Chapter 11

Author's Pov;

"I'm sick and tired of this silly game." Annie Blackwood whispered to herself as she stood by her window, looking out to the open just to appreciate the beautiful weather.

She had contemplated going over to her husband to talk about the game that he had their kids play, to obtain the position of the Alpha as it sounded ridiculous. But each time she wanted to go, she felt a restriction.

On this day, she didn't. She put on her black slippers and walked away from her room, heading straight to her husband's room so she'd talk to him.

That was the room that she too was supposed to stay in. Indeed, she used to stay there except for a few nights when she just wanted to be alone, just like the previous night.

On getting to the room, she noticed that someone else was there and she put her ears behind the door so she'd know if she could recognise who it was through the voice.

She did. It was no one else but her dear second son, Jake, having a conversation with his father concerning the position of the Alpha of the Crimson Pack.

"So my husband is helping Jake win this contest?" She said to herself with both of her hands on her waist after hearing what they were talking about. "How is this a fair competition?"

She placed her right hand on the door so she could push it open and she did, but after a bit of consideration, she decided not to walk into the room. Instead, she chose to stay behind the curtain and let them finish their conversation whilst she paid attention.

The more she heard them speak, the angrier she felt because Jake was getting an undue advantage over his brothers. She was even more enraged at her husband, for using her son's dilemma to strike a deal with him.

Finally, Jake nodded his head and made his way out of the room. Not wanting to be spotted by him, she went back outside stealthily and hid behind one of the pillars in the hallway until he walked away. Then, she pushed the door open and walked into Alpha Blackwood's room with fire in her eyes.

"What is this that you think you're doing?" She asked him before he could say a word. He was about to sit on his bed but her presence cut him short, causing him to hang a bit before finally deciding to remain standing.

"Why would you set up a silly competition between our boys? I don't like that at all and that's exactly why I'm here."

"To ask me to call it off?" Alpha Blackwood laughed. "Is that why you came here?"

"Yes. That's exactly why I'm here. I find it ridiculous that you'll subject your children to such a cruel thing. Why would you want to turn them against themselves? What If they cause harm to one another? You should cut it off."

"I think you should stay out of things that you have no understanding of." Blackwood advised, still maintaining a smile even though he was annoyed by her statement. "You're only a woman and so you cannot possibly understand why it's important for men to fight over the position, of being the next Alpha of this great Pack."

"I don't understand..." She argued. "You have already given the seat of the Alpha to Justin. Why take it back from him only to help Jake win it? Why would you do something like that knowing fully well that it could bring enmity amongst the boys and even make them hate you too? Can't you see that what you're doing is wrong?"

Blackwood stared at his wife keenly. He hated being spoken to in that manner but Annie was the only one who had the guts to address him in that way. Justin was a close match in that regard.

"Well, I never gave the seat to Justin or anyone else, officially." He remarked. "It's very good to note that. He was only trained for that position but I never declared him to be my successor. Do you think that I don't know what I'm doing?"

"Maybe you don't..."

"On the contrary, I do." He maintained. "I know exactly what I'm doing. I fought for that title of Alpha back when I was like them. Now, it's their turn to do the same as I'm not letting any of them have a free pass. They must learn to fight for the things that they believe are theirs. That's how Alphas behave. Power is never handed over to anyone. It is taken. If any of them wants it, then he must take it. I'm not here to give out any freebies."

"Did you not just do that by helping Jake win Rachael's heart? Is that not exactly what you did? What other freebies are you talking about?"

Alpha Blackwood laughed hysterically, covering his mouth with his right hand as he did. "You didn't just think in your heart that I was going to let this competition of theirs finish that easily, did you?" He asked. "I only helped to kickstart the game. You know, make it more interesting. Now, with Jake's move, the rest of the boys, Justin most especially, would know that the contest is real. It'll open up their eyes to what is before them and then the game can truly begin."

Annie was mad. She was angered by the fact that her husband wasn't ready to give in to reason no matter how hard, she tried to talk some sense into him.

His mind was made up and there was no changing it. She had been married to him long enough to know that his ego never let him admit that he had made mistakes, nor did it allow him to change.

Whatever he thought in his heart was the law and since he was the Alpha, everyone had to follow suit or at least sit back and let things go the way he wanted without interfering by any means.

"If this whole thing goes south, I'll hold you responsible for it." She threatened in resignation.

"That's just silly, isn't it?" He laughed off her threat like it was nothing and began to make his way out of his room.

"Hold on," Annie called out to him. "What plans do you have for Rachael? Would she really get married to the man that she'd eventually choose to be mated with?"

Alpha Blackwood turned, he laughed mockingly at his wife thoughts.. believing that she'd even think such, knowing how much he loathed her.

He laughed at her so hard, she got confused...

"Why on earth would I ever let a slave get married to any of my sons? Wouldn't that just be a disgrace to this Pack and to our reputation at large?" He asked, pausing a bit before going on. "Once this is all over, and everyone has had their fun, that slave would be dragged back to the hell she was in; even a much more bigger and torturous hell. You can be sure of."