Chapter 36 Knox #2
I paused, letting the words sink in. “It’s time for truth.”
The screen behind me lit up with the first piece of evidence. Bank statements. “These are financial records from Alderic Thorne’s private accounts. Note the transfers. Twenty thousand here. Fifteen thousand there. All paid to unnamed recipients over the past seven years.”
Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Alderic’s face remained impassive, but I caught the slight tightening around his eyes.
“Now observe the dates,” I continued, clicking to the next slide. “Each payment corresponds with a rogue attack on our territory. Including this one.” I highlighted a specific transfer. “Dated three days before the attack that killed Blake Raven.”
The murmurs turned to gasps. Several wolves growled. Blake had been loved by everyone, the perpetual youngest brother of the pack who could make anyone smile.
“Lies!” Alderic stood, indignant. “Those documents could be forged! Fabricated evidence from a jealous Alpha who can’t accept his responsibilities!”
“Is it?” I asked calmly. “Then explain these.”
More evidence filled the screen. Letters in Alderic’s own handwriting. References to targets, payments, coordination.
“Alderic Thorne has betrayed this pack,” I said, my voice carrying over the growing noise. “He hired rogues to attack us. Funded their coordination. Planned their strategies.”
“You can’t prove anything!” Alderic snarled, but fear had crept into his scent.
“Can’t I?” The main doors opened right on cue. Noah and my father entered, dragging a chained man between them. Blade looked exactly like what he was - a rogue who’d figured out how to monetize chaos. Scarred, weathered, with eyes that had seen too much violence.
“Pack, meet Blade,” I said conversationally. “The man Alderic hired to coordinate rogue attacks on our territory. Tell them what you told my father.”
Blade looked around the room, taking in the hundreds of wolves who wanted his blood. My father’s hand on his shoulder wasn’t gentle.
“Alderic Thorne paid me to organize attacks,” Blade said, his voice rough from lack of use. “Gave me targets, dates, patrol schedules. Paid extra for specific kills.”
“He’s lying!” Mary stood now too, playing her part. “This is all fabrication to avoid your duties, Knox!”
“Is it?” I asked. “Then let me share some more truth. I never touched Mary Thorne. Never kissed her, never dated her, certainly never fucked her. Her child isn’t mine.”
The hall erupted. Wolves shouting, demanding answers, some calling for blood. I let it build for a moment before raising my hand for silence.
“You want proof? Here’s proof.” I nodded to Hunt.
The side door opened, and Lina walked in carrying Thea while Rowan held her hand. My mate, my children, my everything. The shouting stopped dead as every wolf in the room caught their scent. My scent all over them, their scent carrying my markers.
“Pack,” I said, my voice carrying clearly in the sudden silence. “This is my mate, Basilinna. These are my heirs, Rowan and Thea Raven. They carry my blood, my scent, my claiming marks. They are the future of this pack.”
Lina stood tall despite being surrounded by hundreds of predators, meeting every stare with quiet strength. The twins pressed close to her but watched everything with curious eyes. My family. Finally where they belonged.
“Lies!” Mary shrieked, her composure cracking. “I carry your child! You can’t deny your own blood!”
“You’re right,” I said calmly. “I would never deny my own blood. Which is why I’m not denying your child. Because it isn’t mine.”
I turned to my beta, who stepped forward despite everything. The bruise on his jaw had darkened to purple, a visible reminder of his confession. “Cole, tell them whose child Mary carries.”
Cole faced the pack, shoulders back despite the shame I could feel radiating from him. The hall went silent again, everyone sensing something monumental was about to be revealed.
“The child is mine,” Cole said clearly, each word dropping into the silence like a stone into water. “Mary Thorne carries my pup, not Knox’s.”
The explosion of noise was immediate. Wolves shouting, some in disbelief, others in anger. Mary’s face went white, then red with rage.
“Tell them how it happened,” I commanded, letting my Alpha voice cut through the chaos.
Cole swallowed hard but continued. “It was one night. The summer festival. We were both drunk, and I made a terrible mistake. I betrayed my Alpha’s trust, my position as beta, and gave Alderic exactly what he wanted - a connection to power through his daughter.”
“You bastard!” Mary screamed. “You said you loved me! Said we could be together!”
“I said no such thing,” Cole replied steadily. “I told you the next morning it was a mistake. That it could never happen again. You’re the one who chose to lie about the father when you discovered the pregnancy.”
“Because you refused to take responsibility!” Mary’s mask had completely fallen now, revealing the calculating woman underneath. “I gave you the chance to step up, to claim your place, but you were too much of a coward! So I did what I had to do!”
“You lied to the entire pack,” I said, drawing attention back to me. “Claimed to carry the Alpha’s heir. Tried to force a mating through deception. That alone would be grounds for banishment.”
“But there’s more,” I continued, my voice dropping dangerously. “Your father specifically targeted my mate and children. Paid to have them killed to clear the way for your false claim.”
I clicked to the final piece of evidence. The order, in Alderic’s writing, with Lina and the twins’ names clearly listed as primary targets.
“He tried to murder children,” I said into the horrified silence. “Four-year-old pups whose only crime was existing. Your father, Mary, tried to execute babies to secure your position.”
The pack’s rage was palpable now. Even those who might have supported the Thornes were turning away in disgust. Killing pups was the ultimate taboo, the one line no wolf crossed.
“Cole made a mistake,” I continued. “One he’ll answer for. But you and your father? You committed treason. Conspiracy. Attempted murder of the Alpha’s family. The sentence for that is death.”