Chapter 112: The Alpha King is hiding something

Alyssa frowned, her heart picking up a wild pace once more. She risked a glance at Dorian, but only for a fleeting second. She turned back to face the head of the council, her expression troubled.

"I don’t understand," she said, her voice wavering despite her best efforts. "I just told you that I am wolfless."

"I heard you clearly, Luna," Kane replied curtly. "However, we received information that you are, in fact, not wolfless at all. And we would like to..."

"Enough!" Dorian snapped suddenly. His deep voice shattered the air, startling every single elder seated around the table.

For a long moment, he glared at Kane with eyes that burned with absolute fury. Then, without breaking his gaze, he continued.

"Alec, escort Alyssa into the private lounge and stay with her until we are through here."

Kane sat up, a look of defiance spreading across his face. "Alpha, it is paramount that the Luna remains present. This is a severe accusation from Reynold, and the council needs to determine if..."

"ALEC!" Dorian snarled again. He turned, his eyes locking onto the gamma. "Take Alyssa away. Now."

"Yes, Alpha," Alec answered, bowing his head. He turned to Alyssa, extending one arm out. "Luna, please come with me."

Alyssa stared at Dorian in confusion and rising dread. His eyes had transformed into those pitch-black coals, the same frightening void that took over whenever his inner beast, Shadow, was on the brink of breaking free.

What was going on? What had Reynold accused her of that made Dorian react with such wild, protective fury?

Dorian reached out with a steady hand, gently brushing his thumb across her cheek. His touch was remarkably tender, contrasting terrifyingly with the black void in his eyes.

"Go with Alec, my love," he murmured softly. "I have my reasons."

She gazed into the depths of his pitch-black eyes for a second longer, searching for answers, before she let out a soft exhale. "Okay."

Alec helped her up from the sear, guiding her carefully in her heels as he led her out of the courtroom.

After the doors clicked shut behind them, Dorian remained silent. He waited, allowing enough time and distance for Alyssa to be safely out of earshot.

Minutes stretched endlessly, then he slowly turned his head, fixing his gaze directly onto Kane.

The rest of the elders instinctively bowed their heads, shrinking into their seats as his Alpha aura flared to a crushing, suffocating maximum.

"Do you have a death wish, Kane?" he muttered, his voice eerily calm.

"Forgive me, Alpha," Kane choked out in terror. "I didn’t mean..."

"Have you verified this information from Reynold?" Dorian coldly cut him off.

Kane swallowed hard, his throat dry as bone, and shook his head reluctantly. "Not... not yet, Alpha."

Dorian tilted his head slightly to the side, a murderous expression taking over his handsome features. "So you were prepared to publicly interrogate and accuse my Luna of being a Hybrid, when you possessed zero proof?"

"I was not attempting to accuse the Luna," Kane stammered. "It was merely a crucial question that demanded an answer. I simply needed Her Majesty to clear that part..."

"Clear what fucking part?" Dorian slammed his fist onto the table, causing a deep crack to fracture across the wood. "She told you she was wolfless. You have all heard the exact rumors for months. It’s the same reason you ungrateful fools resisted accepting her as Queen in the first place! So tell me, Kane, what else is there to clear up?"

Kane lowered his head in silence, completely subdued. He dared not utter another word of self-defense, not when Dorian was so dangerously close to tearing his throat out. Not a single council member dared to come to his defense.

After a long silence that felt like an eternity, Connor cautiously spoke up.

"Alpha, if I may," he began tentatively, almost wetting his pants when Dorian’s terrifying black eyes snapped over to him. "We are all aware that Reynold Bennington harbors a bitter, vengeful vendetta against you for stripping him of his Alpha status. This entire claim could just be a malicious, desperate ploy on his part to stir up trouble."

Connor turned to look at the other council members, silently pleading for their support. When they frantically nodded as one, he turned back to Dorian.

"I strongly advise that we summon Reynold immediately," he pressed on carefully. "Let us interrogate him and review whatever evidence he has before we proceed with any investigation or judgment."

Dorian’s hand curled tight around the carved edge of the table, the pressure causing the wood to splinter and crush beneath his grip.

What Connor was proposing was logical from a political standpoint, and if Dorian flatly refused, it would trigger deep suspicion across the council.

Yet, if he agreed to summon Reynold, that bastard would spill every single secret he knew; and who knew what evidence he actually had?

As his mind raced to calculate his next move, the doors burst open. A guard came rushing into the room. He bowed beside Kane, dropping a folded piece of parchment onto the table while whispering into Kane’s ear.

At the exact moment, Dorian’s phone buzzed with a text notification from Jake. He picked up the device, his eyes scanning the content of the message. His expression didn’t change, but deep inside him, the coil of panic slowly loosened.

Kane listened intently to the guard’s rushed report before he nodded and waved him away. He turned back to face Dorian, his tone shaken.

"Some tragic news has just reached the court, Alpha," he announced. "Reynold Bennington was discovered dead inside his house early this morning. According to the guards who found him, he slit his own throat and left behind a written confession about the Luna’s innocence."

Dorian’s eyes slowly retreated from the void, morphing back into pools of molten gold. Jake had already briefed him about Reynold’s death in the text, but hearing of a written suicide note caught him off guard.

"Let me see," he demanded.

Connor hurried around the table with the note and handed it to Dorian with a low bow.

Dorian ripped the parchment open, his eyes scanning the rushed, jagged handwriting scrawled across the page:

The Luna is innocent. I revoke every accusation I leveled against her. It was born out of bitterness.

Dorian’s eyes narrowed. A single glance at the lettering told him everything he needed to know. Reynold hadn’t written this letter, nor had he taken his own life. Someone had murdered him.

But who? Conri? Pilate? Or someone entirely unknown?

He crumpled the note in his fist, crushing it before looking up to Kane.

"What do you have to say for yourself now, Kane?"

Kane swallowed nervously. "I offer my deepest, most humble apologies for every disrespectful word leveled against our Luna," he said. "Reynold was clearly deranged and driven mad by his fall from power. I should have seen through his lies immediately."

"Watch yourself carefully, Kane," Dorian warned. "If a mistake like this ever repeats itself, I will not show an ounce of leniency."

"Understood, Alpha," Kane bowed.

The pressure in the courtroom gradually began to dissipate. Dorian tossed the crushed remains of the note onto the floor and leaned back in his seat.

"Send the court guards to retrieve Reynold’s body. Let them bury it without ceremony alongside his dead son."

"I shall see to it personally, Alpha," Connor nodded. "Before I forget, there is one additional matter we must discuss regarding the Luna."

Dorian’s golden eyes flickered up slowly, unreadable. "What is it?"

​"It concerns the matter of Her Majesty’s education," Connor explained. "It would be much better for her to enroll in the Wintercrest Royal Academy to pursue a degree. Please understand, I am not suggesting she is unfit to serve as Queen. She has proven that today. However, getting a degree would solidify the respect of the entire kingdom."

In truth, Dorian had already considered this exact path for Alyssa. He had planned to ask for her opinion, but only after he was certain that Pilate was dead for good.

"Very well," he said. "I will take it under consideration."

He stood up sharply, the abrupt movement causing the elders to flinch backward out of reflex.

"Have you rescheduled the date for the Moon Ceremony?" he demanded, staring down at Kane.

"Not yet, Alpha. The moment the new date is confirmed, you will be informed."

Dorian gave a single, curt nod. Without another word, he turned and exited the room.

Long after the doors closed behind him, and after the remaining council members quietly filed out of the room, Kane stood staring at the splintered table where Dorian had crushed the wood.

He turned toward Connor, his voice dropping into a sinister murmur. "I want you to investigate everything regarding Alyssa Storm. Every single piece of information, from her birth to her arrival in the North."

Connor frowned, looking around the empty room nervously. "Why? Do you think she isn’t wolfless?"

"I know she isn’t wolfless," Kane muttered. "The Alpha King is hiding something, and I need proof of it. Something tells me the girl may very well be a Hybrid."