Kaley’s face turned a deep crimson, but I wasn't sure if it was from anger or embarrassment at the unexpected turn of events with an audience.
“‘My father said Cameron and Dakota will be escorting me, Mateo will be escorting Jeanie, and Oliver will be escorting Marnie. I see no reason to think otherwise.”
He laid out the plan and expected everyone to follow it, and raised his chin at Sam as if giving a direct order.
“I suggest you watch your tone when speaking to your future leaders.” Oliver emphasized the word “leaders” as he gestured to the group around the sparring circle. “Your father is not a leader, and therefore has no control over us or anything in this pack. As you have been told, we are going together.”
“The future Alphas, Betas, Gammas, and Delta. You are none of those things. Do not expect any of us to show up to escort you anywhere. None of us can sense our mate, so this ball is nothing more than an end-of-year dance and formality for any of us.”
“There is no reason to make such a big deal out of it. If you choose to attend, we might see you later.” Oliver turned and headed towards the entrance without a glance back at any of us.
I didn't miss the plurals of “Beta” and “Gamma,” including Sierra and me by our ranks. My heart stung watching him go, still angry at me for wanting to leave and not listening to his pleas to stay. I took a deep breath and rolled my eyes inwardly. He had to let me go; I couldn't be stifled here.
Before Kaley could say anything else, Delta Kyle interrupted, clapping his hands. “You all did very well today. We will see you next weekend. Make sure you work on everything you learned so you can come back stronger next week. The Luna would like a word with you all, so I'm going to take the rest of the training for today.” He didn't even spare Kaley a glance.
“Aw, man! I was going to whoop you this time too.” Brandon stomped the ground.
“There's always next time, little man.” Cam patted him on the shoulder.
I turned out of Dakota's grasp. “I'm just going to grab my things; I'll catch up with you guys later.” I headed swiftly towards the locker area.
I didn't really have anything to grab, just an excuse to avoid walking with them. The tension between us was still palpable, and I wasn't sure how to get past it. I'd have to figure it out soon if I wanted to hang out with them for the rest of the night, though.
I fiddled around in the girls' locker room for about ten minutes, expecting the others to be gone. If they weren't, I'd just have to deal with them walking me to the packhouse. As I went to grab the door, it swung open, and I wasn't prepared for the momentum. I stumbled backward, and before I could react, a fist flew towards my head. Everything went black.
