Gamma's Energy Attracts

Part 15

Julia’s POV 

I promised Mrs. Alpha that I would stay at the party, at least for an hour. People were starting to mingle and servers were starting to weave in and around people with their huge trays balanced on one hand. I’m glad I didn’t have to work at these things, what if I spilled a big tray like that? I could easily bump into one of them, I’m better off staying right here as a wallflower and letting them come to me.

“C’mon Jules, we gotta scope out the competition and grab a drink,” Terri says as she weaves her hand around my elbow, her french tips digging into my elbow, letting me know this is not a request.

“I don’t smell anyone worth scoping out,” I grumble.

“Me neither, that’s why it’s a competition, DUH. If your Mate was here you wouldn’t be looking for anyone else! Here, grab two flutes and get the bubbly into you!” Terri forces two glasses into my hands and takes two for herself.

I take a small sip since I don’t drink very often, it’s fizzy and I can really taste the alcohol, a bitter aftertaste is left in my mouth. Most booze strong enough for werewolves is also strong enough to remove paint. “Any chance I can get some orange juice?” I had mimosas once and they were really good.

“Listen up, lightweight. Drink the damn drink, if you drink ‘em quick enough you don’t need to worry about how they taste. When will you have another chance to drink like this without Misty breathing down your neck? This is a party, let's try to live a little." Terri’s eyes flash darkly with those of her wolf. I drink one quickly before she decides to pour it down my throat. I cough, she frowns, we both repeat the process with the second flute. She pulls me right through the center of the room, “Let’s go check out the guys.”

“Why? I don’t want a guy and neither do you!” This is so stupid.

“I could get any guy I wanted,” she gives me a wicked grin. “I don’t want them, but I could still get them. It’s important to boost yourself up, and also gives you the satisfaction of knocking down their fragile male egos down a peg or ten if they get too c*cky. It also gives them something to dream about when they are alone j*rking off.”

“I don’t want guys thinking about me when they do that!” I hiss at her, she laughs and rolls her eyes. “I don’t want any of them thinking about me at all!”

“We have to find some entertainment for the next few hours.”

“One hour and I’m sure we have been here at least 30 minutes already,” I’m already thinking about ditching Terri to stand with Mrs. Alpha for the next 30 minutes. She may try to tell me what's good for me, but she won't actively try to embarrass me.

“Nuh-uh, the deal was you stayed an hour after everyone arrived. Weren’t you listening to Alpha T’s announcement? It's okay, Tucker's public speeches are a bit dry. There are still two Packs that are delayed.”

“No way!” I whine, sounding every bit the child they always think me to be. I don’t care though, if whining works, I’m going to use it.

“Well look who’s here! I think I see tonight’s first victims.” Terri is once again dragging me by the elbow as she stalks her prey. I don’t see what she sees until it’s too late. Standing in a small group is Mr. Hot Mall Jerk. He’s wearing a tailored suit and looks like he stepped out of a magazine ad. He is surrounded by even more guys than last time and girls are swarming around his clique as moths hover around a flame. Or sheep.  Stupid, bleach-blonde sheep.

“No, Terri. Please don’t do this! Let me go stay with Mrs. Alpha, please,” I start to breathe heavier and pull back on my arm but it’s too late. Hot Mall Jerk has spotted both Terri and I. He gives me a p*rverted glance and a sneer before seriously checking out Terri.

‘Chin up! I’m going to make them regret f*cking with you.’ She whispers in my head, but I can’t help but think that this is going to flop spectacularly. She’s right about one thing, I can’t let those jerks think I’m weak. I keep my head up and still avoid looking anyone directly in the eyes. I’m not challenging anyone, that’s Theressa’s department.

“Hey boys, fancy meeting you here,” Terri fakes a big smile and pushes her way through the girls crowding around. She wraps her arms over Hot Mall Jerks shoulder and takes her pointy tipped thumbnail and gives him a nick over the artery on his neck, it leaves a red mark but doesn’t break his skin. He flinches but frowns and stands up straighter. Terri can almost match his height, she’s about 5’8” and wearing 5-inch stilettos.

“He was talking to us, you b*tch,” says the leader of the gaggle of geese.

“The Pack Doctor would like to speak to you, he’s studying the effects of bleach on tiny brains,” Terri tells her, and Mr. Hot Mall Jerk snickers. 

She red in the face when she gets right up in Terri’s face, her voice is annoyingly shrill, “This is my real hair colour, you old skank!” Big mistake. Terri’s eyes flash black. I doubt it has anything to do with being called a skank. It’s either the challenge or…

“Listen up, little girl, yeah, I’m a full-grown woman, it means I have years of experience being the best b***h in the room. I got mad skills to go with this sexy body, I’m the total package. Why would anyone waste their time with you?” Yep, Terri’s pissed because this she-wolf called her old. “Look at you, there is no way the carpet matches the drapes. You forget me and Mr. Hottie here are taller than you, we can see your roots are showing. Your eyebrows are pitch black, so your hair is probably as dark as mine is. Back to the bleach, it’s clearly affecting your memory, you probably don’t even recall what your real hair looks like, you poor thing. It’s such a shame, your short-term memory is fried too! You’ve already forgotten my knife toss earlier. It’s been what, a half-hour? You should really see the Doctor right away. Better take your little friends with you, in case you get lost along the way. Run along. Buh-bye.” Terri makes a pouty frown and waves her hand. All the girls stomp off clickety-clacking their sky-high heels and the group of guys bust out laughing.

Feeling his bravado return, Mr. HMJ opens his fat mouth, “Thank you Terrier. She would have been screaming my name later on, and that voice would have given me a headache. I bet your sultry voice will sound much better.” Does this guy think he really has a chance with Terri? Is he drunk already? He reaches his arm around her waist to pull her closer to his side. He slides his hand down to grope her @ss. Then he turns his unwanted attention back to me, “Look at you, Baby Deer. All dressed up and looking for your Mate? If you don’t find him, you’re welcome to join us. You can watch what a real man can do, I’m sure it will be very educational for you.” Dude is completely serious. Ugh.

Terri lets out a light and airy laugh. It’s not her usual laugh, that’s for sure. “Do you like to watch?” she whispers into his ear. She sticks her tongue out and licks the tip of her finger before running it downwards from her mouth, lifting her chin so his eyes can trail the path of every movement. He watches her tracing it down her slender neck. He licks his lips and turns Terri towards him and presses himself tightly against her. Every guy in the group is staring wide-eyed at Terri’s antics, all of them are totally captivated by her. What is she even doing? Her finger veers off to the side, near her shoulder, then dragging her nail over the swell of each breast before dipping into the valley in between and sliding into her dress. He’s following her actions with his head following wherever her finger goes, he’s practically got his face in between her b*obs. She shimmy’s her body as if she’s dancing or grinding on him when she suddenly whips out another flip knife. She doesn’t open it but pokes it right into his adam’s apple, it bobs while he gulps.

Terri finally speaks up, “Careful. It would be a real shame if I press this little button and the blade sticks you like a pig. A male chauvinistic pig. My name is Gamma Terri, I have a proper title so use it and get your f*cking dirty paws off my @ss.  I didn’t get rid of that girl for you. I walked over here with the intention of helping my fellow lady-wolves before she had the nerve to question my fabulousness when I am obviously the real deal, and she’s as fake as hell. You see, I wanted to save those girls from the cesspool f*ckboys that you have gathered here. You really need to start treating the female species with a bit more respect, I think you have put me off men forever.” She winks and blows him a kiss. Terri laughs and this time it’s her real witch cackling laugh, loud enough to draw even more eyes to us. “Ciao, boys! I have to find a real she-wolf for my bedroom exploits.”

We make our way over to Mrs. Alpha, She has her arms folded over her chest, she clearly had seen went just went down with her Gamma and his goons. She holds her hand out without a word. Terri deposits the knife and Mrs. Alpha tucks it into her Mates pocket.

“Where’s FT going?” Terri asks her. Even someone as brash as Terri wouldn’t dare call him F*cker-Tucker with so many highly tuned wolf ears around.

“He’s just gotten word that the last two Packs have arrived. He’ll be announcing them shortly.” Mrs. Alpha says bored.

Terri flagged down another Omega serving champagne, and told the young man, “Send someone with grub!” much to Mrs. Alpha's chagrin. To distract her, Terri started discussing tomorrow night's plans. Apparently, she wants to relax from this party and it’s ‘Contrived fun’ by making her own party to have ‘Some actual fun’ at some fancy bar Tucker owns. I didn’t pay much attention, I wasn’t planning on going. 

I made the mistake of looking around the room, and I was met with an angry glare from Mr. Hot Mall Jerk.  He said something to his loser friends and they were all staring this way and laughing. A pit formed in the bottom of my stomach and I had a sudden need to escape. Mrs. Alpha wasn’t having it, because the manners police, aka Lunas Kat and Anne were nearby to welcome the new guests. 

She gripped my arm tightly and whispered into my ear, “Oh goodness! I thought Tucker said he refused the invitation. Prepare yourself, Julia, Alpha Aaron is here.” I don’t know any Alpha Aaron so I questioned why it caused her to go tense.  She flashes a what the f*ck glance over her shoulder at Alpha T, but he shrugs his shoulders and passes the buck by pointing to his Mother, Luna Anne.

“Just be mindful. Alpha Aaron is wearing the navy blue suit.” I follow her gaze, and I can’t recall ever seeing this wolf before, but he also seems oddly familiar. He looks to be in his early thirties, which is kinda old for a brand new Alpha. He has a perma-scowl on his face and you can tell he’s not thrilled to be here. His aura is strong, maybe he’s one of those mean Alpha’s who take over other Packs. He has blond hair swept to the side and piercing grey eyes. 

Tucker makes his way up to the podium as the DJ finishes his current song. Suddenly it is incredibly quiet, I hear my own heartbeat gushing in my ears. Alphas demand that kind of attention, but when the loud music and chatter stop it seems unnervingly quiet.

“I would like to welcome Alpha Braxton of Blood Fang,” Alpha T’s voice booms out into the crowd and I jump. 

Mr. HMJ looks at me and laughs, he dares to talk in the dead silence of the room, “Oh! No! He startled the Baby Deer.” The room erupts into whispers and I tuck as close as I can to Mrs. Alpha. Terri growls at the boys and Mrs. Alpha pinches her bicep before mind-linking her. She’s probably worried Terri has another flip knife hidden somewhere. Is she going to pull the next one out of her tw*t??

“Settle down! We also welcome Alpha Holt and Luna Trisha of Evergreen.” This group has more than twenty eligible wolves, and sniffles can be heard throughout the room.

“I would also like to welcome a last-minute addition and offer my personal congratulations on your new appointment, Alpha Aaron of Silvermoon.” Polite applause erupts but I can’t clap, I’m too busy trying to breathe. Silvermoon is my old Pack. After a few tries, I suck in a breath so fast my throat makes a loud ‘sqweeeeeee’ noise, and I feel lightheaded. Mrs. Alpha is already holding onto me so when my knees buckle I don’t crumple into a puddle on the floor. 

Terri rushes with werewolf speed to my other side to prop me up. “Chin up!” she hisses so low I can barely hear the words. I do tilt my head up and find the Alpha rushing towards me, looking deadly. My wolf whines inside, and I whine outwardly. “He doesn’t f*cking own you. You made your choice and you can live in any Pack you want. If he touches you, I’ll f*cking shank him.” I one hundred percent believe she would do it, but that doesn’t give me any confidence.

“Please, I need to go. Anywhere but here,” my voice is weak and pathetic even in my own ears and I badly want to cry.

“I will handle this,” Mrs. Alpha releases my arm and steps forward, partially in front of me, to meet him. “Congratulations, Alpha Aaron.”

“Save it, Luna, I don’t believe you are sincere. I know you were the one who got my Father banned from all the Alpha meetings.” He’s so angry!

‘Terri, take Julia for a walk,’ Mrs. Alpha opens her mind-link to both of us at the same time. “On the contrary, even though I found Alpha Alwic’s old-fashioned attitude bothersome, I am pleased that you have finally ascended to Alpha. I hope that you will come to future meetings with fresh ideas. As for his ban, I wasn’t even in the room when all the male Alphas voted to oust your Father from the meetings.”

“You blame the males but it was still your fault, you shouldn’t have even been there!” He spits his words venomously and I hear Mr. Alpha’s scary growl behind me and Terri drags me off to the ladies’ room. I hate when Alphas are angry and scary.

******

Caly’s POV

I had to get Julia away from this wolf before she has a full-blown, five-alarm panic attack. I can only keep so many people calm at one time, and my arms are itching with prickles of pent-up energy. Terri is just going to have to handle her because I have an angry Alpha of my own growling behind me. There is negative Alpha energy in the air swirling around me and it ways down on my soul. I smell both Tucker and Darius edging closer to me as well. I turn slightly towards Stav, grabbing his tie and gentle pulling him towards me. He presses his hard, tense body against my back, his hands are in a death grip over my hips. He rests his chin on the top of my head, I know he’s trying to let me handle it, but Aaron’s disrespect has him wanting to revert to his old ways. I try to force calming vibes out into the world.

I had sincerely hoped that a younger wolf who was long overdue to become promoted to Alpha would make a world of difference for Silvermoon. Not only does Aaron have the same sh*tty attitude his Father does, but he’s also b*tt-hurt on a personal level and hell-bent on keeping the family’s @sshole legacy alive. Perhaps he needs to hear a few home truths, instead of relying on his Dad’s version of the facts. His Daddy didn’t intimidate me, and I won’t let him either.

“Both times your Father put his hands on me I was working, I had every right to be there and to expect a safe environment free of harassment. I will be at all future meetings, as an Alpha. I do hope that we can work together because if not, I will certainly put forth the vote to ban your Pack permanently.” I have to hold back, I want to be catty and say that his Pack is in shambles and he needs to work on his alliances, not me, but I don’t. It wouldn’t be very Luna-like and my mentors are still watching this interaction with interest.

“You won’t be happy until you ruin me and my Pack. You stole her from us, knowing it could financially cripple us.” He points in the direction Julia was carted off in, and it peeves me off even further. 

“That is not true either. She has a name, it’s Julia, and she's not a possession to be stolen, you have no claim to her. She ran away from Silvermoon because she felt she was being mistreated. Later, she was caught on Blood Pact territory while I was busy being kidnapped. Once we determined she wasn’t willingly a rogue, Julia made friends with our Beta and decided to stay with us. Julia is an adult and has made her decision.  I have done nothing wrong to you, your Father or Silvermoon.”

“She was just a teenager when she went missing, she shouldn’t have made any decision then. I’ll be petitioning the Elder’s Council.” Aaron is red in the face and snarling out his words. The veins at his temples look ready to pop, his anger is going to cause a damn brain aneurysm.

“Yes, she was a teenager and her Aunt Misty, her legal guardian was with her. If you were so worried about her, why didn’t her absence get reported to the Council for weeks? I would gladly welcome your petition because I know it will finally result in an investigation regarding the mistreatment of a minor, unfortunately rehashing this will only hurt Julia. Either way, we have done nothing wrong and she is staying where she feels safe. A good Alpha would want what is best for their former Pack member. She is safe and well cared for, that should be the end of the discussion.” 

“This is not the end of this.” Aaron storms off to where his other Pack members are standing.

I let out a sigh of relief, my husband is just waiting to wreck this Alpha. I turn and wrap my arms around My One and Only. He takes in my scent as he squeezes me. Stav gives me a nip with his wolf fangs over my mark, a silent warning he will be pouncing on me the second we head back to our room. His d*minant gesture causes Athena’s purr to rumble from my chest. 

Crap, I don’t have time to let Athena’s hopes for angry s*x materialize right now. I have to track down my she-wolves before Terri wanders outside and slashes Aaron’s tires or writes her initials in lighter fluid on his hood. I’ll promise Julia we only have to make one more lap around the room to say our goodbyes, and then we can all leave. I am so over this party. I just hope this doesn't blow up in my face.