Avoiding Alpha

Chapter Twenty Six

The day waned slowly. Very slowly. Almost too slowly. They did not tie Tendra to the ceiling again, nor did they beat her; they were waiting and they were preparing and had left Tendra to be afraid for Ray. But she sat on the ground with her legs crossed and Tim curled on her lap sobbing every now and then, his fear making him weep.

“Tendra. Are they going to hurt us?”

“I think so Tim. But you need to be brave ok?”

                She hated herself for telling the truth, for seeing him more frightened, but she would not let her last actions be a lie to her brother. She did not expect his crying to stop though, so when it did she looked at him. He sniffled a little but no longer wept. She didn’t understand it until she saw the same glint in his eye that she knew was in hers. Strength to face the future whether it was scary or not. Thank god she had no lied to him, he would have seen through it and died knowing Tendra wasn’t always truthful.

                Her father was staring into space. He knew that his time had come but what was making Tendra wary was he wasn’t shouting, nor was he trying to beat her, or Tim. He was silent. He had defended her outside and while that chivalrous act was one in a million that he didn’t seem to want to repeat any time soon, he was far from the aggressive man she knew him to be. He did look awful though, paler than usual and something just wasn’t quite right. Maybe, finally after all the alcohol, his brain was actually addled. She found herself caring to an extent but not enough to break his stupor, nor move Tim. She wouldn’t risk him turning on her.

                It was Nancy however that was tied to the ceiling and she too was pale. She looked like she was about to be sick.

“Why.” Was the one word that Tendra asked.

“I wanted out of the pack. I wanted to be stronger. I wanted a family and I couldn’t have that with Ashton so I wanted to leave and never look back. I thought they would help me, that they would let me join them for a while… I was no one! I was a cook - I want to be more. I just wanted to start feeling again.”

“So you betrayed a pack and led them to slaughter?”

“It wasn’t slaughter. The weak always die.”

“Looks like your part of the weak, you ready for the other side?”

“Shut up.”

“No. You betrayed Ray’s pack and that’s my pack as well. I joined a family and they became mine. I protect my own Nancy and you not only betrayed me but you betrayed my new family. And to top it off Nancy, you betrayed Tim. You dared bring a seven year old into this messed up situation and he’s seen far too much in his short life already. Don’t even look at me, look to the floor.”

                She allowed an Alpha command to take place and watched with satisfaction when Nancy’s head bowed. She didn’t want to see her eyes; she did not want the woman to even think she was good enough to look up. Harsh, she knew that, but right then she wanted to be harsh, she wanted to feel in control of something, and more importantly she wanted Nancy to know how much grief she had caused. Nancy did not seem to be regretting what she had done only where it had gotten her and that angered Tendra no end. How dare she betray family and not feel anything for them! Those warriors would and had given their lives for her life. It was a poor repayment was betrayal.