A King and A Pawn Excerpt © Liv Olteano 2016

He walked toward me slowly, his hands still at his back. For a moment I contemplated stepping out of his way, though I could see no outward sign of aggression or violence in his demeanor. But I was a beta in my pack, even if it was the beta of a ballsy alpha like Weiss. My natural instinct was to bow to someone’s intense vibe of authority. And without a doubt right now Will exuded shitloads of those vibes. My heart was pounding in earnest, the plug inside my ass making me tingly all over and lusty.
“Say you needed a friend at Court,” he whispered when he was but a breath away from me. “Say you needed one desperately. What would you be willing to do to gain such a friend?”
I swallowed hard. “Depends.”
“On?”
“Loads of things. How much I liked that person, how badly I needed their friendship, to what end.”
He chuckled. “I like your thinking, Bert. I find I like you, all in all. And you know what?”
“What?”
He leaned in even closer, rubbing his lips against the shell of my ear. “I think you like me too. Do you?”
I nodded because I couldn’t help myself. And I was hard at this point, so there was no use in denying it.
“Good. I’m glad to hear that,” he said, stepping away. His hands had never left the small of his back. “Now a lot depends upon what’s written in that file. And upon my direct testimony. Should the file say there are traces of the drugs from last night in your blood, it would prove you’d been a victim of the attempt just like everyone else. My testimony would show just to what degree you were affected.”
“And why would that be relevant?”
“Events took place last night. Unfortunate events. Decidedly unfortunate.”
“You mean aside from the guests being drugged?”
He nodded. “Let’s say your life hung in the balance. And let’s assume how much of a friend I decide to be to you could either make or break your case.”
A cold chill went down my spine. “What the fuck are you saying?”
He smiled. “I think you know. Don’t you, Bert?”
“No, I fucking don’t!” I shouted and just made a go at him.
I’m not sure what I was thinking. I don’t think I was thinking. Rage just exploded inside me and then outward, controlling my body. I wanted to slap that smug look off his face. I wanted to mess up his hair, at least; I was almost convinced it would annoy him more than a slap to the face.
But I didn’t. He easily spun me around and planted me face-first against a wall, my arm twisted to keep me in place. I growled, the loud sound booming against the walls of his office.
“Yes,” he said directly against my ear. “This is the temper I expected of you. This is the intensity you were supposed to display. Yet I can’t read it in your emotional grid. So tell me, growling beauty, what is it that’s messing with my reading?”
I kept growling for a moment so I wouldn’t seem shocked silent by the question. I’d screwed up in two fucking days. In two fucking days I’d given away the fact I had some sort of antireading thing going on, which would mean I had something to hide. And this was most definitely not the right time to be discovered as a liar.
“What’s going on? What do you want?” I asked, trying to tone down the rising panic.
“I’m sad to say the Fey King is dead. He was assassinated sometime between last night and the early hours of this morning. Until matters are cleared up, everyone with opportunity is a suspect. Newcomers, and outsiders to boot, are at the top of everyone’s list, as you might imagine.”
The blood froze in my veins. “You’re shitting me. The King is dead?”
“Very much so.”
“Maybe it was natural causes,” I said halfheartedly.
“It wasn’t. Are you calm enough to discuss this like adults now?”
I nodded and he let go of me, stepping back. He walked over to the edge of his desk and perched on it.
“You’re telling me I’m a suspect in the Fey King’s assassination?” I asked in a faint voice.
“Exactly. So as I was saying earlier, you do need a friend right now. You need me as your friend. What are you willing to do in order to get that?”
My stomach tightened painfully. “What would you have in mind?”
He smiled.

Bert Cooper, werewolf beta extraordinaire © Liv Olteano 2016

I love playing with notions of hierarchy and pecking order, hehe. Particularly so when it comes to paranormal romance and romance tropes.
In A King and a Pawn, my main character is Bert Cooper – a werewolf beta, foodie, and generally dependable guy. I tried to picture this strong man while reconciling his undoubtedly savage animal nature with his beta status as manifested under different circumstances. It was a lot of fun to watch him interact with his alpha, Weiss, and then thrust him into a completely different world – that of the fey – which functions based on completely different rules, with power dynamics that depend not on physical power and loyalty, but on magic power and cunning instead.
Bert already experiences inner conflict related to his beta position because of how he imagines his fellow pack members perceive him, now that his sister turned out to be a traitor. Add to that the fact that he’s in a world he feels he’s not well-equipped to deal with, plus developing a crush on one of the fey public figures (Sir William Matthew Sims) – so on the enemy, more or less – and Bert finds himself constantly between a rock and a hard place.
Troubled by the idea his pack members question his loyalty, he himself ends up questioning everything he feels and thinks as things develop between him and Will. I loved exploring the constant tension between his role as a beta and his own independent nature, and how different environments might emphasize one or the other. Of course, as he gets to know Will better, he realizes that his preconceived ideas about fey in general, and thereby Will in particular, are based on little information and even less understanding of their complicated, glittering yet brutal world. And when Will’s children come into play, Bert’s protective nature wins over any lingering doubts regarding what the best course of action might be. Keeping his priorities straight and adjusting to the shifting sands of fey politics in order to get what he wants is a success, in my mind, precisely due to his beta role in his own pack and the perspective such a role has offered him.
Since you can take the beta out of the pack, can you take the beta out of the werewolf? In a way, I wanted to see Bert’s reactions in a world where he’s not so much a beta but a lone werewolf – an outsider. In the end, his actions revolved around his natural dynamic with Weiss’s position of authority, but also Bert’s own values and feelings – and the diplomatic skills he’s developed due to his beta role. Skills that Bert himself isn’t fully aware of, but that have become part of his nature. After all, if he’s been able to put up with Weiss as his alpha, there’s nothing in the whole wide world that can give Bert any major trouble, is there? 🙂
Bert’s role as beta becomes more and more nuanced as his personal life becomes more complicated, and sometimes even seems to conflict with his alpha’s desires – though never conflicts with his pack’s best interests. It’s a thrilling ride, and it ends in an even more complex role for Bert, as he himself becomes the alpha of a new werewolf and part of a pretty large family too.
Things work out well for all involved, of course; not only because Bert’s story is a romantic one, thereby coming with a happy ending, but also because the alpha of my alpha is my alpha, if you will, hehe. And if Bert comes out looking a bit like a rebel beta, but a great beta nonetheless, then hurrah for him.
I’m a bit of a cheerleader for rebels, truth be told. What about you? How do you feel about a beta who’s a bit of a rebel?