CHAPTER 119: A TRUTH UNVEILED

Kiel

I sat at my desk, fingers tapping restlessly against the pen I had been fiddling with for the last thirty minutes. The weight of the silence around me was suffocating, broken only by the occasional scrape of the chair as I shifted. I had already given strict instructions to the guards outside—nobody was allowed in, not even the Elders, not the warriors, not anyone except Varen. Right now, I didn’t want anyone seeing me like this.

Josie’s face lingered in my mind, her words like knives digging deeper into my chest with every replay. The disbelief in her eyes, the way her lips trembled when she accused me of lying—it had broken something in me. I kept telling myself I’d endured worse, but nothing compared to this emptiness that gnawed at me. I had faced wars, blood, betrayal... but her doubt, her rejection of me, felt like losing everything I had fought for in life.

"Kiel," Varen’s voice slipped into my head through the mind-link, steady and probing. "What’s going on? Where are you?"

I exhaled sharply, pinching the bridge of my nose. Not now. "I’ll explain everything soon," I answered tightly. "What I need right now is to be alone."

"You don’t sound fine. Talk to me." His voice pressed harder, laced with worry.

My grip on the pen tightened until it nearly cracked. "Varen, let it be. You’ll understand in due time."

Silence followed for a moment, then his voice softened. "She’s not in her right mind, Kiel. Don’t take everything she says so seriously. You need to believe in what the two of you have. Don’t let Michelle destroy that."

My chest twisted painfully at his words. I wanted to believe him, I did, but belief didn’t erase the way Josie had looked at me—as though I was the very enemy she needed to run from. Unable to hear any more, I shut the link, cutting him out.

I pressed my palms into my face, dragging them down slowly, trying to breathe, but the air felt heavier the longer I stayed seated. Finally, I pushed myself up, pacing toward the window. The night was quiet, stars scattered carelessly across the sky, and yet peace remained far from me. No sign of my Beta returning yet.

Varen was always trying to make it seem like hope existed, like there was always a chance for light to break through the cracks. But I wasn’t naïve enough to rely on hope alone anymore. Wishful thinking didn’t heal wounds—actions did. And I knew what I had to do. Still, my heart clenched at the thought that maybe, just maybe, there was no way back to Josie if she couldn’t trust me again.

But I swore—swore on everything I had—that I would earn her trust back. I would not look her in the eye again until Michelle was dragged into the light for what she truly was.

At exactly 11 p.m., my phone buzzed. My Beta’s voice came through the line, urgent and breathless. "We’ve found her. She’s with her father."

My body stiffened. A surge of energy shot through me, one I hadn’t felt in weeks. Michelle.

I was out of my seat in an instant. "Keep her there," I ordered. "I’m on my way."

When I arrived, I didn’t waste a second. My Beta had her restrained, but rage surged within me the moment I saw her smug face. Without hesitation, I grabbed her by the hair and yanked her forward, her shriek slicing through the night.

"Well, isn’t this poetic?" she sneered, even as her face twisted in pain. "Are you going to finish what Thorne started?"

My lip curled, and I spat my words like venom. "I wouldn’t even give you the pleasure. You’re supposedly carrying my fake child, aren’t you? Hitting you would only make you feel important, and you’re not."

Her smirk faltered, but she didn’t back down. That was fine. I didn’t need her to.

I didn’t wait for more words. Instead, I dragged her toward the clearing and tied her to the old oak tree, securing the ropes tightly despite her writhing. "You wanted to play games, Michelle? Then let’s play. Only, this time, the pack will be watching."

I turned sharply to my Beta. "Bring the elders. Bring the notable heads of the pack. And prepare the recording—we’ll show them everything tonight."

"Yes, Alpha," he responded, immediately moving to carry out my command.

Through the link, I called my brother. Thorne, meet me at the clearing. You’ll want to see this.

By the time everyone began gathering, the tension in the air was thick enough to choke on. Warriors, elders, even the young apprentices—they all came, murmuring in confusion, until silence fell at the sight of Michelle bound against the tree.

And then my eyes found Josie.

She stood at the edge of the crowd, her arms folded tightly across her chest. Her gaze avoided mine, sliding past me as though I didn’t exist, and the sharp sting of it went deeper than any blade. My chest constricted painfully, but I swallowed it down. This wasn’t the time.

"What’s going on here?" Thorne demanded, stepping forward. Varen was beside him, his eyes searching mine. "Kiel, what’s the matter?"

I didn’t answer immediately. Instead, I turned toward Michelle, letting silence stretch long enough for the crowd to grow restless. Then, with deliberate calm, I said, "This... is the truth you all have been blind to."

Gasps rippled through the gathering, but I didn’t stop. I pulled out the device, connecting it so the recording could be displayed for everyone to see. "Watch carefully," I said, my voice hard. "And tell me afterward if you still think I’ve been silent for no reason."

The video played.

The clearing was so silent you could hear the leaves rustle in the wind. Every second that rolled by on the recording felt like a hammer striking down, blow after blow, revealing the rot they had refused to see. The night Josie had been hospitalised—Michelle’s voice, her laughter, her twisted obsession—all of it unfolded right there. Her confession of being obsessed with me and Thorne, her delusion that she was the rightful Luna—it all poured out like poison for the entire pack to see.

Gasps. Shouts. Even cries. Elders clutched their robes, shaking their heads in disbelief. The betrayal stung every person there as though they themselves had been struck.

"That’s falsified!" Michelle suddenly shrieked, her voice cracking under the pressure. "He forged it! He—he’s framing me!"

But the elders weren’t buying it. Their faces hardened, their voices rising with fury.

"You are a disgrace!" one spat.

"We fought for you, defended you, and this is how you repay us?" another cried.

"A disappointment to the pack!" a third shouted, shaking his head with disgust.

I didn’t need to add more. Their words were enough, their judgment already falling on her like fire. But then, something happened that I wasn’t prepared for.

Josie.

She moved forward, her steps measured but her expression unreadable. She stopped right in front of me, her eyes finally meeting mine. My heart stuttered at the weight of her gaze.

"You had this video earlier?" she asked quietly, too quietly.

Her question cut me deeper than Michelle’s screams ever could. For a moment, I couldn’t find words. My throat felt tight. Finally, I forced out, "Josie, I understand your emotions. I understand why you’d ask me that. But do you really think..." My voice cracked before I steadied it. "...do you really think I am such a manipulative man?"

Her eyes shimmered, and for the first time in days, I couldn’t read her.

And in that moment, surrounded by my pack, with Michelle screaming behind me and the elders voicing their disgust, the only thing that mattered was that single question hanging between us—one that could either shatter me completely or give me a fragile piece of hope.