Chapter 103 The trial
“Illegitimate Alpha Damon of the Moonshine Pack, you‘ve been accused of betraying your responsibility to your pack, endangering your pack, breaking your treaty with the Federation, provoking conflict with a neighboring pack, and breaching pack territory without gaining the permission of the other Alpha. How do you plead?” Logan laid out the charges. “Not guilty,” Damon insisted with a smug grin. “And, it is just Alpha Damon.” “Not in this trial,” Logan said. “The plea is not guilty?” Thomas asked. The rest of the Moonshine pack members were whispering amongst themselves.
“Is there anyone here who would like to speak in the defense of this illegitimate Alpha?” Logan asked. He looked around. None of the pack members spoke up. Logan looked at Damon, watching his smug smirk start to fade. “Is there anyone at all?” Thomas asked, looking around. Behind him, Logan heard Damon’s family members struggling against their gags, crying out muffled protests. “Will you not let my family speak for me?” Damon asked, looking at Logan. “Does that not make you the same as me?” Logan looked at Thomas. “Your family are not viable witnesses to your actions.” Thomas concluded. “Their bias is tainted by blood, not pack loyalty. A parent will protect their child no matter what they’ve done, but a pack has a mind for self-preservation, even against their own Alpha.” Logan nodded in agreement. “Agreed, your family cannot speak for you,” he said. “Then let me speak for myself,” Damon insisted. Logan shrugged. He let go of Damon, nudging him in the back as he did so. Groaning, Damon got to his feet. His legs trembled as he supported his own weight, the bandages on his back began to redden with blood from reopened wounds. “I am Alpha of this pack,” he said in a deep, low voice. “I have supported all of you, carried your weight, provided for you. You can’t turn your back on me now!” “You stole from us!” someone in the crowd shouted. “You starved us!” another persona shouted. “You sent us on raids to die!” another voice cried out. Logan sighed, shaking his head.
He stepped forward and held his arms out, urging them to lower their voices and settle down. He didn’t need a riot to break out over the trial. “It seems as though your pack wouldn’t agree,” Logan said. “And
does your pack agree with everything you do?” he snapped back. Logan arched an eyebrow at him. “I doubt it,” he said. “But I’ve never endangered my pack purposefully and I’ve never robbed them of food.” He nodded out to the Moonshine members that were still munching on their rations. “I never got any complaints,” Damon argued. Thomas scoffed.
“Is that true?” he asked the gathered pack members. “He sent us on raids when we complained of not having food,” multiple voices echoed the same sentiment. Logan nodded and calmed the crowd again. “You’ve all been very honest and open about his treatment of you,” Logan said. “I believe everything you’ve said, because I also know that Damon is the one who ordered you to invade my territory and steal from me. I understand now it was out of desperation. I apologize for the force we used against you, not understanding your plight.” Logan looked to Thomas and nodded. Thomas stepped forward. “We promised you all that you’d have a choice in your pack’s future. So, here is the choice. You can vote, here and now, on whether or not you want to keep Damon as your Alpha or if you want to kick him out of the pack and out of the Federation,” Thomas said. “My family should get to vote on this,” Damon argued. “They are part of the pack too, the one you‘re promising choice to.” Logan looked over his shoulder at Damon’s family members. Carson was keeping a sharp eye on them. “You’re right,” Logan said nodding to Carson. “Bring Damon’s family forward for the vote.” Carson and his wolves pushed Damon’s family forward, setting them up near the rest of the pack. Most of the Moonshine members that were close to them, backed away. “Alright, vote,” Logan said. “If you want Damon to stay as your Alpha, raise your hands.” Immediately, all of Damon’s family members raised their hands. The rest of the pack murmured amongst themselves. Logan and Thomas exchanged another look. They would give the pack time to deliberate. “At least your family still cares about you,” Logan whispered to Damon after several minutes went by and no one else raised their hands. “Give it time,” Damon said. Logan shrugged, but he indulged. Several more minutes
passed, and no one else raised their hands
“That’s all the time you get, Damon,” Logan said. He grabbed Damon’s elbow and secured him again. “It looks like you‘re out of the pack, for good.”
“No!” Damon cried, “I built this pack, I made it whole when there was no one else to take command! You can’t turn you backs on me!” Following Damon’s words, the seated Moonshine members began to stand and turn their backs on Damon. He snarled, struggling against Logan’s hold, but he was still weak “How does it feel to be exiled from your own pack?” Logan asked. “This isn’t over,” Damon assured. “This is far from over! You’ll never be able to keep control of such a large territory by yourself. Moonshine will be left in disarray. You’ll need someone to lead.” “It won’t be you,” Logan assured. He passed Damon off to Carson, “Bring him and his family to the dungeons. We may have use for them later. Also, call in for more rations and some clean clothes.” “I’ll take care of it,” Carson said with a nod. He pushed Damon forward, and the wolves around Damon’s family followed behind Carson, Thomas approached Logan.
“That went well,” he said, “Damon wasn’t entirely wrong though, Moonshine is a large territory, and two packs helped claim it.” Logan smiled at Thomas.
“Don’t worry, I have no intention of cutting you out of the spoils, nor are we going to leave these pack members to suffer and struggle to rebuild. We’ll help every step of the way,” Logan assured. Thomas nodded. “Good,” he said. “Santino should be involved in these discussions.” Logan nodded. “I agree,” he said. “We’ll give him a day to heal.” Thomas nodded. Logan looked around at the Moonshine wolves. Most of them looked terrified, beaten down. He wanted them all checked out by the hospital staff and given whatever treatments they needed to get healthy again.
He was willing to bet that most of them had deficiencies of some kind and or needed help with old injuries, scars, or other ailments caused by malnutrition. He wanted to help them get on their feet first.
It was going to take a long time to fix the pack members and the territory. The farmlands needed to be cleared and then worked. The orchards needed to be tended, and there were buildings that needed to
be repaired. It would be a full effort, but once Moonshine was restored, Logan was confident that the territory could be useful. “Alpha Logan,” someone called, running up to him. “What is it?” he asked.
“It appears that some of Damon’s loyal wolves split off from the attack and formed their own bands of rogues,” the wolf reported. 3/4
“Where?” Logan asked. “We are tracking them,” the wolf assured. Logan nodded. “Inform me the moment that you know where they are,” Logan said. The wolf nodded
and took off. Logan chuckled to himself. Had Damon been a competent Alpha, he wouldn’t have told his loyal wolves to scatter if the battle seemed to be going sideways. He’d probably assumed they’d be able to come back for him and break him free. Instead, Damon had sent those who could have voted for him to stay in the pack away. They were running around in the woods somewhere instead of standing by his side. Logan had thought it strange there was no one other than his family to speak for him, but now he knew why. They’d have to keep patrolling until they were sure all the rogues had been detained or eradicated. “Rogues?” Thomas asked. Logan nodded. “Apparently Damon did have some loyal followers in the pack,” Logan said. “We will round them up. They won’t be much good on their own. They’ve probably
already split into smaller groups,” Thomas said. “I’ll send some of my wolves to track them as well. “Please,” Logan said. “I’m going to finish up here and go check on the hospital.” “If you see my daughter, tell her that she did excellent work today.” Thomas said. Logan smiled at Serena’s father. “She always does,” he said fondly. Thomas chuckled and nodded. “That she does,” he said. “We had a victory today. Let’s keep the momentum moving forward.”
“Yes,” Logan said in confirmation. The battle had been fought, but there was still a lot of work to do.