Alpha Alexander slammed the oak door to Alpha Richard’s office shut behind us, cutting off the whispers of the crowd, and immediately pointed toward a plush leather chair.
“Sit, Ella,” he commanded quietly.
I sank into the cushions, keeping my good left ear tilted toward him as he picked up the silver communication device, his dark eyes flashing with a cold determination as the call went through.
The device buzzed with static before a clear, authoritative tone chimed through the speaker.
A holographic seal of a room flickered to life over the desk, projecting a soft blue glow against the dark wood panels of the room.
“Alpha Alexander,” a deep voice echoed from the line.
It was an elderly wolf, his tone tight with anticipation.
“Report on the Silver Ridge audit.
Have you inspected their trade ledgers and illegal activities?”
“That is a secondary issue, Elder, we have more pressing matters to deal with,” he spoke, his low baritone cutting through the room with freezing precision.
He didn’t sit down in Alpha Richard’s plush chair; he simply leaned his palms against the desk, his eyes locked on the glowing seal.
“I am calling to report a severe, unchecked violation of ancient rights laws.
The anonymous grievance letter sent to your archives two years ago was entirely accurate.
The situation inside this territory is critical.”
So it was the High Priest Council he was calling.
My eyes went wide as I stared at the blue projection floating over the mahogany.
How was this possible?
How was that glowing thing even possible?
In my isolated life as the pack slave and lowest omega, I had never seen technology like this.
The line went completely dead for a second, the silence heavy as the elder digested the words.
“Be specific, Alexander.
What have you uncovered?”
“I have just retrieved the unranked human orphan from the courtyard,she made quite the scene” he stated as he looked at me, his voice flat but carrying a sharp edge.
“She is currently under my protection.
Her physical condition is a disgrace to our laws.
She is suffering from multiple fractured ribs, severe facial trauma, malnourished, and a lot more.
Alpha Richard attempted to claim her injuries were self-inflicted delirium, but the finger bruises on her skin tell a completely different story.”
A sharp intake of breath rattled through the communication device, loud in the quiet office.
“A human ward under Council protection?
If this is proven true, Alpha Richard has breached the foundational treaties of the High Priest Council.
The legal consequences are absolute.”
“I am initiating a full tribal audit immediately,” he said, his jaw clenching tightly, his dominant presence filling the small space.
“I will personally question the victim, interrogate the senior pack members, and secure the physical evidence before the sun goes down.
You need to start preparing the Council magistrates for a formal tribunal on your own end.
With your permission, I am stripping this pack of its sovereignty until the investigation is concluded.
But for the time being, Alpha Richard’s son, Klaus, will be overseeing the pack.”
Wait, what?
Klaus overseeing the pack?
A jolt of cold panic hit my chest.
Klaus wasn’t any different from his father; none of them were.
They were both so incredibly evil, so I didn’t see the difference that make shift arrangement would achieve.
Klaus had watched his father beat me; he had laughed when the warriors threw me into the dirt in the training grounds.
Passing the title to him was just swapping one monster for another.
But I didn’t dare voice my opinion.
I kept my lips firmly pressed together and locked my eyes onto the desk.
I wasn’t allowed to have an opinion in the first place, and speaking out of turn would only bring trouble.
“Understood, Alpha Alexander.
Secure the evidence.
The Council will await your official files,” the Elder replied, and the blue holographic light blinked out with a soft hiss, plunging the desk back into the natural light of the afternoon.
My mind was still reeling from the display.
This was some kind of magic or something.
Did they have a witch do this for them?
I thought werewolves and witches hated each other with a lot of passion, but there was no other explanation for a floating blue room in the middle of an office.
I had a lot of questions to ask about the strange device, but I ended up biting my tongue.
I couldn’t ask him that.
An omega did not cross-examine an Alpha.
Alpha Alexander let out a slow, measured breath, turning his dark gaze over to where I was sitting down.
I kept my spine pressed hard against the wood, my left ear tilted toward him as I absorbed everything he had just said.
A formal tribunal was on the way.
The untouchable Silver Ridge Pack was being systematically dismantled, and the Alpha’s word was no longer law.
They were all finally getting what they deserved, all of them.
The fear I had seen on Alpha Richard’s face outside wasn’t temporary, his entire kingdom was crumbling.
Soon he would lose everything he ever cherished.
He walked over to the door, opened it from the deadbolt, and told someone to come in.
I tilted my head to watch the threshold.
It was those two men from the other night, the ones who had shaken hands with Alpha Richard when the vanguard first rolled into the courtyard.
“Bring the recording equipment inside,” he more like ordered them, his voice leaving no room for a delay.
“We are taking her official statement on video immediately.”
One of the men left, I guessed to bring the camera from the vehicles, while the other one immediately stepped into the room and started clearing the paperwork off the desk.
He set more chairs around the desk to house two more people, moving with a quick, silent efficiency.
I watched him work, my chest tightening.
It felt exactly like all those intense interrogation movies I used to watch with my dad before the clearing, back when we had a television and a normal life.
The guy who had left returned a minute later with an equipment bag slung over his broad shoulder.
He started to set up a sleek, professional digital recording device on top of a low filing cabinet positioned to face the desk, adjusting the lens until it was aimed directly at the leather chair where I sat.
They didn’t stare at me for once while they prepped; it was as if I was completely invisible, just another piece of furniture in the room.
I tried to make myself really invisible, shrinking into the cushions, but well with my cursed luck, I knew I was the center of this storm.
When everything was set and the lens was glowing with a tiny red recording light, the two men sat down opposite me.
The room felt incredibly small, the air thick with their unfamiliar, scent and an anxious auras.
One of them looked across the table at me and smiled, his expression surprisingly soft.
“You must be Ella, right?”I nodded my head yes, my fingers gripping the fabric of my jeans.
He smiled at me, bringing out his massive, calloused hand for a handshake.
“My name is Mikko, and I am the Beta of the Blood Moon Pack.
This right here is my buddy Felix, and he is the Gamma.”
The guy next to him was also smiling at me, nodding his head in a silent greeting.
I stared at Mikko’s extended hand for a long, frozen moment.
No high-ranking wolf had ever offered me a greeting like an equal.
It took me a moment before I tentatively brought out my hands to shake both of them, my fingers trembling slightly against theirs.
“Okay, with that out of the way, I am going to need you to answer my questions and to look directly at the camera when you do that,” Mikko said, his voice dropping into a professional, serious tone as he pointed toward the lens.
“Do you understand?”
I nodded my head again, turning my good left ear completely forward, ready to finally speak the truth.