Rejection

Chapter 27 - Family

---Kyle's POV---

Much as I had anticipated, Molly was all too happy spending some time with her little niece and getting to know her. Of course, she had to disguise the glee from the rest of the pack to avoid their suspicious gazes.

The Alpha was anything but happy, yet once again, he wasn't able to lash back. How could he? If he protested against the idea of little Ellie spending some time with her last living relatives, it would raise suspicion he didn't want or need.

Because he knew as well as I did, that if neighboring alphas had enough cause to report him to the council, he quite possibly lose his position as Alpha.

His polite smile resembled more like a grimace, as if he was suffering from a terrible toothache. As he charged towards the doors of his private chambers, I had an uneasy feeling, especially because Drake had anticipated the Alpha's unwillingness to cooperate.

Drake had sent a message to the pack, letting the Alpha know in polite terms that, he had noticed a lack of withdrawals from the account given to me.

Drake then proceeded to point out that, if I was being kept from the funds stored on that account, pack funds, he was going to assume that this pack were preventing me from accessing it.

In short, stealing another pack's money.

That alone was already a serious allegation that would raise some eyebrows at the Council, let alone the fact that the pack was actively interfering with the help they called in.

Ever since, the Alpha had been leering whenever he saw me, a mixture of anger, frustration and malice that burned in my skin before he managed to put on his mask of indifference.

A mask that cracked rather easily, and he fought to control himself over the smallest indiscretions. I had a feeling that this Alpha was already well known at the Council, quite possibly tiptoeing around them already.

But as he stormed off, slamming the doors with such strength that the dust fell from the rafters, I had a sinking feeling in my gut. A feeling that this Alpha would try to find anything to get me off his property without dirtying his hands.

A sigh left my lips before I cracked my neck, eying the store worriedly. Even if I finally was receiving some resources from Drake, I wasn't willing to spend it all willy-nilly.

Technically, if I wanted to remodel the house that Ellie and I would be staying in to proper living conditions, I'd need a hell of a lot more than what Drake had sent me.

And I knew that the alpha would send it to me, the second I opened my mouth. Knowing him, he'd probably send over some construction workers to do the job for me.

But I didn't want that; I didn't want to be one of the pack who'd endlessly took without returning anything.

I had seen members like that in... Max's pack. Wolves that barely did their daily jobs, assuming that the pack would always take care of them and their spending habits.

The sliding doors of the store opened once more, a few of the local pack members giving me a curious glance before passing by. Cracking my neck one last time, I headed inside, already feeling on edge.

The job was simple enough, as I needed to stock the shelves, help costumers when they asked questions and do a few cleaning jobs in between.

And yet, my wolf was on edge from all the random people that had no regard for personal space. Not even for common sense or privacy, as I had already seen a few human teens gawk at the scars on my throat.

Still, this unassuming job could help me find more information on this pack's inner workings. I could hardly go around asking questions without gaining the ire of the pack.