Chapter 94
His eyes immediately fell to where I stood, disregarding everyone else present. He looked confused, worried… all things to be expected since I’d kept this plan of mine from him. Most likely he wasn’t even aware that his father had threatened war. But more so than that, he looked as though he wanted to say something to me, to question why I was here, but he knew better than to speak here among this council.
“Right,” Leo said, forcing my attention back to him. “So, Winona, you’re either telling the truth, in which case Bash here would therefore be innocent, or you’re lying, in which case we’ll be at war with the Black Alder pack come sundown. The way I see it, if you are unable to accomplish this feat and Bash were to be killed right now, it would only benefit us in the battles of war if we removed the Alpha heir early on. We may as well take advantage of such a thing.”
I felt my breathing constrict in my throat, my body numbing. This was sick even for Leo.
They were going to kill him.
“Alpha, please don’t-.”
“Anthony, your orders are to kill Sebastian Williams,” Leo commanded. “Same as before; all further orders, regardless of who they are from, are to be disregarded until I personally excuse you. There will be no shifting, no messy death. I want this to be clean given our current location. Use a dagger, I suppose.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
Anthony drew a knife from his side and began carrying out his orders.
“Alpha Leo, are you sure you want to do this?” Bash yelled out as he paced backwards slowly.
I wasn’t sure how much of the situation he had figured out but I was sure that there was no mistaking Leo’ order to have him killed.
His words fell on deaf ears though; Leo didn’t even seem to register that he’d spoken.
Anthony’s hand lunged out as he went in for the attack however Bash expertly moved to avoid it. Even in silver handcuffs, he was still more skilled in defence than an average warrior, we all knew it. But the cuffs significantly prevented the wearer from using any of their abilities; essentially making them human. Whilst he was skilled to avoid the attacks, he wouldn’t have the endurance to keep going for long.
“Stop it!” I yelled. “Please! Don’t do this!” It came out more like a frantic plea than any kind of command.
Anthony continued to advance on Bash in a deadly dance for some time, every time getting closer and closer until, finally, his blade slit across his chest.
“No!”
I watched as Bash fell to his knees before Anthony,. his chest heaving from exhaustion and blood beginning to seep into his shirt. Any second now…
Anthony grabbed Bash’s shoulder with one hand to steady him and, with the other, he positioned himself to strike…
And then…
“Enough! Don’t touch him!” I ordered, a burst of energy coming forward to give myself the authority required.
Anthony’s hand that had been going to make the final strike was suddenly halted, his body frozen.
“I said don’t touch him!”
Instantly Anthony’s hand dropped away from Bash’s shoulder and he stepped back, confused why his body wasn’t
responding anymore.
Relief and dizziness swept through me as I fell to my knees completely drained. I’d done it. Bash would be freed and I’d proven myself by legitimising my claims. There wouldn’t be any doubt now that I was fully capable of overriding even orders given by an Alpha.
A deep cough choked itself out of me and my mouth became full of the familiar metallic taste of my own blood. Interestingly enough though, I found that physically I felt not as bad as when I’d failed to order Isabella. Was it because I’d had time to replenish over these months, or was it something else? Maybe because I was getting closer to my first shift? My brain wanted to wander and explore the different possibilities more but Leo dragged my attention back to reality.
“How fascinating,” Leo said, observing me closely before addressing the attendant once more. “Please escort Bash out now and get one of the doctors to examine his injury. I’ll have someone deliver the verdict to him soon.”
Bash was then dragged back out of the room, his body barely even able to stand anymore. I had to believe he’d be okay though, that all of this wasn’t going to be for nothing.
“Winona… what are we going to do with you?” Leo mused to himself before turning to where the Elders sat. “Elder Tom, you’d consider yourself a curator of knowledge when it comes to lore and religion, would you not?”
Elder Tom leaned forward in his chair abruptly, probably surprised he was being called upon.
He cleared his throat before speaking. “Well, I suppose you could look at it that way, Alpha. I have been known to collect information regarding the more… fantastical side of our species. Though I’d be lying if I said Winona hadn’t challenged my beliefs as to how much of that is actually fiction. After all, her mark is absolute proof of our deity’s existence.”
Leo nodded his head thoughtfully. “That would be a fair assessment. I do wonder though, in your years of research, have you come across anything to do with Saints? I see the girl used her authority once and looks about ready to pass out.”
Elder Tom met my gaze, a look of sympathy in his eyes as he stared down at me.
“There has only been a very limited amount of Saints known to exist, Alpha. Only one has been vaguely recorded in history -but I believe there were perhaps two others prior to that. There is, unfortunately, no information regarding their abilities however it is publicly known that their authority is higher than that of an Alpha; this is not new information. As for her condition… that, I’m afraid, I cannot answer with
certainty. Perhaps it is to do with her age?”
The room was silent as they listened carefully to every word Elder Tom had said. The respect from his peers, and everyone else,in this room, was clearly evident.
“…Though,” he continued, “I could also speculate that perhaps it is just a matter of her trying to run before learning to walk. She’s overriding Alpha orders that no other person alive should be able to. I imagine that the amount of energy required to do such a thing would be significant, especially if one were not used to doing it. None of us have our first shift and miraculously know how to move in our wolf form perfectly; it is something we learn. Instinctively, it would be the same as the ranked children who grow up learning to command others utilising their birth authority. If Winona only recently discovered this ability stemming from her mark, I would imagine it is plausible that perhaps she just isn’t ready for invoking the full authority of a Goddess without practice.”
“Your insight is valuable as always,” Leo praised, to which Elder Tom bowed his head respectfully. “But it doesn’t exactly reassure me of your future, Winona.”
Everyone’s attention immediately fell back onto me and I wanted to shrink away. But I’d come too far for that now. There was no going back.
I picked myself up, raising my head, and looked Leo in the eye as he delivered his verdict.
“Winona, your actions have proven that you are a potential threat to this pack, a threat to myself and a threat to my son’s future. You purposely looked to act alone in your own form of justice rather than to correctly present your case to your
Alpha and abide by our pack laws. You’ve admitted to
attacking not only one of our own pack members but also someone who was under our protection. Were this an ordinary circumstance-
“I would have you sentenced to death immediately.””
