My Personal Hell - D. Richardson (read with me .txt) 📗

I wasn’t surprised to see them all go to her defense. I had kept track of her training, ever since the first day that I had seen it. It made me question whether or not they were going to defend her, protect him, or just back her up. Regardless, they all seemed to have grown close, without making it too obvious for the rest of us. It really only showed in silent communication when they ended up in the same room with her. It was silent camaraderie. Support shown in nothing more than eye contact. They considered her one of their own. Including Bastion.

Any time I was around when he saw her, his eyes had shown with pride, as though he felt a kinship with her. A bond that I had never seen before. In fact, there had been several times that I had watched them talk after a lesson, just the two of them. As though she would ask him and only him for advice or reassurance. The jealousy I felt towards their bond only made me realize that I was the one that put the distance between us.

When she stalked back into the room, it was with that mask that she wore when she didn’t want anyone to know anything but what she wanted to tell. That emotionless look that hid everything. However, she didn’t get the chance to do anything or speak to anyone when a different form of drama started to unfold in the back of the room.

Christine, with her natural brown hair, and conservative midnight blue dress, stood staring at her father. Jake made his way over, attempting to support his sister, though his confusion was palpable. Ailith’s emotionless look turned to one of concern.

“What did you say?” Christine asked, shock and disbelief evident in her voice. Her father turned to look at her, not realizing that she had been standing so close.

“It’s none of your concern, Christine, go back to your friends,” he ordered, but she stood her ground. Something young females did not do, especially with their father.

“Yes it is. You just told him that Jake was…and that Mom,” she took a deep breath, the betrayal evident in her expression. “You’re the one that started those rumors?”

“Christine, leave now,” he snapped.

“No! You’ve been destroying their reputations so that you could keep your own. Telling people that Mom slept around? She’s never been anything but faithful to you! And that Jake was running drugs? Did you know that everyone thought that I was the one that said that? What have you been saying about me?”

“Nothing, all I’ve said about you was that you were doing what you could to earn your place in the pack!”

“Yeah, by being like you! By trashing people to make myself look better by comparison.”

“You were being smart, until recently anyway,” he looked down at her with so much derision I expected her to go running from the room.

“No, I was being cruel. Just like… you’re so despicable. Forcing us to take the crap while you sat on that damn high horse of yours. Watching us suffer so you didn’t have too. You’re pathetic!” she spat, there was so much venom in her voice I expected him to drop dead from poison.

But instead he raised his hand, ready to back hand her. I had no doubt that he would have, and I was disgusted by what I saw. No one made a move to do anything about it. Some of the men were even looking at her like she deserved it. But when his hand came down and she braced herself for the blow, Ailith was suddenly there to catch it.

Dalton and Macon were right behind her, pulling Christine from the target zone, and pushing Jake into following her. But they stayed standing behind her, letting Alex and Nevin calm them down. I moved up next to them, not entirely sure what Ailith would do when there weren’t any innocent bystanders to protect.

Markus tried to pull his arm out of her grip, but she wouldn’t budge. He glared down at her, but she met his gaze with one so full of anger that he only lasted a few seconds before glancing away. Then she leaned in, making it look like she was simply speaking into his ear to calm him down.

“She’s right, you are pathetic. If you ever raise your hand to her, to any of them, again I’ll have your hide. And make no mistake, I‘ll know. I‘ve dealt with pieces of shit like you so many times I can pick out the signs when no one else can. If you ever have any doubt as to my ability, keep in mind, I don‘t make empty promises. Now I suggest that you go apologize to your daughter for overreacting, to save face, because we both know you won‘t mean it.” She put an amazing amount of emphasis on the word daughter.

The flicker of fear and shock that had crossed his face while she spoke disappeared when she let him go. He absently rubbed his forearm where she had gripped him and made a show of politely bowing to her as he walked back to his family. Dalton casually put an arm on her shoulder, like he was leaning on her and spoke into her ear.

“Remind me never to piss you off.” She grinned at him, before he and Macon walked away. She let out a tired sigh and made her way over to the refreshment table.

I followed behind her just as Drake moved to wait for her. I heard her groan, and Jaeger’s chuckle as he leveled with me. When she finally got to him she made it a point not to look at him.

“We need to talk,” his tone said he was less than pleased.

“Oh? What about?” she asked innocently. Jaeger looked like he was ready to choke.

“Where do I start? First, you get into a fight with Asher.” She opened her mouth to argue but he held up a hand to cut her off. “I know he overstepped, and I’ll have a discussion with him about it later. But then you show brute force in dealing with Markus. You’ve made me look weak in front of several rival packs. What do you have to say for yourself?” his voice was a low growl, but it wasn’t loud enough to distract anyone from the horribly awkward and tense atmosphere in the room. But she just shrugged.

“Tell them that me and Asher have been having problems with our jealousy. We consolidated behind closed doors, agreeing to just be friends. As far as that last little show, tell them that since I was the hostess you gave me silent orders to defuse the situation. Before he could humiliate you by demonstrating behavior best left for private. It will show that I have a mind of my own, but you have me under control. It also wouldn’t hurt if you mentioned that he should be ashamed of himself for resorting to violence against a female. Females need to be protected after all.” Her tone dipped considerably on that last bit.

She kept her eyes on her glass as she spoke, if she had looked up she would have seen Drake’s eyes grow wider with every word she spoke. He was impressed, very impressed, with her way of dealing with the politics of pack business. But instead of saying so he nodded and moved to walk away.

“Drake,” He paused, standing right in front of her. “I also suggest that you have a talk with the mayor. He’s been beating his wife and children for a while now.”

“Do you have proof?” he asked, she was treading a fine line. She finally met his eyes.

“Like I said to him, I know the signs. They’re afraid of him, Drake. All of the them. But Jake and Christine are growing out of it. Trish is starting to defy him behind his back. It’s only a matter of time before it all explodes. And when it does, someone will get seriously hurt.” He stepped in closer.

“Why wouldn’t they come to me about it?” She gave him an incredulous look.

“Why would they? They’re disgraced, all of them are. Markus has been spreading smut around about them for years. Making sure no one would even consider believing them. Isn’t that why you won’t allow Jake to train as an enforcer? A better question is... Why isn‘t what you just saw considered proof?” He just looked at her, several emotions playing across his features. Until eventually he just walked away.

She was walking that line, and I wasn’t sure which side she stepped down on. Basically, she called his entire rule into question. Bringing up as to why he wouldn’t allow them to do what they so desperately needed to gain favor in the pack. All because he was believing one man. It wasn’t the first man I could think of that he trusted out of ignorance. Eventually, he was going to get tired of her being right.

“To bad this party is toast, it was just starting to get good,” Jaeger said after Drake was gone.

“Yeah,” Ailith replied, though she didn’t look too upset about it.

“People will probably start leaving soon,” he prompted and she gave a small grin.

“Yeah.”

“That’s not good.” She gave him a confused look.

“Why not?”

“This party was a disaster, it’ll look badly on Drake. Even if he manages damage control after it’s over. The party ending on a bad note like this? People will remember.” She narrowed her eyes at him.

“What do want me to do about it?” she asked, her tone was sharp, though she was more exasperated than angry.

“Eh, there probably isn’t anything you can do about it.” Her narrowed eyes turned to a look of speculation. I didn’t blame her. Jaeger had the ability into goading people into doing things.

“Is that a challenge?” she asked, his eyes widened in surprise. It’s rare that he’s caught in his manipulation. But he grinned down at her.

“If you want it to be.”

“What do I get if I can put this party back together?” He thought about it for a moment, then reached into his pocket. He pulled out a butterfly knife, the handle was black and the blade was kept sharp. It looked a lot like my own. Her eyes lit up at the sight of it. “What about if I can’t?” she asked, cautiously. Again he seemed to be deep in thought.

“One dance, and if you enjoy yourself during that dance, I get to petition Drake for the right to take you on a date. And you have to agree without complaint.” If looks could kill she’d have sent a dagger through his eye. But then she took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and nodded.

“Fine.” I didn’t know who was more shocked, me or Jaeger. She turned and gestured to someone. I followed her line of sight to see Lori standing in the corner. I hadn’t even realized that she was there, though I should have. She approached as Ailith put her hair back in a loose ponytail. “Feel like helping me do damage control?” she asked and Lori’s eyebrows climbed up nearly to her hairline.

“Uh, sure, it’s been a while.”

“Where’s Kadi?” Ailith asked.

“Oh, Becca put her to bed after your fight with Asher. She kept trying to kick him in the shins.”

“I love that little girl,” Ailith sighed, and both of them chuckled fondly. With her hair tied back she looked much more demure and non confrontational. I had never noticed the difference before. “See you at the finish line,” she muttered and Lori nodded. Then they split up, working the room from the outside in.

At first they would both just stop at this person or that, talking quietly, giving small smiles, shaking hands, that type of thing. Then suddenly they would get others to join them, engaging groups of people in conversation. Twenty minutes later and everyone was talking, joking,