“Of course,” she snarls. “Theyarethat stupid. The warriors in particular are just muscles and no brain.”
Fucking, fucking brilliant! Ben has proven to have more social intelligence than I could have hoped for. He let that little sociopath shovel her grave deeper and deeper.
Ben shakes his head. “People are not as stupid as you think they are. And you are not as convincing as you believe. The new luna is so much smarter and more genuine. It’s obvious she cares for Alpha Forest and for those around her. She visited the orphanage and the infirmary on one of her first days here. Everyone here respects her because she cares. You, however,” he grins, “couldn’t even fake it!”
Lissa’s presence gets stronger in an instant. She has a strong wolf, I have to give her that, but my wolf is much stronger.
Time to step in before she follows up on her promise and attacks the kid. I can’t risk his life.
Ben, however, has it covered. It was clearly the right choice to have him do this job. Most others would have probablyapproached Lissa in a meek way, whichcouldwork, but Ben’s approach was much more realistic, and he tickled her narcissistic side better than most others could.
He rips off the device from under his shirt and dangles it in front of Lissa’s face. “I’d think long and hard before you attack me,” he says. “And just so you know, you are live.”
*ROSEA*
It was a risk.
A major one.
There were so many things that could have gone wrong, especially because it was all happening live. Actually, the likelihood of it going well was slimmer than everything going wrong, but after being open with the omegas today, we just had to take the risk.
We could not disappoint them.
If it had gone wrong, Forest and I would have needed to deal with it somehow.
But with every word Lissa and Ben exchange, it becomes clearer. The live set-up was perfect. It’s raw and real, and no one can accuse us, or anyone else, of tampering with the source material.
Lissa’s voice echoes through the whole dining room; with each word she speaks, the pack members grow more and more silent, first listening in confusion, then in surprise, then in horror.
There is no way she is ever going to redeem herself from this.
When Ben tells her she is live, the connection gets cut, and I hope Lissa didn’t do anything rash. Griffin is there, too, so I am sure he has it covered. Ihaveto be sure and trust in his abilities and his quick thinking.
There is some crackling to be heard and a bit of speaker feedback, then the speakers are turned off. Forest doesn’t wait any longer and gets to his feet. The way he stands there in front of everyone, with all their eyes on him, he looks so much like an alpha, it takes my breath away. Strong, unwavering, confident, but at the same time, I can see his kindness shine through his eyes.
“Just like me, you must all be confused,” he says, taking charge immediately. I spot the omegas and the whole staff also pooling into the dining hall, with Nina giving Forest a subtle sign. “I don’t know who it was who recorded this,“ he says in a loud voice.
“It was me,” Nina says promptly, stepping forward immediately and lowering her head. This is her moment, her very own moment to show the pack how brave she is. “I don’t want it to fall to anyone else, Alpha. It was me. I take full responsibility. Lissa has been harassing us for so long… I just couldn’t watch on.”
“You did nothing wrong,” Forest assures her. “In fact, I am glad you showed us all what you’ve suffered under. A person targeting and assaulting fated mates, and using their position to threaten them, is unbelievable. And I won’t accept it. The alpha family does not stand for that.” He turns to his father, clearly improvising now. I love how much more confident he is and how he is ready to stand up for others and get his point across. Harry, meanwhile, looks completely spellbound. “Am I right?”
The seconds drip by without Harry saying anything. It’s hilarious how he makes himself look bad, without any of us doing anything.
I am pretty sure, though, that a man like him has some skeletons in his cupboard. Something feels seriously off about this man. Lissa is obviously unhinged, while Forest’s mom uses pack money for… something I don’t know of yet. But the dad… he definitely is up to something.
“Right,” Harry finally mutters.
Forest frowns. “That didn’t come out too convincingly,” he says bluntly. I can’t believe that he calls him out like this! Fucking amazing! “The bond between mates is sacred, and I won’t stand by and have someone willingly tamper with it.”
I can’t help but stand up, too, stepping to Forest and taking his hand. As if on autopilot, I lean my head against his shoulder, not even questioning anymore what I am doing here. “You did something good.” I look at Nina, smiling at her. “Nina, was it? Am I right?”
Nina looks up at me, easily playing along now. She nods. “Yes, Luna.”
“You and the young man out there saved more people than you probably know,” I say.
“She doesn’t even stop at omegas,” Nina says sadly. “She approached my mate, too. Fortunately, he found a way to dodge her.”
A few of the warriors look shocked at first, then angry. “She tried to mess with Nathan?” one of them snarls.
