I let his words sink in while we take the last few steps to the kitchen.
“If I can be forgiven, why can’t you?” Nox asks.
I smile, but before I can say anything in return, we hear noises coming from the room adjacent to the kitchen—it’s the private dining room of the alpha family, in case they host important guests or want to dine on their own. It’s soundproofed, which makes me wonder why Nox and I can hear the voices.
We both exchange a gaze. “An attack?” I whisper.
“No, I would have been linked,” Nox shakes his head.
“Let’s take a look,” I whisper. “Maybe someone needs our help.”
As we creep towards the door, Nox pulls me over toward a small window that overlooks the dining room. It’s cracked open, which explains why we heard the noises. It also gives us a chance to eye the whole dining area without being seen. “What about our scent?” I whisper.
Nox shakes his head. “The kitchen’s full of scents from all kinds of pack members. They won’t notice us especially.”
I nod, turning my attention to the dining room. Inside we can see Alpha Elden and Luna Flora there, Lord Finn, and Alpha Elden’s Betas Calvin and Vincent. “What’s going on?” I mutter.
Nox frowns. “I don’t know, but it looks like something is about to go down,” he whispers.
“Why did Liam ask us to come?” my ears pick up Lord Finn’s words. “He requested the five of us to be here in person, but no one else. Not even other high-ranking members. Did he say what it’s about?”
“No,” Luna Flora looks worried. “He just says it’s an emergency, and then he hung up. I couldn’t even ask him anything. It’s very unusual for Liam to act this way.”
Alpha Elden crosses his arms in front of his body, and clearly looks displeased at being summoned at such an ungodly hour without any explanation.
I want to say something to Nox, commenting on how it’s weird that not even the gamma is there, but my words stick in my throat as Alpha Liam strides into the room with Beta Aryanna and Beta Dante in tow. I saw Aryanna earlier today, and I’m sure she didn’t have plans to come here. Something must have happened since then.
“Your mate’s here too,” Nox whispers, and points toward Eric, who enters the room right after Alpha Liam. Now I’m sure that something terrible is going on. Eric didn’t plan to come here tonight. He told me he was going to meet up with his beta, the twins, and some other friends he hasn’t seen in a while. They’d even booked a fancy restaurant. Besides, I may not have known Eric for very long, but I know he wouldn’t lie to me. Luna Flora mentioned this was an emergency meeting. What’s so important that made Eric cancel all his plans?
Right now, he’s looking deadly serious, and there is no hint of his usual smile on his face.
Aryanna’s not smiling like usual either.
But the worst expression is on Liam’s face. Even from a slight distance, I can easily feel his angry aura. His wolf is showing through his eyes, and he is raging. Liam rushes across the room, ignoring Alpha Elden and Luna Flora as they try to ask him what’s going on. Instead, he grabs Beta Calvin by his collar and smashes him against the wall.
“Liam!” Luna Flora shouts in surprise.
Alpha Elden approaches them cautiously, his brows furrowed. “Liam, what’s this about!?”
Liam completely ignores them, grabbing Beta Calvin by his throat. “Did you or did you not touch my brother?” he yells, pressing Calvin’s head further into the wall. “Did you lay your sleazy hands on one of my siblings?”
Nox and I exchange a surprised glance. What… wait… WHAT!? “No way,” I whisper, shocked.
Nox looks horrified. “It can’t be… Beta Calvin would never… I mean—”
“Sh,” I whisper, trying to hear what’s happening. Other than him, I’m not too shocked that someone close to us can be a monster. If I know one thing for sure, it’s that people can hide their true nature if they choose to.
Suddenly, Eric’s serious expression makes more sense now.
Alpha Elden stops in his tracks. “Excuse me?” he asks, his voice scarily low.
Liam ignores him and stares Calvin down instead. His eyes are pitch black, dark veins popping around his neck. His lycan wants to take control. “I saw some of it in Marius’ mind, and he finally gave up your name today,” he bellows at Calvin. His alpha aura engulfs almost everyone around him. His eyes don’t leave Calvin, who looks deathly pale. “Don’t even consider weaseling your way out of this, you fucking rat. You can’t lie to me!”
That’s news to me. It must be one of his gifts.
“No…” Nox mutters under his breath, his eyes wide in horror. “It can’t be true…”
I don’t say anything, but I doubt Alpha Liam would accuse anyone of something if he wasn’t certain. I can’t bring myself to move, transfixed by the events unfolding before us.