Chapter 215

Theodore’s POV

I opened my mouth to cut off the foul Alpha.

You have to remain objective, Violet reminded me in my mind.

I shut my mouth. Damn it, she was right.

“Something you wanted to say, Alpha Nightshade?” the Alpha continued, and I realized she had been baiting me. She was trying to make it seem like this was all a scheme to get Violet selected.

I had to be more careful about revealing my bias.

“Apologies…” Violet whispered the wretched Alpha’s name in my mind, “Alpha Pluralis. I had thought for a moment that you had finished speaking. You still have the floor if you’d like it.”

Her face fell, disappointed. I hadn’t played into her hand. Good.

“No, that’s all. Thank you for allowing me to speak out of turn.”

I only nodded, returning my gaze to the audience as Alpha Pluralis returned her microphone to a steward. “Any further comments or questions for our candidates?”

Silence stretched out through the hall, and I prayed to the Goddess that we were done – even if we had landed on a note against Violet.

Tyron rose from his seat near the back. I tried to hide my sigh of relief as a steward scampered up the stairs to hand him a microphone.

“Thank you,” he said to the steward, and it dawned on me that he was the first Alpha to do that so far in the debate.

“I would like to share my story of meeting Alpha Nightshade and Alpha Donovan. As you all know, it’s hard to get much farther from each other than Darkmoon and Dark Forest. Geographically speaking, it would be unlikely that Alpha Donovan and I would ever run into each other.”

He made sure to turn in a circle slowly as he spoke, directing his story to every single werewolf here, even those sitting behind him.

“Alpha Nightshade is located much closer, though I think we all know how much he kept to himself before Alpha Donovan here began dragging him into the limelight.” He smiled at me, and several werewolves chuckled, the comedic relief echoing through the hall.

“By the grace of the Goddess, their carriage broke down on their way to the palace, and they arrived on my doorstep asking for help.” I was grateful that he didn’t mention the rogue attack that was the real cause of our need for help. That part of the story wouldn’t help our effort to demonstrate rogues were not the enemy.

“Alpha Nightshade was…” he offered me a playfully unimpressed look, “fine,” more chuckles reverberated in the room, “but it was Alpha Donovan who connected with my shy, introverted wife. When I heard my darling Helene laughing with Alpha Donovan, I knew she was someone worth helping, a relationship worth investing in, because my wife doesn’t like anybody. And if Alpha Donovan had chosen to marry Alpha Nightshade, then he must be worthwhile, too.”

Tyron took a breath, and I wasn’t sure if he was done. It was already enough, more than enough, and it was the truth. But he had more to say.

“Almost all of us were at Beta Dahlia and Beta Kincaid’s wedding a few days ago, in the new town of Mel Rimanea, built, designed, pursued, and founding secured by Alpha Nightshade. Almost every werewolf here witnessed with our own eyes the terrible conditions that the rogues have been living in, rogues who are our family, friends, and loved ones. We know now what Alpha Nightshade has provided for those we allowed ourselves to forget.”

Tears gleamed in his eyes as he looked on me in admiration, and I suddenly felt uncomfortable under all the attention.

“While we mourned and yielded to the laws of our land, Alpha Nightshade fought back. He questioned the laws, he decided they no longer made sense, and he built something new for those vulnerable and in need, even when the king refused to help him. It was Alpha Nightshade who cared for those we love; it was Alpha Nightshade who made sure no one was forgotten.”

It was an effort to keep my chin up. I wasn’t quite sure where Tyron was going with this since I had already renounced the crown. But I didn’t miss Violet’s pride flowing brightly through our magical bond.

“This is the man Alpha Donovan chose. A man who avoids the spotlight, a man who cedes power even when it is his birthright, a man who does what is right when no one else will, a man who never gives up even when the path forward is blocked. For those who wonder what kind of leader she would be, take a look at the company she keeps.”

Wow. That was the only word blaring on repeat in my mind. Wow.

“And I suspect, after King Owen refused to fund the Shelter Project, that it was Alpha Donovan who provided the remaining funds needed to build Mel Rimanea, to give those we let the king rip from us the bare minimum to survive and rebuild lives of their own. Am I correct?”

Tyron turned his questioning gaze to Violet. Only I could hear her choked swallow as she raised the mic to her lips. She was as moved by his words as I was.

“Yes, Alpha Hayward, I did provide funds to help build Mel Rimanea.”

The hall erupted with murmurs.

“If,” Tyron continued, “we are to consider the unique experience Queen Nightshade has had the privilege of being surrounded by as the king’s wife all these years, then I think we should equally consider all Alpha Donovan has done for Darkmoon and for our country since before she ever had a title or any power to wield.”

Then he handed the microphone back to the steward, thanking him again, and sat down. Murmurs continued through the hall, echoing into a mumbled cloud of indistinguishable syllables.

I waited, hoping that was the end. But it wasn’t.

Another Alpha rose, just a row back from the front. I did not know his name. I didn’t recognize him at all.

“Thank you,” he began, thanking the steward who brought him the microphone just like Tyron had. I wondered at how that simple kindness had spread from one Alpha to the next. I hoped it was a symbol for the goodness that would soon spread throughout our country, too.

And an omen that his next words would also be kind.

“Alpha Donovan,” he said, turning to my wife, my mate, my alari. “At the end of your press conference at the Vainthott Estate, you seemed… perturbed. The following day, you released a statement informing the country that you had experienced a symptom of the double mate rejection.”

Shit. Not kind words after all.

We had worried that this would get brought up. We had hoped that it wouldn’t, that people would forget. We could not risk anyone knowing about her hallucinations.

“At the wedding in Mel Rimanea, you revealed that the second mate rejection was false, and that you and Alpha Nightshade are still mated. If there is no double mate rejection from which to suffer symptoms, what really happened at the press conference?”

Violet didn’t falter as she raised the microphone to speak, but the Alpha tacked on a few more questions.

“Does whatever happened to you impede your ability to lead? And why did you lie to the entire country about it?”