Chapter Sixteen
The words hung in the air. One of the girls at the table whispered, “I can’t believe she called him and said it directly to him.”
Another scoffed. “She is smart. Would you rather Nina had that in her back pocket, willing to warp it and use it against her?”
Rowan’s voice was holding back a laugh, and he cleared his voice. “Let me get this right. You called me, your king, to tell me that you said that if I punished you for not bowing down to my nonexistent weak mate, that you would what, rebel?”
“No. Not rebel. Just not respect or follow your lead.”
He snorted out a laugh. “Amy, why are you wasting my time?”
“While I can appreciate your busy schedule. I figured it was a smart move to explain the situation directly to you, so that in the future, no one could use my words against me to you.” I crouched down in front of Nina again.
“Plus, I respect you enough to say my feelings to your face. Or on a call.”
He snorted, and then I could hear him clear his voice again.
“Thank you, Alpha Amy, for explaining the situation. But I agree with your assessment of the situation. Any Alpha that commands or demands respect for himself or his mate is a weak ruler. If you can’t earn your respect, then you don’t get the respect. End of story.”
I heard a voice in the background. “You can’t mean that, Alpha. What if the mate we selected for you is weak?”
“Then I wish you the best of luck trying to convince my wolf to accept the girl. As I said, Gerald, I will not go against my wolf in this. Find me a mate that he agrees to, or I will stay unmated until my goddess given mate shows up, as expected for a king.”
The words seem to deflate Nina. “But you need an heir.” The words sounded if someone was scolding Rowan and Nix did not like it.
She took control faster than I could hold her. “Am I on speaker King?”
There was a pause and Rowan’s voice sounded further away. “You are now, but who are you?”
He was a smart man. “I am Amy’s wolf.” Nix pushed. “I could not sit idle when I heard the man scold you.”
I heard a snort and then a hesitant voice came from the other call. “Excuse me?”
“I do not know who you are, but I will say this once. You speak to your king with respect and the reverence he deserves or I will track you down and ensure you know the error of your ways.”
There was a quick inhale, and Rowan cleared his throat. “We just spoke of respect earned by the wolf.”
“We did.” Nix answered back. “But there is a line. I can only assume this wolf is in the council, the one that was in place by your father. And that he expects you to turn to him for his ideas and council, and he has let that get to his head.” There was another choking sound on the other end.
“I will not demand respect for you, my king, but I will ensure that a wolf, no matter the rank, understands that there is a line he should not cross. He turned his back on the goddess herself when he decided he could select the next Luna Queen, instead of allowing you to wait for your mate. Not only is he putting himself above the king and the future queen, but he is trying to usurp the position of goddess.”
“What?” Rowan sounded confused.
“I wonder why the council has decided that now, they can select who you mate, and when you should have children. Is it due to actual worry? Or something more sinister? A weak queen and young impressionable pups are easily manipulated when the king is too busy overseeing the conflicts within our world. Do you not agree?”
The silence on the other end was deafening. “King, you must know that our intentions are only for the continuance of your line.” The man stammered.
But Rowan’s silence stretched on. “Amy…I have to go.” His quick dismissal was surprising but understandable. “Thank you for calling me, but I have a lot of things to discuss with my council.”
“I understand.” I clicked the end button and turned back to Nina. “Well, I guess your mating might not be as secure as you thought.” I had tucked my aura away as the phone call started and Nix, after saying her peace, receded, leaving me, staring down at Nina.
She surged to her feet. “You bitch.” I pointed at myself and she shrieked again.
“You think you have won something, but the king has already agreed to finding a mate by goddess bond? He can’t get out of it.
” She laughed as she turned away. “You haven’t won shit.
” Then she left with her group of girls following her.
There was a silence that descended over the table while we finished our meal. We all were a little shell-shocked about everything.
Then Wendy turned to me and leaned in. “You have the king’s phone number?”
Her comment broke the silence, and we all laughed. I waved my hands in the air. “It’s nothing. All Alphas get his number.”
Toya cut a look at me from the corner of her eyes. “I don’t have his number.”
I nodded. “Your father does.” She nodded.
“I got his number because during the summer there was an emergency that I needed to request permission from the council to protect my pack, and my father was out of commission. My father’s Beta gave me the number, and the King told me to keep it.
” I shrugged it off. “I figured, after what I said, I would rather he heard it from myself, than Nina. There is no telling how she would’ve twisted it. ”
Everyone nodded and Thora opened her mouth, but the announcement tone came over the speakers. Before she could continue her thought, Alpha Vince’s voice came over the speaker.
“Students. There is a meeting in the auditorium and attendance is mandatory. We will check everyone in. So do not skip it. If you skip it, you are automatically expelled. It starts in thirty minutes.” The click of the speaker disconnecting was like a gunshot. Everyone stood in a rush.
“There is no way they can check everyone in within thirty minutes.” Hanna’s wide eyes were scared. “I can’t get expelled. My family used their life savings to get me here.”
“Come on. We will get there. We can come back for our trays, or the staff can dump everything. Let’s go.”
We rushed through the school and joined the giant line to get into the auditorium. Ever so slowly, the line moved and I could see everyone getting anxious.
I checked my phone and saw we had less than ten minutes to get inside. What the hell was taking so long? I turned to everyone. “Follow me. Something is wrong.” I headed to the front table where two women were working from tablets with four more off the side.
“Come on.” The first couple of students called, but I could see the tiny smirk that the lady at the desk was trying to hide.
“I’m sorry, the system is going so slow. I can’t seem to find your name.” Her voice and fake concern had my hackles up instantly.
“Excuse me?” I pushed to the head of the line, and the woman snapped her eyes at me.
“Yes?”
“Why is this taking so long?”
“Because it is.” The second woman snickered.
I felt my eyes narrow. “Why are you holding up the line?”
“I’m not.” She glared up at me. “You are.”
“I doubt that.”
“What’s your name? Since you feel you have the right to accuse me of delaying students.”
“Amy Maclean.”
She scrolled on her tablet for a minute and then she stood up, pushing the chair back. “Alpha Amy. I’m so sorry. You can head right in.”
The guy at the front groaned. “Seriously?”
I turned to face him. “What’s wrong?”
He just shook his head. “It’s nothing.”
“No, please. Tell me.” I smiled and tried my best to seem gentle.
“Alpha Amy. Please head inside. There is no need for you to slum it with the riffraff.” The woman touched my arm and my head snapped to her and my eyes flashed.
“Did I say you could touch me?”
She stammered. “No, I just don’t want you to be late.”
I turned back to the man. “What’s happening?”
“I’ve been here for almost five minutes. Any time a ranked wolf comes up to check, she finds their name instantly and allows them in, but she still hasn’t found my name.”
I turned back to her and snatched the tablet. “What’s your name?”
“Hey.” she weakly protested. The second woman watched with fear on her face.
“Edward Canto.” I saw that the list was Alphabetical by first names.
I scrolled to E and there he was. I turned back to the woman and I let my aura slip out.
“Are you purposefully holding these students out here, and before you open your mouth, tell me the truth.” I watched her fight the command, so she was a high level wolf.
I released my full aura and asked again. “Tell me the truth. Now!”
She dropped to the ground with her face pressed to the floor.
“Yes. These last few years unranked wolves have become a virus that has been taking over this school. When Alpha Vince said those not in attendance were going to be expelled, this seems like a golden opportunity. And I wasn’t going to let it go to waste.
” Her vitriol against unranked wolves was disgusting.
I turned to face the second woman. “And you?”
She paled as she dropped to her knees. “I listened to her because she is my Luna.” She pressed herself to the floor, and I wanted to step on her.
I dropped low. “What pack are you from?”
“The Dark Forest pack.” The girls behind me all took a breath. But I threw my head back and laughed.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me.” I tucked my aura away and waited for the two to get up.
“What?” The Luna sat back on her heels.
“You are the smallest, and poorest pack and you feel you have the right to judge anyone?” I held out my hand.
“What did you just say?” The Luna released her weak aura, but I used my own to block hers from reaching anyone else.
“I said your pack is weak, poor, and disgusting. Because it breeds women like you who think that just because they are ranked in your own pack, you hold rank among the others. Now give me those fucking tablets so I can get these students where they need to be. And believe me, I will be speaking not only to Vince about this, but to the council as well.”