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A tiny smile curled the corners of Mateo’s lips before it disappeared as he sat on the edge of the couch with his hands clasped together.“In this meeting, you have two missions.The first one is to convince the pack council that the Supernatural Council did not send Aurora to spy on the pack and that she just came to the pack to investigate a small case unrelated to our pack.Your second mission is to find out if Angelique’s parents have anything to do with Aurora’s kidnapping and expose them.”
“That sounds good, but it will not be easy.You’re going to have to tell me how to do that,” Aiden said, intertwining his fingers and stretching them forward to release a low popping sound while moving his head from side to side twice.
As Mateo shared more of his plan, I nodded because it sounded very plausible, and with the few secrets Levi supplied about how they came to the pack, Aiden could surely make the plan work.
2
Aiden
“My name is Aiden Crawford and I’m here to represent Aurora Byrne at this pack council meeting because Aurora went missing four days ago shortly after she escaped an abduction, and we’re still searching for her.”
Murmuring filled the room as soon as I shared the fact that Aurora was missing, as someone said in a loud whisper.“Well, isn’t that just convenient?”
I looked around the conference room where our pack council meetings were held after speaking, making sure I met as many gazes as I could, especially Angelique’s father’s gaze, as I was looking for any signs of guilt in his gaze or demeanor.
While I didn’t see guilt in Mr.Walker’s gaze, the way he looked away as soon as I held his gaze was dodgy and worth exploring.
My father was seated at the table, staring at me calmly, and I knew that for him, how I handled this meeting was also a testament to how I would handle conflict as the future Sentinel of the pack.And I was determined to show him that I was worthy of my birth-given ability that gave me a slight instinctual control over the emotions of other werewolves.
After holding my father’s gaze for a second, I broke eye contact and glanced at the wall behind him which held pictures of generations after generations of Crawford Pack Alphas with their Betas, Lunas, and Sentinels if they were lucky to have one born into the pack.If I ignored the new photo of my father with Luna Eleanor and Beta Alex, the wall still looked the same as it looked when I was younger.Back then, the last picture on the wall was a framed picture of my mother, my father, and Mateo’s father standing together.The picture used to be comforting, assuring me that, even though everything had changed, my memories of the happiness we all shared were not just a figment of my imagination.
I shook my head, telling myself to get my head in the game as my gaze fluttered over the new Beta of the pack and my father’s new Luna, my stepmother.She looked the same as usual.Beautiful, quiet, with intelligent yet kind eyes.Because I could never forget that she took my mother’s place beside my father, I had never liked her.I knew I was being unreasonable by not wanting anyone to replace my mother, even though someone needed to regulate pack members with my father and lighten his burdens, but I just couldn’t acknowledge her as my stepmother.
I watched as she stood up and walked toward me, holding a crate of truth serum vials.When she stood before me, she settled the crate on the table beside me, pulled out a vial, and gave it to me.
I threw the contents of the vial down my throat, holding up the empty vial for everyone to see before giving it to her.
She took it back as she said, “With this truth serum, Aiden Crawford’s voice will stop working whenever he tries to tell lies.”
I nodded politely at her and watched her return to her seat on my father’s right hand side.
As soon as she sat down, my father’s new Beta stood up and started speaking.“Aurora Byrne was summoned to appear before the pack council to address two serious accusations.The first accusation claimed that she was a Supernatural Council spy sent to the pack with forged documents so she could steal and relay private pack information to the Supernatural Council.The second allegation accused her of taking Angelique Walker and Hank Shoot’s lives.What do you have to say, Aiden?”
Because of how he had taken Mateo’s father’s place at a very tumultuous time, I knew that my father’s new Beta, Beta Mason, was a very capable man.Back then, he’d stood his ground and tactfully deflected the opposition of the pack council members, who had been lobbying to get their subordinates or relatives into the position of pack Beta.All the work he’d done since he became the Beta of the pack had earned him my respect.
I nodded and straightened my shoulders, standing to my fullest height.“I’ll speak first on the matter of Aurora being a spy for the Supernatural Council.Yesterday, I spoke to a member of the Supernatural Council about Aurora’s entry into the pack and I’ll tell you the truth now under this truth serum.Aurora Byrne was never a spy for the Supernatural Council in the Crawford Pack.She was assigned as an exchange student to Crawford University, coincidentally when the Supernatural Council tracked down an incident to Crawford University.When she came to the Crawford Pack, she was only supposed to find some information about a staff member of Crawford University, who didn’t even have anything to do with our pack.As the daughter of the Woodburn Pack Alpha, I don’t think she has anything to gain by being a spy in the Crawford Pack.”
“I have a few things to ask before you continue.”Pack council member Arden was the one to speak.
Arden was one of the few pack council members I respected because he wasn’t one of the power-hungry council members who were always looking for ways to take advantage of the pack to benefit their family or gain more authority or power in the pack.
I nodded to indicate that I was listening.
“My first question ...Can you explain why Aurora Byrne is missing from this meeting?I think it’s suspicious that she went missing just after we sent a pack council summons.Can you answer that question first before I ask my second question?”
I nodded, clenching my fists as I tried to say in as dispassionate a tone as I could manage, even though I was very worried about Aurora.“Five days ago, on her way to the University, Aurora got into her driver’s car and found that he had a knife to his neck from an attacker who wanted her to cooperate and follow him to an unknown destination.Thankfully, Aurora was combat-trained, and she was able to subdue the attacker, which allowed us to save her human driver’s life.While watching over her driver in the hospital, Aurora went missing.The hospital’s footage for the entire day and night was also cleared.Since then, we have been trying to find her.”
Arden nodded and said, bowing slightly, “My apologies.I hope you find her soon.”
I nodded back with a flat expression.“Thank you.”
The Pack Councilman continued with his next question.“This is my second question.Since Aurora Byrne is missing, how can we be sure that the words you’re saying are true when you’re just narrating what you’ve been told by a member of the Supernatural Council?”
“Of course, I understand that it’s unreasonable for you to believe that I’m telling the truth when I’m narrating what was told to me, so I also brought a member of the Supernatural Council to this meeting to serve as a witness.With the Alpha and the council’s permission, I’ll call him up to take a truth serum so he can share what he knows.”I explained, grateful to Mateo again for insisting on Levi serving as a witness.
“I see.If that is the case, I have no other questions.Please continue.”He smiled and bowed before sitting, making me realize that he’d asked those questions for my sake.With that question cleared up, the members of the pack council could listen to me without prejudice.
My dad nodded and Capheus, the high-ranking pack enforcer who always stood at the door at pack council meetings, pulled the double doors open to admit Levi.
