Pursuing My Rejected Alpha
Chapter 57

Shayla Plainheart and Gavin Ashmore grew up as blood-unrelated siblings. Since they were close in age and came under Quinn's patronage at almost the same time, they quickly became good friends. It was unclear when it started, but as they grew up, things started to change. Shayla's feelings shifted from familial ones to romantic ones.

Unfortunately, Gavin did not share the same sentiment. He instead fell for the timid Maya Greenwood, who Shayla always considered a goody two shoes.

When Gavin was found guilty of harassing Maya, it was Shayla who helped him to escape from the pack house.

Alas, he was captured fairly quickly. When he was then kicked out of the Infinite Eclipse Pack, Shayla was heartbroken.

In Shayla's opinion, it was Maya who acted coy around Gavin. Maya misled Gavin completely, and Gavin fell for her charm.

Shayla then begged Quinn to put a good word for Gavin in front of the Alpha, but Quinn refused to.

Quinn pointed out to Shayla that Gavin knew that what he did was wrong and did it anyway. This was not something that neither Quinn nor Ronan could tolerate.

If the pack forgave Gavin, it would be taken as a sign that it was not a serious offense and any infatuated young man could do the same thing.

In the end, Quinn delivered Gavin to Black Reef Island. Needless to say, Gavin was miserable there. Shayla came to visit him as often as she could, but it did not make Gavin feel any better because he knew that his place in the werewolf society was forever gone. One day, Silas Goldfinger came to the prison in search of someone who might just be willing to do a small job in exchange for freedom and possible entry into another pack.

A lot of the prisoners were interested, including Gavin. When Gavin told Silas that he hailed from the Infinite Eclipse Pack, Silas knew that he was the right person for the job.

His client was a very important person with a high rank in the werewolf community, so Silas told Gavin. It was inconvenient for her to come down to Black Reef Island to talk terms with Gavin. So if Gavin had someone who often came to visit him, it would be great if this person could serve as the middle man or woman to bridge the communication between the client and Gavin.

The next time Shayla came to visit, Gavin told her everything. Shayla quickly agreed. In her naivety, she went straight to the Ironclad Claws Pack House without any plan. Although she remembered not to reveal her own name or Gavin's, she ended up blurting Silas Goldfinger's name instead.

This one slip of the tongue was what drew Kieran Locksworth's attention to the young woman from the very beginning.

It was not a coincidence that Ralph was attacked mere days before the war between the Silent Walkers Pack and the Night Prowler Pack began. Lucrethia had planned for Ronan Silverback to kill Kinnon Youngshaper.

Burning with rage from the battleground choice and consumed by vengeance over his darling little boy, Kinnon Youngshaper was supposed to lose against Ronan Silverback. Possibly killed, if Lucrethia's calculation was correct. This was in line with her plan to make Lillian the Luna of the strongest pack on the continent.

The order that she gave Gavin was not to kill Ralph but injure him severely. Severe enough to incapacitate the boy, if possible. After all, she needed Kinnon to go rampant during the war. Gavin's death was part of the plan.

After all, it would not make sense if he escaped scot-free from the Night Prowler Pack House so easily.

For Shayla, Lucrethia had another plan.

Lucrethia had planned to reward Shayla with a lot of gold and send her away as a reward while keeping Gavin's death a secret from Shayla.

One way or another, Shayla eventually found out. She went back one last time to meet with Lucrethia and kicked a huge fuss.

This was not what she wanted, she said.

She wanted to give Gavin a second chance, allowing him to be part of a werewolf pack again.

The young woman said that Lucrethia deceived her. She threatened to tell Quinn and Ronan Silverback about the entire scheme. Naturally, Lucrethia did not want to let the cat out of the bag that soon.

Only dead people did not talk.

Lucrethia squeezed the life out of Shayla and murdered her in cold blood. Her son, Conrad Woodland was also there when it happened. He was a total wuss.

His knees went weak and he fell to the ground in fright.

Beta Kieran just happened to enter the room at the inopportune moment. He widened his eyes when he looked at the young woman's corpse.

"Beta Kieran, get rid of this woman for me," so Lucrethia ordered. "The maid stole from me and I punished her for it."

Within a pack, the Alpha was the rule. Since Conrad Woodland was there to witness the punishment and no objection slipped from his mouth, Kieran had no reason to replace it absurd or unlawful. After all, the young woman was, he thought at that time, a mere rogue werewolf without any connection.

Their lives were practically worthless.

They were the pest of the werewolf society, the unwanted werewolves who contaminated the whole community.

"I only found out the truth about Shayla Plainheart recently," Kieran said.

By recently, he meant his unofficial interrogation with Lillian, Ronan, and Dane.

Lillian and Ronan both contributed some pieces of the puzzle, making it possible for them to put together the entire story and establish a connection between Gavin Ashmore and Lucrethia Woodland.

"I buried her in an empty spot in a human graveyard at a small town west of Pine Groove City."

"This is very magnificently told, Alpha Kieran, but this does not help at all with uncovering Madam Woodland's role as the mastermind," Gregor remarked.

"I am not done yet," Kieran said in response. "When I buried her, I saw it. Shayla Plainheart had some skin and blood under her fingernails. She scratched Madam Lucrethia Woodland when the Madam was choking her." "Heh," Lucrethia Woodland chuckled.

She raised her eyes to meet Ronan's.

"Congratulations, Alpha Ronan. You have truly worked hard to make me out to be the villain."

"Madam Lucrethia Woodland, what do you say about Alpha Kieran's testimony just now?"

The elderly laughed.

"I don't even know that girl by name, let alone that she was part of another pack. All I knew was that she found a job in my household. We were very generous to her, but she had the audacity to steal a precious belonging of mine. When confronted, she tried to kill me. Naturally, I had no other choice but to kill her in self-defense. Now do tell me, Mr. Gravecrown, is that wrong?"

Gregor parted his lips in amazement.

"No, of course not..."

.....

"Pray tell, what is this precious belonging of yours that Shayla stole?" Elder Aaron asked.

Lucrethia turned to look at him and flashed him the sweetest smile.

"A belt with an emblem that is engraved with the sigil of the Silverback family."

Both Ronan's and Kinnon's faces darkened in an instant.

Lucrethia had twisted the story so much that she now became a robbery victim instead, pushing the blame onto Shayla and Gavin entirely.

"This can't be," Elder Jonas gasped. "That belt was found within Gavin Ashmore's belongings. He carried it with him when he attacked little Ralph."

"There you go," Lucrethia said victoriously. "Just what I said just now."

Amused, Dane Silverback smiled at Lucrethia.

"Madam, do you know something that never ceases to amaze me?

People, who spoke in this case, have had glaring loopholes or their testimonies carried an ulterior motive. What about you?"

"What glaring loopholes and or ulterior motives can you detect from my so-called story, Dane Silverback?" Lucrethia returned the smile. "I would love to hear them.

"Well, for example, the fact that a young woman from another pack could easily become one of your maids and she just had to steal something with a Silverback sigil on it instead."

Lucrethia shrugged.

"I reckon that she planned to avenge his lover all along by adding oil to the fire. Young people tend to be hot-headed and rash enough to do that."

"I see, I see. It still doesn't explain how she found employment at your estate so easily."

"What can I tell you, Dane Silverback? Why don't you ask our then Beta Kieran here? Or our Gamma? They are responsible to keep outsiders out and do any background screening to prevent intruders from coming in. Or am I supposed to do that myself?" Kieran gritted his teeth in fury.

"I already said that she was received by the Alpha."

Lucrethia gave Kieran a puzzled look. "Interesting, so just because Conrad was foolish enough to pick a stray kitten from the street, you then thought that you didn't need to do any background check?"

The new Alpha swallowed hard. The jut at his throat bobbed up and down nervously as he received the harsh scolding.

"..."

A smirk spread across the elderly's face. She cocked her head to the side and spoke in a tone that dripped with poison, "Not very confident anymore, are you 'Alpha' Kieran?"

"I.."

Dane Silverback scoffed.

"Can you describe this precious belonging of yours, Madam? How does it look like?"

"It is made of buffalo hide, black in color. The emblem with the sigil serves as the buckle."

"And it has been in your possession for quite some time already, right?"

"Oh yes. Your late grandmother gave it to me as a token of affection."

"Mhm. Oh, the bad habit that old people used to have, distributing pack items with emblems to people who they like without much afterthought."

The corners of Lucrethia's lips were pulled into a sneer.

"Why, one might mistake you for criticizing your ancestors, Dane. That is unbecoming of someone in your position."

"Well, isn't that utterly reckless, though? I mean, it is exactly this kind of gift that may land the generous packs in trouble. A very special gift that ends up being a knife in the back. It can be 'stolen' so easily and used to frame the original pack." At the end of Dane's sentence, Elder Aaron had to interject.

"Excuse me, Mr. Dane, but what you said was inaccurate."

His response drew a quizzical expression on Dane's face.

"Oh? How is it inaccurate?"

"Just like every other ancient werewolf family in the community, the elder generations of the Silverback family believed in the notion of 'Heartmates', denoting people who do not share the same bloodline but are so close and dear that they might as well be family. They gave these 'Heartmates' a gift to consider them a part of their family. These gifts were not handed over casually. They were typically locked inside a special enchanted box that the High Seer personally designed."

"Heartmates" was an outdated expression that was no longer used among the werewolves.

As the number of items that bore family sigils became less and less with the passing time, such traditional gifts too were no longer exchanged between packs.

It thus did not surprise anyone that the newer generation had no idea about this special enchanted box that Elder Aaron was talking about.

"What special enchanted box?" Annalynne asked dumbly.

Elder Aaron continued with his explanation.

"Commonly known as 'Trust Box, each box is hand-made for every occasion and is debossed with the sigil of the family that requests it.

After the box is finished, the High Seer will personally put her spell on it, thus the enchantment.

A Trust Box is meant to be locked forever after a select gift is laid inside.

This symbolizes the sincere wish of the person that bestows the gift to maintain an affectionate relationship with the person who receives the gift.

For as long as the good relationship lasts, the gift will stay with the family of the werewolf who received it and then be passed to the next generations.

The box will only be opened when the involved werewolves or their descendants wish to end the good relationship.

It will only open once to the corresponding family sigil.

The family will take the gift back, and the locking mechanism box is then destroyed forever, just like the ties between the two parties."

"In this case, only an item that carries the Silverback sigil can open the Trust Box that contains a gift that hails from the Silverback family," Elder Aaron pointed out.

"Oh, I see. Now that sounds rather complicated. Can we assume that Shayla Plainheart just grabbed this box and gave it to her lover?" Dane popped the question without skipping a beat. Lucrethia said nothing in reply.

Elder Aaron answered again. "That would be rather inconvenient. The box is not small in size. Not for a belt."

"Maybe she smashed the box and stole the content, then. The belt is found without any box by the Night Prowler Pack, is that not right?" Dane asked Elder Jonas. "Correct," the elder confirmed. "Only the belt was found."

"You cannot smash the box open," Elder Aaron insisted. "It must be opened with something that bears the Silverback sigil."

"Not even by force?"

All elders shook their heads in unison.

.....

"Not even by force."

"Madam, you became eerily quiet," Dane remarked. "This is one question that you surely know the answer to. Did the maid steal the box or did she steal the belt?" "... The belt," Lucrethia said in reply.

"So the broken box is still in your possession?"

"Yes."

"That makes sense, doesn't it?" Elder Kragen spoke up after being silent for a long time. He seemed glad to have found something to say at last.

Now that the focus of the hearing shifted from Kieran Locksworth to Shayla Plainheart, Elder Kragen was too happy to defend Lucrethia.

"Shayla Plainheart hailed from the Silverback family. She must have stolen something from the pack before she goes to steal the belt from Madam Lucrethia," he decided.

"Once she got it in her hands, she just went to unlock the Trust Box and ran away with the belt."

Kinnon crossed his arms before his chest and cleared his throat.

"You know that that doesn't make sense, right, Elder Kragen?" the Alpha of the Night Prowler Pack disagreed.

"If this young woman had an item to frame the Silverback family all along, why bother stealing one from the Woodland family? How did Shayla Plainheart even know that Madam Lucrethia kept a gift from the Silverback family?"

"Well, uh... Madam Woodland said that she worked as her maid. She might have had her eyes on the Trust Box for a long time before she decided to steal it."

"Aha."

"Do you display your precious belongings in the living room, Madam?" Ronan asked pointedly. "Or maybe put it in a place that is easily accessible to maids?" "No," the elderly replied.

"Then how did Shayla Plainheart even know about the belt in Madam Lucrethia Woodland's possession?" Kinnon repeated his question.

Seeing that no one had the slightest idea, Dane burst into laughter.

"Hahahaha! Another loophole in the case," he said with a touch of mockery.

Lucrethia humphed and shot him an icy look.

"I fear that you need to dig out Shayla Plainheart and ask her all these penetrating questions if you truly wish to uncover all loopholes, Dane Silverback," Lucrethia snapped. "Do not think that I received the gift of divination from the Moon Goddess. I cannot answer your every question."

"Indeed you can't," Dane commented.

And neither could Shayla Plainheart at this point, unless they hired a soul summoner and perform a soul-summoning ritual.

Dane Silverback leaned closer to the elderly who sat across him and pinned her with a bone-chilling stare.

"Shayla Plainheart might just grab any item with the Silverback family emblem from Ronan's residence and use it to unlock that precious Trust Box of yours. Amazing thief, this young woman is. Pity that she had to die so miserably."

"I share the same opinion. A highly talented thief indeed."

"Has anyone ever tried to steal the belt before?"

"No."

"Are you sure, Madam?"

"Yes."

"It has always been inside the Trust Box until Shayla Plainheart came to steal it. Is this what you want to say?"

"Yes," By then, Lucrethia sounded very agitated. "How many times do you want me to repeat it? I never thought that a man your age would have such severe hearing problems."

Dane Silverback leaned back in his seat and gave Lucrethia an amused look.

"In that case, I would like to add two more items to the list of allegations that Madam Lucrethia Woodland already has."

It was Gregor Gravecrown who reacted to Dane Silverback's unreasonable demand first.

"What is the meaning of this, Dane? You are a member of the Werewolf Council. Even though this matter pertains to the Infinite Eclipse Pack, you can't just take your son's side," Gregor hissed in a low voice to his colleague. Dane casually remarked, "I am well versed in the rules and regulations of the council. Thank you nevertheless for reminding me, Gregor."

Gregor Gravecrown's lips parted in disbelief.

"Then..."

"I am making use of my right as part of the werewolf community and demand justice for my wife."

Everyone in the room was so astounded that their mouths dropped open in unison.

When did Dane Silverback get married and who was it exactly that he married?

"Who... Who are you talking about, Dane? Who is this uh, this enchanting, fortunate lady that reserved the honor to be your lady wife?" Gregor asked the man the question on everyone's mind.

"I have only married one wife in my entire life," he quipped.

Ronan widened his eyes in disbelief.

"The two additional items to the allegations are one, the audacity to lie in front of the Werewolf Council and two, the murder attempt on my wife, Lady Adele Fangblade."

Lucrethia scoffed.

"Wow. The accusations are becoming more and more ridiculous. What's next, Dane Silverback???"

"Next, I am going to prove it of course."

Dane's confident words did not scare Lucrethia at all.

"Unless you can revive the dead, Dane, I think that is quite impossible."

A mysterious smile appeared on Dane's face. He stood from his chair and marched toward the door.

Behind the door was Dane's personal attendant. The young man was holding the hand of someone who had left the world a long time ago...

Aided by Dane's personal attendant, the elder woman stepped into the hearing chamber. She had lost a lot of weight from the last time Ronan saw her. The shrunken cheeks and pale complexion added even more to her ghastly appearance, but the bright pair of greenish-blue eyes exuded an aura that brimmed with life.

Those inside the chamber were all shocked to death, except of course Dane Silverback.

Ronan could not rip his eyes from this mysterious person who looked so much like his mother. But it could not be, could it?

His mother died.

His father literally cremated her on spot.

Ronan only got to scatter her ash together with Lucien at the Eternal Sleep Lake...

"Mom...?" the Alpha whispered in a low voice. So low that only he could hear it.

Lady Adele Fangblade scanned the room, her eyes flew from one frightened face to another until she found her son.

"Ronan..." she quickly welled with tears.

"My baby... I missed you so much..."

"MOM!!!"

Ronan lunged at his mother and pulled her into his arms.

"Mom... Mom... I missed you so much... Mom, am I dreaming...?" the Alpha broke into tears. He did not give a crap about the people who were gaping at him. He did not give a crap about maintaining appearance.

His mother was back.

His mother did not die.

Ronan did not care about anything anymore.

Lady Fangblade sobbed into her son's shoulder.

"No... Ronan, Mom is truly here. Don't cry..."

"I am not crying," Ronan sobbed. "I am not..."

Dane was stunned for a split second.

Next to them, Dane Silverback suppressed his smile with a scowl. He tipped at Ronan's shoulder, prompting the latter to look up at him.

He believed to look into little Ronan's eyes again, back when the little boy still adored him. When he had not hated him yet.

The elder man cleared his throat.

"We are in the middle of a hearing."

Ronan was reminded of Lucrethia and her evil deeds right away.

The Alpha turned to look at Lucrethia, his mother safely tucked behind him.

The elderly stared at Lady Fangblade like the latter were a ghost that came to seek vengeance.

"You..."

Lady Fangblade pushed her son aside.

"Aunt," she greeted her aunt who shared the same Fangblade blood with her. "The Moon Goddess denied me entry to the afterlife, so here I am again."

"Oh goodness," Elder Aaron whispered. "Lady Adele. So happy to see you again. We thought... I mean... But then..."

The elder was entirely disoriented, and he was not the only one.

Did Dane Silverback not say that he accused Lucrethia Woodland of a murder attempt toward his wife, the Lady Adele Fangblade?

"Good Lord," Elder Rick whispered. "Madam Lucrethia, was Lady Adele not your niece?"

Lucrethia threw him a sharp look filled with hatred. The elder yelped from fright.

Standing some distance away from Lucrethia, Ronan's mother clawed into his upper arm.

"I didn't mean to," she growled. "Don't take it personally, Adele."

"Not take it personally? How else am I supposed to take it? Aunt, you tried to kill me! No... You did kill me," Lady Adele's voice trembled from anger.

"You immobilized me and then you injected a huge volume of air into my IV drip."

Ronan widened his eyes in shock.

The evil woman meant to induce air embolism, which then could fatally lead to a heart attack.

The Alpha knew a long time ago that Lucrethia did something to end his mother's life, but he did not know any details.

Hearing about it made Ronan's blood boil inside his veins. Before he knew it, he was already pouncing at the elderly. Elder Rick, Elder Aaron, and Elder Jonas threw themselves at him and dragged him away from Lucrethia.

Elder Kragen stood in front of Lucrethia with extended hands.

"I WILL KILL YOU!" he shouted while struggling against the three elders around him.

"I WILL KILL YOU!!!"

"Alpha Ronan, please!!!"

"Please calm down!!!"

"Alpha Ronan, you are at the Werewolf Council Headquarters in an official hearing!!!"

Despite knowing where he was and what he was doing there, Ronan still tried to break free. The fire in his heart burned away every bit of rationality within him. All he wanted to do was see Lucrethia hurt.

He wanted to sink his claws into this vile woman and tear her apart limb by limb.

"Ronan."

Dane's voice quickly sobered Ronan up. The elder man grabbed his son's upper arm and squeezed it hard.

"Control yourself," he said through gritted teeth. "Keep calm. Your mother is still here. She is not going anywhere."

Lady Adele Fangblade grabbed her son's other arm and pulled him down for a kiss on his cheek.

"Darling, I am here to testify. Let Mom talk, alright?"

Ronan gave his parents a stiff nod. Unable to rip Lucrethia into pieces, he had to be satisfied with cursing Lucrethia silently in his head and showering her with sharp, icy looks.

Dane took Lady Fangblade by her elbow and led her to a chair.

Gregor Gravecrown cleared his throat.

"Lady Fangblade, please speak. We are listening."

The elder woman raised her eyes and gazed at the many faces who were holding their breaths in anticipation.

"Some time after the war was over, my son came and showed me a few pictures of the belt that implied the Silverback family's involvement in the horrible attack on Ralph Youngshaper, the young heir of the Night Prowler Pack."

"When I saw pictures of the belt, I felt a little strange. It seemed familiar and not familiar at the same time, but I didn't know why.

I thought for a long time before I came to remember the particular belt.

Back then after I left my husband and just entered St. Clarence due to my worsening health, my aunt - Madam Lucrethia Woodland - came to visit me."

"I was at the lowest point of my life. I could not be happier to meet with someone who came from the Fangblade family. I told her everything - my pain, my disappointment, my sorrow. She cried and cursed the Silverback family together with me." "And then she told me that she did not want to have a further relationship with such a chauvinistic family and pack, no matter how ancient or how noble.

The next time she came, she came with a Trust Box."

She wanted to have the box opened because she wanted to return the gift to the Silverback family.

At that time I was just too happy to have the Silverback family lose yet another friend. And to keep the Fangblade family descendants safe from bad friends." Lady Fangblade took a deep breath before she continued.

"I agreed to unlock the Trust Box using the medallion from the Silverback family that I still carried around back then.

When the Trust Box was broken, I saw the content. Rolled inside meticulously was a belt. The same belt that I saw through pictures more than ten years later."

"My aunt took the belt away, and I never once asked her what happened to the belt.

Did she really return it to the Silverback family?

Did she have a change of heart?"

Lady Adele Fangblade's lips trembled when she continued her story.

.....

"I am not planning to excuse what I did, but I truly did not know the sinister events that might unfold due to my careless and thoughtless action.

Once I remembered, I contacted my aunt and asked about the belt. I wanted to know who she gave the belt to, because that person might have framed my son."

"She came to visit me the very next day with a very similar belt. I too thought that it was the same until I got to run my fingers over the sigil. How can I not recognize a genuine Silverback family sigil? I had to learn how to draw and carve it when I first entered the family! The depth of the lines, the intricate pattern of the wolf and the moon... They were all wrong!

It was a fake.

It was not the same belt.

This was what I told her as well. I thought that someone switched the belts. Someone must have stolen from her, I said.

We argued, and then she... she..."

Lady Adele Fangblade's entire body shook in distress when she recalled what happened that day.

It was a family meeting, so Lady Fangblade sent Edith away on some errands.

Never in a million nightmares would Lady Fangblade ever believe that her aunt was the one behind the evil machinations.

The elderly woman looked frail, but she was stronger than her younger counterpart. She easily overpowered her niece and knocked her out. After strapping Lady Fangblade to the bed, Lucrethia took out a syringe and tampered with the IV drip that connected to the

former's hand.

Then, the elderly sat by her niece's bedside. She watched in leisure as the huge volume of air slowly disappeared into Lady Fangblade's body and traveled into her blood circulation system.

When her prey was slowly getting a heart attack, Lucrethia Woodland slipped out of the ward, leaving no trace behind.

No one saw her coming and no one saw her leaving.

It was a perfect

crime.

"And then, what happened?" Gregor could not help but ask.

Dane put a hand on Lady Fangblade's shoulder. The latter looked up and gave him a warm smile.

"A bunch of nurses rushed to my ward although I did not call for them. They resuscitated me, and I was saved. Once I was awake, I was terrified. I knew that I was in danger. The kind aunt that I used to know had shed her mask and she was not going to let me live

with the knowledge.

A while later, Dane came by in a rush.

He found out what happened, and he came up with a plan.

I was smuggled out of the hospital and taken to the Werewolf Council Headquarters.

He bought an unclaimed human corpse from a random hospital and went with it to the mortuary.

To prevent Ronan from replaceing out, he did everything swiftly.

While the body was being burned, he returned to the Werewolf Council Headquarters to be with me.

I have been staying with him for the past months."

Ronan was dumbfounded.

Lady Fangblade patted Ronan's cheek affectionately.

"I am sorry to keep it a secret from you, my son. Were you very sad?"

"Mom,

I..."

Ronan squeezed his mother's hand, but then he rose to his feet and gave his father a hug. Judging from the elder man's stunned expression, it would not be too surprising if he suffered from a heart attack then and there.

"Thank you, Dad," Ronan said. "I am sorry for everything."

It had been a while since Ronan properly talked to his father, let alone hug him. After years of dissonance, a pat on the back or shoulder was already more than what Dane could hope for.

"You... Save it for later," Dane said with a hoarse voice. He patted Ronan on the back and the latter quickly released him.

"A touching family reunion indeed," Lucrethia's mocking voice rang out from behind Ronan. The Alpha turned around and faced the elderly. She leaned back in her seat, with both hands resting on her lap.

"Does the council need more evidence or witness?" Dane asked. "I have the CCTV recording of the visit as well as a bunch of nurses and doctors from St. Clarence that I can drag down here to testify."

"No need," Gregor decided.

He turned to Lucrethia and gave her a severe, penetrating look.

"Madam Woodland, I beg you to stop wasting our time any longer. It will only prolong the process for a few more hours. The blood on your hands is evident."

Lucrethia chuckled.

"Why, for once, I agree with the men of the Werewolf Council. It is indeed time to get this over with."

Once Lucrethia finished what she had to say, she pressed on a secret device that she hid inside her right sleeve.

By the time the gathered people realized what she did, it was already too late.

A loud rumbling sound was heard and the entire building began to shake.

And then, chaos ensued...

Miles away in the seat of the Night Prowler Pack, Lucien Clearwater dropped a pot of flower, sending clay shards flying in all directions.