I sneaked into the kitchen and leaned against the door, taking a few deep calming breaths. Today was getting weird. I had come down from my room at the insistence of Jennifer. She had crossed her arms and stared me down. I hadn't seen Donovan in a few days. Jennifer told me that he was hiding out in his rooms.
"He's the alpha and he hasn't been acting like one at all. You're supposed to be his mate. You're not acting like one either. You're going to get up and go out and meet the pack." I'd started to argue but she just stared me down. She had her arms crossed and had years of bossing around people, her son mainly but others had gotten bossed around as well. My own mother wasn't like that, but in middle school I had met a mother that had decided everyone was her responsibility. Jennifer had the same look in her eye. She'd gotten fed up and, by god, she was going to set things in motion to make it right.
Of course, she wasn't the one that had to look people in the eye and apologize for kicking them in the balls some weeks earlier. Everyone had been surprisingly good-natured about it. Some sniffed me, some licked my hands. A young girl held her hands out to me. When I knelt down to her height, she leaned in and licked my cheek. I was left blinking confusion.
The place was fairly large. I'd learned that this was the pack's estate. The alphas could live in the house. There were cabins scattered through the estate where other pack members stayed. A few lived in town. But the mansion itself had a main hall about the size of a high school football field that took up most of the mansion's size where pack liked to hang out. I had spent most of the time apologizing in there.
I shook myself, resolving to be strong. I didn't have time for anxiety. I had decided, at Jennifer's urging, to make the most of what I had. I might not have chosen this, but I could choose how to handle it.
I was getting a glass of water when someone came into the kitchen. I glanced over and paused. There was an angry woman glaring at me. She'd been following me around all morning, making snide remarks to anyone close to her. I had an idea who she was. She stepped up to me, invading my space. Jennifer had told me not to back down from anyone; if you were dominant to someone, you didn't back down. If I was really going to be the Alpha's mate, then I couldn't back down to anyone.
"Are you going to fuck him," she snapped. I blinked a long slow blink. I had not expected that. She squinted her eyes and I could hardly stand the rage that seethed within them. "Well? He's a fucking monster that should have died. He's worthless. Are you going to let him touch you? Don't you fucking dare. Don't give him strength. I swear, I will kill you if you help him."
"Get. Out. Of. My. Face." My anger rose slowly and wrapped around me like a warm living thing. Surprise startled the rage from the woman's face. She actually took a step back before she realized what she was doing and she took the step back. Her hand flashed through the air before it connected with my face. It sent me reeling. It was a simple open handed slap, but it almost sent me flying with the force. God, there was so much strength. She had expected me to go down but when I only stumbled and righted myself, she was surprised.
I didn't think about it. I smashed the glass into her face and punched with my free hand, turning my body into it hard and fast. The woman stumbled back, going down when she tripped over her own feet. She blinked up in shock, glass in her face and blood dripping down. I had a feeling people just took shit from her and wasn't used to someone saying no.
"Do you know who I am?" She yelled. Her voice was a little high pitched with fear. This wasn't going the way she wanted. She had wanted to scare me, to make me back off. She wanted Donovan broken. Her daughter was dead; why hadn't he died too? She was going to rip the pack apart to do it.
"Yes. I know who you are." I shoved aside doubts. "You are a bitter old woman that used to belong to the pack. Get out of here. Take whatever is yours but get out of here. Never set foot onto the estate again." She blinked in surprise. I heard whispers eand gasps. I resisted the urge to glance to the door. I knew it was in my right to exile someone. If I was mate to the pack's leader, I could do this. It could rub a lot of people the wrong way, but I could do it.
"Melanie died! He killed her! He killed her!"
