by Cree Walker
He shifted uncomfortably, “How much did that information cost you?”
I stopped folding a shirt and snorted at him, “No more than the Elders were willing to barter me off for to begin with.”
His face hardened and he stopped pacing abruptly, “Well nobody had to nudge you in that direction very hard did they?” The words were barely out of his mouth when he tried to take them back, stammering an instant apology.
I held up a hand to hush him. To be honest the sooner he lost interest in me the better, maybe he would even leave. “The Alpha says that you had better keep your hands to yourself from now on.” I left out the part about Robert allowing Gage to start seeing Jersey and I tried to tell myself it was because I didn’t feel right talking about Jersey as if she were someone’s property.
“You told him about what happened?” He whispered out, his strength and power washed over me like a nuclear blast, and I realized he was hiding a lot of his potential. I swallowed past my shock, "I didn’t have to tell him anything, he smelled you on me.” I finished picking up tags and receipts and stuffed them all into one of the bags.
“You’re going to just hop into his bed and become someone else’s top winning bitch?” He said levelly and it scared me more the calmer he got.
I locked eyes with him, “Careful Gage, the ice you’re on is getting thin.”
“You parade around pretending to be this ultimate warrior Alpha female, willing to do anything to save her pack, but you’re just like those snotty show bitches he’s got lined up outside his bedroom door, looking to fuck their way to the top.”
“You’re forgetting who asked whom for help in the first place. You haven’t been honest with me about anything since this whole thing started and instead of feeling like the hero, I’m feeling a lot like the bait.” I poked him in the chest hard. “The new Alpha said things were no different when Jack first started out, and the only reason the Council is pissed is that they can’t outsmart him and control him. He’s a danger to the way things have been for them and they are starting to panic.”
“So, now Robert is some sort of crackerjack Alpha, and not a raging asshole. Am I getting this right Sugar, because I’m having a hard time following the hero worship here?” He looked at me with distain.
“I don’t see what you’re so mad about Gage; I’m doing exactly what they want me to do. This way once he’s made his choice, other men will join the pack. There are more females here than probably any other pack on the eastern seaboard. It will be stronger than it’s been in a long time.” I shrugged and opened my bedroom door. “Isn’t that what they wanted?” I asked softly.
He didn’t move and he didn’t argue, so that told me two things. Robert was right, the Council was just looking to upgrade to a more controllable Alpha. And Gage was looking to fill that position, but he was hoping to do it sooner rather than later and if that meant throwing me under the bus by framing me for murder, then so be it.
Gage left the small bedroom in a whirlwind of anger. I was calling his bluff and there was nothing he could do about it. The Council really hadn’t expected me to consider Robert as a potential mate. They had banked everything they had on my over-inflated image of Jack and my own bloated pride. They watched me walk away once because of this and just assumed I’d do it again.
Chapter Twelve
I flopped face down on my bed feeling dejected and emotionally drained. I had been used, and I had been so stupid for believing them when they said they needed my help. Was my ego so large that I really thought I could make that much of a difference in their world? Even the story Elder Coon had given me about being like me, I had no way to find out if she were lying or not. This was just what I required to remind me how hard a fall from grace really was and now that I was firmly grounded I needed to get up and dust myself off, then decide my next move; I just wasn’t sure what that would be yet.
Though I was playing the part of the hopeless slut, perfectly egger to jump into another Alpha’s bed, I really wasn’t that person at all. I may have just suffered a lesson about having too much pride but I still had some left and I wasn’t ready to use the remainder up on my back with my legs in the air.
I groaned in irritation as Brian burst through my door and started jumping on my bed. Sarah came in and scooped up her son and sat down on the bed next to my prone form.
I reflected briefly on how sad it was living alone but I had become used to the privacy; now that’s all I wanted and I wasn’t getting it. “Robert told me you guys talked?” She bounced Brian on her knee and pretended we were having a regular conversation.
“Sarah, you’re usually more subtle than this.” I mumbled out through my pillow. “And I can’t believe you used your own son to infiltrate my inner sanctum.” I rolled onto my back and put my hands behind my head.
“This is good stuff and I’m feeling left out.” She continued to bounce Brian.
“Join the club.” I sat up and scooted next to her. “This is way over my head.”
“So you’ll swim or sink… potentially dragging us all down with you.” She teased.
“No pressure or anything.” I griped.
“So, rumor has it you’ve got yourself an Elder with attitude?”
“It’s not like having six toes; she wants to kill me, and then damn my eternal soul.”
“Only if you’ve already promised her your soul… but she’s not going to want you dead until then, in fact it’s in her best interest to keep you healthy until then.”
“What; do you have my room bugged or something?”
She shrugged, "I might have been listening to your conversation with the Alpha earlier."
"Why? Don't you trust me?"
"Of course I do, I just don't want to be left out of the loop. I've got a lot riding on this." She gave a pointed look at her son and smiled sadly.
"Did you hear the entire conversation?" I asked.
"Enough to know things aren't always as they seem. I know the Alpha doesn't have to let us know what's going on at every second, but sometimes I wonder what it would be like to live outside the pack as a regular family." She shrugged nervously and stopped bouncing Brian.
"You have that right, you know."
"You need us, plus Brian is still the next in line and he needs to see how it’s done, whether I agree with how the Alpha works or not." She shrugged but the movement seemed more like resignation rather than indifference toward the matter.
"I don't know what to do." I said honestly. "I know what I should do; I should force the situation, that way I can call the Elder's bluff, or the Alpha's. I should see if either of them really means what they’re saying but I'd have to sacrifice more than I'm willing to, especially if I'm wrong."
She smiled and sighed, "You've only been here two days. You're not exactly on a crunch schedule, so why don't you take your time and feel things out. Sometimes things fix themselves if they’re given enough time."
"You are so wise, Sarah." I said only half jokingly.
Rather than acknowledge my comment she surged ahead. "So, what are we going to do for the Alpha's birthday?" She shifted happily to face me. "I was thinking we could rent out Rainbow Cove and invite all the other packs?"
"For tonight?" I asked shocked.
"Don't worry, they'll come, he's a new Alpha. He kicked ass at last summer's Challenges and other Alphas and their packs are going to want to make alliances with him, plus it will be good P.R. Maybe if everything goes well, it will force the Council to back off a little."
"You would have made a much better Alpha than me." I said.
She ignored my statement and stood up grabbing Brian's hand. "I'll make some calls and get the others ready. You go down to the bar and make arrangements with Gary and Sue."
I nodded, still unsure about making the last minute plans, but Sarah knew what she was doing so I stood to leave.
"Oh, and make sure you get him a gift."
I raised my eyebrows at that but didn't say anything.
>
"It’s customary to get him a really great gift, not like a tie or coffee mug or anything."
"I don't really know him. I don't have a clue what he likes."
"It'll come to you; just remember nothing cheesy or cheap."
"Can it be from you, me, Kyle and Brian?"
"You're shy?" She teased.
"To be quite honest, yes I am. I usually reserve gift-giving for those people I am intimately connected, not just some guy who wants to jump my bones." I sniffed indignantly.
"From what I heard through his bedroom door, the bone jumping is going both ways. Plus, I know that you were raised by humans and all, but here on the wild side, presents for an Alpha are a show of respect, not just for love or lust." She shrugged. "And I already got him a gift."
"Put my name on the card?"
"Sorry, it’s already been signed and sealed."
"You're lying to me." I snapped.
"Maybe," She smirked and bounced away as if on a cloud of pure bliss. I guess everyone had their own thing, but I hardly pegged Sarah as being a tormenter.
Fine, I knew my task at hand so unlike the rest of my current circumstance this would be relatively easy… after I got a car to drive.
"Sarah, can I use your car?" I called after her retreating form.
She threw me a set of keys. "These are to one of the Alpha's cars, but he never uses it and I'm sure he won't mind you borrowing it."
I went outside to the driveway and pressed the button on the key ring listening for the responding beep. It wasn't any of the cars in the driveway but I did hear something off to the side so I hit the button again and followed the sound to a shed near the rear of the house. It was more of a detached garage than shed and it was new to the property. The doors swung open easily and there was my Mustang, another wedding gift from Jack that was lost during my failed Challenge. It sat dead center in the stale closed off building. It was a little dusty but Sarah was right about it never being used, the odometer had barely moved since I had it last.
I moved the seat into place and turned the engine over. It answered me perfectly and I pressed the accelerator and smiled at the strong response from the engine. It had that low resulting rumble that promised so much more, if you just let the ponies run a little, and there were a lot of them hiding under that gun metal metallic hood.
I rolled down the windows and yelled out happily as I took the turn around the house and onto the main road doing somewhere around the speed of sound. The engine roared off the face of the house and I could only imagine the sound they heard inside but that only made me smile wider. I really didn't care whether the Alpha got pissed off that I was driving the Mustang... it was my car.
Chapter Thirteen
The bar was closer than town, hidden deep in the woods in the opposite direction. It was used as a kind of trucker/biker hide away. It was also a restaurant so I wasn't surprised to see that it was already pretty full when I got there. I walked in and it felt like home and good memories. The small crowd parted as I sauntered through like I owned the place and sat down at an available stool at the bar.
I hadn't even seen the bartender until he placed a chocolate milkshake on the highly polished wooden bar in front of me. "Hello Sugar, we haven't seen you here in some time."
He was an older man, but he was in great shape for his age. He wasn't tall but he might have been twenty years earlier. He had a full head of steel grey hair and a beard kept clipped quite short. He had washed out blue eyes, which, though they were milky with the first signs of cataracts, didn't miss a beat. He had been behind that bar so long he could probably still function if he were stone blind.
I thought about it a minute longer and decided he was probably about Jack's age, only human... so depending on how long he'd owned he place, he probably knew Jack his whole life, and I'm sure he noticed our little fucked up family and our lack of aging as well.
"I've been out of town." I answered after taking a sip of milkshake.
He nodded, "So sorry to hear about Jack." He paused and yelled over my head at an argument going on at the pool table in the far corner before turning back to me. "I remember the first time he brought you in here. I thought you two made quite a pair."
"Well, I wasn't the arm candy he usually had clinging to his side but he liked me alright."
"There are women who are used and others who are kept. I see it all the time, the pretty, stupid little bimbos who think a man only wants them to look good. They have no self respect and no self worth and in the end they might get lucky and snag a man by getting knocked up but they usually end up leap-frogging from one man to another ’til they are too old and used up for anyone to resort to any longer. Then there are girls like you, demanding to be treated equally and earning it with strength of mind. Jack was ready to settle down and had finished with the simpletons. He found himself a right mate."
His use of the word mate made me stiffen automatically, and he winked one of his twinkling eyes. "So tell me Mrs. Coon, what can I do for you today?"
I had to swallow a mouthful of chocolate shake before I answered him. "It's the new boss' birthday tonight, and we need a place to celebrate a private party."
"Ah, for the family," He smiled happily. "Well my love, it’s a little last minute but for your grand family it will be done. Do you need a band?"
"Yes sir."
"I'm surprised you aren't the new boss actually." He scrunched his long bushy gray eyebrows together while picking up an armful of empty bottles off the bar.
"Things don't always work as planned." I answered honestly.
He nodded and smiled, "I'll say; I wanted to be a doctor."
"Check card okay?" I asked pulling out the card from my back pocket. I would carry a purse if it weren't for the fact that I would just lose it all the time.
"Don't you want to negotiate the total?"
"No. Maybe if I hadn't dropped this on you last minute on a weekend night. I'll pay for my procrastination. Do what you have to do to cover your losses."
He shook his head and smiled. "You're Jack's girl all right. He was a fair man."
When he wasn't chopping people's head off for the Council, I thought briefly but forced a smile just the same as the old owner swiped the card through the machine. "I'll have you all pay for your drinks like usual. The last time I had an open bar with your family it took nearly a month to make up my losses. I'll bring in my niece to tend the bar, she's dumb as a rock but she makes drinks like she was born back here."
I nodded and sucked the last of my milkshake loudly. "Okay, we'll be in about nine o’clock; you think you can manage a cake too?" I asked hopefully.
"For what you paid for tonight, I'll make you a cake. Don't let it get out that I'm doing cakes now though." He handed me the receipt and I felt my eyes bulge a little. "Milkshake's on the house." He added with a grin.
I nodded numbly and staggered off my high stool, suddenly regretting my earlier generosity with my bank account. Of course the milkshake was on the house, I probably just bought the place.
From Rainbow Cove it was about an hour drive into town. It didn't take me that long... but it should have. The tiny town on the other side of Trout Lake was about thirty minutes out of South Portland. It consisted of a post office, a grammar and middle school, a quickie mart, a Chinese restaurant and a tiny bookstore/gift shop complete with a sleeping cat in the window.
I went inside the bookstore and looked around. It was funny how little places like this one held their own long enough to drown out bigger companies like Borders and Barnes and Noble. The woman behind the counter had an easy smile that said I'm here if you need me but I'm not going to bother you. I liked that smile, and I hated when you walk into a store and are immediately bombarded by a clerk with an overly eager toothy grin. They stare at you until you eventually make eye contact and then they ask you..."Can I help you with anything today?" I mean really people, are we living in such a capitalistic society that people aren't even allowed to look arou
nd anymore? It’s great if clerks are available to help you out and everything, but I tend to avoid places that treat their customers like a prostitute would in a red light district.
I wandered among the shelves looking at the pretty nick knacks and wind chimes as I went. In the window above the sleeping cat were about twelve hanging glass balls catching the late afternoon light. I walked over and admired the hand blown globes more closely. "What are these called?"
The woman stood up and wondered over to look at the collection with me. "They’re called friendship balls."
"Why?" I admired the webbing inside and noticed how they looked like a trees inside bubbles, like how a child would envision the world, snug inside a protective bubble, not clinging precariously to its outer edge just waiting for gravity to fail.
She chuckled, "People tend to avoid them because of their real name so the company started calling them friendship balls."
"So what are they really?" I asked.
"It’s a witch's ball." She reached up and spun one gently from its fishing line thread. "They are supposed to trap evil spirits, and bad dreams. Kind of like an Irish take on the Native’s dream catcher. You just hang it over your bedroom window."
"And then what?"
"Then you are very careful not to break it." She grinned broadly.
I nodded and went back to admiring them. "Can I have that green one?" I pointed to a large one about five inches across.
She nodded and picked up a long wooden stick with a hook on the end to get it down from the ceiling.
"I'm going to keep looking around." I pointed to the back of the store.
"Take your time; do you want this gift wrapped?"
"No thanks, it’s too pretty to give away."
She laughed softly at that before I disappeared behind a shelf.
Eventually I found myself in the books. Robert was too utilitarian to like trinkets, so I figured something intellectual was more his speed. I passed the self-help section, the diet and exercise section, the romance section, the mysteries, and then I came to some fiction novels. One of them caught my eye and I picked it up. It was called Julie of the Wolves. I had read it when I was young, before knowing anything about being a wolf. It is the story of a young girl who is raped and beaten by her husband and she runs away. The thing is when you live on a tundra, running away has a whole new set of dangers. She befriends the Alpha of a wolf pack and before long; despite being human she is accepted and cared for by them. Most days I felt like that, especially since I myself couldn't run with the pack as one of them. I held onto the book and continued looking around.
