85. Rebuilding Bonds
85. Rebuilding Bonds
Cindy
Elijah’s eyes widened. He started chuckling like a madman. He leaned so far back that his head touched the ground.
A few people stepped back but the gammas weren’t intimidated.
“I don’t regret it,” he said before he started yelling, “I DON’T REGRET IT AT ALL! I was going to have my own pack! So what if a few people got hurt? This is a revolution, things like this happen.”
Some snorted while others shook their heads. Instead of letting Elijah rant on and on about how much better things will be with Roger Bryce in command, Emery and Allistered aimed for the alternative. Emery held him in place while Allister wrapped his mouth with a thick silver chain. Out of deficiency Elijah started to shift but he couldn’t complete his transformation. That told me the chains were most likely coated in wolfsbane. Only his forearms had fur while one ear resembled a wolf’s.
“I would punish you myself, but that would be far too kind,” Reiss said. “The Council will have a field day with you. I’m sure you know they don’t take kindly to anyone who puts the order of our world at risk.”
They dragged him away despite all his kicking and muffled protests. I wished I could say it pains me to see him go, but thinking back to how he treated me when I first arrived, I couldn’t find it in me to care. He deserved the same fate as the woman who tried to drown her son did after what he’d done to Summer.
Reiss raised his hands into the air. “For too long we’ve been puppets in the chairman’s game. We have reason to believe he hired magicians to kidnap young women, both shifters and humans, for nefarious means. He enabled wolves to turn against their own packs! He spread lies and bought loyalty with promises of riches, power, and honor! A man like that doesn’t deserve to be in charge of any wolf pack, much less all the packs of this region. That’s why the Maple Pack and I-” Glen jumped onto the table, standing by Reiss’ side with his head held high. “-will be joining forces to stand together and confront the Council with evidence of Roger Bryce’s wrongdoings. As for what evidence we have, as much as I love you and respect every person here, I am faced with the reality that there is no telling who else could be working for the chairman.”
A woman spoke up. “I wouldn’t put it past them to fake it. How can you be so sure that the evidence is legit?”
She glanced sideways condescendingly at one of Glen’s men. He snarled at her and gashed his teeth, causing her to gasp and step back, hand reaching for her pearls.
“Because I was there when the evidence was uncovered,” Reiss stated. “I held it in my hands and was sure to make copies. I know that the last couple of years our relationship has been strained, we have both hurt the other, regardless of whether the chairman manipulated us or not, and that’s not something easy to put in the past. But we are better united than when we are at each other’s throats. So I would employ you to try. We don’t have to build a relationship right away, but we can at least be cordial.”
It went better than I hoped it would. Reiss had taken the time to sit down with his pack at dinner and answer their questions. I figured that it was the best choice if he wanted to reestablish their trust in him.
He looked up and saw me at the lower end of the table. I smiled and gave him two thumbs up. He smiled back, a tender look in his eyes.
When I reached for a bowl of potatoes, someone pushed it in my direction. I looked up and grinned. “Jessica! And, Bryant?”
Bryant nodded briefly while Jessica waved.
“A couple of troublemakers wanted to tell you sorry,” She said.
Krystal and Berry sat beside her. Krystal crossed her arms definitely while Berry glared at Jessica.
“Don’t speak for us, and don’t call us troublemakers!” Berry flicked her braid over her shoulder. “But we are here to say we’re sorry for, you know, calling you a whore and saying you stole the packhouse money to fund your developing gambling habits…” She mumbled the last part.
“My what?”
“We’re only doing this because Emery made us!” Krystal spoke up, pointing her finger at me. I calmly gathered a spoonful of mashed potatoes and tapped it onto my plate. “We still think that you’re an attention whore that swallowed more than you bargained for. Once he realizes that you’re not better than Emery he will throw you away.”
“That’s cool.” I added a barbeque chicken leg. “I’m not afraid of being broken up with. If Reiss isn’t the man I think is, then that’s for me to discover, not you two who obviously don’t know anything about me.”
“And we’re not trying to. We know enough.”
Jessica jabbed Krystal in the ribs. Unexpectedly, Berry did the same thing.
“Ow!” Krystal hissed at them. “I have feelings you know!”
“Keep this up and Emery won’t ever talk to us again!” Berry whisper-yelled. Then she turned to me with the fakest smile. “Make sure you tell Emery that we apologized, okay? I don’t worry about paying back the money. Luckily Mrs. Raid found it behind the China in the kitchen. Who would have thought it’d be there?”
I was 98.999% sure that they were the ones who put it there, but I digress. Jessica and caught up since we haven’t seen each other in a while. The girls acted as if they were above everything, but soon even they joined the conversation with snide comments of their own. Bryant silently ate dinner, either shaking his head or nodding whenever he was addressing. Looking at them now, I’m glad I stood up for myself.
When more people inevitably find out that I’m Reiss’ Luna there are bound to be a lot of rumors of opposition. When that happens I’ll deal with it just like I deal with everything else.
And I won’t be alone. My lips stretched into a smile and I continued eating, ignoring the familiar gazes on me.