Chapter 42
FORTY-TWO
December
“You can’t bring him in here,” said the Pack goon working the front door of the NWLA Pack’s annual Holiday Formal. “He’s not a… member.”
I rolled my eyes, clutching the arm of my sexy-ass date and straightening the skirt of my clingy red satin evening gown with my other hand.
“Chill, Cujo,” I replied. “My boyfriend is my date for this party, and he knows the score. His great-grandfather was a wolf.”
Blake smirked at the guy. “Totally. I’m in the circle of trust, my man.”
“Fuck no,” he spat at us. “No humans allowed at Pack functions.”
I sighed, annoyed and tired of the delay. My parents and Ben had already gone inside the casino ballroom ahead of us.
“You will let us in,” I demanded, using a formal Alpha command and pushing a hard jolt of power at him.
He winced and dropped to a knee, looking up at me in shock. “Oh, uh… you’re the Fortune girl. Yeah, go ahead.”
“Thank you!” I said, and I smiled brightly as we walked past him into the ostentatious ballroom, which was decked out with every shiny holiday decoration imaginable.
A live band occupied the stage at the center of the room, and a striking middle-aged wolf was crooning some carols into the microphone.
Twenty-foot-tall Christmas trees, draped from head to toe in twinkling lights and gaudy ornaments, sat on either side of the stage.
“Fucking sexy, as always, baby,” Blake murmured into my ear as we walked through the party. His hand was headed south to my ass, and I swatted him away.
“No sir, you had your fun already,” I chastised. “I already had to redo my hair and makeup once tonight.”
“You can’t walk in front of me in that dress, beneath which it is clear as day you are not wearing any sort of underwear, and expect me to control myself.”
I elbowed him in the ribs as we approached one of the front tables where my family had gathered. “You in a tux didn’t help the situation.” Truly. Blake in a professionally tailored, all-black tuxedo should be illegal, even in Louisiana.
My family members all looked great in their formalwear, and I took note of the Elite boys, along with Mason and Thad’s parents, parked at the table next to us, looking similarly spiffy.
I scanned the room, which was bustling with cheerful Pack members enjoying the free booze and fancy food that was a staple of these Pack events.
Nikka and her family were congregated on the other side of the room with the rest of the Alphawhores' family members and some of the other betas.
A few of them glanced our way with surprised looks because seeing Blake here was probably unexpected, to say the least.
Blake had been able to work Ian’s memory spell on Nikka and Naomi when we’d caught them out at a coffee shop shortly after the night of our kidnappings.
Ian was able to take care of Angelo as planned, and now all of the Parkers remembered everything about that night except the fact that Blake was a mage.
In their new version of events, the Alpha had captured and imprisoned Blake solely to hurt and threaten him away from me, and Nikka and Naomi had grabbed me to offer the same trade—his location for my agreement to go back to Utah.
And they all remembered, vividly, getting their asses beat by us. They’d been pretty quiet since then.
I spotted Alpha Monroe making the rounds through the Pack with a smiling Bianca on his arm.
He had also been quiet, studiously avoiding my dad.
Knox wasn’t home much these days except to see his mom when the Alpha wasn’t around, but he’d told us that in his few interactions with his dad, he seemed content to act like nothing had happened.
We couldn’t trust it—he had to be plotting something.
Which was why we were all here tonight.
Mason and Knox appeared next to our table.
“You ready, Mave?” Knox asked me. He looked nervous as shit.
“I’m ready, Ice Man,” I replied, then I gave him a pointed look. “So are you.”
“He is,” Mason agreed. He looked back over his shoulder to where Lissa stood with Monica, and she nodded at him.
Our tables were positioned next to the stage, and as soon as the band signaled they were taking a quick break, I made my way carefully up the stairs so as not to trip in my ridiculous heels, and grabbed the microphone.
I clicked it on. “Hello, Northwest Louisiana Pack!” I rumbled into the mic.
The room quieted just a little, and I could see eyeballs start to drift in the direction of the stage.
“For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Mave Fortune.
My family and I joined the Pack this summer, so we’re pretty new here.
Since we’re at our end-of-year Pack party, here, I wanted to take just a few minutes to reflect on my experiences since joining this Pack, if you’ll indulge me for a little bit. ”
The room had quieted completely now, people’s interests apparently piqued.
I darted a glance to where the Alpha was standing with a group of his betas. He was clearly trying to keep a neutral face, but I could see his jaw grinding with rage all the way from my perch on the stage.
“By now, most of you probably know that the Moon sought to bless me with a fated mating on my very first day at Blackstone Academy back in September. I’m certain you all also know that my mate was Knox Monroe, our very own Alpha Heir.”
Knox nodded to me in encouragement. He knew I wasn’t up here to disparage him, but the facts weren’t pretty.
“And of course, because there is no greater pastime in a pack than gossip, you all also know that Knox did not accept the mating. This set off several of the hardest months I have ever experienced.
“I won’t bore you all with the sordid details, but what I wanted to make sure was understood is this: Knox and I have reconciled our differences and have agreed to remain friends. We will not be mating, and we will go our separate ways after graduation.”
There were some murmurs at that. While most people knew that Knox and I weren’t currently together by any stretch of the imagination, most assumed—and Alpha Monroe encouraged this rumor—that we would plan to mate in the near future, like betrothed royalty or some shit.
I saw the Alpha’s face slowly turning red as I continued to speak.
“Now, I didn’t just get up here to make that official announcement, although it is good news for all you eligible females—our Alpha Heir is on the market.”
I winked at Knox, who had choked on a cough at my words. He shook his head at me like Mason used to when he would treat me like a naughty child.
I sobered. Now came the hard part.
“I wanted to talk about some concerns I have regarding how I’ve been treated since I was fated to Knox.
I have been pressured, threatened, drugged, and kidnapped because I refused to be Knox’s mate or even his mistress.
My boyfriend was also drugged and kidnapped and threatened for daring to touch me since I supposedly belonged to Knox. ”
Loud gasps were heard all around at these last revelations.
Alpha Monroe finally started to move toward the stage.
As we’d planned, my wall of muscle lined up in front of the stage to keep him away—Dad, Knox, Mason, Thad, Ben, Blake, Lissa Hayes, and Christopher James all took up their posts down in front of me.
“As you’ve probably guessed, Alpha Monroe was behind these horrible acts committed against me and my loved ones. My father and my brother were seriously injured while coming to our rescue. I was injured by the Alpha himself as I fought to save my boyfriend.”
I paused, readying myself to throw down the gauntlet. “I do not believe these are the actions of the type of wolf we want as an Alpha of this pack.”
Shouts now rose above the din.
“You’re lying!”
“Why should we believe you?”
“Do you have proof?”
“He would never!”
“I know! I know!” I called out over the crowd.
“Please give me a few more minutes. I don’t have anything I can show you as proof for the night I was kidnapped, other than these shiny pink scars that are still on my hands and arms two months later, caused by the wolfsbane-soaked rope that was used to tie me to a chair.
” I held up my pink hands to the crowd, and the chatter grew louder.
“My dad also has a scar on his shoulder from the silver bullet he took when your top Pack enforcer shot him so that he couldn’t complete the dominance challenge he had so clearly won against your Alpha. My brother also still has scars on his leg where he was torn apart by one of your betas.”
The Alpha was charging now, a few of his more blindly loyal betas with him, but my wall held strong.
“Enough about me, though,” I continued. “I have a few other items to discuss before this Pack decides whether we’re being led by a worthy Alpha.”
I nodded to Ben, who had already linked his phone with the audio system in the ballroom as well as the projector screen that dropped from the ceiling behind the stage.
The video began to play, the voices clear as they were blasted through the room’s speakers.
"Please, Kurt… I thought… I thought that what we had… meant something."
"Naomi…."
"All these years… I’ve been here for you. To let you do all the things to me that she was always too… delicate for….”
Loud gasps this time.
“Babe…. You know you’re special to me and that I will always look out for your family….”
“… Come here, love."
Then the crowd saw Alpha Monroe and Naomi Parker making out on the big screen.
A sob could be heard over the escalating volume of the crowd. I saw Bianca tearing towards the door near the stage, tears rolling down her red cheeks. Knox stepped over and grabbed her, whispering in her ear. He held her close while he stood sentinel next to Mason.
I knew he wanted her to hear the next part, no matter how hard it was going to be.