“Please tell me he will never see the light of day again,” her dad murmurs, tears in his eyes, when we stop the video.
“He is being escorted to the prison as we speak,” I tell him. “When I met Forest, finding out about Hannah was his driving force. He wanted justice for her.”
“I might not have known her,” Forest tells the man. “But she was still my fated mate. And even if she weren’t, even if she were a normal girl who was in Lissa’s way, I would have done anything to get justice for her.”
“Would you have…” the man begins. “Would you have accepted the mate bond with her?”
“Of course,” Forest says promptly without a moment of hesitation.
“You say that with your luna here next to you?”
“Rose and I are chosen mates,” Forest tells him. “We only met each other recently. But until then, I had my mind set on finding my mate. My parents kept pushing Lissa onto me, but I didn’t want her. I always wanted my mate. And had I known that Hannah was my mate, I would have done anything to protect her, and I would have stood proudly next to her.”
The man stares at me, a hint of worry on his face.
I smile at him. “I know Forest would have stood by his fated mate,” I tell him. “If he weren’t a man with integrity, I would have never become his chosen mate. Hannah will always be his fated mate, and I will always respect the role that was destined for her.” I pause, putting my hand on Forest’s arm.Tell him,I link him.
Forest nods. “I will ask you now, not to tell anyone what we say to you… Until tonight. Rose and I will hold a meeting with the whole pack, as you already know.”
The man stares at us. “Hannah is the reason for the meeting?”
“Yes, we plan on telling the pack the whole truth. The elders already know; we told them early on. And my ranked members know the truth, too. The pack deserves to know what honestly happened, what my parents did, and how I met Rose.”
Relief flashes over his face. “Thank you so much,” he says. “Thank you.”
“You don’t need to thank me,” Forest asserts. “If it weren’t for me, Hannah would still be alive.”
“You could have just ignored the truth and never told us,” her father says quietly. “But you brought your own father down for her sake. That means a lot to me and my wife. She has never gotten over Hannah’s death, and I don’t think she ever will, but we can finally put her to rest properly.”
Things seem to go well, so I decide to do my job as luna and step outside to see what Betty and Hannah’s mother are doing. Hannah’s little brother is playing in the garden, while her mother and Betty are sitting with each other. Betty immediately notices me and smiles, inviting me to sit with them.
“I am so sorry, Luna,” Hannah’s mom says quietly.
“Why are you apologizing?”
“I should be stronger,” she states. “But I can’t stop thinking about… the what ifs.”
“I didn’t know your daughter, but seeing how beloved she is, I am sure she would have been a fantastic mate to Forest and a wonderful luna.”
“Do you really think that?” her mom asks. “She was young, and you are a born luna, while Hannah was just a normal girl.”
“It doesn’t matter. If she were empathic and willing to learn, she would have managed just fine.”
Hannah’s mother looks pleased by my words and nods. “She was such a sweet girl,” she says. “And so sensitive.”
“That’s why she was mated to Forest,” Betty says. “As Luna Rose said, she had the qualities to be a good luna.”
“I just can’t wrap my mind around the fact that she died because of that…”
“The former alpha and luna were vile people; they abused their power and were not able to see their wrongs,” Betty says.
“Do you think they would have killed any girl who was mated to Forest?”
“Yes,” Betty and I say promptly.
“They wanted him to be with Lissa because they were able to control her. She was their pawn. Any other girl, no matter her rank or her background, would have been much more difficult to control,” I say.
“Hannah would have never been a pawn,” her mother says. “She was so responsible and kind. She would not have done what Lissa did.”
