Chapter 133
0133 I sighed. “Okay, I guess that makes sense so far. So now tell me why wolves are so upset that they are ready to violently overthrow pack leadership.” Jessica stood and began pacing. “Everyone has their own reasons, their own stories.” “Tell me some of them. I need to know.” “I do not know if you have realized it, but Margie has always been a little bit… off. I do not know if it is me ntal illness or pure evilness or just isolated bitterness and hatred, but there is something really wrong with her. As I understand it from our parents and others that are older than us, she has always done… things… but pack members could usually avoid her wrath if you avoided her triggers and stayed out of her way However, when Stephanie began her luna training, it became harder and harder. And then, when Stephanie died, it was like all bets were off.” “I do not understand. Give me some specifics. “Did you know Margie hates Luna Jane?” Jessica asked me. “Margie does not hate my mother. They have had some troubles in the past, but they are still best friends.” “No, they aren’t. At least not where Margie is concerned.” I gave Jessica a questioning look. “For years Margie has regularly and intentionally undermined Luna Jane with staff. For example, say Luna Jane was planning an event, and she directed staff to order red napkins and white roses. As soon as Luna Jane walked out of the room, Margie would contradict all of Luna’s instructions. She would change the napkins to pink and the roses to yellow. It was all little stuff, but it was consistent and calculated.” “Staff never told my mother?” “Oh, they did at first, but Margie would ‘remind’ Luna Jane that Luna Jane had actually wanted the pink napkins and yellow roses, and Luna Jane would immediately refent. It was like Luna Jane felt powerless to say no to anything Margie wanted. Staff eventually stopped asking Luna Jane and just started doing what Margie wanted.” “And you know this because?” “Because some of those early staff members are part of the movement.” “Surely you are not saying that pack members are willing to overthrow pack leadership because of the color of napkins and roses.” “No, of course they are not,” Jessica confirmed. “But you have to understand that when staff witnessed that sort of interaction between Luna Jane and Margie, it conveyed a very clear message about who was in charge, And it became very clear that Margie was never to be crossed.” “And?” “And with Margie in charge, wolves got hurt. A lot of them.” “Again, I need some specifics.” “Let’s start small,” Joey suggested. “After Stephanie died, as you know, Margie wanted Stephanie’s memorial pictures hung up throughout the pack, at all of the businesses and in all the major buildings.” “Okay.” “And at first, most wolves were fine with doing that. Many had no idea how evil Stephanie really was. They understood that Stephanie was our future Luna and that we needed to respect her memory.” “I am not sure where you are going with this.” “It was fine at first. But as time went on, pack members wanted to take down the signs and the memorials. They had products that they wanted to advertise, or they had their own loved ones that they wanted to remember,” Joey continued. “Okay…” “But Margie would not hear of it. She made it clear that anyone who moved or removed their tributes to Stephanie would be severely punished.” Jessica reached for Joey’s hand. “One couple in particular lost their 5-year-old pup in a car accident a couple of years ago.” “The Hoffman Family?” I ask Jessica nodded. “As you know, they run a sandwich shop about ten minutes from the packhouse. After their son died, they blew up his picture and put it on the counter by the register, where they previously had Stephanie’s picture. They did not remove Stephanie’s picture entirely, they just moved it to a nearby gallery wall. Margie came in some days later and saw that Stephanie’s picture had been moved. She demanded that it be moved back. The Hoffmans were grieving and upset about their pup, and they refused Margie’s request. They said they would honor their son any way they saw fit. Three days later, three guards on Margie’s payroll came to the shop at 10:00 am in the morning, just before they opened for lunch. The guards said that they had orders from the packhouse to torch the entire kitchen of their shop. The Hoffmans had to sit back and watch their entire livelihood burn up, while guards held them back. It took them months to re-build, and they received no compensation or help from the pack to do so.” I clutched my chest as I remembered hearing about the fire. I had no idea that it had been set intentionally, much less at Margie’s order. “This is what you call starting small?” I asked in disbelief. Jessica and Joey frowned. “Yes. Are you sure you want us to keep going?” I shook my head. “No, I am not. But I do not think I have a choice at this point. Please, continue.”
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