Chapter 224 She Doesn't Deserve The Luna Position

Chapter 224 She Doesn't Deserve The Luna Position
Jason's POV

I stood at the edge of the stage, still reeling from what had just happened. Me—Jason—about to become the Beta of Moon Shadow Valley pack.

The idea was so absurd I almost laughed. If you'd told me in high school that one day I'd be standing here, about to become second-in-command to Alpha Damian, I would've punched you in the face just for messing with me. But here I was.

I couldn't fully enjoy the moment, though. Not with what was happening on stage. Not with the heavy weight of responsibility settling onto my shoulders like a physical thing. I thought about the Jason I used to be—lazy, cruel, a bully who tormented Lya for years just because I could. The contrast between that asshole and the person I was becoming felt like whiplash.

Emma was the first to approach the microphone. Her face was set in grim determination as she addressed Alpha Richard.

"How could you let things get so out of control?" she asked, her voice sharp with accusation. "Why didn't you do anything?"

Richard struggled against the alpha command, but it forced the truth from his lips. "Luna Isabella caused Victoria to miscarry twenty-four years ago, before Airina was born. Isabella felt guilty and tried to make it up to Victoria." He took a shuddering breath before continuing. "Victoria used it to blackmail me. She threatened to report Isabella to the Supernatural Council if I didn't let her do what she wanted. I love this pack, but I love Isabella more. Much more than the pack."

Emma's eyes narrowed. "Why didn't you just command Victoria not to go to the Council?"

"An alpha command can't prevent someone from reporting to the Council," Richard replied, his voice strained. "There are limits to what an alpha command can do."

I watched, fascinated by the raw, unfiltered truth spilling from Richard's mouth. Truth was a dangerous thing, especially when it couldn't be controlled.

Next came Omega Mia from the kitchens, her hands twisting nervously in front of her. She seemed terrified to be speaking in front of everyone, but determined nonetheless.

"I don't understand your human trafficking business," she said to Victoria, her voice barely audible. "How long have you been doing it, and why?"

Victoria's face contorted as she tried to resist the command, but the words poured out anyway. "I started after Sebastian first cheated on me with a vampire. I wanted to leave but had no resources of my own." Her voice was flat, emotionless. "It was small at first. Just one or two girls a year. It only really expanded in the last twelve years."

My stomach churned. One or two girls a year, like it was nothing. Just a casual side business.

Another wolf stepped up, a young male I recognized from border patrol. "Where did these girls come from?" he asked, his voice thick with disgust.

Victoria's response chilled the room. "Mostly runaways. I was shopping in a human area when I came across a teenage female wolf who had run away from home. Someone offered me two thousand dollars for her, so I handed her over." She paused, her eyes distant as if recalling a pleasant memory. "After that, I kept an eye out for runaways. When the supply was low, I would take girls—usually humans or wolves from orphanages. Sometimes specific types when buyers requested them."

She described using powerful drugs to make the kidnapped girls unaware they were victims, making it easier for her to get away with it. The complete, disgusting, honest truth—courtesy of the alpha command.

I never thought I'd appreciate an alpha command so much.

The next wolf asked about the money. "What did you do with it? Where is it now?"

Victoria's answer was even more shocking. "I have five hundred million in Mexico. Three hundred and fifty million in Canada." She covered her mouth with her hand, clearly trying to stop herself from continuing. "The three hundred and fifty million includes one hundred million I took from the pack when Damian started acting erratic. Insurance in case the pack fell apart."

I had to change my opinion about alpha commands again. I fucking love these alpha commands.

Guard Aubrey stood next, tears of anger in her eyes. "Why did you make torturing others part of Airina's Luna training? Especially torturing Lya?"

Victoria fought hard against the command, clamping her hand over her mouth, but eventually surrendered. "That was an accident. Airina walked in on me disciplining a human girl who had tried to escape from a client's home and stolen my money. When she asked what I was doing, I panicked and told her it was preparation for her Luna training." Victoria's eyes darted around the room. "It was months before I told her about the trafficking business, but by then the lie had been told, and Airina... she really enjoyed the torture sessions."

"I didn't know she was torturing Lya," Victoria added, though her tone suggested she wouldn't have cared if she had known. "But torture is an important survival skill, and being able to torture someone close to you proves you've mastered that talent."

The room fell deathly silent. Even I, who had heard rumors about what happened between Airina and Lya, felt sick at the casual way Victoria discussed torture as if it were a skill like cooking or hunting.

Emily stood next. She claimed she'd been friends with Lya in elementary school, though I didn't remember that.

"If you always hated Lya," she asked Victoria, "why adopt her at all? Why not just refuse to raise your husband's bastard?"

Victoria's face twisted into a cold smile. "I was going to refuse." Her voice was eerily calm now. "When Sebastian brought that mixed-blood baby home, my first thought was to kill her. But I realized that would cost me my husband, so I chose a more interesting punishment—taking her in and making her life miserable."

Victoria continued, her eyes gleaming with a perverse satisfaction. "I wanted Sebastian to see evidence of his betrayal every day. To see his filthy mixed-blood daughter be ostracized and despised. It was the cruelest punishment for him."

She admitted she never once thought of Lya as a daughter. "She was just a reminder—a reminder to Sebastian that he could never betray me again, or next time I wouldn't be so merciful. And her becoming Damian's mate? That was an insult to me. My daughter Airina should have had that position."

Grace, another wolf I vaguely recognized, stepped forward next. "But why? Why couldn't you be happy for Damian and Lya? You would still have had a daughter in the Luna position."

"No," Victoria spat. "That position should have belonged to Airina. It made no sense for Lya to be Damian's mate. I didn't invest in Lya; I invested in Airina. Airina was the one who deserved the role. Besides, Lya is a filthy half-breed. She doesn't deserve the Luna position."