Chapter 108

#Chapter 108 - Rising to the Challenge Our car ride home the next day is subdued. Ian stares out the window, a smile stuck on his face, clearly dreaming of Black Hawk helicopters and his future as a Navy SEAL. Alvin just naps. He loved our full tour this morning, of the barracks and the training courses. He didn’t have Ian’s full enthusiasm, but still had fun.

Victor and I don’t have much to say to one another. I keep stealing glances at him from the front seat, but he’s silent, his brow drawn low over his eyes. Thinking, clearly.

The rest of the evening was quiet and awkward after Edgar arrived. Victor had cleared his own throat, stood up quickly, and went inside with a brief goodnight.

Edgar had sat down next to me, his face confused. “What’s happening between you two?” He asked, after I begged him to say something, anything.

“Nothing,” I had breathed, desperate for him to believe it. “Just…old drama. Kid stuff. We are…so not.”

He had looked at me then, studying my face for a long time. Then he had given me a quick smile – a fake one, I think – and stood up, excusing himself and saying that he wanted to go to bed. I asked him to stay, trying to take his hand, but he had just said “Please, Evelyn,” and left.

I feel horribly guilty about it all, and now I don’t know where I stand with either of them.

And this stupid hummer doesn’t even have a radio to distract me from my thoughts.

I cross my arms and close my eyes, leaning my head back on the seat, settling in for the ride.

When we arrive back at the house, it gets worse.

“What the hell,” Victor murmurs under his breath as he pulls the hummer into the driveway. His father is there, sitting in his chair outside the door, with Rafe and Bridgette standing next to him. Victor gives a big sigh as he puts the car in park.

Then he looks at me. “It would be…better for me. If we presented a united force in front of my father and brother. Can we do that?”

I nod, my eyebrows raising. “Victor, I will always be on your side. No matter what.”

He gives me a long look and then steps out of the car.

“Victor,” his father says, looking him up and down. Victor nods to him, inviting him to continue, as he opens the back door of the car and helps the boys out. I come around the front to stand next to him.

“I want to have a discussion with you,” Henry says, looking pointedly at me and the boys.

“Go ahead, dad,” Victor responds, not even trying to hide the fact that he’s annoyed.

“I’d prefer –“

“Whatever you have, you can say in front of them.” Victor says, breaking all pretense of civility and fixing him with an angry gaze. “I’ll just tell them about it anyway.”

“Fine,” his father sneers, pressing his hands against the arms of his chair. “I want you to know, officially, that I’m formally evoking the clause and calling into question your leadership of this pack.”

Victor glares at him and the boys go white, staring at their grandfather. I put two hands on their shoulders, encouraging them to be strong.

“We’re not happy,” he continues, “with your handling of the Rogue situation. It is good that you’re building up the military forces,” he says, looking Victor up and down, “but not with that Rogue trash. There were other ways to go about it. Further, your handling of it – that public announcement at a charity ball –“ he scoffs. “Amateur, at best.”

Victor doesn’t reply, just slowly begins to shake his head at his father’s gall.

“Further,” Henry continues, “Rafe has come forward with some good ideas for the future of the pack. I believe that he will be an effective leader, and will take us productively forward within our community. I’m putting my weight behind him, as the Alpha.”

Victor laughs at his father, openly. “What you mean by that,” he says, “is that Rafe will be an easier puppet to control.”

Rafe opens his mouth to protest, but his father interrupts, speaking for him. Rather proving Victor’s point, if you ask me. “Rafe is ivy-league educated –“

“Oh please,” Victor says, rolling his eyes. “You bought him a spot at UPenn and he loafed around Philadelphia for four years, getting drunk at Phillies games –“

“He majored in history!” Henry snaps, his eyes flaring. “He has studied the great military minds of the last four thousand –“

Victor laughs again, louder this time. “He has no military experience! He’s a joke!”

Rafe, angry, opens his mouth to protest, but Henry holds up a hand, silencing him. Victor gestures towards them, saying, “See? A joke. No real Alpha would snap his mouth shut because daddy held up his hand.”

I see that the boys are getting upset and look up towards Victor, worried. He catches my glance and nods, agreeing, silently, to end this.

“Fine, father,” he says, “protest formally all you want. Offer Rafe as an alternative. We all know you can’t depose me without a fight. You have to actively prove that he’s better for the job. And considering that I have two heirs, and Rafe has none?” He shakes his head. “I don’t see what the competition even is.”

Rafe and his father smirk at this, twin expressions on their faces. As if they knew this protest was coming – which, they probably did – Rafe turns and opens the door. “Baby!” He calls inside the house. “Would you come here for a moment?”

My stomach drops with dread, and I can almost feel the same happening to Victor.

“What’s happening, mommy?” Alvins says, looking up at me.

“Don’t worry, baby,” I say. “It’s not a big deal. They’re just being dramatic.” I roll my eyes for effect and hope he believes me. He seems to cheer up, just a little, at my casual attitude. Ian keeps his eyes fixed on his grandfather.

While we talk, Bridget comes out the door, smacking her gum. She’s dressed in a vibrantly blue tube dress, barbie pink heels on her feet. “Yeah, honey?” she asks, draping herself all over Rafe.

“Tell them your news, sweetheart,” Rafe says, leering at her.

“Oh, you’re never gonna guess,” she says, smiling sweetly at us and wrinkling her nose. “Rafey bought me the cutest little car – it’s a two-seater –“

“No, honey,” Rafe growls. “Your other news.”

“OH!” She says, straightening up and putting a hand over her stomach. “I’m pregnant.” She gives us a proud smile, but we just stare at her, stone-faced.

“And what did the doctor tell you?” Rafe prods further, giving her a nudge with his elbow.

“That it looks like triplets!” She opens her mouth and lets out a little shriek of excitement, leaning forward like it’s an excellent secret. “Can you believe it!?”

Victor doesn’t do anything, but I can feel him nearly trembling with range next to me. Keep it cool, I say in my mind, turning my face up to him, hoping it shows there. Don’t let them see you squirm.

He nods and I feel, somehow, that he got the message.

“This changes nothing,” he calls out to his family. “I’m still the better choice. I’ve done nothing to call for a dismissal from power. I, too, can have more children, if that’s really the point of debate. But honestly, I think Rafe’s rampant incompetence weighs more in the balance.”

Bridgette snaps her mouth shut, realizing, suddenly, that this isn’t all fun and games.

“The next steps in the process call for a series of competitions.” Henry says. We give him our complete attention. “To determine who, really, is the best suited to rule the pack, now and in perpetuity.”

Victor nods, assenting to this, assured of his win. I clench my jaw, hoping we’re not falling into a trip.

“Good,” his father says, turning his chair to wheel back into the house. “We begin on New Years Eve, with a competition to see who can best entertain other Alphas. A competition, really, that tests the skills of your Luna more than the Alpha. Important because the Luna is, after all, the second half of his whole.”

I look up at Victor, worried. After all, he no longer has a Luna to compete. And now Rafe does – a super fertile one, apparently, pregnant with triplets.