Werewolf Wedding(61)

“I thought the ice sculpture was for the real marking?” Greta appeared at my elbow, taking my arm in hers and smiling.

“It is,” I said. “This is just something... well, it’s a present for Dane,” I said.

“Jake’s plan?”

I nodded. “Well, kind of a joint venture.”

We shared a moment’s worth of shared glancing. “Where is he, by the way?” she asked me, breaking the silence.

“Been wondering that myself,” I answered, unconsciously biting my lip. I didn’t think he’d abandon everyone, but the truth was, I didn’t know where he was or why he was waiting to make his grand appearance. “I know timing is everything,” I said, “But I want to get this over with.”

From the other side of the party, where he had a cocktail weenie in his mouth, Dane started shouting to me. “Hey! Hey Delilah! You wondering where Jake is?”

“Well, sorta, yeah! I can’t wait to get home with my big, strong mate, and let him do whatever he wants to me! Let’s get this over with!”

My bawdy joke turned my stomach, but all the wolves had a great time laughing at it, that’s for sure. My guts were twisting, wrenching and sour, but I knew that the sooner I could show off that statue and the sooner Dane’s bullshit could be plastered all over God’s green earth, the sooner I could get out of here with the one I was supposed to be with.

And, more importantly, the sooner Jake, Barney and Jeannie would be safe.

“Hey everyone!” Dane was shouting again, hooting at the top of his idiot lungs. “I have a surprise for all of you. My brother, Jake, you know, your weak, limp alpha? He was trying to run and hide. He lost the mating challenge, he lost his spot as alpha, and then he tried to run away to save his scrawny, ugly neck. What do you all think of that?”

There wasn’t much response, so he continued. “What kind of an alpha runs from consequences? Huh?”

Some general grumbling that time, slight irritation moved through the crowd in a wave. “This kind of alpha! I found him slinking around the mansion last night in the shadows, just where he’d have all of you live your lives. Bring him out, Norton!”

The entire crowd, some forty-odd wolves, all surged forward when Dane showed what he’d been lugging behind his motorcycle. In one disturbing, horrific, singular moment, two of his goons went to the back of his bike, and uncovered the trailer. Inside, in chains, screeching, writhing and yelping, was Jake.

Silence overtook the crowd. Utter, stultifying, complete silence.

With each heave of his body, every pained screech, Jake’s cries echoed through the entire crowd.

“Oh!” Dane said, in his standard, mocking voice. “Do you not like to see your weak little baby-man leader in this sort of position? Good,” he hissed. “Because if you think he could have gotten me into that cage?” He paused for a melodramatic laugh. “Oh no, baby, not for a second. But you know what he did?”

“Let him go!” Greta screamed. “He lost the challenge and he’s out of the pack, what more do you want?”

I realized she was setting up the stage for the drama that was about to unfold. In a strange, almost distant way, this all did seem like a stage show – like a long awaited production that had finally come alive. Tension in the crowd was palpable. Even though I hadn’t been around long, I’d been to enough family dinners to know that there wasn’t a single, unified opinion on... well, anything.

On the one hand, most everyone liked the calm and the peace, but on the other? Even if they didn’t like him, a lot of the wolves liked the idea of no more hiding, no more shadows. But this display seemed to bother even the most stalwart of the wolves.

“You want me to let him go, old woman?” Dane hissed at his stepmother. “Then you leave too. Everyone leaves. Out with the weak, old, thin blood. In with the new, with the strong!”

Someone in the crowd cheered, and then another voice joined in.

“This pitiful excuse for a wolf couldn’t even take a mate! How the hell do you expect him to lead the pack during this dangerous time? We’re being hunted! Humans know about us, they want us dead!”

Is that true? I wondered. I certainly didn’t know you existed.

“And you want this infant to lead you?” Dane was stalking back and forth, whipping himself, and a few of his followers, into a wild frenzy. “Bring him to me! Let’s get this marking, and this execution, over with. I’m already tired of this game.”

Like a tired pharaoh, Dane stalked over to the dais set up at the front of the gathering space, the place we were supposed to mark each other formally. Instead, he grabbed an enormous glass of wine, kicked over the podium behind which an officiant would stand, and replaced it with a folding chair, where he sat like a slightly inebriated, sloppily dressed king.

One of his legs splayed out in front of him, and his hair was tossed wildly around his head from the speaking he’d done. “Bring my brother to me!” he demanded. One of his goons obliged, and Jake kicked at him as the bald headed, sweaty, warthog of a wolf dragged him out of the cage.

He turned those silvery eyes on me for just a moment, before letting his head droop on his shoulders. “Delilah...” I heard him moan, “it has to work, or I’m a dead man.”

Norton, his rough handling escort, grunted a laugh and dragged Jake directly through the middle of the parting crowd. No one said much of anything, except for Greta. “Quit blaming your brother for what your father and I chose!” she cried. “Leave him alone and take me, if you have to brutalize someone!” The pain in her voice broke my heart, but Jake’s words were fresh in my mind.