Hollie frowned and stuttered, “What...?” What are you on about?
As if on cue, Jake groaned and cupped his cheek. “Those potato patties are so hard,” he complained petulantly. “They hurt my teeth. I can’t even chew them. I’m going to have indigestion and stomach problems.”
Hollie gaped at Jake and Jasper, completely speechless.
Those patties were made from mashed potatoes, tuna flakes, butter and milk. She knew for a fact that they were so soft and creamy they could literally melt in your mouth.
“Hurt...your teeth, Alpha?” Hollie finally sputtered in disbelief. What a crock of…!
Hollie had never held much respect for Jake, but now she simply looked at him with contempt and disdain.
Jake Carven might be the Alpha of the Black Blade pack, but right now, he was acting like a tantrum-throwing toddler.
The man was in his sixties, yet he was slumped in his chair, complaining, pouting and sulking like a kid.
All his schemes and cunning ploys were simply tactics to get what he wanted, to get people to pander to his whims and wants.
It was all about him.
Me, me, me! That was the toddler’s anthem.
A leader should be about his pack and his people, not about himself.
“Sir, these patties are made from mashed potatoes, tuna flakes, fresh milk and melted butter,” Hollie answered in a reasonable voice.
“They’re hard as rocks!” Jake snapped, hurling his plate on the floor. “You’re sabotaging my food!” Jake narrowed his eyes at Hollie and hissed, “Are you sabotaging the pack?”
Hollie’s jaw dropped. The complaint about the food was ridiculous, but this was beyond ridiculous. Sabotage? Seriously?
This was making no sense. The accusations were getting more and more absurd and outrageous.
“Even a young pup or toothless grandmother can eat those potato patties without difficulty,” Hollie blurted out. “You guys are wolves, aren’t you? How can a mashed potato patty hurt your teeth, Alpha?”
The moment the words were out of her mouth, Hollie knew that her candor would cost her dearly.
But Hollie couldn’t bring herself to just nod meekly and pretend that Jake was making perfect sense. He wasn’t. The accusations were groundless, ridiculous and downright laughable.
Couldn’t any of the lieutenants seated at the table see the truth? Why wouldn’t anyone speak up for her?
Oh right.
They didn’t want to pay the price.
Liars, backstabbers and hypocrites rose through the ranks of the Black Blade pack.
Truth-tellers were silenced and buried.
Hollie cursed under her breath.
She had just sealed her fate, hadn’t she?
Hollie had a very bad feeling that before the night was over, she would be lying in a shallow grave somewhere in the deep, dark forest.
CHAPTER FOUR
Hollie looked at the lieutenants and saw them avert their gaze. They turned away and pretended they hadn’t seen or heard anything.
Hollie almost snorted in derision. What a bunch of cowards.
Jasper moved from his father’s side, his beady eyes gleaming with menace. He grabbed Hollie by the collar and snarled in her face. “What did you say?”
“I said even a toothless little grandmother...” Hollie began calmly.
“Are you calling my father a liar?” Jasper roared. “Are you saying that our Alpha lied?”
Hollie clenched her fists and teeth to stop the vehement answer from bubbling up from her throat.
Yes! Yes, he is a goddamn liar. And he’s just acting like a toddler, throwing a tantrum to try and confuse everyone. He wants to keep the atmosphere tense and chaotic.
Jake groaned loudly and wheezed to his lieutenants, “Call the pack doctor. I can feel a terrible pain in my gut...”
Hollie rolled her eyes. “How can you feel pain in your gut when you are gutless?” she mumbled.
Jasper’s claws dug into her neck. “What did you just say, mongrel?” he spat.
Hollie stared up at him in disgust and defiance.
“If Alpha is sick, his sickness isn’t caused by those potato patties,” she answered in a clear, calm voice. And he’s not sick. He’s faking it.
Hollie flicked her gaze to Jake, and saw the anger and hatred burning in his cold, shrewd eyes.
She was right. He clearly wasn’t in any sort of pain at all. He was putting on yet another act.
Hollie sucked in a sharp breath as she stared at the lieutenants in the room. All the senior lieutenants were here. They were discussing something, something important just before she was brought into the room.
The Alpha was trying to cause all this drama to divert attention away from the topic at hand. The lieutenants had been about to find out the truth about something.
Jake and Jasper couldn’t afford to have the truth come out.
This was nothing but a diversionary tactic.
Hollie was the patsy.
She was the half-breed, the mongrel who couldn’t shift.
No one would object to her being scapegoated.
All the ills of the pack could be blamed on her, and once they got rid of her, it would seem as if the problem had been solved.
“I think we can all see the situation clearly now. Hollie has been sabotaging our food,” Jake said to the lieutenants.
“No I haven’t!” Hollie exploded. “What are you...”
Jasper’s hand tightened around her neck and choked off the rest of her words.
“It’s clear what she has done. This half-breed traitor has been siphoning money from our food budget and using inferior ingredients to prepare our meals. We have our culprit, gentlemen. You were asking how such large amounts of money could have just disappeared...” Jake smiled and raised his wine glass triumphantly. “You have your answer.”
Hollie’s immediate thought was: I thought you said your gut hurt. But now you’re smiling, talking and drinking. Can’t anyone see through his pretense?
She wasn’t even paying attention to his words. It was like watching an actor on a stage. His performance, however bizarre, was hypnotic.
“Here’s what happened,” Jake went on smoothly. “This thief in our midst has been inflating the expenses and falsifying the accounts.”
Hollie gasped as the words hit her like a sucker punch.
So there it was. The charge, the indictment, the noose around her neck.
She had been brought up here for the slaughter.
The lieutenants had discovered that monies were missing from the pack accounts and had brought the matter up. Jake and Jasper decided that they needed a scapegoat.
The scapegoat had to be a dispensable and isolated member of the pack.
No one would defend her.
No one would miss her when she was gone.
She would be silenced and buried, and the truth would be buried with her.
“No!” Hollie shrieked. “I did no such thing! Your accusations are groundless and ridiculous. I don’t even have any access to the accounts! Clearly it’s someone in authority, someone with access to all the information and accounts, who did this. It’s someone who has the power to cover everything up. Someone like...”
She stopped suddenly.
And the silence was deafening.
All the senior lieutenants were throwing surreptitious glances at their Alpha and Beta.
Jake and Jasper were the ones in absolute control of all the various businesses owned by the pack. They controlled the flow of information in and out of the pack, and not a single cent could be taken out of the pack accounts without their endorsement and approval.
“Shut your mouth, mongrel!” Jasper shook her violently. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. This bitch spreads lies and falsehoods to smear the good name of our pack leaders. She should be severely dealt with,” he declared loudly.
“Remove the thief from our presence,” Jake said, waving a hand.
“I’m not a thief,” Hollie shouted. “You know I’ve spoken the truth...”
Jake threw her a pitying look and addressed his lieutenants, “My son will take care of the problem. Now that we have eliminated the thief and the threat, all is well.”
With a hearty laugh, he raised his wine glass in a toast, “To the prosperity of the Black Blade pack!”
CHAPTER FIVE
Hollie bit down a cry when she stumbled over a tree root and crashed into a thorny shrub. Instinctively, she put out her hands to break her fall and felt the thorns biting viciously into her palms.
Scrambling back, Hollie yanked a thorn out of her hand and pressed her bleeding hand to her side. Behind her, she heard Jasper and his two lieutenants laughing.
“Clumsy oaf,” Jasper scoffed.
Hollie balled her fists and tamped down her anger. “Why have you brought me out here?” she demanded, glancing around the forest. “If you’re going to accuse me of a crime, do it out in the open in front of everybody. The pack deserves to hear all the evidence that you have against me.” She looked Jasper straight in the eye and said, “You have nothing. I am innocent. I have nothing to do with any money that is missing from your accounts.”
Instead of replying, Jasper kicked her and Hollie went down hard. When she pushed herself up, Jasper and his two lieutenants were standing over her.
“You don’t know when to shut up, do you?” Jasper snapped.
Hollie refused to back away or show any fear. She would not give Jasper what he wanted. Her submission and her silence.
She saw right through his bullshit. Jasper used violence, lies and bullying tactics to keep the pack in line. Any member of the pack who didn’t toe the line and believe his version of events would be taught a lesson. The whole pack would be made to witness the horrific, harrowing punishment so that anyone who was thinking of questioning their Alpha and Beta would discard the notion and fall back into mindless obedience.
Hollie might not be able to shift, but her dad had taught her some basic combat moves. If Jasper kicked her again, she would make him scream like a girl.
“Why have you never come up to my office, Hollie?” Jasper asked suddenly.
“What?” Hollie feigned ignorance even though she knew exactly what he was talking about.
Jasper walked around her in a slow circle. His two unthinkingly loyal lieutenants were standing back, keeping watch to make sure no one interrupted this little torture session.
“I gave the directive that every member of the pack should report to me the names of any comrade whom they suspect were guilty of any unlawful or undesirable activities,” Jasper said slowly.
Hollie stared straight ahead, her eyes hardening with anger and scorn. She hated backbiters and cowards, and she had steadfastly refused to participate in this vile practice.
“I repeat this directive to the pack every week. And almost every day, at least one member would come to my office and give me a couple of names. I need to know what’s going on among the pack members. Those who report to me are rewarded handsomely.” Jasper leaned in and put his mouth close to her ear. “You are the only one who has never, ever given me a name.”
Hollie clenched her fists so tightly her knuckles gleamed bone white in the dark forest.
She knew that every wolf in the pack had snitched on, gossiped about and backstabbed their fellow pack members. Instead of fostering unity within the pack, Jake and Jasper sowed dissension, discord and distrust among the wolves. They wanted the wolves to be loyal to them, and not to one another. It was another ploy to ensure that they stayed in power. Divide and conquer. Keep everyone apart and plant seeds of fear and suspicion in everyone’s mind.
Tyrants used this tactic to keep themselves in power. They encouraged and rewarded snitches and tattletales, so the people would never unite and rise up against them.
But Hollie refused to participate in this manipulative and destructive practice. This was mental slavery. She might be slaving away for the pack as an overworked cook and laborer, but at least her thoughts were her own. She was paid pittance and she knew it would take her a long time to save up enough money to pay the “severance fee”.
“Why, Hollie?” Jasper hissed, grabbing her chin. “Why have you never come to me with a report?”
“I have nothing to report,” she answered.
“Liar!”
Hollie could feel claws digging into her skin but she refused to cry out.
“Does a mongrel bitch like you think she is too good for us?” Jasper snarled. “For me?”
Hollie jerked away when she saw his eyes darken with rage and lust. But she wasn’t fast enough.
With a growl, Jasper grabbed her and slammed her against a tree.
CHAPTER SIX
Hollie struggled hard, trying to twist out of Jasper’s grasp. “Don’t touch me! Leave me alone! Just...stay away from me,” she wheezed.
Her eyes darted to the two lieutenants behind Jasper, and she saw the lascivious look on their faces as they stared at her full, generous figure. They were looking at Hollie as though she were a tasty, juicy treat.
The she-wolves in the pack were all toned and sinewy. Hollie was the only female who was short and curvy, and she had often seen the young single males in the pack stare at her body with undisguised lust. She was careful to button her blouse right up to her collar and wear long jeans all the time to cover her legs.
“You...you can’t do this,” she gulped.
She looked around desperately but there was no one else around. Jasper had brought her out to the forest behind the pack house and marched her deep into the woods.
She was surrounded by trees and shadows. And three cruel, depraved wolves.
Jasper began to unbuckle his belt. “When the she-wolves came into my office, all of them were too happy to spread their legs for me,” he said. “I took them on my desk, on my office floor, against the wall, and they loved it. They kept coming back for more. They came back to give me more names and to beg me to fuck them. But you, Hollie...”
He patted her face. “You kept away. You don’t even look at me when I walk into the kitchen. Do you think that you’re too good for your Beta? I can have any female I want. I will teach you to respect me, you little bitch. I will fuck your hot little mouth before I enjoy the rest of you.” He unzipped his pants and began to stroke himself.
Hollie tried to twist away but Jasper clamped his hand around her neck and held her in place.
“Help me,” Hollie choked out desperately to the two lieutenants.
But she already knew that they wouldn’t help her. All the soldiers in the pack had undergone years of harsh, brutal training that built them up physically but broke them down mentally. The hellish treatment they underwent turned them into mindless, merciless fighters and killers for their Alpha and Beta. They would obey all orders, even if the orders went against their morals and conscience.
They no longer have a conscience or moral compass, Hollie realized.
Jasper laughed.
“Help you? Do you really think that they would help you, Hollie? They belong to me.” Jasper sneered. “All my soldiers do my bidding without question. And they will follow my script. They know who their master is, and what rewards they will receive if they behave. They will say anything I want them to say. If I killed you right now, they will say that you tried to run and when I caught you, you attacked me like a rabid bitch and I had to put you down. Be smart, Hollie. Be my bitch, and you will be promoted to head cook very soon.”
Hollie flinched when she felt his hot breath on her face and neck.
“I’ve been thinking about you, Hollie,” Jasper drawled, running his hands down her body. “I’ve been wondering how a woman with some meat on her bones...”
“Get away from me!” Hollie screamed.
He’s going to rape me before he murders me.
Hollie struggled harder, desperately trying to free herself. She was going to fight him to her last breath.
>
Hollie was stunned into silence by a ringing slap across her face.
“I’ve been waiting for you to come to me, Hollie.” Jasper’s eyes turned feral as he growled, “But I’ve run out of patience.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Kyle Anderson stopped and sniffed the air. In his bear form, he could pick up even the faintest scent from a mile away. The scent tugged at him, and he started towards it, his bear growing increasingly excited and agitated as he pushed through the woods.
Kyle knew that his bear had been angsty and uneasy lately. He’d had to release his bear and let the beast out into the forest to run and hunt. It was the only way to exhaust his beast and spend the pent-up energy that was building up inside of him.
Kyle had been going to work earlier than usual, but even though he worked like a maniac, he just couldn’t tire his bear out. It was a busy time at The Maverick Mechanics, and work was plentiful and satisfying. Kyle owned The Maverick Mechanics, an auto repair business with his two best friends, Shane and Ian.
Going into business with his two buddies was the best thing Kyle had ever done. Shane and Ian were skillful mechanics, and they were hard workers with a good business head on their shoulders. All three of them were bear shifters, and their strength and speed served them well. Ian had once towed a car back to the garage on his own without waiting for the tow truck. And when he arrived at the garage, he’d given Kyle and Shane a shit-eating grin and declared, “That was the best power walk ever!”
Kyle chuffed when he thought of his two friends. Those two often challenged each other to do some real crazy shit. But they were good guys and Kyle had known them since they were pimply, gawky teenagers. They were now big, strong, strapping men in their thirties but they still horsed around and yanked one another’s chains just for the heck of it.
Kyle raised his head and inhaled deeply. The scent was both enticing and unsettling. He moved silently between the trees, tracking the source of the scent. The scent was sweet and intoxicating, but there was a sharp edge to it.
Bear's Curvy Mate: BBW Shape Shifter Paranormal Romance (Nightbrook Book 2) Page 2