Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 1 - Chapitre 8

Chapter 1

I had been personally invited by Alpha Kieran to join Silvercrest Pack as its new Beta.Today was only my second day here.Just minutes ago, my next-door neighbor Gloria had dragged her disheveled daughter Daisy to the dead center of the training grounds, where they both dropped to their knees.Dozens of pack members in the middle of their morning drills stopped what they were doing and crowded around.Gloria wailed at the top of her lungs, begging Alpha Kieran to deliver justice for her and her daughter.Tears ran down her face in streaks, her voice hoarse and shrill as she screamed about the crimes committed against them.Or rather, the crimes my son Koda had committed.She got right in my face, shrieking that Koda had sexually assaulted her eighteen-year-old daughter Daisy the night before."That animal threatened Daisy — said he'd strangle her if she didn't comply!" Gloria's voice carried across the entire training grounds.She demanded that Alpha execute Koda immediately and that

Chapter 2

Gloria took one look at the injuries on Daisy's body and lost it completely. She threw herself at her daughter, dropping to her knees."My baby! My poor baby!" She reached out with shaking hands toward the bruises and claw marks, but couldn't bring herself to make contact. Her fingers stopped just short of Daisy's skin as she choked on her own sobs."Look at her! All of you, look at what that animal did to my daughter!"Daisy knelt half-naked in the center of the training grounds, hands covering her face, shoulders heaving."It was Koda... he dragged me into the woods... he said he'd kill me if I didn't comply..." Her voice came in broken fragments, barely audible.Harold's head snapped up, his glare burning into me."Take a good look!" he snarled, voice raw. "Look at what your son did to my girl!"The three of them clung to each other on the training grounds, sobbing. It was a wretched sight.Among the watching pack members, many had tears burning in their own eyes, anger building beh

Chapter 3

Harold let out a harsh bark of laughter and cut me off.He stepped closer, crowding my space."Is your son some kind of big shot?""You think my daughter would throw away her own reputation just to frame an outsider?"Daisy immediately stopped sobbing and backed up her father at the top of her lungs."I saw Koda with my own eyes!""On moving day, I bumped into him coming out of your place in the hallway."She clutched at the torn fabric of her clothes, absolutely certain of her claim."He came up and introduced himself to me!"Gloria heard her daughter's words and started screaming along."Daisy saw your son in person — she even knows his name!""Don't you dare keep trying to weasel out of this, Vera!"I watched the three of them taking turns with their little charade, and all I felt was contempt.I knew exactly why Daisy felt bold enough to lie so brazenly. The patch of woods behind Pack House was a blind spot in patrol coverage. No one ever passed through, and there wasn't a single w

Chapter 4

The pack members exploded with outrage.Everyone stared at the witch's blurry projection, seething with rage. Voices from the crowd screamed for Koda to be dragged out and killed.Harold surged forward a step, getting in my face."A memory trace can't be faked!""Your son's crimes — everyone just saw them with their own eyes!"I glanced at the so-called witch standing in the middle of the grounds.There wasn't a trace of panic on my face.I hadn't expected the Pembertons to go this far. They'd actually hired a witch to fabricate evidence. Manufacturing that entire fake sequence targeting my son must have cost them a fortune.I met the crowd's furious stares, my tone as even as ever."That memory trace is fake."Harold's eyes went wide. His whole body coiled tighter, and he roared even louder."The witch performed the trace herself and you still won't accept it?""Your whole family is rotten to the core!"Daisy's tears hadn't even dried. She suddenly wrenched free from Gloria's grip, lo

Chapter 5

I nearly bit through my lip trying not to laugh.Because Koda really was, in the most literal sense, an animal.The warriors walked in holding a leash attached to a white Samoyed.The moment my fur baby spotted me, his tail went into overdrive. Pink tongue lolling, he strained to run straight to me.A collective gasp of disbelief erupted across the training grounds.Every eye went wide, locked on the figure the two warriors had led in.It wasn't some hot-blooded young male.It was a massive, snow-white Samoyed.My Koda had his pink tongue hanging out, his fluffy tail curled into a tight spiral, swishing back and forth in pure excitement. He was completely oblivious to the tension around him, nose to the ground, sniffing at all the wonderful smells left behind by hundreds of wolves.He had no idea he'd just become the star of the most absurd spectacle this pack had ever seen.I ignored every stunned face and walked straight over.I bent down and scooped the sixty-some-pound dog into my

Chapter 6

Harold's outburst immediately had an effect on the crowd.Those pack members who had started to doubt the Pembertons began wavering again.Whispered speculation rippled through the group."Harold has a point — what if she really did just grab a random dog?""She's the Beta personally appointed by Alpha. She's got power and money.""Getting a dog to put on a show would be nothing for someone with that kind of pull."Gloria caught the subtle shift in the crowd's mood and seized on it. She hauled herself up off the muddy ground.She thrust a hand toward Koda in my arms and shrieked."Vera's real son is definitely a wolf hiding somewhere!""This dog is just a prop she brought in to get the real criminal off the hook!""She's making fools out of every last one of us!"Daisy latched onto this like a drowning woman finding a lifeline. She shot up from the mud and screamed at me in a piercing voice."That dog is not Koda!""Vera, you're despicable — using a dog to humiliate me and drag my name

Chapter 7

I reached down and gently unfastened a small leather pouch hanging from Koda's collar.From it, I pulled out an official pet registration certificate stamped with a red seal.It had been formally issued by Ironridge Pack, where I'd lived before.I held the certificate high for everyone to see. It bore a clear photograph of the Samoyed, along with the serial number of the microchip implanted under his skin.In the name field, four letters: Koda.More importantly, the registration date was a full two years before I'd ever moved to Silvercrest Pack.Then I pulled out my phone and opened the album dedicated entirely to Koda.Thousands of videos and photos. I scrolled through them, turning the screen toward the crowd.From the day I brought Koda home as a puppy, to his first time learning to lie down.His first time chewing up my boots — and the clip of me chasing him around the yard with a slipper.Two full years of memories, every moment documented.Finally, I pulled up my personal identi

Chapter 8

The Pembertons stood rooted to the spot.Gloria forced herself to stay composed. She tugged at the corners of her stiff mouth, trying to bluff her way through.She mumbled that she'd already apologized, hadn't she?I cradled my Samoyed and walked up to them, step by step.I stood over them, my voice flat and final."If a casual apology could cancel out the crimes of slander and extortion, what would be the point of pack law?"Daisy flinched and stumbled backward, cowering behind Harold's broad back.A dry laugh escaped me."You were loud enough when you were making up lies.""Scared now?""Too late."Daisy's composure shattered completely. She dropped to her knees in the dirt and wailed, palms pressed together, begging me to forgive her.She made excuses — said it was dark and she'd confused the person. She even had the nerve to appeal to our neighborly relationship for mercy.Harold had abandoned every shred of the bravado he'd displayed in front of Alpha. Head bowed, shoulders hunche

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