“Done away with the trials?” I frown, to which Sirius nods. “Who would have become alpha if you didn't determine it with the trials?”
“You, of course,” Sirius chuckles. “You were the only werewolf who volunteered for black ops, Dominic, like your father before you. Like your grandfather before him. Lunaris was built on the ideology of your forefathers.”
My forearms erupt with goosebumps across my flesh. “But the trials…”
“They began in the time of my grandfather as a way to develop a democracy of sorts,” Sirius sighs. “But it was always the Rivera family who were the true leaders of this pack. But giving the people a show was a way to reshape the beliefs and structure that had been passed down for decades. Strict structures, I might add. It's hard to change people's minds, but it's also important to give them fresh perspectives. It's something you will learn as the alpha.”
I pause for a moment to digest this, realizing what this means for the trajectory of my life. If I was always going to be the alpha, then the purpose of the trials was only to show the people that I was deserving. But it also means that the structure can change now that I've stepped into the leadership role.
Perhaps their view on humans can change, along with the longstanding belief that werewolves can't mate with humans.
Cecelia is a prime example that it can be done. She's proven herself during the trials, and surely the pack can accept her as more than just the half-breed omega.
They can accept her as their luna because of me.
“There is something I must ask you, Sirius.”
He nods thoughtfully. “Anything.”
“As the alpha, there are some things I'd like to change, like some of the firm beliefs we've held onto throughout history. Do you think Lunaris will be open to this without overthrowing me?”
Sirius chuckles. “The ways of our people can be swayed, Dominic. But they need something concrete to believe. Just like when the council wanted proof that the younger werewolves could coexist with the humans for their college attendance, the council wanted signed contracts that no werewolf would reveal their identity to the humans.”
I nod slowly, leaning forward. “This evidence…you have it, don't you?”
“You mean the evidence that will clear the Omega’s father’s name?” Sirius asks with a raised brow.
“You already know why I’m here, then…” I remark.
Sirius smirks, maintaining eye contact as he pulls open a drawer on his desk and produces a sealed envelope that he pushes toward me.
“I watched the two of you during your trials, Dominic. Nothing goes unnoticed when it comes to being the alpha. One must know their members thoroughly.”
As I pull the envelope closer, Sirius continues. “What happened to Hugo Morales was a grave sin, but I didn't have the balls to go against the council's decision at the time. However, you do. But I must warn you, Dominic, some members of the council still hang on to the old ways. You will have to be firm and remind them who’s in charge now.”
My jaw drops the moment I open the envelope and take out the papers that prove Hugo's innocence.
The group of humans who'd stumbled upon the true identity of our kind had intel on Hugo Morales simply because the human he mated with, Cecelia's mother, Olivia, died in childbirth, and an autopsy found traces of foreign DNA—werewolf DNA—but they had no idea what it was, and came here to find out.
All of this would have been prevented if the council had accepted Olivia as Hugo's mate instead of kicking him out, and Olivia would have received the proper care during her pregnancy that would have saved her life. The council and previous alphas' unwillingness to accept that Hugo Morales had found his fated mate among humans led to all these wrongs, and most importantly, he wasn't the one who betrayed the Lunaris Pack.
“He was innocent,” I think out loud, lifting my face to meet Sirius's apologetic eyes.
“He was. If the council allowed him to bring his fated human mate to Nightmist, the humans would have never known about us. The council made mistakes, and they covered it up by turning the blame on Hugo Morales and letting him take the fall for it. He was the collateral damage in their mistakes. They couldn't accept that his fated mate was a human. But no one can escape fate, can they, Dominic?”
Blinking fervently at Sirius, realization dawns on me then. Despite Lunaris's longstanding belief that humans could never be mated with, fate had other plans for Hugo Morales; a mate bond with a human dictated by the Moon Goddess Herself.
Just like it was fate that led me to Cecelia—something I've denied for far too long. I tried so hard to reject the inevitable, all because I was too afraid of changing my beliefs.
Perhaps this is what Sirius means by the people needing concrete evidence to change their minds.
I never needed proof that Cecelia was my fated mate; I just needed to be swayed into acceptance with a little bit of concrete evidence.
I'm such an idiot!
Pushing the papers back into the envelope, I get to my feet and nod at the ex-alpha. I'm about to right a few wrongs in the pack, but first, there's one person I need to make things right with.
Cecelia.
