SWNOVELS Chapter 265
Chapter 0265
(Lily POV)
After the victim statements, we gave each one of the accused an opportunity to respond to the allegations. Each would face a separate trial down the road, but unlike the trials at Black Moon, the West Mountain trials would be private. Today would therefore be the only opportunity for the accused to
publicly address the
allegations and the victims that they hurt.
Randall chose to say very little. “I did what I had to do,” was all he said.
My father, meanwhile, used half of his time to apologize to the victims on my mother’s behalf, and the other half asking them to understand that my mother has me ntal health issues. Notably, he never said
one way or the other how much he knew about what she had done.
For her part, Luna Jane was completely repentant. Of course, anyone with eyes could already tell that. Her regret did not make up for what she had done, and what she had allowed to happen, but it definitely went a long way towards easing some of the tension in the room.
The various guards and other workers on my mother’s payroll made a few excuses about money my mother promised them or threats that she made. Almost in the same breath though, they each chose to quickly plead guilty to the allegations. They clearly hoped that quick pleas would spare them from stiffer
sentences at their upcoming trials.
The statements from Stephanie and Sheila were perhaps the biggest surprise. They neither apologized nor accepted responsibility. At the same time, they also did not talk about their love for James, their hatred for me, their pups, or anything else that might mitigate the heinousness of their crimes. Instead, they spent their entire statements pointing fingers at my mother and trying to paint themselves as
additional victims.
(Perhaps none of this should have surprised me, but it did. For most of my life, and in so many of the stories of their bad acts, Sheila and Stephanie seemed larger than life. They were confident, calculating, and evil. To see them reduced to petty finger pointing, without any of the sp unk or confidence or name- calling… it just came across to me as though Sheila and Stephanie were deflated balloons. It was sort of sad, really.)
My mother spoke last. She spent the first three minutes of her speech crying; one minute apologizing for her actions; and then almost 15 minutes talking about herself. Her me ntal health, her suffering, her childhood, her desire to be loved and appreciated, how wronged she had been by my father, Luna Jane, and others in the pack,
By the time she was done, I was exhausted, as was everyone else I am sure. I happily yielded the floor
“Thank you all for your patience here this evening. I know it has been long road tonight, and I promise
that we will get to the celebration part of the night soon.
We hope that tonight will offer closure for most of you. In the upcoming weeks, each of the accused will
face private trials before the council. The punishments, once rendered, will be announced publicly, but
the trials themselves will remain closed. We are doing this in large part because we want to ensure that
we can move on as a pack and as a community.
However, before the accused leave the stage, I want to make sure that we do not leave anyone with
unanswered concerns or questions. All of you, whether or not you were directly impacted by the crimes,
were victims. Your pack funds were used; your leaders were distracted; and people around you
struggled. We want to acknowledge that and do something about it.
Moving forward, West Mountain Pack will be one in which transparency is not only expected but
required. And that transparency starts today.
In just a moment, I will alpha-command everyone on stage except Sheila to truthfully answer any
questions that you might have. Sheila will not be subject to an alpha-command because she is pregnant,
but Lily and I will talk to her wolf and get any questions answered that you might have for her.
If I could have Joey and Jessica please take the stage.”
As Joey and Jessica approached the stage, James and I exchanged knowing smiles. The two of them
were aware that they were going to be leading the question and answer session, but they did not know
why.
“Joey and Jessica are going to help facilitate tonight’s question and answer session. They will also be facilitating future question and answer sessions for pack members, which we plan to host every month. No
o one will be required to attend those sessions except for the alpha and beta couples, as well as anyone who wishes to talk to us about issues that are going on. Luna Lily and I will also maintain an open door so that the kinds of issues that went undetected in our pack in the past are not repeated.
Please understand that our Beta and Beta Female will have slightly different roles than in the past. As our Beta and Beta Female, Joey and Jessica will not stand in the way of pack members communicating with us, but they will instead serve as additional resources for you and the pack generally.”
James paused to allow Joey and Jessica to process the weight of his words. I smiled as I watched Joey start to become emotional as he put the pieces together.
“Alpha James, are you saying-
“–that I want you to be the Beta of this pack? Yes. That is exactly what I am saying.”
“What… what about Nick?”
“We already talked to Nick. He agreed with us that this is what is best for the pack.”
Joey looked over at Nick, who was still on stage.
“I have a mate to track down, Joey. And when I find her, I think she is going to want to move to another pack anyway. This one has too many painful memories for her. Besides, you earned this. You and Jessica both did,” Nick said reassuringly. “You are much more of a beta than I am.”
“But I do not have Beta blood_”
“I don’t think you need it. You kidnapped me from my own home. No one has ever been able to do that,” Dr. Hyder said, provoking mild laughter from those who knew him.
Joey then looked at me. “But after all I did to-
“Are you going to keep looking for excuses to say no or are you ready to just say yes?” I asked, giving him.
a mock pointed look.
Jessica put her hand on Joey’s arm. They looked at each other, and then they pulled James and I into a hug. “Yes. Yes, yes, yes!”
A couple of minutes later, Joey took the microphone.
“Ya’ll ready with some questions? Let’s finish this so that we can finally get to celebration.”