*****************
Chapter 20
~Valerie’s POV~
I turned just as Coach Stein pivoted and stord toward Brielle’s group, his face a deep shade of red.
He looked furious—veins bulged on his forehead and arms, and I could almost swear I saw smoke coming out of his nostrils.
"You," he growled, pointing at Brielle’s friend who had been saying heaven-know-what to him since. "You distracted just to pull this stunt?"
"Professor Stein—"
"Save it," he snapped, then turned to face Brielle. "Brielle, you and your group—clean this ss up. If you have any injuries, go to the infirmary. And congratulations—after-school detention for an entire week for you lot."
Brielle paled. "W-what? But—"
"One more word and I’ll make it two weeks."
She clamped her gutter of a mouth up instantly. I smirked, turning my back to her and heading toward Isla and Astraea, who were grinning like maniacs.
Kai, Axel, Dristan, and Xade watched from the bleachers. I couldn’t tell what they thought. Did they think I had gone too far like a few of the others or...
I brushed that thought off. It wasn’t my business.
Whatever. I had won this round.
*****************
~Author’s POV~
The High Council Chamber lood over the city like a silent guardian. Its towering structure stood as a symbol of the werewolf kingdom’s power. The air was filled with tension concerning their latest kingdom wild matter.
A massive round table sat at the centre of the dimly lit hall, surrounded by ten high-backed chairs—four of which were occupied by the reigning Alpha Kings.
Around them stood the advisory elders, representing each of the five regions. Their faces were lined with age and wisdom, though unease flickered in their eyes.
And then there was him.
Seated at the head of the table, silent as a shadow, was Alpha Storm—the Grand Alpha.
The strongest alpha to have lived in the last fifty years. His very presence commanded attention as his aura suffocated the room.
His hair, now dusted with streaks of silver, did little to diminish the sharpness of his cold, steel-like gaze.
Tension stretched thin as the council mbers sat in grim silence—so tapping their fingers against the polished wood, others lost in thought, their gazes fixed on nothing, while so tapping their feet against the tiled floor.
Finally, Alpha Xavier cleared his throat. "Since the issue with how to handle the rogues remains unresolved, can we move on to other pressing matters?"
"Such as?" Alpha Draven questioned, his erald-green eyes glinting under the dim lighting. His resemblance to his son, Kai, was unmistakable—the sa sharp jawline, the sa dark, commanding presence.
Alpha Xavier leaned forward, lacing his fingers together. "Soone is digging into the past from ten years ago."
The words were like a spark in dry wood. Gasps rippled through the room, expressions shifting from indifference to alarm. All except one.
A heavy silence followed before Alpha Xavier spoke, his voice steady. "What must we do to find whoever is responsible? Whether it’s an individual, an organisation, or an enemy from the outside?"
Several pairs of eyes turned toward Alpha Storm.
The Grand Alpha remained motionless as if he hadn’t heard them. His gaze was distant, unreadable.
"Grand Alpha," Alpha Rhian, the Northern Advisory, called out in a sowhat soft tone as if a child was trying to poke the big bad bear.
Slowly, Alpha Storm lifted his head. His dark, ageless eyes swirled with sothing unreadable—sothing deeper than re politics.
He was a man who had seen war, betrayal, and bloodshed. The weight of ti sat heavily on his shoulders, but he remained unbroken.
"Grand Alpha," Rhian continued cautiously, "given that the events of ten years ago are... personal, we would like to hear your opinion on this matter."
Alpha Storm’s expression darkened.
"It is a forbidden matter." His voice was low, but the power behind it sent a chill down the room.
"Exactly my point," Alpha Xavier interjected, tapping his fingers on the table. "It is forbidden. No one should be digging into what happened to your pack and family. We all know that Alpha Snow and Luna Zara did their best to protect the Southern lands—"
"Silence.’
The word was spoken softly, but the effect was imdiate.
Alpha Storm released a sliver of his power, and the entire room froze.
The walls seed to shudder under the weight of his aura. A suffocating pressure filled the space as his aged yet unyielding eyes settled on each and every person in the room.
"Cowards surround ," he stated coldly. "Had the law not been put in place ten years ago, I would have found the ones responsible for that massacre."
A dangerous ripple ran through the table.
Alpha Alexander narrowed his eyes. "What exactly are you saying, Grand Alpha? Are you implying that we deliberately covered the investigation to hide sothing?"
Alpha Storm’s lips curled into a humourless smile. "Thankfully, you said it. Not I."
A growl rumbled deep in Alpha Alexander’s chest. "You call us cowards, yet you do not have the spine to accuse us to our faces."
A dark chuckle escaped Alpha Storm, devoid of amusent. Then, in an instant, the smile vanished, replaced by sothing far more lethal.
"How great," he murmured, his voice dripping with venom. "Had it not been for myself and Alpha Winters, the Southern Advisory, do you truly believe I don’t know that most of the Southern lands would have been invaded and seized by you lot?"
The tension in the room snapped like a bowstring.
Alpha Zeno slamd his palm against the table, his patience finally reaching its limit. "Enough of this madness! Accusing each other will get us nowhere."
He turned to the rest of the council, his voice sharp. "This is exactly what whoever is digging into the past wants. Division. Distrust. The fall of the Council of Alphas."
Murmurs broke out across the table. He wasn’t wrong.
Alpha Storm sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I told Zara she made a mistake forming this pathetic excuse of a council," he muttered, not caring if they all heard him.
In the past, when Zara had chosen to share the ruling of the werewolf kingdom, she decided to break them into regions to prevent one family—one pack, from ever wielding such power as it bred contempt, greed and death, just like what had happened to her father and pack when she was five.
As good as her idea was, there’ll always be those selfish scoundrels who would want more.
"Grand Alpha," one of the elders, the Eastern Advisory, Alpha Nicholas, spoke hesitantly. "Surely you don’t believe this information will be leaked?"
Storm scoffed. "A simple attack from rogue dark witches could not be handled, and you think you can stop the truth from surfacing?" He swept his gaze over the room, watching the discomfort settle in.
"It looks to like no one wants the secret exposed. I say let them dig. Let them uncover it. Because once they do..." His eyes glead with sothing close to satisfaction. "...they will reveal themselves and we will know who our true enemies are."
A heavy silence followed.
Not everyone agreed with his words, but they couldn’t refute them either.
Alpha Storm sat back, observing them quietly before he finally stood. The council remained seated and unmoving as his words sank into their hearts. Most of them knew he spoke the truth, yet... there they were.
Without another word, he turned on his heel and walked away, his presence leaving a void in the room that no one dared to fill.
’Ingrates. If only Zara could see the world she believed in now.’
Reviews
All reviews (0)