Chapter 5 Revelation under the Moon

Amelia's POV

Daniel scrambled backward, eyes wide with panic. "Brother," he stammered, "I was enforcing pack law. She—" he jabbed a finger at me, "—transformed in public. On campus. There are videos."

Alexander didn't even glance at Daniel as he spoke. His gaze swept over me, making me acutely aware of my nakedness despite Nathan's jacket. Without comment, he removed his suit jacket and handed it to me. I clutched it gratefully, sliding my arms into sleeves that hung past my fingertips.

"And that justified killing her?" Alexander asked, his tone conversational but laced with arctic chill. "And Beta Nathan?"

Daniel swallowed hard. "The law states—"

"I wrote the law," Alexander cut him off, his voice so dangerously soft that it was more frightening than any shout. "I know precisely what it states. It requires containment, reporting, and Council review. Nowhere does it authorize field executions by Alphas."

His eyes—a piercing silver-blue I'd never seen on any werewolf—narrowed. "Especially not three days before the Luna Festival, when every prominent pack leader in the country will be watching us."

Nathan had shifted back to human form, clutching his broken leg. Despite his pain, he spoke up. "She just transformed for the first time tonight. I found her being hunted by your brother like she was prey."

Alexander's eyebrow raised slightly. "First transformation? At her age?"

"I'm a late bloomer," I whispered, my voice still raw.

Alexander nodded slowly, then turned back to Daniel. His eyes flickered briefly to me, then back to his brother with a look of quiet understanding. "So you pursued a newly-transformed Omega through public streets, attempted to execute her without Council approval, and then tried to kill a Beta officer who intervened." His voice remained calm, but the temperature around us seemed to drop even further. A moment of weighted silence hung between the brothers. "Have I missed anything of... relevance to pack law?"

Daniel's face had gone pale, relief and shame mingling in his expression. "Brother, I was just—"

"Silence." The single word carried such authority that both Daniel and Nathan flinched. Even I felt the command ripple through me like a physical force.

Alexander paced the clearing, hands clasped behind his back. "I was making decisions together with the Alphas of other packs for the upcoming Luna Festival when I received word that a wolf had been spotted on campus." He stopped, fixing Daniel with a stare that could have shattered stone. "Do you understand what's at stake this weekend? You want to show our shit discipline to all other packs at our most important festival?"

Daniel looked at the ground. "No... I didn't mean to."

"Shut up!" Alexander's voice hardened. "You jeopardized everything because you couldn't keep your personal affairs in order."

He turned to Nathan, who was trying to stand despite his injuries. "And you, Beta Nathan. You abandoned your post at headquarters to pursue a personal matter."

Nathan met his gaze unflinchingly. "She's my sister."

"And you're a sworn officer of the Shadow Guard." Alexander's expression remained unreadable. "You know the chain of command."

I tried to intervene. "Please, it's not his fault—"

"I'm not finished," Alexander said, not raising his voice but with such finality that I fell silent immediately.

He stood in the center of the clearing, moonlight streaming down on him. In that moment, he looked like something from another world—not quite human, not quite wolf, but something more ancient and powerful than either.

"Daniel, you will return to the estate immediately. Your privileges as Alpha are suspended pending review. Your behavior tonight was not worthy of the Westbrook name."

Daniel's face flushed with humiliation, but he nodded.

"Officer Throne," Alexander continued, addressing Nathan formally, "for abandoning your post and directly challenging an Alpha, you are demoted to Gamma rank, effective immediately."

Nathan's jaw tightened, but he too nodded. A demotion to Gamma was severe—it would mean loss of authority, reduced pay, and lower status in the pack hierarchy.

"However," Alexander added, "your dedication to family is... noted. Report to medical for treatment, then to headquarters for reassignment."

Daniel opened his mouth to protest the relatively light punishment, but one look from Alexander silenced him.

Then Alexander turned to me, his cold gaze assessing me from head to toe. I felt exposed despite the jacket covering me, as if he could see through to my very soul.

"Miss Throne," he said, his voice neither warm nor particularly threatening. "You've caused quite a commotion tonight. As for your punishment—"

My gaze was involuntarily captured by the moon. That silvery light seemed no longer to shine but directly poured into my body, igniting a scorching force that I had never perceived before.

A strange heat flooded through my body, starting at my core and radiating outward. My heart pounded so hard I thought it might burst from my chest.

"What's happening to me?" I gasped, panic rising as I lost control of my own body.

My vision blurred, narrowing until all I could see was Alexander standing before me, haloed in moonlight. My skin tingled with awareness, every cell in my body suddenly attuned to his presence.

Mate... mate... mate...

The word echoed in my mind, a primal chant I couldn't silence. Horror and confusion mingled with an overwhelming pull I couldn't fight.

"I can't—I don't understand—" I stammered, my body swaying toward him against my will.

Alexander had stopped mid-sentence, staring at me with sudden intensity. "Your eyes," he said, his voice changed. "They're changing color."

The moonlight seemed to change at this moment, and a brand-new power awoke within me. A thought struck me like lightning - midnight had passed and I was eighteen years old.

The realization hit me like a physical blow. The first transformation. The full moon. My eighteenth birthday. All converging at once.

"It's you," I said, my voice barely audible as I stared at Alexander, seeing him—truly seeing him—for the first time. "You're my mate."

Alexander stood rigid, shock evident in his expression as his own eyes began to glow with supernatural light. "Impossible," he breathed.

My body moved without permission, drawn to him by forces older than reason. "I can't stop it," I whispered, half terrified, half awed by the bond forming between us.

I rose on my tiptoes, my lips inches from his. The pull between us was magnetic, inevitable. Alexander's eyes flashed with conflict—desire battling with duty. His hands clenched at his sides, but he didn't step away.

"What the fuck is happening?" Nathan's voice broke through the haze, filled with confusion and alarm.

Daniel's face contorted with rage. "No. This can't be happening. The fated mate—"

The word "fated mate" seemed to snap Alexander back to reality. He took a half step backward, his breathing ragged.

"The First Law," Nathan whispered, his eyes wide with realization. "Holy shit."

The words hung in the air between us all, their significance landing like a physical blow. Even I, with my limited knowledge of pack politics, knew the First Law:

A wolf who rejects their mate faces exile or death. No exceptions—not even for Alphas.