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“This is Octavia,” I said when Tyrell had finished. “It’s nice to meet you all.”
Silence answered me.
Tavi broke it. “Hey, I know it’s been a little while since you all have had an Alpha, but it’s customary to greet her when she greets you.” Her tone was still bright, but the sarcasm was obvious.
“I don’t see an Alpha here,” one of them, Seth, replied, leering at us. “Just a couple of bitches.”
“A couple of female wolves in your presence, and that’s the best you could come up with?” Tavi laughed, the sharp sound of it almost made me flinch. “Next you’ll be calling us ‘cunts’ or something just as unoriginal.”
He gripped his beer tight, and I knew he was wishing for her death with his eyes. I glanced at Tyrell, but he was watching me. I got the impression that he was waiting for something.
I cleared my throat, hoping to diffuse some of that tension. “I don’t want to interrupt your evening, men, I just came here to talk about how the repairs are going around the compound. How is that going?”
No one responded, not even Tyrell. They did, however, have the presence of mind to avoid eye contact with me. I guess that was an answer in itself.
“Okay, so you haven’t started. When were you planning on doing it?”
Again, there was silence.
“I’ll answer for them,” Tavi said suddenly. “They’d much rather leave their pack in shambles than try and rebuild anything. Picking up a hammer and doing something would just make it more real that they did nothing against Troy.”
I glanced at her, finding a kind of manic edge to her smile and the twinkle in her eye. I got the impression that she was letting off some steam.
“Shut the fuck up,” Seth said. “You don’t know shit.”
“You could try and make me,” she said. “But you know it would start a war.”
At that, the air in the room shifted from one of unfriendliness to one of trepidation and hostility.
“That’s what I thought. You might not know this,” she continued, “but Bryn and I have been through a lot thanks to the previous Alpha, a man who doesn’t even deserve to be named. A man who attacked his own pack and who actively tried to drag literally everyone down with him. But I guess logic doesn’t count for much when we’re standing in a room filled with men. If you sorry assholes can even be called that.”
Seth’s chair squeaked across the floor as he stood up, his eyes flashing. A few things happened all at once. Seth stalked toward Tavi, and I stepped in front of her at the same time that she took a step back. As he approached, Tyrell moved, too. He took Seth’s shoulder and yanked him back to the table.
“Sit, jackass,” he said, shoving him into the chair. “Or are you trying to prove her point?”
Seth looked like he wanted to argue, but with another glare from Tyrell, he stayed quiet.
“I’m sorry, I should have stepped in sooner,” Tyrell told me.
“You should have,” I agreed.
“I’m sorry,” he said again.
“I don’t want apologies, I want answers.” I looked at the rest of the men, focusing especially on Seth. “Why are you all acting so coldly toward me? If you’re ashamed to have a woman as your Alpha, it’s only temporary. If you’re unsure how to start rebuilding the pack lands, then I can get you resources to help you. But if you’re still loyal to Troy after everything he did to the Kings, then you might as well find a new pack.”
This third silence was different. The men still refused to meet my gaze, but there was color in some of their cheeks. It read to me like shame.
Tyrell looked at the men at the table and then back to me. “To be honest, we were going through hell with Troy as our Alpha. We had to stand by and watch while our own men were killed by Troy for any form of disobedience or opposition. The temper tantrums, the paranoia, the public executions…” He visibly shuddered. “Despite their behavior, there isn’t a man in this room who supports the Redwolfs. We’re glad that they’re gone.”
“Then we have at least that much in common, right?” Tavi said gently. The faux joviality was gone from her voice. And when I looked at her, I found that the manic twinkle in her eye had also dissipated, but now her eyes were dark and haunted
“Right,” Seth said. He didn’t say anything more.
“Like I said, if you need help organizing, let me know. I know Wargs who are familiar with the rebuilding process. They will help if I ask them to.”
“I don’t think we need their help,” another wolf, Buck, said, “We just haven’t started up yet.”
I shook my head. “Repairs should have already started, Buck. I’ll let them know you’re in the market for some assistance when they come back onto the compound. When they come by to help, you can take it or leave it.”
