Chapter 60

Alpha Jaxon.

"I thought Scarlett had already arrived." I looked at my wrist watch, tapping my foot on the wooden stage.

“She should be here by now." Thiery looked around, shifting on his feet slightly while he turned to look behind us. My father held a glass of scorch on his hand, seated on the wooden chair with the rest of the elders.

“Scarlett left a few minutes ago, said she wasn’t feeling well."

My father’s words had my wolf responding by trying to tap on Scarlett’s emotion.

“Relax, said she’ll lie down a bit, she will be here before the ceremony kicks off,” he added when I swept my hand over my gelled hair.

“Trouble in paradise still?" Thiery nudged, whispering on my shoulder. I scoffed, ignoring him. The last thing I wanted was to get riled up in front of my pack.

"You know, a drift between you will cause a drift amongst us without even knowing." He didn’t get the hint that I wanted to be left alone. I couldn’t believe his audacity, bringing up the issue in front of everyone.

“shut up Thiery,” I snapped, scanning the crowd for any missing faces. The only people who were allowed to miss were the warriors on patrol and the guards at the pack’s main entrance. I spotted Laura on the first line, staring intently at me. Then, a smile graced her face, followed by a slow bite to her bottom lip.

"No, somebody needs to tell you alpha,” My gamma insisted, ignoring my low growl.

"Do you remember what happened at the night of your mating?" I loudly sighed, getting tempted to walk away from him.

"Your marking triggered shifting in the entire pack. Need I remind you that, we still have no idea why that happened?" His statement had me staying rooted to the ground, clenching my fists tightly.

"Which part of shut your mouth do you not understand?" I growled lowly, the sound attracting a couple of eyes from the pack.

I felt her, smelt her even before she came into view. I could feel her raw emotions rolling out of her in strong waves.

“There she is,” my father stated, just as mutterings broke out amongst the crowd.

"What do you think you’re doing?" I barked into the mate link when Scarlett emerged with a tight grip on Avery’s arm. Heads turned to look at their Luna, paving way for her and her new house keeper. She was pushing her to the raised stage, a blank look on her face. I was met with silence on our link and a hard glare that was brief I thought I had imagined it.

The low utterances dissipated, everyone quieted down, they could feel the anger emanating from their Luna. Her aura was enough to subdue every werewolf in the arena except me.

Astra was right behind them, staring right ahead. When they came up to the platform Scarlett pushed Avery forward, making sure everyone could see her. “I asked you a question,” I relayed again, but given our last meeting together, I figured she was still mad at me. I could feel her wolf pushing to communicate with mine, but she was suppressing her with magic.

"Yellow Moon Pack!" Scarlett addressed after bowing before the elders who sat down wondering what was going on. Thiery who stood beside me nudged me with his elbow, raising his shoulders in question. I answered with my own shrug of shoulders and a downward curve of my mouth.

"Luna." A series of responses followed, their heads bowing to show respect.

“Someone infiltrated this pack and kidnapped me right under your noses." She paused, sending a side glance at me. They stood beside us, a small distance separating us. Her scent was heavenly, wafting into my nostrils. My wolf panted, enjoying the display of confidence from our mate.

She walked with slow calculated steps on the platform, sweeping her eyes over the crowd. Mothers stood with their pups and mates, the unmated watched her with admiration even though I could spot a scowl on Laura’s face. “For hours I was beaten, tied up to a chair by a former member of our pack."

A tad bit of pack tattle broke again. I had to exhale loudly to stop my wolf from shifting their and then. The image of her petite, injured, bleeding body tied up on that metallic chair would be forever engraved in my mind. The evil smirk on Cane’s bearded dirt face crossed before my eyes, making my chest rumble.

"Calm your wolf alpha," Thiery whispered when Scarlett turned to look at me, still walking on the damn stage like she owned it.

"I spent hours, raking my mind for any possible explanation of how I ended up in the hands of that rapist. That’s right, Cane was the one who locked me up, in the middle of nowhere, inside a cabin." The more she narrated the story, the faster my heart beat skyrocketed. I blamed myself for ex-communicating him instead of killing him.

"Please stop,” I begged via the mind-link. My plea was met with another silence, making my wolf pace on the inside. It was breaking us to listen to our mate narrate the hostility she felt. It didn’t matter that I had beheaded him, his smug look wouldn’t stop riling my wolf up.

"No stranger would invade a pack and take the alpha mate, in the midst of a pack run, without being noticed,” she breathed, smiling briefly at a small pup who sat on top of her father’s shoulders. The girl admired Scarlett, it was all written in her face, her teary eyes as she listened to her. If only she knew how much I was trying to not react to the memories of that day.

“She’s right you know,” Thiery whispered, nodding when she looked at him. I still didn’t understand why Avery was there, unmoving with her gaze cast on her feet.

"Astra,” Scarlett called, giving the older woman a single nod. Everyone including the elders watched on as Astra stepped forward. She reached out in one of her trench coat pockets and took out a flask.

“Someone get me a leaf,” she ordered, losing me completely. I couldn’t put two and two together. My brows creased as one of the mated males handed two eucalyptus leaves to her. She opened the flask, placed the leaves on the wooden platform and poured drops of soup on the leaves.

I could see her shoulders draw up in tension. “What is she doing? What’s happening? Soup on leaves?” I picked up a series of questions but my wolf detected raw fear on the platform. My eyes took on Avery’s form, trembling on her legs. I could hear her heart beat, pounding increasingly and loudly as she watched on.

"Do you see this?" She lifted the leaves, making sure everyone could see. I furrowed my eyebrows when I noticed that they had lost their natural green color.

"Achenka,” my father whispered, walking faster than we could comprehend. He took them from her hands and studied them, then turned with his eyes wide to the other elders.

"Right,” Scar replied, swallowing thickly.

“This the work of a very powerful herb that is used by doctors and healers to incapacitate us, especially during surgeries, or when we lose our mates. It hasn’t been used in this pack since my mate and your former Luna was killed. I was the last person it was used on, where the hell did you get it?" The last part was directed at Astra and my mate who was staring at Avery’s trembling form.

"Ask her." She pointed at Avery who stumbled backwards when a growl slipped past Scarlett’s throat. I still didn’t understand what was happening.

“The night I was kidnapped, this teen prepared the meal I ate that day for me."

"What the fuck!" Thiery swore, putting his hands above his head.

"My vision blurred, my wolf became weak and eventually I passed out." Shouts erupted, the pack clawing to lay their hands on the woman.

"Quiet down!" I stepped up, my thunderous voice making them snap their mouths shut.

“Today, she prepared soup for me and because I had my doubts, I decided not to take it." I was seeing red, Thiery had to restrict me with a couple of well-built warriors. My wolf was out, thirsty for Avery’s blood.

“She thought I had drank it and when I left saying I was going to lie down, she followed me. Avery here isn’t who she is, she is working with the enemy." Scarlett’s voice changed completely, heavy with malice as she stood in front of Avery.

"Fucking traitor!" the pack shouted.

"What does the pack law say about traitors?" my father asked.

“That they shall lose their tongue, then get beheaded in front of everyone," Mrs. Hudson replied in a cold voice.

The men were no match for me and my wolf, we broke free and went straight for the girl. “Nobody, messes with my mate and lives." I clutched her by throat, ignoring the pleas from my mate.

"You are a fucking disgrace," I roared.

With a single twist of my wrist, I broke her neck, watching in a satisfied smirk as her body slumped on the platform.