by Cree Walker
In the end I had the woman wrap the book I had chosen and a pound of gourmet jellybeans. One thing I did know about werewolves, is that they ate all the time and they truly appreciated food. I got another smaller bag of jellybeans for Brian too, since he would probably freak out if he didn't get any junk food.
I made it back to the house a little after five-thirty as the sun just started to touch the horizon. They were grilling out on the back deck and taking advantage of the late evening heat while it lasted. The weather might be nice and warm today but tomorrow it might be thirty degrees cooler: ahhh spring in Maine.
I smiled a warm welcome to the pack as I rounded the wrap around porch to the back of the house and onto the large deck. I was surprised that I meant my sweet welcome and guessed I had missed their presence more than I had been willing to admit though I didn't even know the names of most of them.
The girls, I noticed, didn't talk to each other much except to insult and snap at one another. It made sense; they were competing and didn't waste energy on making friends. That part would come later when the victor had been chosen, but in the meantime they spent the majority of their time avoiding one another and doing their hair and nails.
Robert sat on a bench against the house and he raised a beer in my direction as I came into view.
I walked over with my bag in hand and took the offered beer with the other. He tried peeking inside the bag but I pulled it away quickly.
"You didn't get me a beanie baby did you?" He said pointing to the bag with the store's logo written on the side.
"It’s the newest one, Walter the Werewolf." I smirked. He shook his head regretfully, "Sorry, I already have it."
I rolled my eyes and took a swig of cold beer.
"Miss Sugar," Brian walked up to me with his eyes all round and innocent. "Did you get me anything?"
"Why should I, is it your birthday?"
He shrugged, "Mommy said I'm staying home tonight." He mumbled out. "I don't want to and I don't even get any presents."
"Stop whining, you're hurting my ears." I pulled the bag of jellybeans out and handed them to him. "Not all at once." I instructed.
His eyes shone like I had handed him dynamite and a box of matches; for a second I was worried and looked to his parents. "What did I do?"
"We've been restricting a lot of sugar from his diet." Sarah explained.
"Why?" I scrunched my nose up at the thought.
"Imagine a humming bird doped up on Star Buck's double espresso shots." Kyle answered with a serious expression on his face.
I felt my eyes widen and fear grip my heart. "Oh shit."
Sarah waved it off, "He's a little boy." She flipped a huge piece of meat onto a platter already heaped with steak and handed it to Kyle to bring into the house.
Everyone went inside, but I stayed out listening to birds chirping before they went to roost for the night.
"What's this?" Gage swooped in unheard and grabbed my witch's ball like a trained pickpocket.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Did you report back to head quarters yet?"
"And what exactly would I report?" He cocked his head and looked at me through the thick emerald green glass.
"That you all underestimated my whore powers." I snapped grabbing my ball back and dropping it safely into the bag.
"Answer me this question honestly Sugar."
"Okay." I swallowed and got ready to lie my ass off.
"Do you want what's best for this pack?"
I blinked, shocked by the straight forward question and its innocence. "Yes; more than anything, yes."
"Then there is nothing to report."
I narrowed my eyes at him, it wasn't that I didn't believe him exactly it was that I wanted to believe him and I wasn't sure if I should. "Fine, but it’s your turn to answer one of my questions truthfully."
He stood back and crossed his arms, ready for anything I threw his way.
"Why did you kiss me, if you hate me and you’re willing to watch me go down in flames?"
He took an unsure breath, "I'll take the dare."
I smirked, "Kiss me again."
He smiled slowly in the low light of dusk and shook his head. "You were aptly named."
"Most people say the opposite." I argued knowing he would refuse my dare.
He leaned forward until his face was nearly touching mine and he brought a hand up to touch my cheek gently. "Sugar may be sweet but it's just a slow release poison that tastes really, really good." He backed away and disappeared around to the front of the house.
"Sugar?" Sarah called out to the now dark, back deck.
"Just a minute," I called happily towards the door as I blinked away incidental tears and she backed into the house again.
Brian laughed from inside the house and it broke the sadness that had washed over me.
Sarah walked out onto the porch looking a little impatient. “Are you coming in?”
I didn't answer her.
"Sugar, are you okay?"
"How much does a soul weigh?" I asked her at last. "Can you hold it in your hands, does it bring you joy or comfort you when you cry? Does it weigh more than one’s pride? I know what they want from me, but I’m not sure I’m willing to give them everything just yet.”
"I don’t understand." She answered.
“The Elder, she’s using me. The same way she used Jack, to do her bidding. She’s breaking me down and then one day she’ll hand me a knife and give me a name. By then I don’t know what my answer will be. I don’t know if I’ll even care by then.” I shook my head and sighed. “She’s asking me to give myself to him…” I indicated towards the house. “What will I have left after that? What’s keeping me in control of my life and who I love?”
"If you say yes to her, she'll bring you Hell in both this life and the next. Don't be fooled by her promise of happiness, she can't give you that. It’s up to you to decide if you want to be happy or not. No one else can make that choice for you."
Then Sarah said something I thought I'd never hear her say. "Jack is dead, let him go. We need you here, Alpha." She spun on her heel and went back into the safety of the house and its warm light.
Chapter Fourteen
I went in through the front door and straight up to my room. The others were already ready for going out so I had the bathroom to myself for once. I vowed that if I was ever Alpha again, this time for longer than a few days, I was going to have another bathroom built.
The room was hot and moist from all the showers, but it smelled sweet and flowery like any house with too many women sharing a bathroom does. The small countertop was absolutely covered with make-up and styling products, perfumes and cooling curling irons. I looked up into the foggy mirror and wiped some of the steam away. I blinked at my reflection and though the girl looking back at me wasn’t smiling she did look better than just a few days ago. I attempted a smile but I wasn’t one of those people who could fake a smile very well; it felt too much like lying.
I showered quickly and snuck into Sarah's room in search of a shirt. Everything was a wash of squashed colors crammed together and there was hardly enough room left between hangers to see what kind of top I was looking at. Finally I pulled a light scoop neck sweater off the pole. It was black and the neckline was wide enough to fall off one shoulder. I grabbed a matching pair of baby doll shoes and a pair of skinny black Levi’s. I brought everything to my own room to change and put on my make-up.
My face was still paler than normal, which made sense considering the stress I had gone through in the last few days. I pushed aside my self-pity and blushed my cheeks lightly after I finished with the mascara and eyeliner. I stood back and looked at my reflection in the long, full length mirror screwed to the back of my bedroom door. I shrugged when my reflection failed to shift my mood. I knew I looked good, but something in my face made me feel more dangerous than pretty.
I trotted down the stairs and into the kitchen and everyone stopped eating except for Robert. At
first I thought it might be my shocking appearance... good or bad, but then I remembered the rule about dominants being the ones to eat first.
Robert looked up at last and grinned broadly. "Ah, the dark princess has arrived."
I looked at the other girls and realized they were all dressed in shades of bright happy colors pastels. They looked like skinny Easter Eggs with hair. "I'm in a dark mood, Alpha." I took my seat and began eating the food that was already in my plate.
"And why would that be, sweet Sugar?" He pressed. "It’s my birthday... isn't that a day for celebration?"
"That remains to be seen, Alpha." I answered back without much enthusiasm.
He grinned and took a bite of his own food in response. "Give me time, Sugar. It’s only been a couple of days."
"So how old are you anyway?" I asked rudely.
"He's certainly young enough to get the job done. How old was your dead husband again?" The redhead was starting to get on my nerves.
"I believe the help is supposed to be seen and not heard. If I come up with a question easy enough for you to answer, I'll be sure to direct it to you." I looked at her and waited only seconds for her to bow her head averting her glance while she thought about a comeback.
"If I'm the help, what exactly am I doing to help you?" She sniffed and threw down her fork indignity when another girl giggled at her.
"I believe you're keeping my side of the bed warm until I'm ready to reclaim my throne."
Kyle choked out a mouthful of steak and burst into a throaty laugh.
She stood up and locked eyes with me. "I'm making your side of the bed hotter than you ever could."
"We all have a special talent, don't we? But bragging about being a slut is a little beneath me. So, if you want to continue this conversation you're going to have to do it on your own."
Her eyes didn't leave mine for a few seconds too long and I stood up slowly placing my napkin neatly beside my plate. "Do you realize why Jack left a woman in charge of his pack?" I didn't wait before continuing. "It’s because I beat all the girls and the only thing left to do was to start beating the boys, so unless you want me to rip out your pretty red hair and choke you to death with it, I suggest you sit down and shut-the-fuck-up."
She looked as if she had come up with the courage to act on my invitation but Robert lifted a finger and cleared his throat. "Sit down, ladies. Tomorrow if you both feel there is no easy resolution to this little cat fight, you may have your little battle, but tonight is a celebration and we will treat it as such."
Fire burned up my face and Kyle and Sarah looked at each other and shook their heads in my direction. When I still didn't sit down Sarah surged to her feet and knocked Donna off hers, with a heart-stoppingly beautiful right hook. "He said ‘sit down’, bitch."
I clapped a hand over my smiling lips; having never really seen Sarah in action, I was shocked into behaving and sat down quickly still covering my smile.
Robert moved to surge to his feet but I clapped a hand on his forearm and shook my head. I had made it quite clear earlier that day, that Sarah, Kyle and Brian were mine to protect and the warning my gaze held was just enough that he settled down again.
He leaned over putting a possessive arm across the back of my chair and whispered in my ear, "Sugar, you are racking up quite a debt with me."
The promise in that one statement nearly had me running for the door but I held my ground. If I was going to play with the big dogs I had to play harder. "And your condescending temperament is making payment of that debt nearly impossible to endure without gagging." I hissed back smiling sweetly.
That got me another grin. "I thought you'd like that." He said sarcastically. "That's a little trick I call, ‘deflecting the anger,’ and I see it worked."
"But are you willing to pay the toll of being the one to warrant my anger with your little trick?" I whispered back in his face.
"Your anger is short lived, because it burns white hot. I think as long as I stay on your good side for the rest of the night, you may forgive me." He kissed my ear gently before turning back to the table and pushing his empty plate away, effectively ending the meal for everyone else except me at the table, but he had ruined my appetite so I pushed my plate away as well.
Within minutes the table was cleared away by two of the lower ranking girls in the group. This was something I had easily gotten used to in the past couple of years. A higher ranking member in the pack didn't have to bother with things like cleaning, cooking, yard work or babysitting, all the things I had done way too much of over the course of my lifetime. It was the job of a higher ranking pack member to protect and watch over the lesser members, but they pulled their own weight in other ways. I was one of the few people in a pack that understood what they did was just as important as what the stronger more dominant members of the pack did. This group of people seemed normal from the outside, but everything about them was so foreign. They didn't believe in things like equality or fair treatment of all. They believed and lived by the rule that only the strong survived. Which I thought was a weird rule for a species that was knocking on extinction’s door.
One of the girls I didn't see or hear of very often took Brian up to bed while we congregated on the front porch before leaving.
I drove alone in my car. I was still calling it my car and the Alpha hadn't said otherwise so I was going to drive it as long as possible before he figured me out.
I left the house last and followed far enough behind the rest that I didn't see the red glow of their tail lights on the twisting camp road that surrounded the lake. It was quiet in the car except for the sound of the engine and I reveled in it for the few short minutes I had alone. There was something to be said for the chaos in which we lived though... It didn't give you too much time to think.
We pulled into the already packed yard of the bar. The people who were outside ran in quickly to alert the others that the guest of honor had arrived.
I looked at some of the less familiar license plates on some of the cars and realized they had been traveling all day to get here, and some of the cars even had rental plates, meaning some packs had flown in for the new Alpha's last minute birthday bash.
"Ready Sugar?" Robert put a hand low on my back to guide me towards the entrance.
I looked at the hurt faces of some of the other girls and stopped walking. I suspected some of these visiting packs were theirs and to be the one to walk in on the arm of the champion Alpha would be a great honor to their family packs, "Why don't you just parade us all in on leashes?" I snapped.
"Still mad?" He joked.
"In fact, I am still mad... so you're just lucky it’s your birthday." I crossed my arms and started walking away.
"Whoa," He jogged up beside me and cut me off. "Hey Sugar, it is my birthday. Come in with us?"
"I want to go home." I stated flatly. "I hate parties."
"You're not going home." He said, one second before throwing me over his shoulder and carrying me towards the bar.
"Let me down." I kicked uselessly. I knew of a sure fire way to get down but I would end up on the ground and this was Sarah's shirt.
"I gave you an opportunity to make your entrance with a little dignity but you had to play hardball." The bastard even stopped to open the door for the other girls before walking inside to a loud cheer from the people awaiting his appearance.
I hung my head and hid my face behind a thick curtain of my hair until he dropped me down gently on my feet, and then there was no more hiding. There was a second cheer for the conquering hero when the crowd realized he had brought the fierce and dangerous Sugar in on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "You're going to pay for that one, Alpha." I growled out through gritted teeth.
He smiled and tweaked my chin.
"Sugar?"
I turned to the deep voice at my back and had to look up, and up and up before I saw a face attached to an enormous body laced with muscle and a tight tee-shirt. "Max?" I asked, totally shocked to see
the once nerdy teenager had finally filled out... a lot.
He picked me up in a bear hug and nearly squeezed the life out of me. I hugged him back enthusiastically. I was really happy to see he was doing well. He had been an orphan Jack had picked up along the way and though he would never be an Alpha, he was smart enough to be a pack doctor, which was very important when you consider the circumstances we face on a daily basis. It’s not rare for one of us to get into a fight that can break bones or worse and going to the ER for things like that can raise a certain amount of attention if it happens too often and never mind things like blood tests.
He set me down and backed away a step lowering his gaze to someone standing behind me. "Sorry Alpha." He apologized to Robert.
I looked at Robert and rolled my eyes. "He's just a boy." Robert narrowed his eyes at me. "Max is eighteen and by human standards alone that makes him a man."
Max blushed darkly. "See you later, Sugar."
I smiled as he turned to leave then countered on Robert again. "He's still a boy to me."
"Sugar, listen closely when I tell you, he doesn't see you in the same light you see him."
"He's not like you." I snapped. "Grabbing any piece of ass he can get his greedy hands on."
"Really?" He pointed over my head to a not so dark corner in the room where Max had a girl his age pressed up against the wall with his face buried in her neck while she giggled happily, cheering him on. "Sex is the only thing on a male werewolf's mind until we're ready to find a mate." He leaned forward and whispered in my ear, "Then it’s sex and finding a mate."
