'Hyena!'
By god, that one guts me and got me by surprise
"What!– What did you just say to me?" I ask but the bastard just continues to smile mischievously while challenging me with his eyes.
What he said, coupled with the way he's smiling smugly at me makes me want to kill him. I always hate it when he attacks me with the way I smile or laugh. I wish I knew what to say to wipe the stupid smile off his face but I don't. The asshole has the most poisonous tongue that I've ever heard speak and always knows how to render me speechless with the words he hit me with and how hard he hits.
My two backups, Ivar and Henrik, are not with us, making me feel more vulnerable.
"A hyena! A grinning hyena! I look like a grinning hyena when I laugh? C'mon bro, are you crazy? You couldn't compare me to a more majestic animal like a– a Lion? It had to be a Hyena!"
"What!?..." He says, still chuckling. "You compared me to a pussy, chicken, and many more some minutes ago. They're not majestic so what's the big deal?"
"The big deal is you didn't follow the rules, asshole!" I growl in annoyance
"Rules?" He asks, chuckling in disbelief. "What fucking rules? No rules were ever stated whenever we diss each other!"
"Of course there are rules. Although It was an unspoken rule, it has always been there.
"Unspoken rules? There's no unspoken rules, don't be ridiculous!" He says, rolling his eyes upward at me.
"Of course there is! The rule is we don't roast each other while discussing serious business." I say and he scoff
"You mean the rule that you just made up to suit yourself?"
'Bastard!' seethe
I stand up and walk to the door to suddenly wrench it open. Ivar and Henrik who had their ears pressed to the door the whole time almost fell forward into the room.
"What are you both eavesdropping for? Come tell this fool about the rules we had about roasting each other!"
"We have rules?"
"What rules?"
The both of them ask at the same time while looking from me to Eric in confusion when they were supposed to catch on quickly and have my back. It's always the three of us against Eric. Can't they take the cue?
"Ughhhh... You both are useless to me! Thanks for nothing!" I scowl at the two idiots.
"Wolves, food is served..." Ella peeks her head through the door then.
Boy, am I glad for that timely intervention? Time for me to make my escape since Ivar and Henrik still hadn't caught up to my plan. I stand up and start walking toward the door.
"Hey, are you leaving? What about what we were talking about?" Eric asks as I walk away.
I stop and turn to him with a cold expression
"Which one? The one you wanted to explain or the part where you suddenly started dissing me without minding the rules?"
He laughs
"C'mon man, what rules? We never made any rules, unspoken or not." He says but I continue toward the door
"Oh, you're going to be a baby about this then?" He mocks
"Fuck you, you asshole! And fuck the two of you too..." I growl pointing to Herik and Ivar who just stand aside looking at me with mouth agape.
I'm almost at the door when I remember something and turn back to look at the three of them.
"Oh, and I dare you all to laugh behind my back..." I say in my coldest tone of voice, tapping on my ears.
"If I can hear that asshole's heart beating so loud, then I will certainly hear y'all if you so much as snicker." I walk out of the door making sure to slam it hard.
I start to laugh quietly to myself the moment the door closes behind me. Oh, goddess! The look on all their faces was so enjoyable, I'll never forget it in my life.
I'm almost at the foot of the stairs when I hear Ella chewing their asses
"Really guys? You just had to piss him off! Do you all think this is the right time to do that!? Do you!? With all due respect Beta but I'm so disappointed in you all..." She goes on and on while they stay quiet like kids being chastised by mommy until I mercifully interrupt on their behalf.
'That's okay Ella!' I say, chuckling through our mind link. 'One of the perks of being the Alpha is you can shut them up whenever you want. What's that idiom?... Yes. He who laughs last laughs the longest. The joke's on you, Eric!' I finish saying then shut down my side of the link. I don't want to give him the chance of a clapback.
I arrive at the foot of the stairs and realize I don't know where the dining hall is located. The Alpha's mansion was named exactly that when it was built by my great-grandfather, so I heard from Eric's dad when I was younger.
The first thirteen years of my life were spent in a human village while Eric lived inside the pack land with his parents. Even though I was made to move into the pack after my mother's death, I was never allowed into the mansion. Evelyn never wanted a 'barbarian bastard' anywhere near her precious son and my dad never objected.
Anyway, yesterday was my first time stepping inside Alpha's mansion. I haven't had the chance to tour the place yet. I walk back towards the stairs and I'm about to shout out Ella's name when I see them all walking down the stairs.
"Excuse me, Ella. You forgot to hand me the map I'll follow to find the food." I joked but she understood the truth in my joke. They all knew my story.
"Oh, I'm so sorry Alpha. I forgot to mention that I had the table laid outside on the terrace. The day is beautiful. I thought you would like to eat there?"
"Sure Ella, I understand..." I say, flashing her a reassuring smile when I see her looking confused. She doesn't know which side of me to believe. The part that left the room in anger or the one that joked shortly after.
My gaze lands on Eric after I turn away from Ella...
"Hey buddy, how're you doing?..." I ask, flashing him my best predatory smile. Predator is his favorite adjective of describing the way I laugh.
He smiled back at me
"Enjoy yourself while it lasts Alpha. I'm going to get you back for this."
Seeing the look on his face, I can't believe I won this round. The three of us combined have never won against Eric. My predator smile widens as I reply...
"Sure, Beta, bring it on."
We arrive at the table and we all sit down to eat. Timothy the newest addition to the team inclusive. It doesn't matter what rank you are, once you belong to the team, then we eat at the same table.
The food is delicious as usual. Ella is a very good cook. While we eat, we talk about general topics and joke about the Council Elders and their ridiculous show of impeaching me. When we're almost done eating, Eric calls my name, pointing to his head to remind me that they're still shut out of my mind.
"Oh, sorry. I forgot." I say as I open my mind to the four of them, leaving out Ella and Timothy. Whatever we want them to know, we'll discuss later at the house meeting.
'What's up?...' I ask them through the link.
Eric replies...
'I want to show you around this place, then we can talk business afterward, starting from where we left off in my room. When are you going to be done with your food?'
I look down at my plate and see with surprise that I've barely eaten anything. I thought I was almost done with my food, how come I didn't realize I talked more than I ate?
'You've barely eaten anything?' Eric says, looking from my plate to my face.
'Thought you said you were hungry?' Ivar said
I look down at my plate again
'I don't know. The food is delicious, no doubt about that but I don't know what happened.'
'Well, it's obvious. I think it's affecting your diet like the first time it happened to you.' Bear says. We all know the 'it' he's referring to is my feral condition
'Fuck!' I swear softly. So much for locking away my memory
'You don't need to worry about that. Calm down and focus on controlling your emotions. That's the most important thing!' Eric worriedly says and I nod.
'If you're all done then let's get out of here. There's no point in staying around.' He says again, waiting for me to stand up first before they do.
"Thanks, Ella, that was delicious as usual," I say and stand up from the table.
"We're having steak for dinner. Make it rare to almost raw. I hear Eric tell her as I walk away.