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My lips quirked up. I was definitely intrigued by this version of the woman I thought I’d had figured out. “The jury is still out.”
Jessica rolled her eyes then turned to Kayden when she asked, “What did you plan for dessert, Jess? Everything is amazing tonight.”
I fell into conversation with Holden, and we all made small talk through dinner, carefully avoiding the topic of the council meeting that would take place later. All of us were in the know, and there was no point ruining such a nice dinner with worries about how things might go down.
Just as I thought everything might very well go off without a hitch, voices rose a couple of tables over, laced with disbelief.
“You’ve got to be joking,” a man exclaimed, his tone full of condescension. “Please. Someone tell me you’ve put her up to this.”
I turned to find Harold Peters sneering at Amelia, his eyebrows nearly up to his receding hairline. He spread his arms wide and glanced around the room.
“Who’s the practical joker?” He scoffed. “It’s in terrible taste pretending to be an alpha.”
Amelia stiffened, her jaw clenched tight as she stared right back at the older man. But her voice didn’t shake one bit as she said, “It isn’t a joke. I earned the title fair and square.”
Holden and I exchanged a furtive glance. We hadn’t made the official announcement to all the packs yet, opting to tell everyone all together tonight. It might very well be a decision that would bite us in the ass.
A beta from a table on the far side stood to his feet, his eyes narrowing on Amelia, sizing her up before he waved his hand and snorted dismissively. “She’s far too small—and too young—to be an alpha. Certainly, with no qualifications. I agree. This joke is in poor taste.”
“It isn’t a joke.” Amelia shot to her feet, and Holden and I moved instinctively, rising and striding to her side, presenting a unified front.
Suddenly, the room erupted in commotion, voices rising in both confusion and contempt.
“This is absurd.”
“The absolute nerve.”
“Who does she think she is?”
Holden lifted his hand. “Everyone, please calm down. If you’ll all just have a seat, I can explain—”
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” a voice boomed from the other side of the room, stirring the crowd into a near frenzy.
I put my fingers in my mouth and whistled. “Quiet!Your alpha is speaking, and hewillbe respected.”
But instead of quieting down, the room became even noisier, everyone trying to figure out what was going on. Shit. Things could get out of hand fast if we didn’t take control of the situation.
“This has to be a joke.”
“No, they look serious.”
“Holden, what’s going on?”
Holden’s eyes blazed as he glanced around the room, and when he spoke, he used the commanding alpha voice he reserved for when he needed to take control. “It’s true. Amelia is now the alpha of the Central Pacific pack. She earned the title, and youwillshow her respect.”
I remained at Holden’s side, my gaze darting from alpha to alpha, trying to size up the situation, assessing what would need to be done to handle these arrogant assholes if they didn’t rein themselves in.
From the corner of my eye, I saw a tall, broad-shouldered man approaching, and I whirled toward him, ready to defend my alpha if it came to blows. My hands balled into fists at the sight of Markus James, the alpha of the Pacific Northwest pack.
“This is a fucking shit show,” he growled, his eyes burning with hatred.
I stepped between him and Holden, a warning on my face. “Stop right there.”
Markus barked out a humorless laugh, jabbing the air with his finger as he pointed at Holden. “I knew you weren’t to be trusted. My daughter Sydnee suspected as much during the Contention, and here you are proving her right.”
Holden narrowed his eyes, his voice low as he said, “What do you mean by that?” I knew that voice—he was barely restraining himself, holding on to his control by a thread. I had to find a way to neutralize the situation before things escalated past the point of reason.
“You’re a liar. You and your mate.” Markus sneered, and Holden’s body visibly shook with anger at the jab at Kayden. “You shouldn’t even be together after lying about having a fated mate—yet, here you are, ruling over us all when you don’t even have the right!”
