Chapter 53: *”…bare her years of pain and abuse to the public.”*
Alora’s firm voice kept Selena from crumpling in on herself and running back into their space. Lifting her head, she met Darien’s serious gaze. Selena was an inch taller than Alora’s height, it was not much of a difference.
“You are absolutely gorgeous Selena. Remember, he is our brother and his mate our sister.”
Xena told her.
“Brother?” Selena asked aloud in her musical voice, then her gaze shifted to Serenity. “Sister?” Selena’s voice was hesitant as she spoke.
Selena knew this male and female called Alora and Xena sister, but would they also call her sister? Selena was scared that they would reject her.
Serenity saw the scared look in Selena’s eyes and just wanted to hug her and make it go. away. This part of Alora and Xena had obviously gone through a lot of suffering along with them. Serenity gave in to her urge and hugged Selena.
Selena froze at first, startled by the sudden contact. The hugs and touch she had received. from Alora and Xena in their space was the first physical contact she ever had in this lifetime. The hug was so warm though, that soon Selena found herself relaxing into it.
Darien watched as his mate hugged this new part of Alora and Xena. When tears started to form in Selena’s eyes, he had to hug her too. Feeling Darien hug her too had Selena. sobbing again. After being alone and locked away for so long, it made her highly emotional to be free, and to feel contact.
Ember tucked herself into Andrew’s side and fought back her own tears. “Andrew?”
“I know Ember…I know.” Andrew said hoarsely, hugging her tightly. “I will no longer allow the Werewolf’s Council to get away with the damage they have been causing any longer. I am currently in the process of finding those who need to be removed from the Council.”
“Like that poor excuse of a wolf that just walked out of here?” Brogden asked.
Andrew looked at him with a dark expression on his face. “Especially that one. Rankin Northmountain is the Werewolf Council member who was in my office the day Alora came to tell me of her abuse. That day he was telling me that in the case of abuse, the child would be relocated to the home of one of her parents’, Clan Alphas. He told me that even though I was Alpha of Alphas and the Alpha of this Pack, I would not be allowed to adopt her as I was not
her next of kin. His excuse was it was modern times and we needed to adopt more human laws, and this was one of them.”
Brogden blinked at Alpha Andrew for a moment and came to realize something. “That was your revenge just now, forcing him to assist in transferring Brodie’s titles and positions to
her.”
Alpha Andrew laughed darkly. “This is just the start.”
Brogden looked at him with a curious expression. “What do you mean?”
Andrew smiled. “There is a reason that male was able to remain as a Northmountain Clan member even though his hair is not blond, and his dual-colored eyes are not two shades of
blue.”
“Is that Clan of Werewolves truly so bigoted as to reject their own blood because their hair is not blond, and their dual-colored eyes are not two shades of blue?” Brogden asked,
shocked.
Andrew nodded, a hard look on his face. “They even reject their fated mates if their
coloring is not right.”
This brought a snarl from Brogden. “To reject a fated pairing….” It was insanity, he did.
not understand it.
Most of Brogden’s kind were desperate for their fated mates to show up having been alive. alone for so many centuries. Rejection of a fated pairing was not something to even
contemplate.
“When I am done gathering all the intel I need, I may need some assistance from the Supernatural Council in removing all these wolves from power. Cleaning up the corruption. in our Pack and others will take a bit more time to do. There is a lot to investigate, and 1 have only been at it for a decade.” Alpha Andrew told him.
“There are a lot of wolf packs on this continent, how will you manage?” Brogden asked.
“Well with your King allowing Dragon Masters out into the world to find mates, my investigations just got more efficient.” Alpha Andrew said, smiling.
While their conversation had gone on, they did not realize they had soon gained the attention of everyone in the room. Selena had stopped crying to watch and listen with at curious expression. Serenity and Darien were still hugging Selena as they watched with her.
“The dark look on Alpha’s face…and his smile, what does that mean for that wolf?” Selena asked softly, turning to look at Darien with wide curious eyes.
Darien was immediately hit with the feeling that he was a great and strong big brother, who was asked a question by his cute and naive little sister. Serenity looked up at her with adoring eyes and squeezed her tighter.
Camille and Alfred stood to the side, Alfred standing behind his mate with his hands. resting on her shoulders. Camille was holding a handkerchief and looked like she was about. to burst out crying any second. When she first walked in, it was a shock for her to see one of
her all-time favorite students, unconscious on the floor.
Camille had always known her student had something tragic in her background, otherwise the Alpha and Luna would never have had to step in when it came to her student’s education. When Camille realized her student’s scent had changed and she now smelled like
a hybrid, did she realize that the tragic past she imagined was much more horrendous than she could have ever thought. The marks on Alora’s sprite confirmed that horrendous past.
Galen, Kain and Jaxon stared at Selena with shocked and confused looks before they eventually became curious. When Selena asked her question, the music of her voice rang
through their ears. It was such a pleasant sound they wished to hear it again. They walked forward and appeared in front of Selena, startling her for a second.
Selena knew who they were and calmed down after a moment. These three males were friends of Alora and Xena, two were brothers and one a cousin to Serenity. “Hello, my name is Selena.” she said, a little hesitantly.
“Nice to meet you Selena, I am Jaxon. You have a beautiful voice.” Jaxon said.
Selena felt her cheeks heat, and she smiled. “Thank you.”
Kain and Galen came forward and introduced themselves. That was when Jaxon got a closer look at the silver marks all over her skin, and realized they were scars. This made Jaxon frown, Alora did not carry a single mark on her skin.
“What did this to you, who did this?” Jaxon asked, pointing to the mass of scar tissue on her left flank.
When Alora had transformed into Selena, she was transformed inside Alora’s clothing. While inside their space, Alora was wearing a gray outfit that looked the same as what Selena had been wearing. Being an inch taller than Alora, the shorts Selena was wearing showed more of her left flank than they had of Alora’s.
Selena looked down at the area Jaxon had pointed to. “This is the result of Bettina’s attempts to slice and burn off our birthmark given by the Moon Goddess.” Selena told them.
in a faint voice.
Brogden let out an angry growl after hearing what Selena said. “Alpha…I think, it is high time this Bettina,” He spat out the name “pay for her crimes against this youngling.”
Selena looked at the Dragon Master with wide eyes, she was a little intimidated by the large being. If not for the fact that his growling was done in her defense, Selena would have been utterly terrified right now.
“Bettina and Allister’s abuse of her will be paid in full. We first needed to get her out of their reach, and we have done that by giving her all that Brodie left for her in his Will.” Alpha Andrew said. “Unfortunately, I will still have to hold a trial before I can hand down their punishment. Pack members need to be assured their Alpha is not arbitrarily punishing
their fellow Pack members.”
“Not only that, the allegations of abuse of a pup, even torture of a pup, are serious. Pups. are treasured and protected more than anything else, for pups are our future. For a pair of Pack members to be charged with the abuse and torture of a pup is not a light matter. The Pack will want proof before the pair can be prosecuted. Unmistakable evidence must be presented, and testimony must be heard.” Luna Ember told Brogden, her tone grim.
Brogden’s gaze met Luna Ember’s, there was the serious look in her eyes that told him. everything. Luna Ember cared about this youngling like she was her own daughter.
“You mean she will have to testify, bare her years of pain and abuse to the public.” Brogden stated.
Ember nodded, her expression dark. “It is as you said, and I am…reluctant to put her through any of it.”
