CHAPTER 10:DAMAGE CONTROL
1117 Words
COUNCIL MEMBER PERRY
I looked at Alpha Simmons, half his face covered in scrapes from the gravel. I couldn't believe the audacity of this guy. His face was red with anger as he demanded that I arrest Amber for assaulting him. I told him to sit the hell down, and we would sort all this out. He didn't seem happy, but he took a seat. I sighed. "Right then, obviously, we have an issue here that needs resolving. We will do it properly." I stated calmly. I had been on the phone with the Council leader trying to find a solution to the problem that Chris had brought to my attention earlier, when Chloe had come running in calling for help. I had gone to assist and found Amber holding Alpha Simmons down in the car park. I had ordered them to both come inside, and we could discuss everything, like the adults and leaders that we are.
We were all seated around the table in Moon River's meeting room. We hadn't used this room for the summit as it wasn't big enough. For this, however, it was perfect. It was also soundproof, which, given the delicate nature of the issue that we would be discussing, seemed like a positive. I looked around the table at the emotional faces. Chris was looking protective of Chloe. Who was looking afraid of Alpha Simmons. He was looking furious at everyone. Amber was looking concerned for her friends. Before we could begin, there was a knock at the door. I stood and opened the door to find Alpha Morris and Marcus Baxter outside. "Is everything okay?" Alpha Morris asked. I sighed again. "Not even close. Everything is a little tangled right now, but I am sure that we can get it all straightened out." I told them. He nodded. "Is there anything that I can do to help?" he asked. I shook my head. "Not really, other than making sure that we are not disturbed," I replied. Marcus said that he would take care of that personally. Alpha Morris looked a bit upset that I was turning him away, rather than inviting him to join us. His Luna was involved, after all. However, I felt that there were already going to be enough voices and opinions in this room as it was. I thanked them and closed the door, retaking my seat. "Let's get this sorted out, shall we?" I said.
I decided to begin with Amber as she was probably the least involved in this mess. "Luna Rivers-Morris, could you please tell me why you were restraining Alpha Simmons?" I asked. Before she could speak, Alpha Simmons started to angrily demand to know why she got to speak first. That he was the victim. I slammed my fist on the table. "Enough! I am in charge here, not you, Alpha Simmons. You will speak when I ask you to. Or you will face the consequences. Do you understand?" I said in a raised voice. This was going to be difficult enough without his outbursts. His face flushed with embarrassment and anger, but he knew better than to try and argue with me. He nodded and looked down at the tabletop. "Now, Luna, you were about to answer my question," I said. She smiled at me and gave me a detailed account of how she had seen Alpha Simmons dragging his Luna across the car park and then trying to force her into the trunk of their car. She said that she had warned him to stop, but he had ignored her. So , I stopped him and sent Luna Simmons for help. She said that she had seen a woman in trouble and had stepped in to help her, nothing more.
Alpha Simmons snorted, and I gave him a look that made him go back to staring at the table. He was really beginning to irritate me. I was already in a bad mood as my conversation with the council leader earlier had not been going the way that I had hoped. He had said that before we could sanction the union of Alpha Baxter and Luna Simmons, we needed to find out what the nature of the deal between Alpha Simmons and Alpha Drake was. I personally didn't think that it was relevant. The council had the authority to overrule any pre-existing deals, but he didn't want to cause unnecessary friction in the werewolf community. He wanted to reach out to Alpha Drake before making any decisions. Of course, that was before this had happened.
I turned to Luna Simmons. "Is that true? Was your husband hurting you?" I asked. Alpha Simmons opened his mouth to interrupt but thought better of it. "Yes. Everything that Luna Rivers-Morris said was true. He was furious, and I was terrified," she said quietly. I nodded. "Do you know why he was so angry?" I asked, though I had an idea. She glanced nervously at Alpha Baxter. "He knows about us being mates," she replied. I turned to Alpha Simmons. "Now, would you please tell us how you discovered this information and why you decided to react with violence?" I asked. He frowned at me. "I received a note this morning. It informed me of the truth, that MY LUNA is the mate of Alpha baxter, and that they had spent the night together. Betraying me and breaking the law of our kind. I just wanted to get her away from him." he snarled. I turned to Alpha Baxter. "I thought that we had agreed to keep this quiet until the situation was resolved one way or another," I said. He looked dumbfounded. "We did. I didn't tell anyone," he replied. "Then who the hell sent Alpha Simmons the note?" I demanded. Everyone seemed oblivious. Clearly, it wasn't anyone here. "Does anyone not in this room know about Alpha Baxter and Luna Simmons being mates?" I asked them all.
Amber looked sheepish. I sighed deeply. "Luna, did you tell someone?" I asked. She nodded. "I told Adam. He was jealous of the attention that I was paying to Chris. Which was so out of character for him. I told him the truth to settle his concerns. But Adam would never have sent that note. It's just not who he is," she said. I told her that if no one here had sent the note and Adam was the only other person who knew, then we couldn't just rule him out. Jealousy can make people do stupid things. I asked her to mind link her mate, and ask him to join us. It seemed as though his presence would be necessary after all.
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