Kiel
I sat at my desk, fingers tapping restlessly against the pen I had been fiddling with for the last thirty minutes. The weight of the silence around was suffocating, broken only by the occasional scrape of the chair as I shifted. I had already given strict instructions to the guards outside—nobody was allowed in, not even the Elders, not the warriors, not anyone except Varen. Right now, I didn’t want anyone seeing like this.
Josie’s face lingered in my mind, her words like knives digging deeper into my chest with every replay. The disbelief in her eyes, the way her lips trembled when she accused of lying—it had broken sothing in . I kept telling myself I’d endured worse, but nothing compared to this emptiness that gnawed at . I had faced wars, blood, betrayal... but her doubt, her rejection of , felt like losing everything I had fought for in life.
"Kiel," Varen’s voice slipped into my head through the mind-link, steady and probing. "What’s going on? Where are you?"
I exhaled sharply, pinching the bridge of my nose. Not now. "I’ll explain everything soon," I answered tightly. "What I need right now is to be alone."
"You don’t sound fine. Talk to ." His voice pressed harder, laced with worry.
My grip on the pen tightened until it nearly cracked. "Varen, let it be. You’ll understand in due ti."
Silence followed for a mont, then his voice softened. "She’s not in her right mind, Kiel. Don’t take everything she says so seriously. You need to believe in what the two of you have. Don’t let Michelle destroy that."
My chest twisted painfully at his words. I wanted to believe him, I did, but belief didn’t erase the way Josie had looked at —as though I was the very enemy she needed to run from. Unable to hear any more, I shut the link, cutting him out.
I pressed my palms into my face, dragging them down slowly, trying to breathe, but the air felt heavier the longer I stayed seated. Finally, I pushed myself up, pacing toward the window. The night was quiet, stars scattered carelessly across the sky, and yet peace remained far from . No sign of my Beta returning yet.
Varen was always trying to make it seem like hope existed, like there was always a chance for light to break through the cracks. But I wasn’t naïve enough to rely on hope alone anymore. Wishful thinking didn’t heal wounds—actions did. And I knew what I had to do. Still, my heart clenched at the thought that maybe, just maybe, there was no way back to Josie if she couldn’t trust again.
But I swore—swore on everything I had—that I would earn her trust back. I would not look her in the eye again until Michelle was dragged into the light for what she truly was.
At exactly 11 p.m., my phone buzzed. My Beta’s voice ca through the line, urgent and breathless. "We’ve found her. She’s with her father."
My body stiffened. A surge of energy shot through , one I hadn’t felt in weeks. Michelle.
I was out of my seat in an instant. "Keep her there," I ordered. "I’m on my way."
When I arrived, I didn’t waste a second. My Beta had her restrained, but rage surged within the mont I saw her smug face. Without hesitation, I grabbed her by the hair and yanked her forward, her shriek slicing through the night.
"Well, isn’t this poetic?" she sneered, even as her face twisted in pain. "Are you going to finish what Thorne started?"
My lip curled, and I spat my words like venom. "I wouldn’t even give you the pleasure. You’re supposedly carrying my fake child, aren’t you? Hitting you would only make you feel important, and you’re not."
Her smirk faltered, but she didn’t back down. That was fine. I didn’t need her to.
I didn’t wait for more words. Instead, I dragged her toward the clearing and tied her to the old oak tree, securing the ropes tightly despite her writhing. "You wanted to play gas, Michelle? Then let’s play. Only, this ti, the pack will be watching."
I turned sharply to my Beta. "Bring the elders. Bring the notable heads of the pack. And prepare the recording—we’ll show them everything tonight."
"Yes, Alpha," he responded, imdiately moving to carry out my command.
Through the link, I called my brother. Thorne, et at the clearing. You’ll want to see this.
By the ti everyone began gathering, the tension in the air was thick enough to choke on. Warriors, elders, even the young apprentices—they all ca, murmuring in confusion, until silence fell at the sight of Michelle bound against the tree.
And then my eyes found Josie.
She stood at the edge of the crowd, her arms folded tightly across her chest. Her gaze avoided mine, sliding past as though I didn’t exist, and the sharp sting of it went deeper than any blade. My chest constricted painfully, but I swallowed it down. This wasn’t the ti.
"What’s going on here?" Thorne demanded, stepping forward. Varen was beside him, his eyes searching mine. "Kiel, what’s the matter?"
I didn’t answer imdiately. Instead, I turned toward Michelle, letting silence stretch long enough for the crowd to grow restless. Then, with deliberate calm, I said, "This... is the truth you all have been blind to."
Gasps rippled through the gathering, but I didn’t stop. I pulled out the device, connecting it so the recording could be displayed for everyone to see. "Watch carefully," I said, my voice hard. "And tell afterward if you still think I’ve been silent for no reason."
The video played.
The clearing was so silent you could hear the leaves rustle in the wind. Every second that rolled by on the recording felt like a hamr striking down, blow after blow, revealing the rot they had refused to see. The night Josie had been hospitalised—Michelle’s voice, her laughter, her twisted obsession—all of it unfolded right there. Her confession of being obsessed with and Thorne, her delusion that she was the rightful Luna—it all poured out like poison for the entire pack to see.
Gasps. Shouts. Even cries. Elders clutched their robes, shaking their heads in disbelief. The betrayal stung every person there as though they themselves had been struck.
"That’s falsified!" Michelle suddenly shrieked, her voice cracking under the pressure. "He forged it! He—he’s framing !"
But the elders weren’t buying it. Their faces hardened, their voices rising with fury.
"You are a disgrace!" one spat.
"We fought for you, defended you, and this is how you repay us?" another cried.
"A disappointnt to the pack!" a third shouted, shaking his head with disgust.
I didn’t need to add more. Their words were enough, their judgnt already falling on her like fire. But then, sothing happened that I wasn’t prepared for.
Josie.
She moved forward, her steps asured but her expression unreadable. She stopped right in front of , her eyes finally eting mine. My heart stuttered at the weight of her gaze.
"You had this video earlier?" she asked quietly, too quietly.
Her question cut deeper than Michelle’s screams ever could. For a mont, I couldn’t find words. My throat felt tight. Finally, I forced out, "Josie, I understand your emotions. I understand why you’d ask that. But do you really think..." My voice cracked before I steadied it. "...do you really think I am such a manipulative man?"
Her eyes shimred, and for the first ti in days, I couldn’t read her.
And in that mont, surrounded by my pack, with Michelle screaming behind and the elders voicing their disgust, the only thing that mattered was that single question hanging between us—one that could either shatter completely or give a fragile piece of hope.
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