Page 19 of Lycan’s Hunt

I force myself to keep my gaze on Max’s coloring book. The lie stings, but what else did I expect from Rhett?

Soren leans forward, eyes hard as he regards Rhett. “Exactly, she escaped your entire pack. What do you plan to do when she’s caught now? Giving her back to Jefferson won’t be an option.”

Rhett doesn’t answer immediately. The tension in the room rises like a storm waiting to break. “She’ll face whatever punishment the council deems appropriate,” Rhett finally says, his voice even, but I can sense the underlying menace.

Soren crosses his arms, clearly unsatisfied. “The council needs assurance that you’re in control, Rhett. A runaway pack member stealing from you doesn’t inspire confidence. What exactly do you suggest as a suitable punishment, especially when they learn she is Alpha Jefferson’s daughter?”

My stomach churns, bile rising in my throat. I’m the thief they’re discussing, the runaway pack member who Rhett failed to control. They’re talking about me as if I’m nothing more than a criminal to be dealt with. They don’t know I was framed. That I had no choice but to run.

Rhett shifts again, his voice cold and calculating. “Exile would send a message to the pack that this kind of betrayal won’t be tolerated. Stripping her of any rights, any ties to the pack or her father’s. It’s what the council would expect.”

I flinch inwardly because that is not what he had planned at all. He’s already painting me as a traitor, as someone who can’t be forgiven. The man who once claimed to love me, who once promised to protect me, is now discussing my fate as if I’m nothing more than a problem to be solved. My heart clenches painfully.

Soren’s voice pulls me back to the conversation. “Exile may be what the council expects, but it doesn’t seem like enough now given all the drama this woman has caused. The fact that she escaped from your pack in the first place is troubling. If she’s found, the council may require a harsher punishment to show that this kind of disobedience won’t be tolerated.”

My blood runs cold. Harsher punishment. What does that even mean? All I know is, I don’t want to find out.

Rhett nods. “I understand, Soren.”

The silence that follows is unbearable. I need to leave this room, to get away from these discussions about my fate. “Max, honey, I need to go to the bathroom,” I say softly, standing. “I’ll be right back.”

Soren glances at me briefly, his expression softening for a moment, his attention quickly shifts back to Rhett as I slip out of the room. I move down the corridor, trying to breathe through the panic clawing at me. I make it to the bathroom and lock the door, leaning against the cool tile wall as I try to calm my racing mind.

Rhett is hiding the truth from Soren, pretending like I’m some runaway criminal who betrayed him. He’s framing me for something I didn’t do. And now, the council is involved, worried about the brewing tensions between his pack and my father’s.