Daughter of the Alpha

Chapter twelve

AJ's fork scraped against the plate, cutting through the uncomfortable silence that they all felt. Dinner had been quiet, almost too quiet. Her sisters, their mates and their children had all returned home that morning. The house was empty and drained of life, replaced by a thick tension that was impossible to ignore. It didn't help that the cause of all the tension had come over to join them for dinner.

"I think the Spring ball was even more beautiful this year than any of the previous ones," George said, still chewing his food, and managed to spit a little of it back on his plate. AJ shuddered. "I think we owe that to the skillful hands that decorated," he continued, gifting AJ and her mother with a curt smile.

"I didn't spend enough time at the ball," Henry mumbled in reply, "Alpha Green talks like a waterfall, the meeting drew out into the early morning."

"All is well I assume?" George prodded.

"The Silverstreams will not bother us." Her father's unwillingness to elaborate wasn't lost on AJ. Usually, pack business would be thoroughly discussed over the dinner table, her father going over every detail, George would listen and comment. But not that night, George pulling out answers from her father was like watching him pull out teeth, her father's discomfort wasn't something she was used to. They ate mostly in silence, none of them the least interested in starting a conversation.

Except for George. "This chicken is excellent," he mumbled while wiping his mouth with his napkin. He was apparently the only one not affected by the heavy tension. "Penny you always were a brilliant cook."

"Thank you," Penny replied through thin lips.

"You're very quiet tonight, AJ." George addressed her over the rim of his wine glass, before downing half the glass in one gulp.

"Yes, I... guess," was all she could get out. Her chicken was getting cold on the plate in front of her, she had only touched the potatoes and even then it was just to stab them with her fork, pretending they were something else entirely. And that he would scream out in pain. George was oblivious, chowing down his dinner with the utmost satisfaction. AJ knew what was coming, she knew why he asked to come over for dinner, she knew why her parents were unusually quiet and she knew why George continued to smirk at her between bites. Sometimes he even had the nerve to wink at her. An action that made her skin crawl and gave her the urge to leap over the table and lodge her knife in his eye.

"It is a lovely night tonight," George said with a sigh, glancing casually out of the window. "The stars are out, the moon is high, there is no chill in the air and I swear I can smell the coming summer in the breeze," he continued. "Don't you think so, AJ?"

AJ scowled at him. She knew what he was doing. Her fork once again scraped on the china and she winced at the sound. "Yes," she mumbled, "Nice night and... all that." They continued to eat in silence for a few minutes. She sipped at the wine in her glass, not really liking the taste. "I see your hands are better," she spat, trying hard to remain casual but fury rose in her as soon as she noticed there was not a scratch on him anymore.

"Yes, yes they are," George answered in genuine surprise that she cared, "Thanks for your concern, I took your advice and went to Dr. Mallard for him take a look at them. I also wanted to go over a few things with his son, the young Dr. Mallard. Unfortunately, he was out somewhere on a house call," he said. "He is not even settled into the pack in properly and already making housecalls. He's very soft-hearted that boy, I'm not so sure he will last once his father retires." His stare lingered on AJ and she found it hard to swallow the potato she had finally convinced herself to eat. For a few seconds he eyed her up suspiciously, but when she said nothing he finally tore himself from her and cut into the lump of chicken left on his plate.