Against the Black

Chapter 12

My phone rang while I was watching the third season. It was dark out and I assumed it was close to dinnertime. I checked the caller ID to see my mother’s name, so I answered it.

“Hey mom, how’s the party?” I said around the fist full of popcorn in my mouth.

“Would be better if you were here.” She sighed. “Though I guess I can see why you left. You do not have an easy choice ahead of you. Are you doing alright? I wanted to call and check on you.” She sounded motherly and concerned.

“I’m fine. I’m taking the day off and trying to find a way to get out of all this mate mess as cleanly as possible. Kalua and I are arguing if it would be better to date or kill them.” I threw a popcorn kernel in the air and tried to catch it coming down. I missed

“Why not both?” My mom laughed.

“You might be onto something there. Maybe we’ll date them and see how it goes. If I still can’t decide after that, then they can kill each other. That’s, of course, going off the assumption they won’t reject me on the spot.”

“Oh, I don’t think they will. It has been a brawl every hour since you left. One of them will say something and the other will pick a fight over it. The king finally had to banish them to opposite ends of the castle so they’d quit ruining the party.” I laughed at the mental image of my mates being sent to time out for causing problems. “Speaking of ruining the party.” Her tone of voice changed, and it sounded like I was about to get scolded.

“Alpha Brian has been asked to return to his pack. He has a mate and is pending investigation for mistreating said mate. That being said, you should not have provoked him!” And there’s the scolding, though I got off a lot easier than I’d expected.

“I know. It was a cheap shot. He was such an easy target.” I giggled softly, but I could feel my mom giving me ‘the look’. Even if she couldn’t, really.

“I needed to make an example of someone. Why not choose the most volatile and hostile Alpha around? He needed to be taken down a peg. By us, or by another Alpha. And since no one was lining up to do so, I did it. But aside from him needing the attitude adjustment, I did it to make a point.” Her silence told me she was not impressed. “I’m tired of everyone thinking we are weak because we have a female Alpha. We are not weak and I will not let us be seen as an easy target any more. The other Alphas have treated us poorly for over a century now. I refuse to let that continue. We are worth more than their table scraps and dirty looks. We deserve to be seen, heard, and treated as an equal pack.” My mother sighed on the other end of the phone.

“I understand your point, but…”

“No, no buts. I will not stand by and let the disrespect continue. The first step in that is showing I am not afraid to fight for my pack and for other packs if it comes down to it. We are a force to reckon with, and the other packs will know it by the end of my time as Alpha.”

“You’re the Alpha now, so I will respect your decision. I just worry about you. I don’t want you causing trouble for yourself. Especially if it’s trouble you can avoid.”

“But if I can cause trouble that will save future generations from having to go through the same heartache we’ve gone through in the past. Then I will gladly cause trouble for myself. I am leading this pack into the future. We need to stop cowering in the shadows. Let me cause trouble and pick fights and make waves, so that the future of our pack is a brighter one.” She let out a long breath.

“Well, when you say it that way, I can’t argue now, can I?” She chuckled, and I smiled widely.

“Go have fun. Dance with strangers and drink too much. Let loose, you’ve earned it.” She laughed at that.

“You’re a terrible influence. But you know what? I just might.” I could hear the smile in her voice and we hung up. I finished my coffee and realized it was too late to be drinking caffeine. So, I traded my coffee cup for a wine glass and resumed my Buffy marathon. I hadn’t been able to have a day off like this in years. It felt good to let loose.

After a few more glasses of wine and another season of Buffy, I fell asleep. I woke up to a mind link from Valerie, my mom’s Beta, and the woman running the pack in my absence.

Alpha, I know no one’s supposed to know you’re here. However, it seems the king’s Beta is here to investigate. He called to let me know he would be here in just over an hour. I jumped out of bed and immediately regretted all the glasses of wine I’d had the night before.

I’ll get ready and meet him at the border. Make sure the border patrol knows to expect their arrival.

Yes Alpha. I cut the mind link and ran to my bathroom to shower and clean up. I was a mess after spending all day in my bed the day before. And I knew my day of luxury ‘me’ time had to come to an end at some point. I was a little disappointed it had to end so abruptly. I got out of the shower and dressed in loose fitting slacks and a loose silk blouse. I pulled my hair into a fishtail braid, bringing it over my right shoulder, and applied a small amount of makeup. When there were only fifteen minutes before the king’s Beta was due to arrive, I rushed out the door of the pack house.

I ran to the edge of the forest and stripped my clothes off. I shifted and let Kalua take over. She grabbed my clothes gently in her mouth and ran to the border gate. When I got there, I shifted back and re-dressed. I walked to the gate, where two of my pack warriors stood guard. After just a minute of small talk, a black SUV pulled up and parked in front of the gate. I threw on my most welcoming smile and walked over to greet them. The driver got out and opened the back door for the Beta. However, following the Beta out of the car was none other than Roman Woods. Great…