Taking Down the Alpha

6 The More the Merrier

With a sigh, I watched Marigold follow the stragglers up the stairs. My gathering had been a failure, at least insofar as for finding support for my plans.

Feeling downhearted, I reminded myself that it wasn't the end. There was support for addressing the alpha's behaviour, underneath all the worries that stopped my pack mates from speaking out. If my clear alternative of a champion was presented, perhaps they would be swayed. Just because they weren't willing to take a risk didn't mean they wouldn't be willing for me to take a risk if it came down to it.

I turned around to find Denise sitting on the couch in all her sultry glory, back straight with one leg crossed over the other. I jumped slightly, having thought that I was alone. My surprise was another sign of what a good fighter she was, they all tended to be irritatingly silent when moving. I'd never achieved that level of wolfish grace through my mandatory training.

"So, that went well," she commented. Her tone was sardonic, and I still had no idea where she stood on the topic of the alpha since she had been silent during the meeting. Hopefully she wasn't going to whisper my plans to Alpha Hudson across the pillow. Had I miscalculated? I didn't think so.

I sat down on the chair across from her. As soon as my butt hit the cushion, it was like all my energy drained out of me. "It barely could have gone worse. In retrospect, I probably should have talked to everyone one on one first."

She smiled slightly. "It was good to show them they weren't alone, and I doubt talking to them one on one would have changed anything. They've got valid concerns. We've all got a lot to lose."

"I understand that, but someone has to stand up to him. What he does is wrong." Maybe she wasn't the right one to complain to since she seemed to enjoy the alpha's attentions, if her words to Alice had been true. I hoped I was right that she wouldn't run to him and rat me out.

She smiled, but there was bitterness in her eyes. "Sometimes you've just got to roll with your circumstances."

"Like you do?" I asked, and instantly regretted my words. I didn't need to rub her choices in her face. "Denise, I'm sorry—"

She laughed harshly. "No need to apologize. After all, I am just the pack slut, right?"

"Denise, no," I said, frantically trying to backpedal out of the situation. She was clearly so much more than that, even if our other pack members had trouble seeing that.

She smiled bitterly. "It is a bit ironic that our dear alpha has slept with at least twice as many people as I have, and yet somehow I keep the title."

"That double standard is ridiculous."

"Can't change it." She shot me another half smile that was devoid of happiness, and inspected her perfect nails.

I studied her. She always acted so detached from everything, and even right now she seemed completely relaxed, no outward signs that she was dissatisfied with where she had ended up in the pack hierarchy. I would have believed her, except I kept getting the sense that she was really fed up with the status quo just like I was, but that dissatisfaction was buried under all her nonchalance.

She smirked. "I will give him one bit of credit though, thanks to your little gathering. He really doesn't discriminate on who he sleeps with at all, does he? The man clearly doesn't have a prejudiced bone in his body when it comes to the ladies, or at least his bone isn't prejudiced. He's a true equal opportunity man-whore."

I laughed a bit at that. It wasn't funny, but it was nice not to feel as alone in my resentment as I had before speaking to her. "He really is."

We fell into silence, and I took another sneaking glance at her. We were alone in the basement, and since it was well soundproofed even my family upstairs couldn't hear what we said. Could I trust my instincts about Denise? There was no going back if I was wrong, but my wolf trusted her as an equal and ally. My wolf and I seldom agreed on anything, at least not until I'd started my vendetta against the alpha, but for once I decided not to overthink it. "If I actually did have a feasible plan...would you be interested in helping me with it? I know you're close to Alpha Hudson, but..."

She chuckled darkly. "I'm not close to him. I probably resent him more than you do. I only fuck him to spite someone I resent even more," she said, and her smile grew wicked. The cutting edge of her tone became vicious. "And I would not miss the opportunity to see him suffer."

My gut—or maybe my wolf—still told me I could trust her, and I decided to take the risk and let her in on my ideas. "I want to challenge him."

She scoffed, the sound barely short of a derisive laugh. "So do I, believe me. But he's too strong."

I nodded. "I know. I don't intend to fight him myself."

She shook her head. "Jessica, he's insanely strong. There's no one in our pack who even has a chance."

I shrugged. To test her reaction, I suggested, "Maybe Beta Nate—"

"He's a worse hypocrite than Alpha Hudson," she disagreed, shutting me down right away. "Even if he could beat him, I'd go rogue before bowing to that one."

I wondered what she knew that I didn't. I always thought Alpha Hudson was worse than his beta, but I decided not to pry. If my plan succeeded in the end, Beta Nate would be demoted so fast his head would spin. "Actually, he wasn't a part of my plan. I found a clause buried in the pack charter where we can appoint a champion from outside the pack if a certain percentage of members throw their support behind the champion and their sponsor."

Her brow drew together contemplatively. She cocked her head slightly. "Really?"

So she thought my idea might be promising, too. I smiled at that. "Yes. Do you think we can get more than fifty-one percent?"

She laughed. "I bet you could get halfway there with just the friends and families of the women he's screwed over alone. If they believe that it can be done. There're a lot of silently pissed off fathers and uncles around here who can't do anything about it."

She'd reached the same conclusion as I had, which was further assurance. "I just have to invent an excuse to take a leave of absence from the pack for a month. I'll probably say that I'm going to go searching for my mate. Want to come along?"

She inspected me carefully, and then a small smile began to form on her full red lips. "I do. I really do."

In that moment it felt like a new bond formed between us, something stronger than just our existent pack bonds. I opened my mouth to explain further, but was cut off by a crash from the back of the room.

We both whirled around, feeling as if we'd been caught doing something wrong. Maybe we had, at least from the alpha and his loyalists' perspective, even if what I was doing was technically legitimate under the pack charter. Liana stood beside a bowl she had knocked off an end table. She looked even more terrified than normal, doe eyes wide and startled, half hidden behind her curtain of golden-brown hair.

"I'm so sorry," she squeaked. "I probably wasn't supposed to hear any of that, but I was in the bathroom and—"

"It's okay," I reassured her. My wolf instinctively wanted to defend her, and it was our fault for not realizing she was there. Plus, I doubted she'd be running and telling tales to the alpha, since more than anything she resembled a kicked puppy. If anything she'd whimper and go crawl into a corner to hide.

Denise was less understanding, her posture threatening and eyes blazing. "Are you going to tell anyone what you overheard?"

Liana shook her head emphatically. "No, of course not. I wouldn't—" Her eyes were slightly red and puffy.

"Wait, were you crying?" I asked her quickly, feeling instant sympathy.

She flinched. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry, Liana. What's wrong?" I asked.

She wiped the side of her eye. "It just hurt, you know? He did the same thing he did to me to all these other women. I mean, of course I'd heard rumours, but... It wasn't just me." She stood a bit straighter, although she still looked like a hurt baby animal. "I want to come, too...I mean, if you don't mind."

I smiled at her. "Of course you can come along. The more the merrier."