Not So Surprise Visit

Not So Surprise Visit
Giselda

I was doing my rounds in the sleuth, checking on everyone, just like I promised Annie that I would every day, when dark power surged in the air. I bared my teeth in the direction of the entrance to our territory, where the energy was coming from, as I opened my link to both the entire sleuth and pack.

‘EVERYONE, GET INSIDE AND STAY INSIDE UNTIL I GIVE YOU THE ALL CLEAR!’ I ordered, my heart in my throat.

I wasn’t taking any chances with them. Not again. Not after what we had been through because of Kirland and his father. As I was racing toward the entrance with Gerry by my side, Michael, Milton, and Logan fell into step with us. We skidded to a stop at the border, each of us taking a different direction to watch for whoever or whatever was coming our way. I narrowed my eyes on the road when I saw a small group of people coming our way. I let out a sigh of relief when I started sensing Osprey and Arianna amongst the group. Even though the rest of my alpha team also relaxed a little, we still stayed vigilant until the five council members were standing in front of us. We all bowed low to them.

“Good evening,” Logan greeted them. “To what may we owe your visit?”

Osprey stepped forward. “We’re sorry to bother you, Logan, but–”

Orion stepped in front of Osprey with a cold smirk on his face. “We do not apologize for upholding the law!” he snarled at Osprey, who bared his teeth right back at Orion. “We have come to do an investigation into who killed Kirkland!”

I narrowed my eyes on the man. “Why does it matter? He was intruding on our territory and had threatened our alpha sow as well as me and our sleuth! And per the council's decision, he was no longer an alpha! We had every right to kill a rogue that had entered our land!”

Orion’s smirk grew bigger. “That’s where you are wrong, Giselda!” he sneered. “You killed an alpha that was on your land! As he escaped the council’s hold before he was stripped of his title, he was not yet a rogue! Killing an alpha, whether they were in the wrong or not, is grounds for whoever murdered them to be punished! We are here to determine exactly who is going to be punished for his death!”

Before I could respond, Logan stepped forward. “I did it. I killed Kirkland. There is no need for an investigation.”

When I opened my mouth to say something, he gave me a sharp look that had me snapping it closed again. I met Osprey’s eyes as Orion laughed, only to see realization in his gaze. I gave him a small nod to answer the question floating in his eyes. ‘Did Annie kill Kirkland?’ All of us who knew Annie well knew we weren’t going to let her be punished for this. Something like that would destroy her in a way that she might not come back from, and that was the last thing that any of us wanted.

“Be that as it may, we will still need to do an investigation. Please take us to the location where he was killed,” Orion ordered, flicking invisible lint off his shirt, almost as if he were bored.

“Why? I told you that I did it! There is no need to do an investigation,” Logan growled at him, earning an amused look from Orion.

“How will we know if it was truly you or if you are just covering for someone?” Orion retorted snottily. “The penalty for killing an alpha can be as low as imprisonment or as high as death.”

Logan took a step forward. “I am prepared to take the sentence, no matter what it is.”

Orion studied his face. “We can either do the investigation here, or you can come back to the council headquarters, and we can do the investigation there, but either way, we are doing an investigation!”

I glanced worriedly at Logan. If they took him to the council headquarters, there was nothing I could do to help him. If they did it here, at least then I could make it believable that Logan had been the one to kill Kirkland. I swallowed hard before stepping forward, easing between Orion and Logan, who were glaring at each other.

“You can do it here. I will escort you to where Kirkland was killed,” I told Orion, knowing that Gerry and I had already prepared the clearing to seem like Logan had killed Kirkland. Logan cast me a panicked look, but I ignored him to nod my head to the forest. “If you will follow me, it’s this way?”

Orion crossed his arms over his chest, scowling at me. “Lead the way.”

I pivoted on my heels and immediately began to stroll into the woods, hurrying through it to the clearing we had prepared.

‘Giselda, what are you doing? If you take them to the location of Kirkland’s death, they will know it was Annie! Please don’t do this,’ Logan link, begging me to change my mind.

‘Trust me, Logan. I know what I’m doing. Osprey told us a few days ago that the council might be coming by. We have prepared a clearing with your and Kirkland’s blood in it. We weren’t sure if they would be coming, but on the off chance they did, we wanted to be prepared.’

‘You knew they might be coming, and didn’t tell me?’ he growled in my head.

‘Yes! If you knew then you would have acted completely different!’ I told him.

‘But you seemed against the investigation! Why would you do that if you knew why they were coming?’ Logan inquired.

‘Because it would make our staged clearing more believable. You know as well as I do that Orion isn’t who he tries to appear to be. There’s something off about him,’ I answered.

‘I do know! We have to do everything we can to make them believe I killed Kirkland.’

‘We will! I just need you to trust me.’

‘Okay. I’ll follow your lead.’

When we finally made it to the clearing, I nodded at it. “Right here.”

As I went to step into it, Orion grabbed my arm roughly, earning a threatening growl from Gerry as he shoved the alpha away from me.

“Do not touch my mate,” he hissed. “I don’t care if you are an alpha or not! You are on our land, and it was uncalled for!”

Orion smirked at Gerry as he went toe-to-toe with him. “You forget who I am, beta! I could kill you where you stand, and there wouldn’t be an investigation!”

“Try it and see who comes out on top,” Gerry spat, venom dripping from every word.

Arianna cleared her throat. “This is not why we are here, Orion. We need to complete this investigation and return to headquarters.”

Orion held Gerry’s gaze for a moment longer before turning back to the clearing. “The council will investigate, while the rest of you stay here.”

We all watched as the council members spread out, moving through the clearing with a practised ease. Osprey and Arianna took their time while Orion and the only other male moved faster. When they were done, the four of them came back over to us.

“What do you think? Do you think Logan killed Kirkland?” Orion asked them as he glared at my cousin.

“Yes,” the other three councilmembers said in sync.

“I don’t. There’s something fishy going on here,” Orion growled. “I don’t like it.”

Logan narrowed his eyes at Orion as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Why are you so determined not to accept that I killed the person who was threatening everyone that matters to me? It is my job to protect my sleuth, my pack, and my family. Who is it that you want to have killed Kirkland?”

I glanced warningly at Logan, trying to warn him not to push the issue, but he ignored me as he squared off against Orion.. The last thing we needed was for Orion to fight the others on the matter of who actually killed Kirkland.

“Who really killed Kirkland, Logan?! I know it wasn’t you! So, who was it?” Orion snarled as his hands fisted at his sides.

Logan smirked at him. “Me.”

“You’re lying!” Orion roared as he took a step toward Logan, who straightened up to his fullest height.

“Since you don’t believe me, would you like me to show you exactly how I did it?” Logan seethed quietly.

When Orion took another step forward, Osprey put his hand on his shoulder. “Orion, Logan is the culprit. Not only did our own investigation point to that, but he confessed. There’s no point in trying to accuse anyone else when all the facts point to Logan.”

Orion shook Osprey’s hand off. “If that’s what you want to believe, then so be it!” He pinned Logan with a hate-filled look. “But when we get back to the headquarters, I will be putting the death penalty on the table…”

As he walked away, I exchanged worried looks with Gerry before looking at Logan, who looked just as determined as before. Well, fuck! Now all we could do was pray to the Goddess that everything would work out in a way where Logan would eventually come back to the sleuth. While Logan was being led away, Osprey stopped beside me.

“Don’t tell Annie.”

I sighed, but nodded. “Alright. Just don’t make me have to tell her…”