Chapter 161 The council
Chapter 161 The council
Pete's POV
The elder at the center slowly folded her hands and her eyes remained fixed on mine.
Then she finally opened her mouth.
“The complaint was brought forward by another Alpha.”
I frowned.
“Another Alpha?”
She nodded.
“Who?”
There was a pause.
“Alpha Richard of the Northern Pack.”
I stared at her.
For a moment, I genuinely thought I'd heard her wrong.
“Richard?”
“Yes.”
A humorless laugh escaped me.
“What the hell does Richard have to do with my family? I don't understand.”
The elders exchanged glances and that only made my irritation worse.
“I fucking asked you a question.”
The woman remained composed.
“Alpha Richard believes there are circumstances surrounding your mate that require the council's attention.”
“My mate?”
My voice rose.
“What the hell is his business? Diya is not a member of his pack.”
“No.”
“She's not even under his authority.”
“No.”
“And she hasn't broken any laws that concern his pack.”
“Not that we are aware of.”
I stared at the elder.
“Then why the hell is he filing a complaint against her?”
No one answered immediately.
My wolf stirred beneath my skin. Goddess..I hated this. I hated the riddles, the careful words and the way they kept circling around the truth without actually saying anything.
“You summoned me here in the middle of the night,” I said, my voice low, “because another Alpha decided he was suddenly interested in my mate?”
“That is not exactly what happened.”
“Then tell me exactly what happened.”
There was silence.
My jaw tightened.
“I'm getting tired of asking the same question.”
The elder beside the woman at the center finally spoke.
“Alpha Richard received information concerning your mate.”
“What information?”
“We cannot disclose everything until the investigation is complete.”
I scoffed.
“So let me understand this.”
I spread my hands.
“Someone gives you information about my mate, you accept it seriously enough to summon me in the middle of the night, but now you're telling me you can't tell me what that information is?”
“That is not what we said.”
“Then what the fuck did you say?”
The elder's expression hardened.
“We said that the council is investigating.”
“And I'm supposed to stand here while you investigate my family based on someone's accusations?”
“No one has accused your family of anything.”
I laughed again. This time, there was no humor in it. I felt like banging their heads against the wall. I mean, really banging them good.
“You just told me there is an official complaint against my mate.”
I stepped closer to the table.
“And you brought up my son.”
My voice dropped.
“And now you're telling me that another Alpha gave you information about them.”
I looked from one elder to another.
“That's an accusation. Do I fucking look like a joke to you?”
Nobody answered. They wouldn't dare. Because one word from them and I'd turn this place to chaos.
My hands curled into fists.
I had spent the entire night putting out fires. Lisa, Dimon, my mother….And now this.
I could feel the anger building in my chest, hot and relentless.
“What exactly are you investigating?”
The woman at the center sighed.
“There are questions regarding Diya's position.”
“My mate's position is beside me.”
“That isn't what we mean.”
“Then explain it.”
She paused.
“There are concerns about whether her presence within your pack complies with certain ancient laws.”
My eyebrows pulled together.
“Which laws?”
“We are still determining that.”
I stared at her.
“You're investigating a law you haven't even established was broken?”
“Alpha…”
“No.”
I cut her off.
“This is ridiculous.”
I turned away for a moment, dragging a hand through my hair as if that would make whatever this was to make sense.
What the fuck? What the hell is going on? Another Alpha, another pack, ancient laws, my mate. Goddess…None of it made sense.
Then something caught my attention.
“You mentioned my son earlier.”
The room went still and I turned back toward them.
“Why?”
The elder at the center didn't answer immediately.
“His circumstances are relevant to the complaint.”
My stomach tightened.
“What circumstances?”
“His medical history.”
My blood ran cold.
I took a slow step forward.
“His medical history?”
“Yes.”
“How does Richard know anything about my son's medical history?”
The elders exchanged glances. And this time, I noticed it. I noticed that hesitation and that tiny flicker of uncertainty. Someone knew something they shouldn't.
My voice became quieter.
“Who gave you information about Matt?”
No one answered.
I looked directly at the elder who had spoken.
“You heard me.”
She shifted slightly in her seat.
“The information was provided as part of the complaint.”
“By Richard?”
“Yes.”
I stared at her.
“And who gave it to him?”
Silence.
My heartbeat thudded harder.
“Who?”
The woman at the center finally spoke.
“We don't reveal the identities of confidential sources.”
I clenched my jaw.
“Confidential sources?”
I took another step forward.
“So there is someone else.”
She didn't answer.
I laughed under my breath.
“Of course there is.”
My mind began racing.
Who could possibly know enough about Matt to give another Alpha information about him? The council knew because they had access to official records, the hospital knew, Diya knew, I knew, Mike knew, Shantel knew, my family knew. My mother…
I stopped.
No.
My thoughts immediately rejected it.
Maris was under arrest. She had just been taken into custody and couldn't possibly have done this. Could she?
I shook the thought away.
No.
I looked at the elders again.
“What exactly did this person tell Richard?”
The elder beside the center woman leaned forward.
“That your son's medical condition has been affected by circumstances within your household.”
My stomach twisted.
“Circumstances?”
“Yes.”
“What circumstances?”
The elder hesitated.
Then he said,
“Defilement.”
My entire body went still.
Defilement? What the hell? What does that even mean?
The word echoed inside my head.
Matt, my own son? Affected by defilement? What the hell?
My breathing changed.
“Who told you that?”
The elders remained silent.
“How did you know about this?”
No answer.
I stepped closer.
“How did you even know Matt had a medical condition?”
The woman at the center finally spoke.
“It was mentioned in the information submitted to the council.”
My eyes narrowed.
“By whom?”
She hesitated.
And then the elder beside her made the mistake that changed everything.
“Your mother was particularly concerned about the boy's condition…”
The elder sitting next to him immediately nudged him with her elbow and then he realized what he'd said and placed his hand on his mouth. The room went completely silent.
I slowly turned my head toward him.
“What did you just say?”
His face changed.
“I said…I…I”
“No.”
My voice was barely above a whisper.
“You said my mother was concerned about Matt.”
The elder looked toward the woman at the center as if begging her to step in. She gave him a sharp look.
My heart began pounding.
“How would you know that?”
He said nothing.
I looked at the woman.
“How would the council know that my mother was concerned about my son?”
No answer.
My chest tightened.
“Unless…”
I stopped and so suddenly, the pieces began falling into place. The complaint, Alpha Richard, the information about Diya, the information about Matt, the knowledge of his medical condition and, of course…defilement.
Who would do something like this?
My mother.
I swallowed hard. It was difficult to believe.
“No.”
The word came out quietly.
I didn't want to believe it. Not after everything. Not tonight. I had just watched my mother being arrested. I had watched the woman who raised me being taken away because of the things she had done. And now I was standing in this room realizing she might have been working against us even before her arrest.
I looked at the elders.
“You're hiding something from me.”
The woman at the center remained silent.
I stepped closer.
“Was my mother involved?”
Nobody answered.
My pulse thundered in my ears.
“Did Maris give Alpha Richard the information?”
Silence.
I stared at them. Seven elders. Seven unreadable faces, but none of them looked surprised and that was enough.
My stomach dropped.
“Goddess…”
I took a step backward and for a moment, I couldn't breathe.
It was her. Of course it was her.
Who else would know exactly where to hurt me? Who else would know about Diya? Who else would know about Matt? Who else would know about his treatment, his condition, his fears?
My mother.
Even after everything I'd done to stop her. Even after I had chosen my family over her. She had found another way to reach us.
My hands curled into fists and the anger came slowly this time. It was not the explosive anger I'd felt earlier, but this was something colder and far more dangerous.
I looked at the elders.
“You didn't summon me here because you were concerned about Diya.”
The woman at the center didn't respond.
“You summoned me because someone wanted you to investigate her.”
Still nothing.
“And that someone was my mother.”
The silence was deafening.
I laughed bitterly.
“She was already planning this.”
My chest rose and fell heavily.
“She knew exactly what she was doing.”
I looked toward the door.
For one brief second, I imagined Diya's face and Matt sleeping peacefully in that hospital bed.
And then I remembered everything my mother had done. I had thought arresting her would finally put an end to it, but I had been fucking wrong. My mother's hands might be behind bars now, but her reach wasn't.
I turned back toward the elders. My voice was dangerously calm.
“What exactly does she want?”
The woman at the center finally looked directly into my eyes. And for the first time since I had entered that chamber, I saw something in her expression. It wasn't fear or guilt, but something closer to caution.
She opened her mouth, and I knew whatever she was about to say was going to be worse than anything I'd heard tonight.
Then my phone began ringing.
Not now. Whoever it was could wait.
I turned my attention back to the elders.
“I'm listening.”
I was going to get my answers, and I was going to get them now.
My phone rang again. Damn.
I pulled it from my pocket and glanced at the screen. An unknown number.
My brows pulled together.
Who the hell was calling me from an unknown number at this hour?
I was about to ignore it when the elder at the center spoke.
“You should answer your phone.”
I looked at her. Something about the way she said it sent a sudden chill down my spine. The hair at the back of my neck stood. I didn't know why, but every instinct in me suddenly screamed that something was wrong.
Slowly, I accepted the call and pressed the phone to my ear.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then…
“Daddy...?”
My blood froze and my entire body went rigid.
That voice.
Matt.
“Matt?”
My chair scraped loudly against the floor as I stood.
“Matt, where are you?”
There was a sound on the other end. Something muffled. Then I heard him breathe.
He sounded terrified.
“Daddy…”
I could barely breathe.
“Where are you, son? Where is your mother?”
A small sob escaped him.
“Daddy, where are you?”
My blood ran cold.
“Matt…?”
“Daddy, please come…”
I stopped breathing. Then I heard him whisper through his sobs.
“The bad man has us.”