Cole swallowed hard but continued. “It was one night. The summer festival. We were both drunk, and I made a terrible mistake. I betrayed my Alpha’s trust, my position as beta, and gave Alderic exactly what he wanted - a connection to power through his daughter.”
“You bastard!” Mary screamed. “You said you loved me! Said we could be together!”
“I said no such thing,” Cole replied steadily. “I told you the next morning it was a mistake. That it could never happen again. You’re the one who chose to lie about the father when you discovered the pregnancy.”
“Because you refused to take responsibility!” Mary’s mask had completely fallen now, revealing the calculating woman underneath. “I gave you the chance to step up, to claim your place, but you were too much of a coward! So I did what I had to do!”
“You lied to the entire pack,” I said, drawing attention back to me. “Claimed to carry the Alpha’s heir. Tried to force a mating through deception. That alone would be grounds for banishment.”
“But there’s more,” I continued, my voice dropping dangerously. “Your father specifically targeted my mate and children. Paid to have them killed to clear the way for your false claim.”
I clicked to the final piece of evidence. The order, in Alderic’s writing, with Lina and the twins’ names clearly listed as primary targets.
“He tried to murder children,” I said into the horrified silence. “Four-year-old pups whose only crime was existing. Your father, Mary, tried to execute babies to secure your position.”
The pack’s rage was palpable now. Even those who might have supported the Thornes were turning away in disgust. Killing pups was the ultimate taboo, the one line no wolf crossed.
“Cole made a mistake,” I continued. “One he’ll answer for. But you and your father? You committed treason. Conspiracy. Attempted murder of the Alpha’s family. The sentence for that is death.”
37
— • —
Lina
The pack hall was still buzzing with energy from Cole’s revelation when Knox turned back to the Thornes. They looked broken already, but justice wasn’t complete yet.
Knox stood at the podium, every inch the Alpha. This wasn’t the man who’d kissed me senseless in Noah’s basement or who’d written me hundreds of letters. This was the leader of the pack, the one who dispensed justice. The distinction made my stomach flutter in ways I didn’t want to examine too closely.
“Alderic Thorne,” Knox’s voice carried absolute authority through the hall. “You stand accused of treason against your pack. Of orchestrating attacks that killed pack members, including Blake Raven. Of conspiring with ferals. Of betraying every oath you took as a council member and as a wolf of this pack.”
Alderic’s head snapped up, defiance burning in his eyes. “For power,” he spat. “The Ravens have held this pack too long. Your family’s stranglehold needed to be broken. Someone had to-”
“SILENCE.”
The Alpha command hit Alderic so hard he dropped to his knees. I’d felt Knox use that power before, but never with such force. Even I felt the edges of it, and I wasn’t even a full wolf. The twins pressed closer to me, awed by their father’s display of dominance.
“You don’t get to justify murdering my brother,” Knox continued, his voice deadly calm. “You don’t get to explain why you tried to kill my mate and children. You had choices. You chose betrayal.”
He turned to Mary, who was trying to maintain some dignity despite everything. “Mary Thorne, you participated in deception of the highest order. You attacked my mate physically. You attempted manipulation of pack law by lying about the father of your child. You conspired with your father in his crimes.”
Mary’s glare found me, hatred so pure it was almost impressive. But she couldn’t speak against the lingering command, could only seethe in silence.
“The evidence has been presented,” Knox addressed the pack. “Blade’s testimony confirms Alderic paid for coordinated attacks. The paper trail Noah found proves conspiracy going back years. Cole’s confession revealed the truth about Mary’s pregnancy and her willingness to lie for power. How does the pack find them?”
“Guilty!” The roar was unanimous, hundreds of voices joining together. Even those who might have been sympathetic couldn’t argue with the evidence. Dead kids and murdered pack members tended to unite people in their anger.
“Death?” someone shouted from the back. “Kill them both!”
More voices joined in, calling for blood. The mob mentality was building, and part of me understood it. These two had caused so much pain, so much loss. Blake’s death alone warranted revenge.
Knox raised his hand for silence, considering. I watched him wrestle with the decision, saw the moment he chose mercy over vengeance.
“Death is too simple,” he said finally. “Alderic Thorne, for the murder of Blake Raven and conspiracy against this pack, you’re sentenced to lifetime imprisonment. You’ll rot in our cells, never seeing freedom again.”
Alderic’s face went gray. Death might have been kinder than decades in a cell, alone with his failures.
“Mary Thorne,” Knox’s attention shifted to her. “You’re sentenced to exile from all pack territories. Not just Ravenshollow, but every allied pack will be notified. You become rogue the moment you leave our boundaries.”
