Chapter 18
882words
I knelt on the ground, blood pouring from my mouth.
My Alpha power was fading rapidly, draining away like a flood.
But my eyes were colder than they had ever been.
I slowly lifted my head, looking at Ariana, who was still laughing triumphantly in the corner of the cell.
"You find this amusing?" I whispered, my voice a blade of ice.
"Of course it's amusing!" Ariana shrieked. "You idiot finally know the truth! You personally destroyed the only person who ever loved you! Hahaha—"
"Shut up."
I struggled to my feet. Even with my power fading, the remnants of my Alpha aura were enough to make the air in the cell feel heavy and cold.
Ariana's laughter died in her throat.
She looked into my eyes and instantly felt the threat of death.
"Byron... you... what are you going to do?"
I didn't answer. I just walked toward her, one step at a time.
"No... stay away!" she scrambled backward in terror. "You can't kill me! We had so many beautiful memories!"
"Beautiful memories?" I sneered. "Memories built on a foundation of lies?"
I grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the corner.
"Ah! That hurts! Byron, you're hurting me!"
"Hurts?" I stared at her. "Did you feel any pain for Sandra when you were torturing her?"
I started dragging her out of the cell.
"Where are you taking me?" Ariana struggled desperately. "Byron, let's go back to our room, okay? We can start over! I still have to save Sandra, don't forget her bloodline curse!"
"Start over?" My voice was ice. "Start over with a liar?"
I dragged her down the long corridor, heading for the surface.
"Help!" Ariana started screaming. "Someone! Help me!"
But no one dared to step forward.
All the guards felt the killing intent pouring off me and backed away.
I dragged her all the way to the Blackwood Pack's council hall.
The elders were in a meeting, discussing the crisis the pack was facing.
They all shot to their feet in shock when they saw me burst in, dragging Ariana.
"Alpha!" the head elder exclaimed. "What are you—"
"Summon all the elders," I said, throwing Ariana into the center of the hall. "Now."
"Alpha, what happened?" another elder asked with concern. "You don't look well..."
"Summon all the elders! Now!" I roared. "I have an important announcement to make!"
The elders, stunned by my authority, immediately began contacting the other members.
Ten minutes later, all twelve elders had assembled.
They formed a circle, looking at the trembling Ariana on the floor and me standing behind her.
"Elders," I began, my voice hoarse but filled with authority. "I have brought you here to witness a judgment. And to hear a truth that has poisoned this pack."
"What truth?" the head elder asked.
I pulled out my phone and played the audio recording of the old wolf's testimony.
"Luna, I remember that day. The one who saved Alpha Byron was a girl with black hair. To protect the Alpha, her back was wounded by a silver bullet. It was definitely not the blonde Miss Ariana."
The old voice echoed through the hall.
All the elders' eyes went wide.
"What... what does this mean?"
I then showed them the photo of the scar on Sandra's back.
"The person who saved me eight years ago was not Ariana," I said coldly. "It was Sandra."
The hall fell into a dead silence.
"Impossible..." one elder muttered. "Ariana always said it was her..."
"She lied," I said, my voice flat and dead. "For eight years, she has worn the honor of a hero while my true mate suffered for it."
"Ariana!" the head elder demanded angrily. "Is this true?"
Ariana looked at the angry faces surrounding her and completely lost hope.
"I... I..." she stammered, unable to deny the iron-clad proof.
"You deceived all of us!" an elder said furiously. "You made us misunderstand the Luna!"
"We supported the wrong decisions because of your lies!" another elder roared. "We became accomplices in persecuting a hero!"
"Speak!" the head elder barked. "Confess your crimes!"
Faced with everyone's fury, Ariana finally broke down completely.
"Yes!" she screamed. "I admit it! I never saved him! I lied!"
"Why?" the head elder demanded. "Why would you deceive us?"
"Because I love him!" Ariana laughed manically. "I would do anything to have him! Including destroying Sandra! Including killing her child!"
The elders were stunned by her evil.
They stared at the woman with disgust in their eyes.
"This woman is a demon!"
"And we were protecting her this whole time!"
"All the pain the Luna suffered was because of this liar!"
I looked at the terrified Ariana, feeling nothing but cold, murderous intent.
But I wouldn't just kill her.
I would give her a punishment that fit her crimes.
"Elders," I said in my hoarse voice. "As Alpha of the Blackwood Pack, I now pass judgment on Ariana."
Everyone fell silent, waiting for my verdict.
I looked down at the kneeling woman and spoke in a voice as cold as hell itself:
"Strip her of her wolf," I commanded, each word dropping like a stone into the silence. "Pull out her fangs and claws. Then throw what's left of her to the rogues."
