Chapter 223

“Thank you, Alpha. You and Luna Marie have a good night.” I would not argue with them. I also pulled up my banking app and sent Wendy a transfer. Thankfully, I didn’t need her information, just her number. I looked at her. “I need you to send this to your mother, and before you say no, please understand that what Vince is doing is because of me.”

There was a ding, and a wide-eyed Wendy pulled out her phone and screamed. She nearly dropped her phone, but I was ready and snatched it from the air. “Amy, I can’t accept this.”

“Of course you can.” I handed her phone back. “Remember, he is going to push harder and harder until it’s too much for your mom to work at the school anymore. She won’t have an income to take care of herself, or you. She will need a buffer until all of this blows over. I’m giving you this buffer.”

Wendy’s eyes filled with tears. “Are you sure?”

“More than anything.” I kissed her brow and then grabbed the cart. “Now let’s go, before something else dramatic happens.”

Jora looked at his watch. “Yes, it’s getting very late,” We rushed through checkout and headed back to the school. Toya and Wendy were talking low in the back when Jora turned to me. “Thank you for the garden, Amy.”

I waved him off. “It’s no issue, Jora.”

“I know you feel that way, but I know my mate will love that silly little garden.”

I turned to face his side of the car. “Honestly, it is the least I could do for your help with taking us to the store this late. I know you aren’t supposed to take us out past eight, so I appreciate it.”

He glanced my way and then nodded. “You know, you are so different from what I expected.”

“What do you mean?”

He was a little hesitant. “When I got the position here, when everyone moved in, I heard the Alphas here are assholes. And they are. Most Alphas here are complete dickheads. But you, Toya, back there, all of your friends are actually amazing. You took the time to get to know us and you never used your rank to make any of the guards here feel like we were less than.” His hands tightened on the steering wheel. “Most Alphas from other packs need to assert their dominance over betas and gammas from different packs, but you never made me feel like that was the case.”

I smiled. “Can I let you in on a secret?” He nodded. “It’s because it isn’t the case. Alphas don’t actually feel the need to assert their dominance over wolves that aren’t in their pack. We do if there is a lower wolf in our packs acting up, because it interferes with our pack structure. But with wolves outside of our packs, we don’t feel the need.” I looked back at Toya. “Have you ever felt the need?”

Toya shook her head. “My father always told me it was just an excuse for assholes to be assholes.”

The air thickened. “You have got to be fucking kidding me," Jora’s voice was angry.

“What?”

“You are telling me this entire time it was just a lie for the dudes to bully others?!”

I made eye contact with Toya and then we both nodded. “Pretty much.” I turned back around. “It’s sad, but it is the same as the BS that they say about men needing to sleep around when they first shift. They say that Alphas especially need the extra outlet to get rid of their extra aggression, but in reality, it’s just so they can fuck whoever they want without real repercussions from their mates.”

Jora’s face fell. “I never thought of it like that.”

“What? That males use it as an excuse?” He nodded. “Did you sleep around?”

“Well, no.” He blushed. “I wanted to wait for my mate.”

I pointed to him. “Exactly, as do I. But most males have been using this as an excuse for millennia. And not just wolves, but human men, too. They have too much generation or testosterone to be faithful. But it’s just an excuse to abuse yet another person and have them fall into line, anyway.”

Toya and Wendy nodded. “It has become such common practice that you have to expect your mate to have been with another she-wolf,” Wendy’s words were soft.

“But,” I pointed out. “The same cannot be said about she-wolves.” Toya scoffed.

“There was a beta in my pack that slept with anything that walked, but his mate turned out to be one girl that slept with him earlier in the year, and he lost his mind.”

Wendy turned. “Had she slept with anyone else?”

Toya shook her head. “Nope, just him. But he screamed at her for being a whore and not waiting for him to realize he was her mate. He nearly rejected her, and the only reason he wouldn’t is because his wolf refused to.”

I turned back in my seat. “Men are stupid.” Even Jora nodded as he silently drove back to the building.