Marked

Chapter 5: Submit

The room went deathly quiet and still. It became painfully clear to me no one ever dared stand up to him. That was the problem. No one questioned him. They were too scared. Scared enough that he intimidated a fucking Elder out of speaking and that was just bad news. They were all terrified of him.

I wasn't.

"O-okay, Gamma Tess of Blackstone, what are your concerns?" Elder Bradley stammered, glancing between Kane and I apprehensively.

"I want to know why," I said, narrowing my eyes at Kane.

"Why what?" Kane growled.

"Why did you take over those packs? Kill the pack leaders?"

"It's in the report," Kane said, clenching his fists.

"Fine," I shrugged. "Then I want to see the report."

The tension in the air was so thick, it made everyone uncomfortable. People started shifting in their seats and I felt his furious gaze turn back to his Alpha gaze. I had to take a deep breath because damn, he was strong. Stronger even than I realized. I could see why no one stood up to him. It was frightening. I could barely keep myself from submitting. I wouldn't give him the benefit. His eyes narrowed further.

"As a representative of my pack it's my right to see the report or hear the reasoning. Your choice," I said, crossing my arms and maintaining eye contact with Kane.

He was not happy. Even his Beta glanced over at me with wide eyes, probably wondering what the hell I was doing. Kane said nothing so I held out my hand.

"Report," I said sternly.

Bradley started to hand it down but Kane's eyes went to him, freezing him in place. That only pissed me off further. The fact that he could intimidate the Elders this much was bad news. They were supposed to keep everyone in check. They couldn't do that if they were afraid of pack leaders. Yet another reason the Elders were corrupt. I growled, getting Kane's attention as gasps erupted across the room.

"Choose your words carefully, Gamma," Kane said through gritted teeth.

"I don't have to, Alpha," I snapped back. "Give me a reason or give me the report. First thing you need to know about me is I don't tolerate bullshit explanations. So you choose your words carefully or hand over that goddamn report because one of the two things are going to happen whether you like it or not. You are not above the law."

If I thought I felt the full power of his stare before, I was very wrong. It hit me so hard I almost gasped. I breathed in and out heavily, fighting against the instinct which came back with a vengeance. Damn, he was strong. Way too strong. It wasn't good. He needed to be balanced out.

"Perhaps we should take a break," Bradley suggested, his tone jumping a couple octaves.

"If you need a break, Elder, take it. But not before handing over that report," I said, keeping my gaze on Kane's despite the fact it actually started to hurt a little bit.

"Everyone out," Kane growled.

This was insane. Alphas and Lunas would normally take that as a challenge and stubbornly stand their ground. But a sickening realization washed over me as the room was instantly almost completely empty except the two of us. This was bad.

Centuries ago, we had an Alpha that was so drunk with power he became the Alpha King and nearly drove us to extinction when he decided werewolves should be the only species on the planet. He was so strong it took twelve Alphas and Lunas to get him down, not to mention a combination of other species that stepped in. Of the thirty that went to face him only two survived. It took a lot of work to recover from that and we never fully did. That Alpha was the reason people even had legends of werewolves. Before that, we were hidden, but the stories passed down and it was never the same. Kane reeked of the same power and his behavior hinted he was going down the same awful path. It hurt. It hurt so much. Meeting my mate wasn't supposed to be like this.