Chapter 235

Alaric’s POV

Melinda’s own words on the recording condemned her, as she told Noel that the intended victim of the attack was Alaric himself, and that they needed him out of the way to be reinstated from exile.

As the evidence played, Melinda grew pale. The disgraced elders hissed at her, “What have you done?”

The mood of the room shifted. Whereas people seemed to be on the side of Melinda and the disgraced elders when I had taken the podium and the microphone, now they looked at the group with distain, even distancing themselves from it.

Infuriatingly, even Lilia, who had been sitting at the same table as Melinda and the elders, her sponsors, immediately stood up and moved to one of the other tables, where wolves of a different pack welcomed her, even standing with her.

Melinda’s confession was damning, but while she mentioned the elders, she did not say Lilia’s name. Because of this, there was no evidence against Lilia. I waited with hope the entire length of the recording, hoping that Lilia would be mentioned, but as the recording ended, she was not.

Eamon, still standing, signaled for his guards to take Melinda and the disgraced elders into custody. He glared at Lilia too, though, looking just as annoyed as I felt that she was once again going to avoid any serious trouble over this.

I was certain she was involved in some way. This had her fingerprints all over it, and wouldn’t be the first time she was involved in a kidnapping.

“This is a mistake,” Melinda spat as the guards came closer. “Do you have any idea how my family is? Don’t touch me.”

The elders went more quietly, each hanging their heads. The leader of them, the loudest, did turn to Alaric just before he was taken out, however, and said, “This is your fault, Alpha. We only wanted the best for the pack. If you had listened to our concerns from the start –”

“The only concern you seemed to have involved my love life,” I told him. “You pushed for me to take on another mate, other than the woman I loved, and even played a role in trying to take her and our children from our lives.”

Let those that wished to continue to defend these people know the full truth of what they’d done. I didn’t care what the news reporters were capturing. Let them see it all. Let everyone see.

“You were exiled for a reason,” I told him. “To keep my mate and pups safe. Yet still you tracked us down here, engaged in some subterfuge, and tried to hurt us again. I will not stand for it. I could have died in those woods, were it not for the bravery of my mate who so selflessly risked herself to protect me.”

Not knowing if Cara wanted the nature of her wolf told to the public, I bit my tongue on that, leaving that particular detail up to her to decide whether to reveal.

I would share with anyone who would listen, however, that Cara’s selfless intervention in my near-abduction was the only reason that I remained alive.

“Cara, I owe you my life. My pack owes you for their Alpha. I am so incredibly grateful that you are the person you are, who was willing to selflessly endanger yourself to keep me safe, even after I had been poisoned.”

Cara seemed surprised by my praise, and even more surprised when applause filled the room. These people had not been kind to her. They had treated her like she was someone inferior to them. Even now, I couldn’t entirely discern if their approval was genuine. But it seemed like a damn big shift.

“If you will excuse me,” I said. “That was all we had to say. We’ll leave you to your brunch.”

I could only hope that this public broadcast would make it back to DuskWood. Hopefully, when the people there saw how far Cara was willing to go to protect me, the public opinion on her would become more favorable.

People there needed to see her as the strong woman that she was. She wasn’t a burden who pulled me away from pack duties. She was my partner who helped to keep me strong and happy so that I could properly address the pack issues with the calmness and diligence needed to make the best choices.

As Noel and I stepped into the hallway, Cara rushed to meet us. She looked at me like she was in a state of shock or awe, as if she couldn’t understand how we had the drive to trespass at this event, just to take a stand.

How could she doubt me here? Didn’t she know the depths of the good she had done for me? Couldn’t she tell that I would do the same for her?

“I’m glad it was this easy,” Noel said, while Cara and I looked at each other. “I had other evidence, but it would be less… moral… to share with everyone.”

That claimed Cara and my attention as we turned to look at him.

“What kind of evidence?” I asked.

“Oh. Some correspondence I found in Melinda’s apartment that collaborated everything she said in the recording,” Noel said. “Letters between her and the elders. I’ll make sure to return it all to her rooms before the police search there, that way it can still be used in court.”

He was right. Using that kind of evidence was unethical…

“How did you get into her rooms?” Cara asked. “Didn’t someone see you?”

He shrugged like he didn’t initially want to say, but Cara just kept staring at him, not letting him off the hook.

“I have certain skills that other werewolves do not,” he admitted. “I… can move like a shadow sometimes… at night…”

He was being cagey and vague again, as he often seemed to be when his abilities or his lineage were brought up.

“How is that possible?” Cara asked.

Noel hesitated a moment, but then he told her, “I’m only half-werewolf. My other half… is not as well known, or as well accepted.”

The mystery of his pack continued to rear its head. Not for the first time, I wondered about the necessity of their isolation and their secrecy.

Where their many half-werewolves there, or was Noel the odd one out for his werewolf side, not the other mysterious side…

He smiled like he had in the past, which was disarming. With Cara though, it also seemed genuine.

“I swear to you, Cara, that you have nothing to fear from me. I am on the same side as you and Alaric and will be until the end of my days,” he said.

I was glad for it. Whatever his other half was, it was dark and powerful. I couldn’t forget the menacing flash in his eyes.

I wasn’t afraid of Noel, far from it, but power could recognize power. With his abilities, Noel could turn to a much darker side if he wanted. Instead, he wanted to help, likely in no small part to his friendship with Cara.

“I’m not afraid,” Cara told him, and he closed his eyes with relief.

“Thank you,” he said, then excused himself. “I must return this evidence.”

As we watched him walk away, Cara asked me, “What do you think his other half is?”