جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 10

When Bloodclaw wolves kicked in the gates of the training grounds, my mate, Gabriel, walked in at the head of his men.After someone leaked Bloodclaw's revised route for the treaty signing, Gabriel, the pack's Beta, reported me to the Werewolf Court.Before he arrived, Gabriel texted me.“Don't worry, Nia. It's just a routine check. We'll look at the roster and your pack's entry and exit logs.”“Hang in there, Nia. It'll be over soon. Sera's never been through anything this scary. She's not as tough as you.”“I told them about your foster father. They'll be gentle when they go through his things.”Reading his messages, I finally relaxed a little.Elias had been Black Moon's Beta and a former instructor at the training grounds.He'd died of an illness a month earlier, and as the Alpha Female, I'd taken over his work.Before he died, he told me one last thing.“Nia, these training records are my life's work. Keep them safe in the records room. They'll give you something to remember me by

After the hostile reception at the funeral, I was afraid someone might come after me. I was on edge day and night.I'd moved into Bloodclaw territory after Gabriel and I completed our marking ceremony.For my own safety, I asked Gabriel to post a few Bloodclaw warriors he trusted at his front gate.Gabriel turned me down.“Nia, you're an Alpha Female. You can take care of yourself.“But Sera can't. She's an Omega. I need every available guard with her.”One evening, I came back from taking care of some things at the training grounds and found the gate open. I went inside to find the house empty. Gabriel wasn't home.I called him.“It's late. Where are you?”Gabriel explained.“Something happened to Sera. Someone suspects she's the leak. Her car was stopped while she was out, and things got out of hand. They need every hand they can get.“Just stay home. Don't go out.”I didn't say anything. I knew he'd chosen Sera again.After I hung up, I went out into the backyard and found the back

I'd just received my mother's message and was about to leave when a court summons arrived.The summons said Gabriel had petitioned the Werewolf Court to reopen my case and was charging me with perjury.He claimed Sera was innocent, that I'd framed her to clear my own name, and that I'd illegally fabricated the recordings before the trial.Then he went public on Facebook, claiming he had a key witness and hard evidence that I'd faked the recordings, and made a show of how disappointed he was in me.“Hi, everyone. I'm Gabriel, Bloodclaw's Beta and Nia's husband. I've always been too lenient with her. Even when she made a terrible mistake, I couldn't bring myself to hold her accountable.“It was only after I marked her that I began to see Nia for who she really is. I'm deeply disappointed.“Sera is innocent. She doesn't deserve to suffer for Nia's selfishness.“Tomorrow, I'll bring a witness and evidence to court, testify on Sera's behalf, and make sure she gets justice for everything she

On my third day in custody, Daniel came to see me. He sat down across the table and slid two files over.“Audrey's people recovered the deleted footage from the intelligence room.“Sera went into the intelligence room the night before the ambush and stayed for almost half an hour. When she came out, she had a document in her hand. The camera caught it all, clear as day.”When I didn't say anything, he showed me the other file.“There's a problem with the footage Gabriel submitted. We've confirmed it rained that night, but in the video, the ground under the streetlight is dry.“The tech department has issued its report. The footage was edited and spliced together.“As for the voice recordings, Audrey's people questioned the patrol members, who admitted that Gabriel had put them up to giving false statements.”With evidence this strong, I could finally breathe. Daniel continued, “We have enough. I've filed the paperwork. The second hearing is tomorrow.”The next day, I was brought before

The day I went back to the training grounds, the sun wasn't up yet.The gates had been repaired, and the records room had new cabinets.I went home to get my foster father's old box and put it back in its usual spot.The next day, I resumed training the pack's warriors.During a break, James pushed open the door and walked in.“Nia.”“Alpha. What can I do for you?”After a moment, James said, “First, Gabriel's trial is taking longer than expected. We won't have a verdict until next year.”I nodded.“And second?”“Second... Audrey asked me to pass something along.“She's given you access to Bloodclaw's intelligence room. You can pull any file you want, anytime.”“Got it.”He hesitated before going on.“There's one more thing. Audrey and I split up all those years ago because of the hatred between our packs.“Leaving you with your foster father was the only choice we had.“Your mother and I love you very much. All these years, we could only find out how you were doing through him.”I did