Chapter 12: Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

James POV

I brought Linda with me and gave her a thorough tour of our place one by one. Well, except for the secret places that needed to be remain hidden from everyone.

I led her to the labor working field where many people were already working on different things. Some people were cutting, or peeling or stocking woods in a nearby room. Some people were helping with loads.

Right when I entered the field everyone's head snapped in my direction. Acknowledging them, I waved my hand and dismissed their attention, indicating that they should go back to do whatever they were doing. Linda tilted her head up to look at me but didn't say anything. It went on for a while. She just kept staring at me.

"What?" I snapped without meaning to, because I was getting agitated by her stare. Her stare made me self-conscious and I got defensive.

"They are scared of you." She told me as a matter of fact. Without ever flinching a bit from me, from the way I snapped at her.

"So?" I asked her, pushing my hands inside the pockets of my jeans. Not getting her point. Why was she even asking that?

"So?" She repeated with an incredulous tone.

"Yeah. So what?" I asked her again. Not sure what she wanted me to say or what she was talking about. She shook her head in a disbelief.

"You are not weirded out by the fact that your pack members are scared of you?" She asked me. I scowled at her question.

"Why would I be weirded out by that?" I asked her. Shrugging my shoulders, I continued, "Pack members should fear the Alpha blood. It is an unwritten law. If they start to think of us an equal to them then they would treat us as an equal. Then how would we maintain the hierarchy? Everything would go out of order, if that happened. They are lower than us and it is a fact. Whether they like to accept it or not. There is hierarchy for a reason. That's how we maintain our lives and things work smoothly. That's how we survive." I explained it to her. It was obvious of the pack members to be scared of Alpha and alpha blood. If it weren't for hierarchy, our pack would have been diminished a long time ago. Stronger eats the meat. It is a fact. There is nothing to argue about.

I cocked my head at her and raised a challenging brow.

"You don't think so? That they should not be scared of us? Don't you? That we should treat them as our equal, Right?" I asked her. Her lips tucked up in a wary smile.

"It seems like we have a very different way of seeing things." She said. And I felt as if I was being judged. Regardless of what she thought about my thinking, I knew what I said was true. We were not made just to fear but also to protect. We protected the weaker around us by using the same fear we impose to rule them. It was twisted but it was true.

Disregarding our sort of disagreement, I moved on to the next place, keeping an impassive face. Linda's own face was expressionless. I did not know what to make of it. I kept a close eye on her.

Anyway, we walked and entered inside the Arena. Right after entering the field, the first thing encountered was something that I did not want Linda to see.

The son of beta and best friend of Michael, Cary, was beating up a teenage boy. Whose both hands were held behind another guy named Logan. And what was this kid's name? Oh, yeah, Parker. He was crying and shivering badly, but he did not beg them to stop or mutter even a single word of protest.

I admired that kind of bravery.

He was wearing just his pants while his torso was bare for the people, who were gushing him with punches one after the another.

"What the hell?" Linda said, her voice rising. It was full of contempt. At her high-pitched voice, everyone's head snapped towards us. Without even ever looking at me, she strode over to the kid and to the man who were holding him back. I just stood there stunned for a moment, when Linda pointed a finger to the boy.

"Leave. That. Kid." She commanded in a deep cold voice that was as sharp as knives. For a second, nobody dared to speak anything. No one moved. Not even a leaf stirred. Everyone just looked at her like she was an alien that had wooshed in our world.

"Did you not hear me? I said Leave. The. Kid." She punctuated every word with an even sharper tone. When nobody moved for another second, she climbed up the stairs and inside, the ring that was separated from the rest of the field. She snatched the kid out of Logan and Cary's grip by using a bit too much force than necessary. Saving him from any more punches and pulling him behind her back.

"How dare you hit a kid?" She yelled at Cary and Logan. Instead of answering her, their heads turned in my direction. Silently asking for directions because they could not figure out what was going on. Nor did they understand, who was this brave yet stupid woman to step inside a wolfs den without protection or without even an ounce of fear.

It was my mate.

Foolish yet brave.

And key to my success.

I narrowed my eyes at both of the guys and growled.

"Did you not hear what she said? Leave the kid." I told them. They both glanced at each other with a puzzled look but a glare from my eyes had them leaving him and disappearing with the rest of the people. Leaving alone me and my mate, with that kid. That kid looked at me, frightened. Linda spun around.

"Are you okay?" Linda asked him with a concerned look. When she checked him, my wolf felt jolted up in jealousy. I actually let out a growl for Linda to hear.

"Was that you?" Linda turned her attention to me, at the sound of my growl. That kid felt so scared that he slipped through Linda's hold and ran away. She tried to stop him but he was already gone.

"What the heck was that?" She asked softly, more to herself than to me. Running a hand through her hair, she walked towards me.

"James, what's going on? Why were they beating that kid?" She asked me. A look of disgust and hostility mixed with a look of confusion clearly written on her face. I sighed and ran a hand on the back of my neck. Resigned, I decided to give it to her straight without beating around the bush.

I knew what her reaction would be.

"That's how we teach our kids to toughen up." I let the words slip from my tongue. At first the words did not register to her but after a beat, she took a step back. Disgusted by my words.

"What?" She asked me. Completely shocked. I stuffed my hands in my pockets and stared intently at her.

"Don't look so offended. I've been raised the same way." I told her.

"What?" She asked again, this time in disbelief.

"Why would you do that?" She asked me. I shrugged.

"I told you. To toughen up." I told her. She rubbed her head like it was aching.

"Unbelievable. This is so messed up." She said.

"You -" Linda spoke.

"So is this the new person that everyone was talking about." A female voice asked in a tone filled with mockery.

I squeezed my eyes shut tightly, trying to keep myself in check. This cannot be happening.

"Not now, Janet." I grumbled out the words.

"What? I just want to know who is trying to steal my man." She said and I thought if it would be too much if I grab her by her hairs and drag her out of here. I was pretty sure if I did that then I would not be making any good impression on Linda.

Therefore, I restrained myself.

Linda's eyebrows rose higher while her eyes darted towards mine. Just as quick her eyes moved towards mine, her eyes moved to Janet. Janet scanned Linda from head to toe. Analysing her. Linda also returned the favor but in a subtle way. Linda studied Janet with blank expressions.

It felt as if she was weighing what Janet had told her was a joke or not. I could tell Janet could not be anymore serious.

"And you are?" Linda asked Janet.

"My name is Janet." Janet said, flicking her hairs back.

"And Janet, how am I Stealing your Man?" Linda asked with a curious tone. Forcing the words, 'stealing' and 'Man'.

"Because he's mine." Janet replied. I rolled my eyes at her possessiveness. I was not hers.

"And when did I ever say that he is mine?" Linda asked, folding her arms around her waist.

"Because you - She was cut off when, with a wind like speed Logan ran to me. All three of us spun towards him. His face looked troubled and I knew it was not a good news.

"Hurry up. We found a dead body."