Twenty

Twenty
Author's POV

Jedidiah skims through several files, checking the laws and reforms of the pack and their account thresholds. She was a little bit upset at the moment but she was doing everything she could to keep herself in check and not make a mess of things. 

She stopped with the files she was skimming through at the table and went off to check another random fleet of files. She really needed to get something before dawn tomorrow. How couldn't she think of any idea why this was so hard for her. 

She slammed her fist into the shelf and the wooden barrier snapped in two. She breathed, destroying the shelves won't give her an idea. But how was she to pay the levy when there wasn't really anything for her to use 

What would anyone else do in this situation? She sat down on her chair, folding her arms as she stared into the horizon just gazing far ahead, her entire brain working overtime. She needed to figure this out as soon as possible. 

How could she pay Alpha Daniel tomorrow morning without risking her position. Every single piece of nail she could pin down was empty. She had no ideas, there were literally no more cookies in the jar. She fidgeted in her seat as sweat rolled down her cheeks. Being an Alpha wasn't necessarily an easy thing and she was made for this so why is her first actual problem becoming a big unsolvable problem. 

Maybe she wasn't worth the rule after all. It made her feel shallow and dense. In the past someone else had been on this site and she had thought they were not capable enough, but now that she was here she was beginning to realize maybe shenwas wrong. 

She shook her head and decided to take a look at the papers once more. All their expenses, whatever they could quickly siphon the Alpha’s levy from. There were a lot of things she had thought of but none of them would walk. Alpha Daniel wasn't a wolf that you can negotiate with; he was so ruthless that they have started writing poems to commemorate the extent of his brutality.

She heard her door creaking and she saw James walk in. She shook her head, she wasn't necessarily interested in him or any romantic scenario as of now. Her seat was on fire and she needed to fix it right now. 

“Hey lovely,” he said and brought his hand close to her, warping her in a half hug but she didn't even reply. She just held her arms against her chest, folding them and pouting her lips in annoyance. 

“Jed,” he said with a concerned voice and he brought his hand towards her chin dragging her face so that she would look in his direction. 

“What is it,” she replied in annoyance. “I am not in the mood for all this,” she shook her head. “I don't need cuddling, I need answers,” she said as she jerked herself away from him. 

“Okay talk to me, “ he sighed. “What is wrong?” He let go of her and even shifted a few paces away so he could get serious. 

“I am in trouble is what is wrong,” she shook her head and stood up from her seat in anger. 

“Huh?” He frowned. “Honey, if you don't tell me what's going on, I cannot help you, I am not psychic,” he said with a relaxed smile. 

“Oh, please,” she said, standing up from the chair. “It isn't as if you can create some sort of miracle at the moment,” she shook her head.

“Try me!” He smiled. “I might be able to work something up ,” he explained. 

“Oh, okay,” she said. “My dad has had me pay Alpha Daniel’s levy myself without his help,” she sighed. “He said, it was some sort of test. I am apparently in a testing stage and I need to prove to him that me being the Alpha wasn't a mistake. As it would seem it was a big fat mistake. I had no idea what to do, no idea what to say, no idea how to even get out of the situation, tomorrow is the freaking deadline!” She blurted out all the contents of her heart taking a deep breath as she did. 

James paused and squeezed his face. He didn't really understand what was going on, he didn't think they needed to pay Daniel anything anymore. “Wait, didn't we pay Daniel everything we owe him?” He asked with a crown. 

“What do you mean?” She asked, obviously still very frustrated. 

“When he took Abigail, it was in exchange for our debt wasn't it why the hell is he asking for more money?” He asked in annoyance, his entire senses flaring up.

“Do you really think you want to question an Alpha? The Alpha. You can't question him, he does what he wants,” she sighed. “If he says we pay a fee, we pay the fee,” she told him outrightly. 

“I just find it a little unfair,” he said, shrinking back when Jedidiah made the threat so evident. 

“No it isn't really unfair per say. This is just the usual fee they pay to his pack normally. This is something I should be able to solve but the pack has nowhere near the funds he is demanding. What in the seven hells am I supposed to do.” She exhaled. 

James kept quiet for a while and decided to first of all divert her attention from the current problem. “I in fact heard a rumor about the Alpha Daniel. They said he is building a new academy and I have been thinking, why don't you do the same?” He asked. 

She glanced at him with a meaningful gaze before shaking her head. “I don't think I am cut out for that,” she sighed. 

“Huh, I hope you don't feel like you can't do it?” He asked.

“What is that supposed to mean?” She replied to him with matching energy. 

“I just feel like you have been comparing yourself too much with Abigail and maybe you are feeling a little inadequate compared to her,” he slipped in slowly so as not to anger her.

Jedidiah sighs. He was right but she didn't think she was feeling inadequate, she just wanted to prove to the people that felt she couldn't do it that she could. She already took everything Abigail could ever have, this was her mate literally fawning over her. Abigail should be a lost memory now. She should be yesterday’s news. But she keeps on appearing every single turn of her life. Like the ghost in a shell she wouldn't just leave her alone

“No, not at all,” she replied. 

The fact that she didn't scream at him immediately made him confirm that she was indeed feeling inadequate. He drew closer to her and smiled. “Don't, you are stronger than what she could ever be,” he told her.

The words made her smile and he nodded in satisfaction. “Now, let's think about what to do,” he sighed and began to think.

She rested her head on his shoulder and they sat there in silence for a while. She began to think of all the nooks and crannies she could exploit when she suddenly remembered that she actually could save herself tomorrow. Her father had an offshore account of sorts that he saves excess money in. Normally she shouldn't be able to access it but with the power granted to her as an alpha, she could do it. 

She turned to James and smiled. “I think I figured out a way out of this dilemma,” she began. “My dad used to have an offshore account, a trust fund of sorts for me. I could rally the money in there and it would be enough to pay up the debt,” she explained.

He glanced at her and shook his head. “No, you mustn't do that,” he explained. “You wouldn't have anything to fall back on if anything went wrong. We need to take this step by step. I believe you need to go see the elders first and talk to them about your need to rally money before dawn!” He explained. “You have to get them to work somehow.” 

She nodded and realized he was right. After a while he left and she prepared to go see the elders. Her father had called to ask her if she had found a solution and she told him she was on it. 

She got to the elders and immediately explained her plight. They didn't even try to think about her situation, they shut her down immediately. 

“No, not ever. Your dad never asked us to do this, the former alpha never asked us to pay, why should your rule be different?” one of them said. 

“You have to do what I tell you or you won't see the light of day in this pack,” she shot back. They argued back and forth and at last she discovered she couldn't win this so she calmed down and asked them.

“Okay, what do you want?”