Anais

Someone was pounding at the door. I didn’t give a shit.

I wished I was still hung over, but it took a lot to get a shifter drunk and then keep them that way. There wasn’t enough alcohol in the entire pack to keep me drunk and utterly oblivious for more than an hour.

After lighting the pyre for my mother last evening, I’d taken off for my mother’s house, ignoring everyone around me, and drunk every bottle of liquor I could find. I didn’t care to hear the condolences of those at the pyre. The whole pack and a few others from neighboring packs were present to pay their last respects, but it was just too much to handle.

We didn’t bury our dead anymore for fear of the bodies being used by necromancer demons, the remains getting desecrated, witches using them to curse living family, or the bodies being dug up for study. Oh, how the mighty shifters had fallen: scared and hiding from demons, vampires, witches, and humans alike.

The pounding resumed after a short pause, followed by little angry footsteps heading for the door.

“What the fuck do you want? Piss off, old man. And take your maggot-looking spawn with ye! She’s not to be bothered right now.”

At first, I was a little confused as to the owner of the soft, yet firm female voice with a Scottish accent. Then, as my mind began clearing, I remembered my distant cousin Olivia on my father’s side showing up with her mate Brodie. It was her whiskey that had helped me achieve drunken bliss briefly last night before exhaustion claimed me.

I had invited her to stay at mom’s house because it had two extra rooms available for guests, as I’d had my own cabin built a few years back. I was sleeping in my old bedroom while Olivia and her mate took the spare. I couldn’t go in my mom’s room, not yet, not while it still smelled like her and had echoes of her presence everywhere.

I heard Olivia keep talking to whoever was at the door, so I honed my hearing to listen in. I would bet my first born it was Elder Sutton, doubtlessly accompanied by Gage, with Gage’s meaty fist beating down my door. My mother’s body was not even twenty-four hours in the ground, yet the wolves were already quite literally circling, ready to pounce.

I shook my head and sighed as I heard Sutton’s voice. “You don’t get to talk to me like that, half-breed—”

His voice cut off. I heard a gurgling sound right before the unmistakable smack of a fist meeting flesh.

“Speak to my mate that way again, and I'll rip that tongue out of your mouth, old man.”

“It's okay, Brodie,” Olivia’s voice soothed.

I knew I should go out there and stop what was happening, but I really didn’t care. I wasn’t going to babysit a bunch of adults this early in the morning. Besides, Brodie was a big, mean bastard; he could take on Gage and probably two others and be fine.

After I looked at the clock on my bedside table, I cursed. It was already 2:00 p.m. I had no clue what time Olivia and I’d gone to bed, but it didn’t feel like that long ago. I was surprised it had taken Sutton and the Elders this long to summon me, actually.

Sutton had always had a holier-than-thou attitude, even when my mother was alive. He used to try and push Gage my way, probably hoping that we would pair up so he could be one step closer to the Alpha title.

I’d pair with a sulfur demon before I ever let Gage get his grubby hands on me.

I now understood why newer packs would forgo the old ways of keeping retired Alphas, Betas, and other “important” members as Elders or Council members. There were just too many politics involved.

“Anais! I am here on behalf of the Elders,” Sutton was shouting. No doubt, Olivia’s giant of a husband was standing in the doorway, blocking him. “You are requested at the meeting hall to discuss important pack matters. It’s time to start acting like an Alpha.”

Requested, my ass. That was an order.

I lay perfectly still, face-down on my bed as I listened to the interaction at the door. After a few colorful words from my cousin, I heard Sutton’s steps retreat, along with Gage’s.

I could always distinguish Sutton’s gait. The slimy weasel always sounded as if he was walking on his tip toes, never anchoring his weight, while his son had a lumbering walk where he dragged his left leg just a bit.

I sighed into my pillow, then flopped over onto my back, only to shriek and roll off the side of the bed.

My cousin and her husband were standing by the side of my bed, even though it was super hard to sneak up on a shifter.

“How the hell do you guys do that?” I asked, trying to keep my heart from beating through my chest as I stood up.

“Can’t say, cousin. It’s a secret. Anyhow, that shifty-looking bastard said the Council wants to meet in half an hour.” Olivia folded her arms in a show of displeasure before continuing. “I really wish I could stay longer, but I’m being called back home.”

“Wait, now? But you just got here. We haven’t seen each other since we were kids. You can’t leave now.”

I didn’t want them to leave just yet. I didn’t want to go back to being alone in this pack.

“I wish I could stay, love, but the magic it took to get us here is hefty, and it's calling us back immediately. We were just about to come tell you goodbye when that old goat showed up. We don’t have a choice.”

I could see that she really wanted to stay and catch up, but I knew she was right. Teleportation magic was expensive and difficult; whoever the witch they’d gotten to send them here was, she had to be powerful.

“How long do you have, Oli?” I asked, using my childhood pet name for her.

“I’m sorry, Anais, but we have to go right now. The more we try to fight the pull, the more painful it gets for both the witch and us. It's not fair to her.”

I knew she wanted to stay. I was glad she’d made it at all. “Thank you so much, Olivia. And you too, Brodie. I appreciate you being here, I really do.”

Brodie moved closer to Olivia and wrapped an arm around her waist. It was time to go, then.

He was a man of few words, but in the short time they’d spent with me, I could tell that they loved each other immensely. And—for the first time in my short, twenty-one years—I was jealous of a mated pair.

I wanted that.

“You can do this, Anais. Don’t let that old goat bully you. Show them who the real Alpha is. I’ll try and visit more often, okay?”

As fast as they’d arrived, they left, all in the blink of an eye.

I took a minute to compose myself. I had changed into comfortable black slacks and a gray t-shirt last night, and I wasn’t in the mood to change into anything else.

I wasn’t much in the mood for anything right now.

I was in a very sticky situation, and the Elders knew it. I had to be smart about what I did from now on, as the wrong mouth to an ear could have me stripped of my status, and I had no one to help me defend my place.

I might as well get moving and get this over with as soon as possible. It was time to face the Elders.

Upon entering the meeting hall, I immediately noticed that all eight Elders had gathered in a circle with Sutton in the middle. He was already yapping like a pup who had just learned how to bark. Gage was standing off to the side not too far from his grandfather’s position, like an ever-present tail.

“Ah, Anais. Come, child,” Sutton called out. “We have so much to talk about. Let's begin, shall we?”

“Yes, Elder Sutton. Let's begin,” I said back. His honey-coated disposition slipped for a second to show his suspicion at my agreeable manner, then slid back into place.

I turned to Gage. “This is a meeting for Elders and the Alpha. We have no need for any other members of the pack to be present.”

“Of course. The Alpha is correct. Gage, wait outside, son.”

Shock over his grandfather actually choosing to remove him was apparent on Gage’s face, then was replaced by anger. The look he sent me promised retribution; he wouldn’t let me forget this humiliation.

“Now that all the relevant parties are here, let us get to the point.” Sutton took a turn around the room, ensuring that he had all the Elders' attention. “It's time we have an Alpha pair.”

A chorus of agreements went up around the room.

“Did my mother not serve the pack well without her mate?” I asked, voice loud. “Were we not well taken care of? Who here has gone hungry, or without proper clothing, or care? Why do we need an Alpha pair?”

How dare they question my mother’s service to the pack when all their bellies were full, and their needs were taken care of?

There were nods and murmurs all around, but Sutton latched onto whatever sliver of reasoning he could find to push his agenda. He wanted Gage to become my Alpha mate so that he could control the pack through him. If Sutton wasn’t such a coward and a weakling, he would have tried for himself to become an Alpha.

“We must uphold tradition!” he cried. “To not have a mated Alpha pair is to weaken the pack. Look at what happened! We were attacked by demons!”

In an instant, I was in his face, my claws a hair’s breadth away from his throat. “You're going to stand there and question my mother's leadership? After years of her giving her all to this pack, fighting day and night to protect it?”

“Please, Alpha, show mercy,” someone pleaded, drawing my attention away from Sutton.

I’d never had to show dominance before, not while my mother, her Betas, and her Enforcers had been in charge. I could see the shock registered on their faces.

The other Elders echoed the plea for me to back down, and I turned back to Sutton. In his cowardice, he didn’t want to meet my eyes. The wolf within me was mollified temporarily by his subservience, so it withdrew.

I could smell the fear coming off them, and I reveled in it. Aside from Alphas, very few could call on their wolf for a partial change. My dominance and clawed hand should have been proof to them that I was worthy of being the Alpha female.

I’d embarrassed Sutton when I told his grandson to leave, but I made an enemy when I forced him to submit to my wolf. He would never forgive this.

And his next words showed just how far he would go.

“The Alpha cannot serve the people unless in a pair,” he said, uttering my title with evident disdain. “Your mother became Alpha female once she mated, and since she had a Beta pair and Enforcers at her side, that is why she was not required to find another mate. It is the way of this pack.”

I had to give it to him; he had some balls when he was determined. The other Elders were finding their courage, too, murmuring in agreement that there must be an Alpha pair, or I couldn’t be accepted as the Alpha female.

They were forcing my hand, playing into exactly what Sutton wanted. I was not going to let them take what my mother worked so hard to protect, what she died protecting.

“Well, who do you want as Alpha male?” I asked slowly, looking around at each one, waiting to hear who their supposed savior would be.

Sutton puffed out his chest, clearly thinking that his grandson was the best and only option.

“I think Felton would be a good match,” called out Elder Harday—a former Enforcer and father to Felton—before Sutton could speak.

All hell broke loose at the suggestion. I crossed my arms and let them all curse it out.

Felton was a notorious womanizer, and I was not going to have anything to do with him, because when—not if, but when—he decided to cheat, I would rip his balls off, and then I would have a whole other problem. “No, Felton is out,” I said.

“Seth is a good boy,” quipped Elder Marion, the chief healer.

Laughs sounded off all around. Seth was a good boy for his mother, to the point that he listened to her and followed her around like a young pup still on the teat. “No, Seth is no Alpha,” I rejected.

“Gage is the obvious choice,” shouted Sutton, and everyone went quiet.

I really should have studied Sutton to see how such a coward commanded such attention. There was no way I would let that stand just because they were all afraid of him, for whatever reason they were.

“Since you all love tradition so much, let me make this very simple for you all,” I called out. “I, as Alpha female of the Deep Water pack, call for the Rite. Let the next Alpha of Deep Water prove himself.”

I didn’t know where that had come from all of a sudden, but if I took a guess, it had been out of pure desperation.

Sutton wasn’t happy that I’d taken an easy win from him. Still, he conceded; after all, Gage was one of the strongest wolves in the pack. He had a better chance of acceptance if he won the Rite.

I wasn’t fond of Gage, and I certainly wasn’t going to hand myself over to him without a fight. If he wanted to be my Alpha, he would have to work for it. He would have to prove that he could protect this pack.

However… what if I endangered the pack with this rash decision? We’d always been a rather peaceful pack, but whenever an opportunity to gain rank like this was presented, there was always the chance of infighting.

I didn’t want this to tear us apart, but I was not going to let the Elders throw their sons at me just because of their positions.

I only hoped I hadn’t just made a mistake.