CHAPTER 432 - GRIFTERS

CHAPTER 432 - GRIFTERS
VALEN’S POV
Under the warm afternoon sun, the pack assembled at the grand outdoor amphitheater. The stage was bare. Usually, I didn’t need the microphone or the speakers. I was sure the implacable anger in my veins was enough to carry my voice as I addressed them.
“The Elders and the Alphas got their chance. They failed with Alpha-female Mercedes Femoris, and now they’ve failed with the rogue, Jiya Kaur, who is the masked criminal behind the name Kavya Leone.” I held up two digits as I glanced around the audience. “Twice they have double-crossed me. Twice they have thrown other women at me, and they have both been deceptive.” 
I shot a vicious glare to my left on the raised platform, thinking about how they tried to play me like a fool.
Zeus’ hackles rose as he listened, his warning growl reverberating through my chest. 
“Grifters!” I roared venomously with violent vermilion slits, feeling my aura unleash with scathing ire. “Insolent wretches.”
The Elders cowered, bowed their heads in shame, and recoiled two steps on the platform. Except for Grandpa Victor, who stood dignified and composed, and Marlena because they were on my good side.
“Come on, own up to it,” Raj sneered, standing right behind the Council, folding his thick arms across his chest and holding his chin high. “Face what you did.” 
Reverting my gaze to the audience before me, I shoved my hands into my pockets and continued with unwavering bitterness, “What does that say about my Council? The royal prolocutors of the realm? It says that they themselves have been deceived…too blinded by their own agendas to act in a manner that is best for the crown. It’s either that, or I would hate to think that they have been conspiring to deceive me. A deception to the throne is also a deception to the realm. And I will stand for this no more.”
The pack regarded me with quiet rage, barely looking up from their seats. Understanding my wrath, they knew I was pissed in more ways than one, and so were they.
“The Council is suspended. The PAC is null and void,” I decreed, my lips curling back and eyes flashing. “Jiya is not your bloody Lunairess. I repudiate that absurd title.” I growled, my skin crawling with rage and revulsion. 
My wolf strained at the leash I had on him, growling at me to issue a harsher punishment. Always wanting blood. My skin rippled as he fought for control, but I wasn’t going to let him.
Sparse, low murmurs rose from the pack and quickly died. They were walking on chalk lines, being cautious in what they were allowing their energies to give off. Afraid to get under the yellow tape of my aura. I knew they were sensing the tug-of-war I was having with my wolf.
“At thirteen years old, I knew my mate was Raina Singh. She and I have endured a lot, but even today, we stand together. We have always had each other’s back. Isn’t that what mate-ship should be about? Or are you still going to ask me to turn my back on her and treat her as less, when, so far, no other woman has even been able to compare to her?” I spat thunderously, knowing how much she had sacrificed but got condemnation in return.
Behind my eyes, Zeus prowled in circles. He was growling constantly beneath all my words, coaxing me to remind every wolf in the realm who their Alpha was.
Every tear she shed because of them pricked on my conscience. I should’ve stopped this sooner… protected her better. Since I didn’t back then, that doesn’t mean I can’t now, and I'll tear down every Alpha before I let them disgrace her another day. 
“What has Mercedes even done for you? And Jiya? You asked Jiya for blessings, and she told you your petitions were not answered because you haven’t given proper offerings to her. And you soaked that up like starving hyenas, blindly hanging onto every word she said without question. She talks about the war…about visions…but have they helped to protect our people? Have they been proven?” I asked, surveying the crowd with heavy scrutiny. “Yet, you cheered her on…supported her unscrupulous acts. Are you ashamed now?”
Though they remained silent, I felt their guilt, disgust, and remorse sinking in. 
“You questioned my heart, my judgment, and my bond, which ultimately implies you do not think I am fit to sit on the throne,” I snarled with a growl in the back of my throat, stepping to the edge of the platform. “Did you think I'd thank you for trying to choose my queen?”
Collective gasps swept through the amphitheater, followed by an uproar of dissatisfaction as though the idea of the pack without me was unthinkable. 
“Isn’t that what you want?” I asked in my steely alpha-tone. “Because I can renounce the throne.”
They exchanged mortified looks, murmuring in disagreement among themselves. They were afraid, and every ounce of that fear reached me through the pack bond. 
One by one, they rose from their seats and fell to their knees, kowtowing. A pleading gesture for me to recant.
“Look at yourselves.” Sweeping my eyes across the throng, I pointed rigidly at them. “You’re afraid because you know what this realm needs. You know who stands between you and the wicked threats out there.”
I hurled my gaze at the Elders. Marlena, Sybil, Jacob, Mitchell, and George sank to their knees too. Grandpa Victor glared down at them and then cut his eyes at me, giving me a curt nod.
“Rise,” I ordered through clenched teeth, giving them time to resume their seats. Once they settled, I asserted, leaving no room for debate, “I am your Alpha…your next King. I have taken on the responsibility to fight for my family, my mate, my pack, and Selene. Trust me to do my job.”
I felt the shift in the air as their panic began to ebb through the bond. A growing sense of assurance replaced their fears.
“Hear me now.” I worked my jaw, then flicked my tongue over one of my elongating fangs. 
Loosening my hold on my beast, I let him surge forward, giving him a slender leeway to merge with me. His fury bled into mine, causing our aura to char the air.
When I spoke, Zeus’ feral growl threaded through my voice, turning the words into a command that vibrated the ground. “Raina, my true mate…my destined moon…will never stand without me at her side, because anyone who wants her will have to deal with me. I am done playing the matchmaking game. A Luna does too much for her pack for you to ask her to share her Alpha. It is unreasonable and heartless. I will not show any more mercy to anyone who disregards her position. Get that into your heads.” 
She was a perfect Luna. So strong and brave, and a force to be reckoned with if they ever saw past her wolflessness and childlessness. 
And I vowed, standing right here, that no one will ever make Raina feel obsolete again. Not on my watch. I won’t allow it. Never again.
“Raina Singh has bled for you…gave up her wolf for you…put herself in the middle of a contagious plague for you…fought the enemy whom you’ve never faced and snatched his powerful evil medallion for you. She took a part of his power so we could have a better chance to win the war, but you’ve mocked her, humiliated her…deemed her unfit.” I seethed, clenching my fist as I spoke, “Yet the enemy sees her value. They want her, and I’m not going to give her up. She is your true Luna Queen, and I will die by that.”
The crowd whipped up their heads in shock. Right…they didn’t know. I’ve kept them in the dark for too long.
“Perhaps, I too, am partly to be blamed, because there is much I have kept from you,” I considered deeply and came to a firm conclusion.
I decided it was time for them to know everything about the Worgens, Raina’s connection to them, Artemis, and the moon goddess.
I drew in a long breath and let it out quickly.  “The truth is…..”
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