Love Is Flower Like

Chapter 25

Edited 05/31/21

Meadow walked into her house and was greeted by the sight of her brother sitting next to their dad. She froze as she read the room. She had interrupted something, and she had a sneaky suspicion that they had been talking about her - about her wanting to take the Alpha position. She stared at Jake hard until he stood up. He stopped next to her and opened his mouth to say something. However, he decided against it and left the house without saying a word. When she heard the door shut, she moved to take his spot on the couch. She turned towards her dad and asked him a question.

"How do I get stronger?" she asked. He stared at her far longer than she wanted him to, and she huffed in response. She was growing impatient. She knew he would fully support Jake with no questions asked if he wanted to take up the position. It was a big problem on the reservation - the misogyny. Everything on the res was run by men. Women weren't even allowed on the council.

"Jake told me what happened," Billy finally said. 

"I'm sure he did," she said tightly. "How do I get stronger?"

"Sam is a fine man. He's been doing this pretty well for someone thrown into it by himself."

"I don't care. Answer my question, please," she said through gritted teeth.

"You're set on doing this, aren't you? Why?"

"You're against me doing this, but if I were Jake, you wouldn't be. Why?" she shot back. He sighed and took a moment to think. She watched emotions flit across his face and took the opportunity to ask once more.

"How do I get stronger?" she asked for the last time.

"The strength of your wolf is tied to the strength of your person, mentally and physically. The stronger you are, the stronger your wolf is," he answered after some hesitation. Meadow nodded. She knew what she had to do. She stood up but was stopped by her dad.

"If you are serious about this, then you need to keep what I told you a secret," he said.

"Sam doesn't know?" she asked incredulously.

"No. He doesn't."

"Why not?"

"Only the Alpha line is supposed to know. It's a way to keep us as the successors of the gene."

She screwed her face up and said, "Why not tell the entire pack? Everyone would become stronger and would be in less danger."

"It is just how we've done things."

She shook her head in disgust and disappointment before she asked him to clarify something.

"How am I supposed to keep it a secret? They can hear my thoughts and I can hear theirs."

"You can train yourself to block your thoughts. Since you're already a closed-off person, it shouldn't be too hard for you to accomplish."

"How?"

"That is for you to figure out. I don't have all the answers. You will have to figure it out on your own."

Meadow mulled over his answers before she remembered something else she wanted to ask him. Hesitantly, she asked, "Why is Sam acting differently?"

"What do you mean?" Billy asked.

"The boys all agree that Sam has been acting differently since I joined the pack. He's been angrier and easier to frustrate. He treats unfairly, too. I'd chalk it all up to misogyny, but there's something else there," she explained.

"Are you sure you're not just imagining it?" Billy asked. He backtracked as Meadow gave him a look and rushed out, "I'm not trying to invalidate your feelings. Sometimes we find things that aren't there simply due to envy or jealousy."