The Pack - On the Run
Twenty-Six

"Anything else for you?” Leigh asked.

I narrowed my gaze at Louis. He shook his head at the waitress, meeting my eyes. I watched them gradually turn bright silver, his wolf peeking through - possibly drawn by the sudden change in my mood - as I clenched my teeth, grinding them loudly, Louis’ words playing in my head on repeat.

You still can’t disobey me. You still can’t disobey me. You still can’t disobey me.

As if.

“What did you just say?” I asked sugarily, my smile sickeningly sweet.

Jonah froze with a straw halfway to his mouth, his lips slightly parted as he shot me a look.

“Oh, man,” he mumbled, putting away his drink with a soft thud.

Mikey’s nose started twitching, the sour smell of my anger assaulting him. His brows furrowed, eyes turned bright green, lips curled inward in a silent growl as he faced Louis, clearly ready to jump at him to defend me.

Right, Munchkin, bite him in the ass.

Louis lifted his brow at my brother. His sharp gaze forced Mikey to shy away behind my back. My brother let out a soft whine that grated on my nerves and made my feelings of protectiveness go into overdrive.

I growled, then opened my mouth to give Louis a piece of my mind, but he stole my thunder.

“Outside,” His clipped voice almost made me wince.

Louis swiftly stood up, waiting for me as I crawled out of the booth with half his grace.

“Don’t worry, Shrimp. Mummy and daddy need to talk. Nothing to get your pants in a twist,” I heard Jonah ease Mikey as I followed the teen’s brother outside.

As soon as we stepped through the doors, I was on Louis. “When were you going to tell me?”

“What was I going to tell you?” Louis countered, raising his brows and crossing his arms over his chest.

Even when mad, I couldn’t help but notice Everton was deadly gorgeous - like a lethal weapon honed to perfection - all sharp edges, and sinewy muscles, contrasted with a soft curl of mouth.

“That you can give me orders, which I have no choice but to follow?” I snarled, jabbing my finger accusingly at his chest.

“I thought it was pretty clear,” Louis stepped closer, forcing me to drop my arm as he stopped an inch before me. We were almost toe-to-toe, his stance hard like a rock I wanted to crush with my very own two hands.

“Males are more dominant than females. Females move up the Pack’s hierarchy only through mating. This means that, bonded or not, I will be above you, and so I’ll always be able to ‘order you around’ as you have so nicely put. Unless, of course, you mate my dad,” he explained, his words slow and deliberate.

They shook me to the core.

“What is it with you, bloody wolves, and your cavemen ways? It’s like we’re back to Medieval Ages all over! Ever heard of the feminist right movement?” I exclaimed, furiously flinging my hands up.

I couldn’t help but feel tricked. By fate, karma, God, my dad? - I wasn’t even sure at this point. The life I knew and understood was sipping through my fingers faster than quicksand, and I couldn’t do anything about it. I was stuck in an archaic patriarchal system with no way out.

I whirled on my heel, running a hand through my frizzed hair.

“Does that mean you can make me do whatever you want, and I can’t ever defy you?” I growled, my voice taking on a hysterical note.

A soft rumble escaped Louis’ mouth. He lifted his eyes upwards as if seeking divine patience, clenching and unclenching fists at his sides.

“Stop being so overdramatic,” he finally said, leveling me with a look. “All of this may sound bad, but it’s not what you think. Ask Rosalynd, Leigh, or any other girl in the Pack. We are not tyrants. I’m not going to turn you into some kind of a slave. It’s sick,” He spat out, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

“But you still could. Or another he-wolf I would get stuck to if I were mated to them,” I pointed out, refusing to back down so easily. “Besides, what if I was mated to somebody at the bottom of your social wolf ladder? Would it mean I would be on everyone’s beck and call?”

It was Louis’ turn to grit his teeth. He seemed to put so much strength into the movement the vein on his temple popped.

“Hierarchy exists for a reason,” he half answered. “It asserts peace within the Pack. Helps avoid unnecessary conflicts. Enables the individual members to replace their place within the Pack’s dynamics and get through certain challenges our human part faces when sharing a body with a beast. And to answer your question, yes, you would have to follow orders of all more dominant wolves, but no sane male or female would ever abuse their position like that. We don’t go around ordering submissive Pack mates right and left. We’re here to protect them, to lend them our strength and stability. We need them as much as they need us,” he added, easing his stance a bit.

I kicked at the tiny pebble that got in my way. At some point during Louis’ lecture, I started pacing back and forth by the round tables of the cafe, too frustrated to stand still.

I didn’t even know what I had actually expected.

It was stupid of me to assume I could oppose the Alpha when Louis had implied he was able to. I couldn’t possibly enjoy the same privileges as him, not with my luck. It would be too good to be true.

But I had still hoped...

I whirled on my heel. “Why can males order their mates and not the other way round?”

Louis raked his hand through his hair, ruffling it as he sighed. “Nature, I think. The females are usually weaker than males, physically at least. Their bodies are faster and more agile but nonetheless not as strong. Our role is to protect the females and the pups. Sometimes that means giving the orders some wouldn’t be happy with,” he said, throwing me a look.

It still didn’t sit well with me.

I shifted my gaze from Louis’ intensive stare to the road ahead. A car passed by with a soft hum of an engine; a lone man hurried to the post office round the corner...

“Just so you know, I don’t buy it,” I said, at last, flickering my eyes to Louis.

“And nobody expects you to, Jo,” he answered back. “But believe me when I say I would never do anything to hurt you. I simply can’t,” he hummed, his voice taking on a gentler note, eyes losing their sharp glint.

And when he put it that way, I really wanted to trust him.

But I had heard this story before.

“Not purposely, possibly,” I remarked slowly. “But the road to hell is paved with good intentions, isn’t it?” I threw, then turned around and went back inside, leaving Louis standing.