4: Alpha Finlay

Ophelia thought she probably misheard the boy. Finlay couldn't be alive, could he? Perhaps Hamilton had too much ale to drink and was talking nonsense. But the lad appeared clear-eyed.

"My Luna," Hamilton took a step forward to her, while the crowd stared back in wonder.

"Maria cannot possibly be the former Luna, could she?" Arthur asked no one in particular. He knew something was fishy about her but never thought she'd come from a place that reeked of wealth and authority.

And Ophelia decided it was best she let herself be known. She took the hoodie off, revealing her long red hair, then she proceeded to peel off the fake brows and remove the fake moles.

Several gasps boom through the thin walls of the seemingly heated tavern, because realization stroke through them that Ophelia was truly the former Luna over the Crimson Paw pack.

"What did you say about my husband, Hamilton?" She asked the boy who gave her a firm head bow as a greeting.

"Alpha Finlay isn't dead, my Luna." Hamilton iterated.

"Well, I find that hard to believe." Ophelia folded her arms across her chest as she raised her head up and stared at the boy down her nose. "We buried him, funeral rights were performed. That man claiming to be my husband is an Impostor."

"No, my Luna. I'll bet the body was someone else's. The Barbarian pack members spared his life and held him hostage, tortured him until he escaped," Hamilton paused to look around at everyone before he carried on. "He bears the same face as your husband. Even the voice and everything. And what adds a stamp to the truth that it's Alpha Finlay, is the redness in his eyes, they give out that he's an Alpha."

"Impossible!" Ophelia thundered, getting agitated. "You should leave, Hamilton. I wonder what would be your gain from trying to reopen old wounds."

"Well, my Luna, you should come see for yourself. There'll be a meeting in less than two hours at the pack's council hall."

Ophelia gulped the sudden gigantic lump stuck within her throat. How could Finlay be alive? It was maddening.

She couldn't wrap her head around the whole thing. Her husband had been dead for a year, she saw his headless, blackened body.

Her heart started beating faster than normal, just from the thought of Finlay not being dead but truly alive.

The door burst open.

"My Luna, wait! I came with a carriage!" Hamilton yelled after Ophelia, but it was already too late. She had shifted into her wolf and was running in a full speed.

The boy had no choice but to shift into his wolf and ran after Ophelia, abandoning the carriage he arrived in.

***

Easton.

"It's time." A surly annoying masculine voice made Finlay woke up from the cold dungeon floor. He could hear the rustling of keys which gave off that the door was being unlocked.

Someone jerked the door open and three hefty men walked in, dressed in matching guard uniforms.

"Pick him up," the disdainful-looking man commanded his companions, hardening his jaw as he glared directly at Finlay. He was Somina- Whyte, the head dungeon's guard.

They roughly pulled Finlay up, making the chains dangle as they gave off noises.

"Sir, he refused to eat," the second man informed Somina-Whyte, pointing at the bread surrounded by rat poop.

"Could be poisoned. My paranoia towards you all keeps swelling to a different level." Finlay growled.

"Still won't give up yet?" Somina-Whyte grabbed Finlay by the throat. "You should be lucky Alpha Cestus choose to keep you alive. Do you know the implications of trying to impose the dead Alpha? Have you no shame!?" He yelled, with his spittle flying.

Finlay was capable of breaking the chains and killing the dungeon's guard within seconds, but it would worsen things. He needed to keep calm so they would believe he was truly Alpha Finlay. He didn't expect them to accept him at once, he knew it'd be difficult since everyone believed he was dead. Twelve months was a long while to show up after his death.

"When I get out of here and reclaim my throne, I'll see to it that you're all relieved off your duties." He threatened Somina-Whyte who only laughed in his face.

"We'll see about that, impostor." Somina-Whyte kissed his teeth, while Finlay rewarded him with a mischievous smirk.

"Everyone's waiting for you at the council hall. And a judgment will be passed on by Alpha Cestus, after you've been interrogated by the elders. They'd know whether to put your head up on a spike, or let you scot-free." The second man shoved Finlay roughly as they led him out.

And Finlay chuckled. Found everything amusing because the moment he returned, Cestus, his half-brother almost had a heart attack and ordered the guards to arrest him. Then Cestus went about to spread rumors of him being an Impostor. Everyday, selected persons paid him a visit at the dungeon and couldn't believe their eyes that it was Alpha Finlay.