Chapter 42 #2
“Yes, I know what some of you may be thinking,” I called through the microphone, pausing to let the crowd quiet again. “Sure, a little adultery is a bad look, and yes, it is a horrible disrespect to the Alpha Mate, but does that make a guy unfit to be Alpha? Hold that thought, for now.”
I motioned to the hallway leading to the back door on the other side of the ballroom.
My mom emerged, her arm draped snuggly over the delicate shoulders of Miss Ashley Park.
Ashley looked around nervously, her hands fiddling with her pretty blue cocktail dress.
Her long black hair was pulled into an elegant low ponytail, and she wore stylish black pumps.
I caught her eyes and smiled encouragingly. I held out my hand to her, and she slowly made her way up to the stage to stand next to me.
When the Alpha finally saw who it was that Mom was escorting into his party, all of the color drained from his face. He froze in place where he stood trying to get to Knox and Bianca, as if his limbs had stopped working completely.
“Pack members,” I said into the microphone. “I want to introduce you to Ashley Park. She is a member of this Pack, but you probably don’t recognize her. I’d like for you all to listen to her story, and then I will be out of your hair, I promise.”
I handed her the microphone. I started to step away, but she grabbed my hand and held on for dear life. So I stayed by her side and lent her my silent support.
“Hello, fellow Pack members,” she said softly into the mic.
“As Mave said, my name is Ashley, and I joined this pack nineteen years ago. I came with my mother, who is disabled. She has MS, and she’s also developed early-onset dementia over the years.
My father was a high-ranking beta in our pack back in Alabama, but he passed away when I was eighteen.
Our small conservative pack had no use for a disabled widow of a deceased beta, so they cast my mother out.
I followed her, and we petitioned to join this pack—famous for its success, size, and progressiveness. ”
She paused and took a deep breath. I squeezed her hand and looked out at the audience. They were all watching her now with rapt attention.
“My first day here, as I was checking us into the Pack, I met the brand new young Alpha. We both knew instantly that we were each other’s fated mate.”
Gasps, cries, shouts of disbelief all rang out. Alpha Monroe was still frozen in his spot, and Knox held a sobbing Bianca to his chest.
“He didn’t reject me outright or anything,” she went on.
“In fact, he was kind. He explained that there was a lot of stuff going on with him being the new Alpha, in particular with negotiations for the East Texas Pack merger, so he didn’t want any distractions with the fated mating since it would be seen as such a huge deal.
But he took care of me and my mom. He bought us a little house, gave me an allowance, and purchased health insurance for my mom.
He also came to visit often, but he insisted that we couldn’t tell anyone yet about our mating.
Still, I was excited and fell in love with him, as the bond so easily pushes you to do. ”
She paused again, this time to swipe some tears away that had escaped from her pretty brown eyes.
“I finally realized that what I thought we had as fated mates wasn’t real.
The Alpha formally mated Bianca and secured the merger with the East Texas Pack.
I was forbidden from interacting with Pack members or ever mentioning to anyone about our mating, or else I’d risk losing our home, our insurance, and our allowance that allows me to care for my mother.
To this day, I am forbidden from dating or seeing anyone else, but I’m intimate with the Alpha whenever he comes over and asks it of me. ”
There were a few more tears now on faces in the audience.
Ashley was beautiful, captivating, and broken from having lived a life hidden away with no friends and only her sick mother for company.
She’d been in a cage created by the Alpha, and even the coldest hearts had to melt a little bit seeing her here today.
“I’m tired of living like this, but I am bonded to the Alpha.
I need his presence and crave his touch.
Being with him alleviates the pain of the bond that grows when we aren’t together.
But every time he leaves my house, I feel sick, disgusted, and tired.
I don’t want to do this anymore. So when Mave knocked on my door and told me her story, I knew I had to do something. ”
Voices were raising this time, but now it was all aimed at the Alpha, who’d finally found the ability to move. He was headed for the side door now, followed only by Dunn and Naomi Parker.
Good riddance.
“Resign!”
“Horrible!”
“Coward!”
“You’re no Alpha!”
“How could you?”
Over and over, people shouted at the Alpha as he moved towards the exit. He darted one last look over at Knox and Bianca. I watched as he met Knox’s eyes and then… he dropped them.
Then he was gone.
I took the microphone back from Ashley. Mom came up to the stairs and held out her hand to her.
She was taking her straight to Ian’s where he would perform the Unbinding spell.
It was the possibility of finally ridding herself of her mate bond that made her agree to come here and tell her story after all of this time.
I spoke again. “Thank you for listening, everybody. I want to close by saying that, in spite of everything, I believe this is a good pack full of good wolves. You deserve to be led by a strong, kind Alpha. So with that, I am going to turn the mic over to Knox Monroe.”
A few claps sounded, but everyone was still mostly struck silent in their shock over the revelations of the evening.
Knox ambled up to the stage, having left Bianca in the tender care of Lissa and Monica. I handed him the mic and turned to walk off stage.
“Mave,” he said into the mic. I turned to look at him. “I would understand if you wanted to challenge me for this pack. You’re a strong Alpha and I know you’d be an excellent leader.”
Uh, what? Not in the script, Ice Man!
“Ah…,” I said loudly enough for the mic to pick it up. “No, Ice Man. This pack is yours. I know we’ve had our differences, but you’re the Alpha now. You’ll be great.”
He nodded at me, then I darted back off stage before he could say anything else to me.
“Pack members,” he began. “I’m sorry that the evening turned out like this. I am especially sorry to my wonderful mother, who had to endure all of that without warning.” He peered down at her. “I love you, Mom, and I’m going to take care of you, I promise.”
She nodded, forcing out that smile she had just for him.
“Everything Mave said tonight is true. I was there the night she and her boyfriend were kidnapped, and I saw her injuries. I saw Dunn shoot her father with a silver bullet to allow my dad to escape from Jack’s hold on him, which was a clear victory in a challenge.
It was cowardly, and it made me ashamed to be his son.
I am glad that we were able to have a peaceful transfer of the Alpha mantle tonight without violence or bloodshed, even though it was certainly hard emotionally on a lot of us.
“I want to thank Mave and the entire Fortune family for being supportive of my claim as Alpha, even though I’m well aware that Jack could take this pack from me in an instant.”
My dad chuckled and shook his head, and faces in the room turned to stare at Dad in awe.
“And I want to thank Mason and Thad for being my best friends and support system. I also want to thank Lissa and Christopher for their help and guidance. I know that I’m young, and I know that I have a lot to learn, but I want to assure you all that this pack is in good hands.
Thank you, and please try to enjoy the rest of your evening. ”
Louder more resounding applause this time. I felt oddly proud of my ex-fated mate in that moment. Even back when he was being a disgusting fuckboy, I still had an inkling that he had the chops to be the Alpha.
Don’t get me wrong, he’s still a disgusting fuckboy, but he aims that energy at willing females and leaves me be, so now I just find it all kinds of amusing.
Blake wrapped his arms around me as we all collapsed into chairs at our table.
Ben passed around some strong drinks, and our group toasted to the new Alpha, including my family, Blake, Mason and his moms, Thad and his parents, and a few of the other current betas that came over to congratulate Knox and offer their support.
I could finally breathe a giant sigh of relief. The bond was gone, the Alpha was gone, and I was going to enjoy the rest of my senior year with my boyfriend and my brother and my best friends, and then I was going to go live my life wherever the fuck I felt like it.
I’m Mave Fortune, and I’m a free wolf.