Alpha Hudson POV
I sighed heavily and rubbed my forehead.Telling two parents that their child is dead is one of the hardest things I have ever done.Today I had to do it to my own aunt and uncle.Aunt Cece just screamed, making every hair on my body stand on end. I wanted to scream too. Tommy was family, but the pack had to go first so I would have to mourn later.My uncle Rob instantly demanded Sally's execution, but I don't think I ever could go through with that. After all, it was Luke's baby sister.Luke and I had always been best friends. We trained together since we were five years old. We knew that one day I would take over the pack and Luke would be my Beta, my second in command.After my aunt and uncle left, I mindlinked Luke."Hey, you still up?""Yeah""I need you to come to the office. Bring your parents and George with you. There's something you need to know.""Actually we're kind of busy. We can't find Sally. Do you think it could wait until tomorrow?"I closed my eyes for a second."That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I know where she is.""We are on our way now."I cut the mindlink and put my head in my hands.Everyone inside a pack that had gotten their wolf at 18 had the ability to contact each other through their minds. It came in real handy when we shifted to our wolves and therefore couldn't talk to each other.There was a knock at the door."Come in." I said calmly and took a deep breath.Here we go.Luke, George, my fathers Beta David and his wife Alice entered my office. They all bowed their heads."Alpha" They murmured."Please have a seat." I said. "We need to talk about Sally."Alice stiffened."Is she alright? What's going on?""Sally is alive and well so you don't have to worry about that." I reassured her.Luke furrowed his eyebrows."But there is something to worry about. Is that what you're saying?"How do I put this in good words?Screw it, I'll just say it."Sally is currently in the dungeon. We suspect that she killed someone." I stated matter-of-factly.George slapped his hand over his mouth. He really looked like he would break down any second.I felt sorry for him. He and Sally were always so close and he must be taking this really hard."Murder??" Alice shouted. "The-there m-must be a mistake. My daughter would never kill anyone!""Who is it that she's supposed to have murdered?" George asked, his voice shaking slightly."Tommy Evergreen" I replied.Luke widened his eyes."Are you saying that she killed your cousin? How? I mean, he's of alpha blood and she is a small sized Beta female. There's no way that she could have done it.""All I know is that she was found standing over Tommy's dead body, covered in his blood. I will go down and talk to her now. I just thought you wanted to know first."'What's going to happen to her now? Will she be executed for this?" George asked.I could see that his hands were shaking. He seemed really rattled by this news.I stood up from my desk and walked over to George. I put a hand on his shoulder and said."I will do everything I can to make sure that doesn't happen. Something must have happened for Sally to lash out at Tommy. I know that she's not some crazy psychopath killing people for fun. It's going to be okay." I reassured him.George opened his mouth, like he wanted to ask something else, but then he closed it again and looked down.I looked at David. He had been very quiet this whole time."Are you alright?" I asked.David nodded and left the office without saying a word.If it was anyone else dismissing me like that I could have them whipped for the disrespect, but this time I let it slide."Get some rest. I will gather the elders for a trial tomorrow." I ordered. "You're dismissed."They stood up and bowed their heads."Thank you, Alpha." Alice said with tears in her eyes before they all left the office. ----------Sally POVThe pack doctor came down to the cells after the warriors had left. She dressed the wound on my arm and my forehead and said that the Alpha would be seeing me shortly.My heart sank into the pit of my stomach.I had no idea what to tell him.I had to give him some sort of explanation, but what would that be?Alpha Hudson was an old friend of the family. He and my brother were practically inseparable. If I told him the truth he would probably do everything to help George.But I couldn't. Hudson wasn't the problem.The justice system inside the pack was a little different from how humans did things. There was a council of elders that were summoned for a trial when someone had committed a serious crime. The elders, along with the alpha, decided the punishment. The punishments were also harsher than the human ones. Whippings were quite common, especially among the Omegas. Omega was the lowest rank in the pack and they usually worked as servants or cleaners in the pack buildings. If they disrespected someone with a higher rank they would get whipped for it. It wasn't common that someone committed more serious crimes than that, but when it occurred they were usually sentenced to exile. They were stripped of their rank and declared a Rogue, a packless wolf. It was unnatural for a wolf to be without a pack. They were forced to leave and never come back or they would be shot on sight. If you were a rogue long enough your smell would start to change until you would smell of rotten meat. It was a warning to other wolves that you were not part of the pack.Wolves exiled due to a crime usually ended up on the Blacklist. It was a registry where all packs in the country could check if a Rogue trespassing on their territory was dangerous or not. Blacklisted Rogues usually ended up killed if they ever set foot in wolf territory ever again. The chances of ever joining another pack were close to zero.The last alternative for a very serious crime was execution. It was really rare though so I would probably not be executed for this.At least, I hoped so.I heard footsteps outside the cell door and Alpha Hudson appeared outside the bars.I felt my heart skip a beat.What do I say?I guess I'd just go with a story to protect George and Alex. They would both probably be killed if they started to investigate this further.Alpha Hudson cleared his throat and I realized that I had been staring at him."Forgive me, Alpha" I murmured and bowed my head."It's okay, Sally. I understand the past few hours have been stressful." He replied.He placed a pile of neatly folded clothes on the floor outside of the cell."I thought you might want to change out of those clothes later.""Thank you, Alpha." I replied and stepped up to the bars."Could you tell me what happened tonight, Sally?"I looked down and my lips started to tremble."I'm really sorry." I whimpered."It's gonna be okay. Just take a deep breath and start from the beginning."I inhaled sharply and exhaled slowly."I was on my way home. Tommy pushed me into the alley. Everything happened so fast I barely registered what happened. I tried to fight him off but he just laughed at me. He grabbed my hair and slammed my head into the dumpster. I let my claws come out on my hand and I lashed out. I was so dizzy I didn't see where I hit him. But then he wasn't behind me anymore. When I looked back I saw that he was on the ground, bleeding out. I tried to stop the bleeding with my hands, but…"I stopped talking when a sob I had tried to hold in left me. I knew I was in serious trouble and I feared that Hudson wouldn't believe me.Hudson reached through the bars and touched my arm to comfort me."Look Sally, I know you didn't do this on purpose. But it's a serious situation and you won't be able to get out of this without any punishment. I'll do everything I can to make sure that the elders are merciful."His words made me feel a bit of hope.Maybe everything was going to be alright after all.Sally POVTwo days later my murder trial began. I was so nervous I couldn't sleep a wink during the whole night. After Alpha Hudson left, I cried myself to sleep and spent the following day just staring into nothingness waiting for something to happen.I heard someone approach and was surprised when I saw Luke standing outside my cell."Open the door. I will escort her to her trial." He said to the prison guard. I sat in a corner of the cell with my knees against my chest, not sure if Luke was mad at me or not. Once the door was open Luke stepped into the cell and ordered the guards to leave. Then he kneeled in front of me. "How are you, Lala?" He asked. I smiled weakly at the nickname and a tear slipped down my cheek. "I'm scared." I whispered. Luke pulled me into a hug. "I'm right here with you. Every step of the way." He murmured. We stayed like that for a few minutes, until Luke pulled away. "Are you ready?" I nodded.He took my hands and pulled me up."Let's go."We w
Hudson POVI didn't like this feeling. Regret. I felt disgusted with myself for banishing Sally. She only tried to defend herself from a much larger guy and she ended up with one of the harshest punishments that existed in werewolf law. I had tried to get the council to reconsider, but it seemed like they wanted to set an example “To make sure that no one should get any ideas to challenge the higher ranked in this pack.” as councilman Jeb put it.My whole body screamed that this was wrong, but there was nothing I could do. I’ve never felt more helpless in my entire life. A knock on my door startled me and I called for whoever it was to come in. It was George. He looked like he had been crying. I understood. I felt like crying too. "Alpha." George bowed his head. "I'm sorry about Sally." Was the only thing I could come up with. "Yeah, me too Alpha." George said in a small voice. "Is there anything I can do to help you?" I asked."Could you get her back in? I will take full
Three months later.Sally POVI hunched down and eyed the rabbit sitting a few yards away from me. I had followed it for a while. It was tedious work, but I was starving and needed to eat. Since I was dangerously close to a pack border I couldn't track it in my wolf form. I would give off too much of a scent and alert the border patrol of my presence. I just hoped that the stupid rabbit didn't stray across the border where I couldn't follow it. The rabbit lifted its head and took off.Oh for goodness sake.Did it know that I called it stupid?I didn't say it out loud. I started to chase after the rabbit, zigzagging between the trees trying not to lose sight of it. Damn, it was fast. A noise to my left interrupted me and I lost focus. I smelled the air and realized that it was another wolf. I halted in my tracks and I mentally cursed myself for being so focused on the rabbit that I didn't notice that I had crossed the pack border. The wolf shifted and revealed a man in his late
Elijah POVPanting, I wiped the sweat from my forehead. I had been in the packhouse garden the whole afternoon, raking leaves. My wolf was bugging me the whole time, wanting to go for a run. I promised him that we could shift later in the evening when we were finished with today's chores. To my parents dismay, I was an Omega in the Midnight Pack. My father was the pack's Gamma, the third in command to Alpha Richard. I was supposed to inherit that title once I got my wolf at 18, but when my wolf turned out to be weaker than the average Gamma wolf, I was demoted to Omega and became a servant in the packhouse.Alpha Richard kept my father as Gamma and seemed really happy about it.Why?Because having a weak wolf wasn't the only embarrassment in my life.I had a bright red birthmark across my face. Up until I graduated high school last year, I was the constant laughingstock. They called me Ampel, because I looked like a red traffic light.The name stuck with me and most people just ca
Elijah POVIt took everything in me to leave her and go back to my room. If I could I would have just stayed there the whole night. But the guards on shift would pass by sooner or later, so I made my way back, working on an escape plan. I always had a plan to leave. I knew how to get past the guards and cross the border. I just never did it. The thought of becoming a Rogue always terrified me. Leaving a pack, no matter how shitty it was, was not something you did lightly.But if I had to give up pack life to be with my mate, I would definitely do it. I couldn't stand by and watch while they hurt her.My mate. Sally. I fell in love within a matter of minutes. That's how strong the mate bond was. When I got back to my room, thoughts about living with Sally in a human town somewhere made a smile appear on my face. "What are you so happy about?" Lucas asked. Lucas was my best friend. Most people stayed away from me, barked orders at me or jeered at me, but not Lucas. We never went
Elijah POVThe whole day, I couldn't think of anything other than Sally. My heart clenched with guilt over the fact that I have to leave her there. But I knew that if I tried to talk to Alpha Richard about her, then the sick bastard would probably use her to hurt me instead. He was always one of my biggest tormentors in school, and now as Alpha he had the power to bully anyone.He was the strongest wolf in this pack, so no one dared to challenge him.I tried to get through my chores as quickly as I could. Hopefully, I would be able to sneak down to the cell blocks during my lunch. When lunchtime came, I snuck out of the packhouse and went searching for her cell window. When I got closer, I heard her crying and I almost ran up to the window. I looked through the window and quickly drew back.There was someone in the cell with Sally. I peeked and saw Alpha Richard undressing her. Sally had her hands tied over her head and she was pleading with him to stop. Alpha Richard caressed he
Alpha Jordan POVSeething, I knocked on my Beta’s bedroom door.I could tell that he was in there, even though it was four in the afternoon."Christian dammit. If you don't open the door in the next three seconds I'm seriously coming in!" I called out.I heard shuffling, then Christian opened the door, shirtless, with a sheet wrapped around his hips..Behind Christian, I spotted a girl lying in the bed. I could tell by the smell exactly what they'd been up to, which enraged me even more."What’s up, Jordan?" Christian grinned and I sighed, internally cursing him.What would the punishment be for strangling my own Beta? "The warrior briefings? Ring a bell?" I raised my eyebrows.I was hoping to get some kind of realization from Christian, but he just chuckled. "Oh yeah. When's that again?"I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose."Two hours ago."Christian's eyes widened."Oh really? Sorry dude, I lost track of time."I resisted the urge to punch him in the face."If it wa
George POV"I went to Fallman Lake to meet up with Alex and then we came here."I concluded my story about how I ended up here. During the whole time I talked, I wouldn't dare to look at him. I was afraid of his reaction and that he might just throw Alex and myself out of his pack despite his promise to me. After I stopped talking, the room was filled with silence. From the corner of my eye, I could see Alpha Jordan lean back in his chair. "The way I see it, you were faced with an impossible choice. Either you take the blame for killing Tommy and risking not only your own life, but the life of your mate as well, or you let your sister take the blame. Sounds to me like she made the decision herself, did she not?"I shrugged."I guess. I just felt like it's all my fault. If I hadn't pulled Alex into the alley in the first place this would never have happened."Alpha Jordan smiled."You're not the first person to be tempted by the mate bond. It goes against every instinct not to act