The young lieutenant stepped back and marched out of the hall. Hollie closed her eyes briefly. She had to resist the urge to beg him to stay and not leave her alone. She didn’t even know his name. He wasn’t her friend, but at least he had no ill intentions towards her. He was just a soldier doing his job.
She couldn’t say the same about the people in the hall.
She didn’t want to be alone in the hall with these...predators.
Ah, who was she kidding?
She was always alone.
She had been alone since her mother died.
Hollie winced when Jasper scraped his chair back and stood up. “She’s here, Dad,” he said, bending towards the Alpha.
Hollie noticed that Jasper addressed Jake not as the Alpha of the pack, but as his Dad. He was reminding everyone present of his special connection and relationship to the Alpha.
Hollie tried not to roll her eyes. Yeah, you’re Daddy’s little boy, aren’t you?
“Alpha, Beta, sirs,” Hollie said robotically.
Jake grunted and narrowed his eyes at Hollie. She didn’t flinch as she met her Alpha’s sharp, glittering eyes. Jake was a wolf shifter, but Hollie couldn’t help feeling that she was staring into the eyes of a snake.
All of a sudden, Jake hunched over and started coughing and wheezing loudly.
Hollie watched Jasper solicitously pass his father a glass of water and murmur in his ear.
They’re both putting on a show, Hollie thought with a sudden clarity and revulsion. They’re acting all the time. In front of the pack, and in front of each other.
Father and son were equally despicable, unscrupulous and corrupt. Jake needed his son to keep the other wolves in line. Jasper’s blood lust and violent temper made him the perfect attack dog for his father. But Jasper didn’t have his father’s guile and cunning. He wouldn’t be able to survive on his own without his father’s backing.
They were using each other, and Hollie had the niggling suspicion that even as they pandered to each other, they were also plotting against each other in their own sick, twisted minds.
When Jake finally stopped coughing, Jasper turned to Hollie and pointed to the plate of half-eaten food in front of his father. “Did you cook this?” Jasper demanded.
Hollie took a step forward and saw some potato patties on Jake’s plate.
“I helped to mash the potatoes and stir in the butter...” she began.
“Are you trying to kill our Alpha?” Jasper bellowed at the top of his lungs.
His ridiculous accusation echoed round the dining hall. Hollie blinked and shook her head. What the hell was he talking about? She’d always known that Jasper wasn’t very smart, but maybe he was just mad.
Hollie frowned and stuttered, “What...?” What are you on about?
As if on cue, Jake groaned and cupped his cheek. “Those potato patties are so hard,” he complained petulantly. “They hurt my teeth. I can’t even chew them. I’m going to have indigestion and stomach problems.”
Hollie gaped at Jake and Jasper, completely speechless.
Those patties were made from mashed potatoes, tuna flakes, butter and milk. She knew for a fact that they were so soft and creamy they could literally melt in your mouth.
“Hurt...your teeth, Alpha?” Hollie finally sputtered in disbelief. What a crock of…!
Hollie had never held much respect for Jake, but now she simply looked at him with contempt and disdain.
Jake Carven might be the Alpha of the Black Blade pack, but right now, he was acting like a tantrum-throwing toddler.
The man was in his sixties, yet he was slumped in his chair, complaining, pouting and sulking like a kid.
All his schemes and cunning ploys were simply tactics to get what he wanted, to get people to pander to his whims and wants.
It was all about him.
Me, me, me! That was the toddler’s anthem.
A leader should be about his pack and his people, not about himself.
“Sir, these patties are made from mashed potatoes, tuna flakes, fresh milk and melted butter,” Hollie answered in a reasonable voice.
“They’re hard as rocks!” Jake snapped, hurling his plate on the floor. “You’re sabotaging my food!” Jake narrowed his eyes at Hollie and hissed, “Are you sabotaging the pack?”
Hollie’s jaw dropped. The complaint about the food was ridiculous, but this was beyond ridiculous. Sabotage? Seriously?
This was making no sense. The accusations were getting more and more absurd and outrageous.
“Even a young pup or toothless grandmother can eat those potato patties without difficulty,” Hollie blurted out. “You guys are wolves, aren’t you? How can a mashed potato patty hurt your teeth, Alpha?”
The moment the words were out of her mouth, Hollie knew that her candor would cost her dearly.
But Hollie couldn’t bring herself to just nod meekly and pretend that Jake was making perfect sense. He wasn’t. The accusations were groundless, ridiculous and downright laughable.
Couldn’t any of the lieutenants seated at the table see the truth? Why wouldn’t anyone speak up for her?
Oh right.
They didn’t want to pay the price.
Liars, backstabbers and hypocrites rose through the ranks of the Black Blade pack.
Truth-tellers were silenced and buried.
Hollie cursed under her breath.
She had just sealed her fate, hadn’t she?
Hollie had a very bad feeling that before the night was over, she would be lying in a shallow grave somewhere in the deep, dark forest.