A Queen Among Snakes: Chapter Twenty - Chris

I went from having a beautiful morning with Mei to getting my ass supremely handed to me during training. I got paired with Marcus and he was being particularly brutal today; he’s an absolute beast when it comes to fighting. On the bright side, it’s nice to know our pack has two such strong powerhouses to protect it, plus it wasn’t entirely his fault I got my ass kicked so much, I admit I was extremely distracted.

Mei was facing off against Amelia – as usual. When we have pack training, Mei only spars against Amelia, because no one else is strong enough to take her on. She only spars with others if she’s helping to coach them on how to take on a stronger opponent.

Basically, I neglected to defend against several of Marcus’ attacks because I couldn’t take my eyes off Mei. The way she moves is so lithe and majestic. You would have no idea how new she was to fighting unless she told you, she acts like she’s been doing this her whole life and her style doesn’t even look like she’s fighting, it’s more like this regal dance. One I could watch for hours.

As I head towards the packhouse to get breakfast, Marcus catches up to me. “You didn’t even give me a challenge today, man. A certain little lady on your mind?” He teases wiggling his eyebrows at me.

“She’s always on my mind, and I’m sure the same goes for you when it comes to Amelia,” I say slyly.

“Got that right. That dynamite of a woman consumes me so much that it’s a wonder I get anything done around here at all,” he chuckles, running his fingers through his sweat-soaked hair.

“It’s great to see how well you’ve settled into the pack,” I say sincerely. He had a rough start, and I wasn’t his biggest fan when we met – I hated how he treated Amelia – but he’s come a long way and really improved as a person, which I respect.

“I appreciate that; especially coming from you,” he says with a soft, genuine smile.

“Me?” I ask in confusion.

“You were the first person here to call me out on my shit. Guaranteed, I didn’t like that you were, but I respected how loyal you were to Amelia. So winning you over feels like a big accomplishment,” he grins.

I laugh, “Let’s hope you keep it that way. I would hate to have to kick your ass for hurting her,” I threaten sweetly.

He snorts, “If today’s performance is anything to go by, I think I’m safe,” he smirks.

“We’ll see about that.”

We both head into the dining hall and make our way over to the buffet to fix our plates. Marcus is just like Amelia, they both love to put a bit of everything on their plate, and I notice how he makes a plate for her too. He really is good for her.

I’d happily make a plate of food for Mei, but she likes doing it herself. It’s the little ways she gets to be independent that mean a lot to her. Even something as simple as getting a plate of food. Just thinking about how those evil sons of bitches deprived her of food and worse has me seeing red.

Calming myself down, I grab myself a couple breakfast sandwiches, which are really just a poached egg served on top of a couple slices of bacon, drizzled with hollandaise sauce, placed between two halves of an English Muffin. It’s positively amazing. I also pour myself some orange juice and make my way over to the tables.

I see my dad and mum waving me over, so I head over and sit down in front of them throwing my legs over the bench.

“How was training?” Dad asks as he takes a bite of his pancakes.

“I was a bit distracted; I’ll do better tomorrow.” I take a sip of juice and dig into the oozy deliciousness in front of me.

“You’re going to have to let me try one of those sometime, see what all the fuss is about,” Axel says while licking his chops.

“All you have to do is ask. I’ll grab a couple more after this and you can try them after breakfast.”

“Awesome! Thanks, Chris,” he cheers.

“My pleasure, buddy.”

“Did you all have fun last night?” Mum asks eagerly. “Mei looked so gorgeous in that dress, was she happy with it?” She’s bouncing in her seat.

A smile erupts on my face remembering how beautiful Mei looked in her dress. She was a vision in white gold. “We had an amazing night, and she looked and felt amazing,” I announce proudly. “Thank you for getting her that dress, it meant a lot to us both,” I say sincerely, reaching out and squeezing my mum’s hand.

She squeezes my hand back but waves her other hand dismissively, “I’ve told you both, there is no thanks necessary. I love taking care of her, and she deserves all the doting in the world,” she says with motherly love.

My mum is amazing, she and dad are both sweet and loving and would give you the shirts off their backs. Dad has a bit more fierceness to him, which comes from being the former Delta and I think he passed some of that on to my sister, Evalyn. She’s a free spirit for the most part, but under the right circumstances she has a quick temper, which is why Tyson calls her ‘firecracker’.

“I completely agree with you,” I tell her. “Although something did happen last night that I didn’t like.” The memory suddenly coming to me.

“With Mei?” My dad asks, his tone turning serious as his posture straightens.

“Some creep had been watching Mei. I never saw him – neither did anyone else – which is lucky for him I guess, but Mei was positive some guy was watching her, and I could tell it really unsettled her. But she handled herself really well,” I say, puffing out my chest feeling pride for Mei.

Dad lets out a low growl, “It’s men like that, that make the rest of us look bad. We can literally turn into wild animals and yet the way these men treat or look at women is as if they are the wild animals,” says dad with disgust. My mother nods in agreement and so do I. “Hasn’t that poor child been through enough?” Dad grumbles in disgust.

Dad adores Mei just as much as mum does, they both see her as a daughter and would do anything for her. Knowing she has so many people around her now who want to care for her and protect her puts me at ease.

“I’m just glad he didn’t try anything. I don’t need to be under investigation for murdering some human low-life for making a move on my woman.” I snarl at the very thought.

“Now, now. You know the Delegation is very sympathetic when it comes to animais, they’d be more than understanding. Plus I’m sure it helps now that Mei is rubbing shoulders with a Delegate,” she says cheekily. “Can you believe we have a pack with such close ties to the Delegation? We are very blessed,” she beams with pride.

If packs had cheerleaders, mum would have been one for sure. She’s always boosting people up and all about pack pride.

“And to think all those ignorant morons claimed Amelia would ruin the pack,” dad snorts. “Put all those people together and I still don’t think they could make up a single brain cell among them,” he says casually. Mum and I laugh.

My laughter is cut short when I can suddenly feel anxiety and adrenaline coming from Mei. Axel is immediately alert in my mind and my head is whipping around in search of her. My eyes find her across the room standing by the buffet with none other than that stupid bitch Jane Lahde next to her. I tune into what they’re saying.

“Wow, the social reject actually left her room again I see,” Jane says mockingly while looking Mei over with disdain. “Though looking like that, maybe you should have stayed there,” she spits snidely.

“Let me out so I can rip her heart out! No one speaks to Sweet One like that!” Axel growls in my head as he tries to push forward.