Gamma's Energy Attracts

Part 21

Caly’s POV

“You ready to do this thing?” Tucker peeks his head in through the adjoining door between the Alpha’s office and mine, even though it is reserved for the Luna of BMB, it looks like this office will remain mine for a while longer. 

“I hope so. I wrote a small list.” I show him my notepad, which he snatches and just flips through the pages. 

“I thought you were writing your memoirs. You consider this a small list? Should we set up sleeping bags? This will take all week,” he rolls his eyes, yet I knew this was exactly what he had been expecting, it’s why he left me to do it alone.

Tingles trail up and down my sides while Stav tries to tickle my ribs, reminding me I was never actually alone. I’m not very ticklish, but I hop up out of the chair and look at him over my shoulder, he has a mischievous glint in his eyes. 

I narrow my eyes at my Mate, ‘You look like the dog who got the biggest bone.’

‘I am excited to see my Fierce Kitten in action. I find it very s*xy watching you put people in their place.’ 

Chairs have been set up in the ballroom that was used for last night’s party. At the front of the room stood two large tables draped in table clothes with some of the centrepieces being re-used. What was surprising was that the Lunas were at one table, the Alphas at the other already creating a gender divide, something I don't want this to be seen as his versus hers. In the middle were three empty seats. Tucker takes one look at his Mother and parks his butt beside her at the ladies’ table so I can sit at the head of the men’s table beside Stav. Luna Anne sits up a little straighter (to unruffle her proverbial feathers), Tucker is going to cop an earful later but she would never say anything in front of guests. 

Tucker gives me that c*cky grin he has perfected and stands to address the crowd. There doesn’t look like much love is in the audience. In fact, most look weary, hungover or weepy, there are bloodshot eyes everywhere you look for one reason or another. Tuck nods to someone at the back of the room who opens the double doors and I can start to see the procession lined up. Doctor Blackheart leads the way followed by three nurses each rolling a wheelchair to the front of the room. The crowd starts muttering to their neighbours and a few girls start to cry seeing their friends in distress. 

Tucker shut it down right away by growling loud enough that it reverberated around the room. His mere presence caused some of the young wolves to flinch. The next group was marched to the front in silence. Coming in two by two, one guard for each of the 4 dishevelled males with their hands tied behind their backs zip-ties, no doubt the kind with a thin layer of silver embedded in them to prevent them from shifting. Each had eerie red irises, lifelessly looking straight ahead without focus. They were brought forward and made to kneel in front of the Alphas’ table.

Alpha Aaron stands so quickly his chair clatters as it hit the ground. I turn my head to look down the line of Alphas. I can easily tell which Alphas these wolves belong to, one to Alpha Holt who looks on his Pack member with disappointment, the young man hangs his head in shame. Alpha Braxton also owns one of the prisoners which he is looking at with utter disgust. That means two belong to Alpha Aaron. I almost didn’t recognize Julia’s former Mate, Erik. His ashen gray parlour and vacant red eyes make him resemble a walking corpse. 

“What is the meaning of this, Alpha Tucker?” Aaron hisses out. “Are you trying to humiliate us!?”

“Hardly, not everything is about you, Alpha Aaron. You knew they were arrested for injuring my Pack warriors, they are damn lucky all I am doing is publicly calling out their behaviour instead of a real punishment.” I can read between the lines, Tuck is heavily insinuating they should still receive punishment from their own Alphas. “I thought a visual representation of some of the consequences would help drive the point home for everyone.” Tucker winks at me while giving Aaron a megawatt smile. Tucker always did have a flair for the dramatic.

“I agree, one of my elite warriors should have respected other warriors just doing their jobs. He will be demoted and on extra duties for the next three months,” says Alpha Holt. “I apologize for him, Alpha Tucker.”

“I will handle my disgrace the Blood Fang way, then he can sit in the dungeon until the feral look leaves his eyes,” Alpha Braxton’s tone is dangerously angry and the young man in front of him shivers in fright. I have heard the stories of how Blood Fang got its name; the Alpha commands them to shift and then pulls out any number of their fangs, depending on the crime. Our wolf’s fangs will grow back in time, usually after a week or so of constant shifting to rebuild the calcification. In accordance with Blood Fang tradition, while they grow out the teeth, they are shunned by the Pack. I feel bad for this young wolf. On top of the barbaric punishment, he will be jailed as well? When you lose your Mate, you might not ever lose the feral side as your wolf continues to suffer. His incarceration could be indefinite.

‘They are better off feral.’ Athena huffs out angrily.

‘How can you say that?’

‘It is not as though they lost their Mate through death. Those unfortunate wolves are driven to madness by grief.  It must be terrible knowing your stooopid human screwed you out of your Mate. Their wolves took over because their human obviously can’t be left in charge!’ 

Alpha Aaron remains tight-lipped as he once again takes his seat. I doubt either of his young wolves will even be admonished, and that burns my b*tt. This man is just as useless and undeserving of such a title as his Father was. He doesn’t even notice the other Alphas shaking their heads at his antics.

“If that’s all, I’m going to start the assembly.” Tucker looks pointedly at Aaron, who refuses to acknowledge him. Tucker shrugs off his behaviour, he won’t let Aaron upset him, he knows he’s the stronger Alpha. Alpha’s often have a p*ssing contest before any real work can be done or any consensus can be reached.

Tucker addresses the crowd. “Silence everyone. Thank you all for attending this meeting. A Mating Ball is usually cause for great celebration. It saddens us as your Alphas and Lunas that last night wasn’t a happy occasion, in fact, it was marred by tragedy. As many of you have already heard, instead of Mates finding each other and happily beginning a new life together, many people blatantly decided to toss away one of the few things that make life worth living, a Mate. Thirteen couples to be exact. I find that astounding. As such, some of the Lunas wish to speak about what this means. I would like to introduce you to my Mother, Luna Anne.”

I half-listened to Anne’s speech, I was busy watching the reaction of the crowd. Not one of them looked guilty or seemed to have an ‘Aha!’ moment. The realization wasn’t dawning on any of the young wolves’ faces. All they heard was ‘Blah, blah, blah….Important’. Some were quietly whispering, other’s were glaring at each other somewhat angrily. It sounded an awful lot like they were aware of the deplorable behaviour of some of their peers. 

By the time Kat stood to speak about the joys of having a Mate the crowd was lost. Darius was slightly blushing as it was obvious that Kat was gushing about him rather than Mates in general. The little disrespectful little sh*ts were openly talking and laughing and not paying a lick of attention to the Luna at the front of the room. Thank goodness Kat was so placid and quite frankly, oblivious. 

I had tuned Athena’s ears to see what they were saying. It seemed there was more gossiping about who we may be talking about, whether it was all the boys’ fault. All of the rejectors were male. Apparently, a group of boys had convinced their buddies to not accept their bonds unless she was a ‘total f*cking hottie’ or ‘s*x on a stick’ and because the Mate Bond could influence your reasoning, the others ‘voted’ or rated on if you Mate was at least a 9 out of 10. There were whispers from the girls that some of the guys wanted to see if they could get laid before they rejected their Mate. Both Athena and I were seething. 

‘Do you hear these morons? How can they be so heartless?’ I mind-link my Mate.

Stavros was able to feel the strength of my emotions getting out of control, and did his best to soothe me. He snaked his hand up my skirt to stick his warm hand on the top of my thigh. He does this thing where sticks his palm flat and makes circles with his thumb, and after every rotation, he squeezes my thigh. It feels so amazing, sometimes I will get lost in the motion, mesmerized by the tingles that start in a small area and ripples outward to encompass my entire being with warmth. Sometimes it is so relaxing that I start to get sleepy, but Athena is pacing in my head to combat it, she is still very much alert. My hand slapped over his with such force, people turned to look for the source.

“Tucker!” my Stavros whispered as he leaned in his chair to talk to him literally behind my back. He made some gesture I didn’t catch, but Tucker took my chin between a finger and thumb so he could look into my eyes. He let go shocked and reached in his pocket to hand me a bag of salted caramel dark chocolates. 

‘Ooo, I like these. These were expensive,’ Athena snatched at them, it was when I realized my eyes were black, my claws were out and my hands were trembling as she shredded the packaging. Kat finished her speech and noticed Athena’s unruly behaviour. 

‘Slow down, Athena! You are scaring people,’ I chastise as she pops a few more chocolates into our mouth.

‘I just need a few more.’ she says frantically unwrapping the candies.

“Dar, Caly…Athena?” She looks from me to Darius and hesitates.

“I’m alright. I just cannot believe the gall of these wolves to blatantly ignore a Luna speaking.”

‘Alright! Time to start scaring wolves for real!’ That was all the warning I got before Athena filled her lungs, to scream “SILENCE!” She was commanding their full attention. There was a pregnant pause. ‘Um, Babe, it’s your turn?!’

Oh. Right. She garners the attention and I am the one who speaks calmly. I was ready to let her do the whole thing.  “Were any of you actually listening? You have been whispering and gossiping about being adults, but here you are, disrespecting Lunas trying to guide you? I wonder if the Alphas spoke you would shut your d*mn mouths." 

"I realize most of you are barely out of high school and are at just the beginning of your adult lives. So let's cut the crap and look at the facts, shall we? Werewolves have always led a harsher life than most. It has caused us to mature faster, take on responsibilities before we fully know how to handle them.  We are full grown at 18, an age the humans still consider themselves to be finding their way or discovering themselves.” 

“At 18 we are given the chance to find our Mates, it is a gift in and of itself.” 

I hear someone groan, “Not this again.” My head snaps in the direction of the voice, knowing full well it was that i***t from the mall. I get up from my seat and start walking down the center aisle, glaring at wolves as I pass them by.

“Our inner wolves seek this connection to feel whole. We don’t have to ever wonder if the other person is right for us. We don’t worry if there will be a mutual attraction or if our feelings will be reciprocated. We don’t need long courtships, we can start building our future earlier. We are so lucky we never have to worry if our Bonds and marriages will last the test of time. I’m stupified that so many of you didn’t want that chance to live happy lives.”

“We grow up faster, but also we become disillusioned faster. Perhaps that has what led us to last night's tragedy.” I stood in front of the group of boys inciting the descent. “Tell me, did you really encourage your peers to spit in the face of the Goddess?” Athena stares him right into his beady little eyes. My eyeballs will dry out and turn to dust before she would allow someone else to win a staring contest.

“Whatever. You aren’t my Luna, I don’t answer to you.” He laughs and looks to his buddies for back-up, but they are uncomfortable with me hovering over them.

“I am an Alpha!  I suggest you shut your mouths and get over your frat-boy attitudes.” Athena snarls from my lips. This boy is foolish, he is poking at my beast. Heat radiates from my body, every pore on my body raised to flood the room with untold amounts of pheromones. Wolves surrounding him tilt their necks in submission, but his wolf is trying to fight me. I wait until he c*cks his head to the side and I smile, but I am in no way happy.  

I drop the aura so he can speak. “You think your some hot stuff, don’t you? I hope all the she-wolves see how pathetic you really are,” Is it a low blow, especially for a Luna? Perhaps, but I no longer care.

“What’s the big deal anyways? We have choices or rejection wouldn’t be an option. Besides, why are you blaming just the guys?  You’re just a man-hating b*tch, like your Gamma. You’re just mad  because you wanna be a dude so you can be a real Alpha, but you aren’t so you had to kill your own Daddy.” I am shocked by his words, but I quickly recover.

“I did kill my Father, after he tried kidnapping me, and purchasing me from the Elder’s Council, in hopes I would be his next bride. When he found out I was his daughter he tried to give me the title of Alpha, but didn’t transfer over any of the power. I did kill him to save the Pack, but I am not a man-hater,” I say poignantly, but I have no way to prove it. I give myself a second to recoup, talking about my sperm donor is still difficult for me.

“Maybe I am crazy for wasting my breath. Fact is, all of the wolves doing the rejecting were males. Wolves ended up in jail, in critical care at the hospital, and some will soon be in funeral pyres. So sure, you can be your own person, make your own choices, but your wolf needs a Mate to feel connected. We have our Mates and we live in Packs so we can come together as a group. Fracturing Bonds is an affront to the Goddess. Choosing a path that leads to loneliness, becoming feral as rogues and loners puts you further away from attaining happiness. I don’t know why people would do that to themselves, or encourage others. Only the two wolves Bonded should be making the decisions about their future relationship.” 

I glanced through the crowd again, this time I could see some eyes that showed remorse, a few heads bowed in guilt. I finally can take a deep breath. I got through to some of them at least. I wrap my arms around myself and head for the door. My sugar rush is dying and I want to ground myself. I want to grab a fancy coffee and go play with my kids. I know what is important in my life, that’s what I will devote my energy to.

‘You did good, Babe,’ Athena whispers her encouragement softly. 

*******

Stavros’s POV

I watch Tucker pull out his phone the second Caly turns her back to us.  I watch her stalk up the centre of the room and I whisper to him, “What are you doing?”

“Thinking about Caly’s web page. She might not see it, but she can be a very influential speaker when she sets her mind to it. I think more young wolves should hear this message, that way the next time there’s a Mating Ball we don’t have the same outcome.”

I watch my fierce Kitten deliver her message, Zeus impatiently pressing to come forward. First, she was so upset Athena needed a chocolate distraction and now she’s pushing out her aura like a bubble shield, even reaching its way to me. I look at the other Alphas, that weakling Aaron is fighting it hard, he’s starting to sweat. She’s right, he doesn’t deserve to be Alpha.

That f*cking punk kid is challenging her. My wife isn’t a man-hater. “I’m not sure if the little jerk is listening.”

“Maybe not him, but she has broken through to some others. Look,” Tucker whispers. “I hoped she was going to speak about what those in the hospital went through. That would make them all look like the @sses they are. It seems Caly has reached her limit, though.” 

Caly doesn’t return to sit beside me, she leaves the room. I mind link her, she sounds weary and she lets me know she’ll be at Luna Anne’s.  I tell her she did well, that I love her and I will join her soon. I link Terri to watch out for her.

People start to stand like anyone has given them permission to leave. They have not been dismissed by the Alphas. I bare my teeth at Tucker, “Are we just going to let them go? The pups still aren’t getting it.” By pups, I mostly mean the guys.

“What is there left to say?” Tucker gives a nonchalant shrug. I know this isn’t sitting well with him, either. 

What is there left to say? It’s too bad Caly didn’t go into her own experiences, that would have shown that miserable punk how strong she truly is…

“Sit your asses down!” I growl out, the boom in my voice forcing everyone to freeze.