“Don’t look so surprised. I might be the head of the council, but I still take part in investigations. And Celia is a good friend.” She didn’t say any more, and Sara just nodded and led them over to the kitchen table.
“Is here okay?”
Alpha Wallace nodded, and both she and Alpha Jones took the offered seats. “If you’ll both sit down, I’d like to go through this afternoon’s events. I’m fully aware of your situation, so please speak freely.”
Sara shot a quick glance at Rachel before sitting down. Rachel did the same and reached for Sara’s hand under the table, that one small connection bolstering her confidence. “Where should we start?”
“Do you know what happened with your father when he met with the council this morning?”
“No.” When Alpha Wallace raised an eyebrow, she added, “My grandmother refused to tell me. She said it was council business.”
Alpha Wallace smiled at that. “In light of recent events, I feel it’s important for you to know. Your father was put on a year’s probation. We will make four unscheduled visits to his pack during that year to check up on him. And at any point in that year, if we receive word that he has again used Alpha Cornell’s position on the council to threaten people, then he will be stripped of his position as alpha.”
Sara gasped. That would kill him.
“I know that might sound harsh,” Alpha Jones said. “But the council works because we’re impartial. The packs all recognise and accept that as fact. To have that questioned would be a huge blow to our reputation and the trust the packs place in us. We can’t risk that happening, for all our sakes, so we need to show that this behaviour won’t be tolerated.”
Alpha Wallace sighed. “Though this doesn’t excuse his actions in any way, it should give some perspective as to his frame of mind.”
Rachel’s grip on her hand tightened. “So he was pissed off way before he saw us.”
“Very much so.” Alpha Wallace looked from Rachel to Sara. “He wasn’t impressed at being put on probation, so I suspect seeing you two together was the final straw. In his mind.” She sighed again. “We’ve heard Alpha Gallen’s version of events. And also that of Alphas Harley and Cornell. Now we’d like to hear it from you.”
Sara started, telling them in as much detail as she could remember, from the moment she arrived at the car park to when her father attacked Rachel. Or tried to.
Then Rachel had to take over. Her voice faltered a couple of times, her grip on Sara’s fingers painfully hard, but Sara didn’t so much as flinch. When they were finished. Rachel slumped back in her chair and blew out a breath. “Then we brought her back here, and I cleaned her up.”
Alpha Wallace gestured to Sara’s chest. “May I take a look at your wounds?”
“Of course.” Sara tugged down the neck of her T-shirt. “They’re almost healed.”
“They are, but that’s taken what? Almost four hours?”
Sara glanced at the clock on the wall. “Yes.”
Alpha Wallace grimaced and shared a look with Alpha Jones. “It is our opinion that Alpha Gallen attacked without provocation. He argues that Rachel Tregarrak disregarded his requests as alpha of the Pentarren pack and that she was warned of the consequences of such an action. The council disagrees with him on both counts. In his own mind, he might’ve believed he had due cause, but both Alpha Harley and Alpha Cornell have sworn that they set up the meeting today. Not either of you.” She paused. “And in any case, the council do not consider going against an alpha’s request as grounds for a deadly assault. If Alpha Gallen had an issue, he should have come to the council. Not taken it into his own hands. That’s how the pack wars started, and the reason the council was created in the first place.”
She set her hands on the table and leaned forward, focus shifting to Rachel. “Miss Tregarrak, we have dismissed his claims that you threatened the life of an alpha without cause. Protecting one’s mate—even if the bond is not yet complete—is cause enough.” She turned to Sara again. “So, it’s up to you, Miss Gallen, as to how we proceed.”
“Me?” Sara squeaked, taken completely by surprise.
“Yes. Alpha Gallen might have been aiming for Miss Tregarrak, but it’s you who he injured. However, we aren’t the police. This is an internal pack matter, so you can choose to try and resolve it between the two of you, or you can request our assistance. Since the issue is with your alpha, I strongly recommend you ask for our help. There is, of course, a third option—you can go to the human police. They don’t generally like to interfere in pack business, but I dare say they’d look into it if we asked.”
Sara stared back at her, struggling to take in all the information Alpha Wallace had thrown at her. “What would happen to him if I asked you to intervene?”
Alpha Wallace gave her a shrewd look, as if she knew exactly where Sara’s mind was going with this. “Based on the evidence we’ve heard today and in light of this morning’s sentence, I would say there’s a strong likelihood Alpha Gallen would lose his alpha status. Or at the least have it suspended for a period of time.”
“Sara?” Rachel turned to face her, eyebrows scrunched in confusion.
Sara wanted to tell her she’d explain everything later, but she didn’t want to say that in front of the council members, so she tried to get it across with a smile and a squeeze of Rachel’s hand. It seemed to work because Rachel sat back in her chair and didn’t say anything else. To Alpha Wallace, she said, “Can I have some time to think about it? There’s someone I’d like to talk to first.”
Alpha Wallace nodded. “Of course. Let us know when you’ve made your decision. Is there anything else you need before we go?” She arched an eyebrow, and Sara got the feeling she knew exactly what Sara was going to ask for.
“I’d like to see my father.”
“ARE YOU SURE about this?” Rachel asked for the third time since they’d left the cottage.
“Yes.” Sara gripped her hand tightly, never wanting to let go again. “I’m sure.”
