Chapter 32
Chapter 32
Elara’s POV
“Get your hands off me, you brainless mutts! I’m your Gamma!” Garron’s voice cracked through the morning air like a whip, but no one paused. His wrists were shackled to the bars of the open truck, and the clang of steel mocked every step of his pride.
“Still shouting, Garron?” Bex approached the truck with an almost cheerful bounce in his step. “Might want to save your breath. It’s a long ride.”
Garron lunged forward, rattling the cuffs. “You smug bastard! You’re just here to watch me squirm.”
“Nope,” Bex grinned and climbed into the passenger seat. “I’m here to make sure your punishment isn’t cut short. Fair and square, remember?”
The truck lurched forward, turning onto the central avenue of the pack’s territory. Every shop, every face turned as the loudspeaker atop the vehicle crackled to life.
“I, Gamma Garron of Direstone Keep Pack, formally confess to sabotaging the joint competition by giving a falsified map Gamma Elara. My actions put lives in danger. I brought dishonor to my pack-”
“Lies! Lies!” Garron screamed, pressing his forehead against the cold bars. “It wasn’t me! Turn that off, dammit!”
But the voice repeated, louder this time.
to
The crowd thickened. Some laughed. Others took photos. Children pointed, and a few even threw bits of bread at the truck. like they were feeding a caged animal.
“I heard he’s bullied soldiers for years.”
“Didn’t someone say he took bribes from rogue traders once?”
“Serves him right.”
Garron slumped against the bars, face flushed with shame, voice fading into ragged curses.
From the top floor of the pack hotel, I stared down at the chaos below. Garron, for all his arrogance, now looked like a washed–out painting–pitiful and desperate.
“You knew it was him from the start, didn’t you?” I said without looking back.
Thorne’s reflection met mine in the window. “Eventually. But not before Triss took the fall.”
I turned around, my voice colder than I intended. “If I hadn’t pushed, she’d be rotting in a cell while he strutted around pretending to be the hero.”
““I wouldn’t have let that happen.”
“No?” I crossed my arms. “You think the truth would’ve risen on its own? That the pack would’ve cared enough to wait?”
Thorne’s jaw clenched. “You speak like someone who’s been through it.”
1 smiled bitterly. “Because I have.”
He stepped closer, eyes searching. “Then tell me. Tell me where those frostbites came from. Tell me why you keep looking 1/3
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at me like I’m a stranger.”
But before I could answer, a firm hand touched my shoulder.
“Let her go, Alpha.”
Cael’s voice was like a blade drawn in warning. He stepped between us, guiding my hand out of Thorne’s grip.
“Elara doesn’t owe you explanations. She deserves space. And peace.”
Without another word, he wrapped an arm around me and led me away. I didn’t resist. I didn’t look back.
Garron’s punishment parade lasted five hours. By the time the truck pulled back into the gates, his voice was a whisper, and his wrists were torn red and raw.
But back in the Diaz household, the mood wasn’t one of reflection–it was rage.
“She’s ruining everything!” Miela screamed, bursting into the kitchen like a hurricane.
Ruvan blinked over his tea. Orik didn’t flinch. Corla set her cup down with a sigh.
“I told you, didn’t I?” Miela snapped. “Elara got Garron paraded like a criminal! How the hell did she manage that?”
A maid entered quietly with a teapot. Wrong move.
Miela grabbed the pot and slung it toward the girl, scalding liquid splashing across her cheek.
“OUT!” Miela shrieked. “OUT OF MY SIGHT!”
The maid fled, sobbing, hands cupped to her face.
“Unruly little brat,” Corla muttered. “She’ll be fired by sundown.”
Then she turned her full attention back to Miela, her voice switching instantly to sugar. “Calm down, sweetie. Sit. We’ll figure something out.”
Miela refused. She paced like a caged tigress.
“That bitch is stealing Thorne back! We were so close–she’s crawling back into his heart!”
Orik finally spoke, picking at a biscuit. “Elara’s only as powerful as the man behind her.”
“Cael,” Corla murmured.
“Exactly.” Orik nodded. “We sever that tie, Elara loses everything.”
“But how?” Corla frowned. “Cael made her his Gamma.”
Orik smirked. “Come on, Mother. You don’t actually think she earned that title with talent, do you? Word on the street is Cael’s got his heart–and probably more–tangled up with her.”
Corla’s brows lifted. “They’re lovers?”
“Everyone says so,” Orik shrugged. “And if Cael gets a taste of something better…”
A silence fell.
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Then Miela stepped forward, posture proud, lips curled in a sly smile.
“Then I’ll be the better taste.”
Corla blinked. “You?”
“Why look elsewhere?” Miela said, her voice oozing confidence. “No woman can outshine me when 1 set my sights. I’ll rip Elara off her pedestal and take everything she thinks she has.”
Ruvan finally looked up. “And if Cael doesn’t fall for it?”
“He will,” Miela hissed. “Men always do.”
I didn’t hear their plotting. But somehow, I could feel it. The storm hadn’t passed. It was only shifting directions.
Chapter 83
