my vote very private.â Â I reminded him. Â âThatâs the point of a vote.â
âWell, you donât keep your opinions very quiet.â Â His fingers tickled my sides and I swatted his hands away as I made my way to the dresser. Â I heard him lay on the bed behind me. Â âLay with me. Â I want to talk this out.â
âWe arenât fighting, Adam.â I rolled my eyes in amusement. Â âThereâs nothing to talk about.â
âI need to talk about it.â Â His voice was pleading. Â âI donât know what to do.â Â
âCan you even vote?â Â I asked honestly. Â His eyes met mine and a smile threatened to appear on his face. Â I could tell he was trying not to laugh. Â âSeriously, Adam, can you? Â I donât know how werewolves work. Â Have you completed your suffrage?â
âI can vote.â Â He assured. Â âIâm just very much stuck.â
âOk.â Â I sat at the edge of the bed. Â âWhatâs going on?â
âYou know IâmâŚâ  He paused and seemed to search for a word.  There was a crease in the center of his forehead.  ââŚopinionated.â
âYouâre old-fashioned.â I teased. Â He took my hand and played with it. Â
âYes.  But, I canât support him.â  He began.  âI canât possibly support a candidate who is soâŚwrong.â
He was talking about the republican nominee. Â Adam was opinionated, he was right, and he tended to be a little financially conservative. Â He was certainly pro-life, but that was probably more immediately linked to the walk of life heâd found himself in. Â The candidate we were facing from the right claimed he was pro-life, but he had also called out McKnaven (a man who had run for office several years before) saying the man was not a war hero. Â McKnaven was a leader who had fearlessly supported his men in times of struggle to the degree that he suffered capture and torture, refusing the offers of release due to his father being a man high enough in the pecking order to get his son back. Â From that experience, the man suffered physical ailments that continued until modern-day. Â
âI have a daughter.â Â He said.
âYouâre very forward thinking.â Â I squeezed his hand and smiled. Â âYouâre old fashioned because you're chivalrous. Â You arenât a bad person and you arenât a monster. Â You want safety for your pack. Â You have Mary Jo, sheâs a firefighter. Â Thatâs a male-dominated field. Â Aurielle and Daryl are minorities. Â Your mate is a minority. Â Your daughter is a wealthy, white, educated young woman and she is still a minority.â Â He nodded. Â âYouâre an alpha. Â You need to protect yours.â
âYouâre right.â Â He sighed, pulling his hands back and putting his face in them. Â If he ran his hands through his hair, there was no way he would be leaving the bedroom.
Jesse must have worried for what would unfold in front of her because I heard her clear her throat at the open door, hand raised to knock on the frame.
âMercy, I think I know who Iâm voting for.â Â The normally confident firecracker with bright orange hair looked ready to bite her nails off. Â She took a breath. Â âLetâs go now?â
I smiled and got up with a nod. Â
âThis whole electoral college thing makes this very complicated.â Â She walked down the stairs next to me.