Page 191 of Claimed

“How’s she doing?”

“She’s… fine,” he said.

I knew there was something he wasn’t saying but I’ll have to find out later. I put my hand on his shoulder and Dad went perfectly still when I then told him Soleil was behind the drama, but she’s now dead. I told him I’d give him the full recap after this, including messages she had for him. Tomorrow if he didn’t mind waiting. He said nothing, but his expression looked absolutely wrecked.

His eyes are now on Bailey and Aphra. Dad has always made no bones about the fact he doesn’t trust witches and I get why now.

“Okay, listen up,” Brody calls out and the room hushes. “We’ve got your former alpha here and input is welcome, but my opinion… the logical choices are to either send him off to have the SCC deal with him, which Dr. Blakely already told us is what they’d like to do. Or… you can decide as a pack if you’d prefer to sentence him to death. We can set up a ballot box after you all determine what options we want listed on ballots and then you get to decide by popular vote.”

“Death?” The blond guy standing beside him asks with shock. “We’d do that? One of us would kill him?”

Definitely Malachi Carswell. Now that I’ve looked twice I remember him from the surveillance footage the night after I claimed Stacy when Rye mauled her cousin Jimmy.

“Death,” Brody confirms. “And if this pack sentences him to death then I think this pack will have to decide how and who does it. As for alternatives, unless he can be rehabilitated with punishment, which… from what I know of this asshole, that’s not doable, right?”

There are murmurs of agreement from the crowd. My mate scoffs like the idea of rehabilitation is unthinkable. And she’d be correct.

Brody continues, “If you don’t vote death, my opinion here is that the alternative is to let the SCC mete out whatever punishment they deem in a sentencing. I say let the SCC take on the burden unless you’re ending his life. Unless you all wanna take on feeding and clothing him yourselves for the rest of his miserable life as well as building a prison to keep him in. I think this pack has enough to worry about.”

The space is quiet and a few look shocked.

“By all means, opposing views are invited. Speak up if you’ve got something to say, folks.”

The patched-up town hall has all of the Silver Hills people in it, including the children, who are gathered together behind the rows of chairs with Lucy Savage who sits with them. She brought in wooden puzzles, a tub of Lego, and a stack of coloring books with crayons.

The roof and floor got patched up by Riley, Ty, and Mase and the Silver Hills folks are staying here on a combination of air beds, camping cots, and sleeping bags. It’ll be tight, but Mase called while we were on our way back and patched in Jase as well. He explained he, Ty, Riley, Linc, and Joel had a quick conversation just before the buses pulled in. They all felt strongly about keeping this group together, rather than integrating them with the rest of the pack. Ty argued we don’t know which of the males in this pack might not be thrilled with our intervention into their pack matters.

All good points, so we readily agreed. Trust will need to be earned. We’ll be having the building watched over with surveillance and a few posted alphas and betas on security detail for the time being. Ty told me a few of our pack members dropped off their own RVs to loan and three more will be rented and brought over from the resort across the lake. Families orcouples can take turns using them one night at a time in order to be fair to everyone staying in the town hall. He also told me Brody put his offer in on the property he wants and is waiting to hear back on it. His offer stipulated a two-week closing date.

“Every voice matters here, folks,” Brody continues. “This is a new day and input from the pack is needed on pack matters, yeah? The floor is open for anyone with something to say.”

Nobody says anything.

Brody taps his fist as if it’s a microphone. “Is this thing on?”

There are a few laughs, but there’s tension and uncertainty in the air. It’s clear these folks are accustomed to being told what to do instead of being asked for their opinion.

“I say, damn straight,” Eloise finally answers loudly. “Either we end his life or let the SCC worry about him. Though, just sayin’… if the SCC gets him, we have no guarantees they won’t let him go later on.”

“His long list of crimes? I don’t see that happening,” Jase pipes up.

“Even still,” Eloise goes on, “The only way to make sure Wyatt Meadows can’t harm another of us along with any of you here in Arcana Falls is if alpha…err…Wyatt is no longer breathing.”

I look at my mate and I can tell she agrees. No second thoughts about her brother?Good.

“Can everyone vote?” a small girl asks.

“I think… everyone over the age of eighteen,” Brody responds. “Agreed?” He looks at the crowd.

“I think everyone over the age of sixteen should be able to vote,” a teenage girl calls out. “Because sixteen-year-olds who were forced to go to a certain place they didn’t wanna go and do thingsthey didn’t wanna do should maybe have a say in what happens to our past alpha.” Her voice is scratchy and her face is red.

It’s clear she’s not typically a public speaker, none of the females in this pack are accustomed to being allowed to have a voice, but everyone in the room knows this is important to her and knows why. And seeing her expression and the wetness in her eyes, I want to kick the absolute shit out of Wyatt Meadows right now. And I already wanted to do more than just that.

“The only problem I have with this pack vote is that I probably won’t get my hands on him,” I mutter.

“Yeah.” Jase scoffs, eyes blazing with anger.

“I agree,” I call out and the teenage girl looks at me. I give her what I hope is a reassuring expression.

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