My Personal Hell, D. Richardson [ebook reader browser txt] 📗

It was almost done when I heard him start to move. I looked over to see him sitting up sniffing around. I put the plate down in front of him without a word, and started making my own.

It only took a few minutes and when I went to sit down he was just staring at the plate. I started to worry that I had upset him, or if he couldn’t eat it.

“You okay?” I asked after taking my first bite. He looked over at me, looking lost.

“Why did you…?” he gestured to the plate. I shrugged.

“Well I invaded your space and took over your bed, I figured I could at least make you breakfast,” I replied. He nodded, stared at the food for a moment and then picked it up.

After that there was just a comfortable silence as we ate. I was about halfway through mine when he walked passed me to put his plate in the sink. It was my turn to stare. He caught me staring, and looked down at himself as though he thought he had something on his shirt.

“What?”

“Did you even taste it?” I asked. He shrugged.

“Of course I did, it was really good.”

“You inhaled it.”

“I was hungry,” he mumbled, then gestured towards he bedroom and the bathroom inside it.

“I’m going to go take a shower. We need to leave soon.” When I nodded he walked out.

About ten minutes later he came back out. His hair was damp and his shirt was in his hand. It took an awful lot not to stare. Though it wasn’t necessary. The sight was burned into my memory for life.

I had always known that his shoulders were wide. I also knew that he had some muscle. But I didn’t know that he was chiseled. Every muscle was defined and very impressive. His tanned skin did little to hide the occasional scar and I wanted to ask how he had gotten them.

It took a lot of effort not to blush as I walked passed him to go change my clothes. I turned to close the door and paused. On the top of his right shoulder was a tattoo of a black wolf howling at a full moon that was slightly covered with clouds. It was a beautiful depiction, and I closed the door before I said so.

When we got to the house it was as crowded as usual, but Drake was talking on the phone. By his tone I could see that the conversation wasn’t going well. After he hung up he told us to leave. Well, he told us to go on a border run. I think he just wanted as many people out of the house as possible.

The next week went the same way. He was constantly on the phone with this alpha or that one. Or an alphas underling if they didn’t want to talk to him themselves. He was trying to find another pack to watch over the battle. Witnesses to the Crudelus pack’s trickery. But they were all either refusing to be there or refusing to listen. Claiming that his challenge had nothing to do with them.

When it came down to the last pack he kicked everyone out of the room except for the commanders and Stephan’s top men. As soon as all of us were closed in around the table he gave a frustrated grunt.

“Right now we’re screwed. We have the man power to defend against their threefold attack, but we have no one there to say that it’s strictly self defense. Without it we could end up with every pack standing against us. Believing that it was us who instigated the whole thing.”

“What’s left then?” Asher asked.

“We’re down to the last pack. I’m not holding my breath. So far they’ve refused to let me speak to him.”

“What’s his story?” I asked, wanting to know what kind of person we were dealing with.

“He’s a spoiled brat. His territory sits on our south border. He got the territory by default when his father died.”

“What do you mean, he got it by default?” I was slightly confused.

“He didn’t have to get married to take it over. The majority of his territory is overpopulated by humans. It’s more like a city than a town, the type of place meant for industry. No one wanted to challenge him for it, so it became his. But if we can’t talk to him, we can’t get a yes or no.”

“You want us to go find him and push him into it?” Sadler asked, but Drake shook his head.

“No, his territory might be overpopulated by humans but he’s a genius when it comes to internal defense. No male will get close to him.”

“What about females?” I asked, he looked at me and I could practically see the light bulb above his head click on.

“He owns a single’s club. Rumor has it that he spends most of his time there. He only allows wolves to go in same sex groups, and no more than three at a time. The males and females meet and generally leave together. It’s really high class, that’s how he keeps his pack funded.”

“So, what your saying is that pack males there for a meeting would get turned away at the door. But females wouldn’t be suspected?” I asked, making sure that I understood him correctly. He nodded.

“So we use a few females as cover to sneak in and then we corner him,” Asher supplied.

“We can…,” Bastion started but Drake cut him off, eyeing me with a thoughtful expression.

“No,” everyone stopped and looked at him. “Ailith is heading this one.” I was just as shocked as the rest of them.

“What?” Jaeger asked.

“Ailith will be planning this one. What she says goes.” And then he stepped back, giving me the room. I stood there, thinking for a moment, then went to the door.

As I suspected my two top fighters were standing in the hallway, Jen stood with them. I did a little finger wag telling them to come back into the kitchen. Several males that stood around them looked extremely insulted. Keira and Chris stood on either side of me and Jen took a spot next to Asher across the table.

“This night club is supposed to be impenetrable for someone wanting to talk to the alpha. Our job is to get in, get his attention and then talk him into helping us out. I want you two with me. Asher, Sadler, and Dalton will get there ahead of us, in case they decide not to let us leave. That way Asher can represent Drake as negotiator.” I looked up at him and he looked stunned but nodded.

“Are you sure that’s going to work? Sadler’s a rogue and Asher is a pack alpha,” Bastion asked, I shook my head.

“Sadler is a rogue, but they’re bound to get them on occasion. How else are they supposed to join a pack unless they mate a pack female. Asher is a future pack alpha, and everyone knows that he’s still single. They’ll assume he’s only there to find a female so he can inherit the pack. Especially since this challenge will be common knowledge by now.” I got several understanding nods, and a smile from Bastion.

“I want Bastion, Alex, Macon, and Nevin to scattered around the room. No more than two together and all of you show up at different times. We’ll walk in after everyone is in place. When we get in to see the alpha I’ll wait until he’s ready to talk and then signal you guys to come in,” I said looking at Sadler. “And then it’s all you.” I followed looking directly at Asher. He looked a little overwhelmed, but nodded anyway. “This place is supposed to be really high class. Jen?” I asked, looking up at her. She was practically squirming with excitement.

“Way ahead of you,” she said, running out of the room. She was back in less than a minute with three garment bags, and breathing heavily. “I made these as extras for the benefit, just in case. I’ve just been waiting for the right time to show you guys.” Then she passed them out.

Our names were printed on tags, telling us which belonged to whom. I was vaguely aware of Becca entering the room, but I hung the bag on the refrigerator and unzipped it. Keira and Chris did the same. When I saw the dress I wanted to throw something.

There was a lot of fabric, but very little would be covered. It had a left sleeve that would cover my entire arm down to the tops of my knuckles, but there was no right sleeve. There was no right shoulder. It looked like it would start just under my arm and then stop about four inches beneath my breasts. Leaving my stomach completely exposed until it hit my waist. Then it trailed down to the floor, except for the very long slit on the right side. It looked like the slit started only about six inches beneath my hip. Though the two pieces were held together by a wide bit of clothe on the back, that would completely cover my scars.

“No,” I said my eyes as wide as they could get. “No,” I turned to look at Jen, she had a sheepish look on her face. “No! No! I’m not wearing this!”

“Oh come on, you’ll look fantastic.”

“I’ll look easy!” Even I could hear the incredulity in my tone. She gave me a stern look.

“Hey, it will cover all of the necessities. Besides, if it’s the club I think you’re talking about, it’s a twenty one and older club. You’ll need to look older and this will definitely make you look older.” The other females in the room came over to look at the garment. Each one giving off their own squeal of approval, including Becca.

“I thought you said it was originally for the benefit.” She blushed slightly.

“Well, I might have made some adjustments to it since then.” I groaned and reached between the girls to zip it back up.

“We go tonight, the sooner we get this done the better,” I growled.

“Okay, now that that’s settled we have one more matter to discuss,” Drake stepped in, looking like he would rather be somewhere else, thanks to our female conversation. I approached the table again. I wasn’t too proud to admit that I was pouting, but everyone wisely decided to ignore it. “Ailith, what do you think Van’s strategy for the battle will be?” he asked. Again I was stunned that he was asking me, but I didn’t hesitate to answer.

“He’ll want his strongest, most loyal wolves on the field. He needs to win the battle before all else, just in case the rogues don’t hold up their end. So it’ll probably be him, Mark, Luke and then three more of his strongest fighters.” He nodded after I was done talking.

“How would you counter it?” he asked again. I shot him a confused look, not completely sure why he wanted my opinion on this one.

“I’d probably put Asher, Sadler, and Bastion on the field, and then Kiera, Chris and I. We’re the strongest females, and they’ll underestimate us based on our gender and size. Van would most likely go for Asher, he’s see him as the biggest threat since he’s set to inherit a pack. Mark would target Sadler. He’s an alpha rogue. He’d order Luke to go for Bastion, but knowing Luke he’ll deviate.”

“I can handle that little bastard,” Bastion mumbled, but I shook my head.

“No, if I’m on the field, Luke’s mine.” Bastion opened his mouth to argue, but at my look he closed it. “If I’m there, Luke will come after me, no matter his orders. He sees me as his property and nothing would make him happier than to force me into submission. He wouldn’t try to kill me though. He’s a sadist who lost his favorite toy, he’d try to cause pain, not death.”

“What makes you so sure?” Sadler asked, I met his