Chapter 140

Rowan shook his head and made his way to the back of the class. “This isn’t my first class, but I feel like we have certain things that we should go over.” He slid onto his desk. “We as wolves have a hierarchy for a very simple reason: the strong protect the weak. The higher rank you have, the more people you have to worry about.” He wiped his face.

“Alphas have to know that there are better ways to get information, though,” a man named Steven chimed in.

I snorted. “Okay. Tell me how you would have done it!”

“What?” Steven turned to face me.

“You said we have to know there are better ways. How would you have done it then? The alpha was in danger. We didn’t know how deep the betrayal went. Within a day, we had a rogue attack that was organized, that multiple rogues were working together like they were in a pack. Without the information I could gather, my father would have been dead, the pack overrun and demoralized, as the attack targeted women and children. So what would you have done in my shoes?”

“I would have done some investigation,” he tossed out.

“I did. That’s how I figured out who I needed to interrogate. But sure, you investigate and you get very little information—only that you know a specific she-wolf is influencing the alpha.”

“Influencing how?” He turned fully to me.

“Making him fall in love with her.”

“So why is that bad?” He laughed.

“The alpha already has a mate.” The room broke out in murmurs.

“You are saying that a she-wolf somehow is interfering with a goddess-blessed mate bond?”

“That’s correct. We knew she was doing something, we just couldn’t put our finger on it. It was so bad that the alpha attacked his pup and fought with his own wolf.” I leaned over and propped my face up with my hand. “So your father attacks you, almost kills you. He is acting erratic. The pack is at risk, and you have a suspect, but no answers. What do you do?”

“Talk to her family.”

“They know nothing or have been compelled not to speak. If you are strong enough, you can break the command.”

Rowan shook his head. “Depending on the strength of the command and the rank of the wolf, if you shatter a command, you could shatter their mind as well.” I nodded.

I pointed to Rowan. “He’s right. It’s risky. What’s your next move?”

“I don’t know,” he answered, a little flustered.

“Come on, Steve. Your pack is in danger. There are over a hundred or more people counting on you to figure this out and save not only the pack, but your own father. The backbone of any pack is a powerful alpha. What is your next move?”

“I don’t know.” He looked around for support, but no one was looking at him.

“Say you didn’t figure out your next move, and the next day during the attack you lost all the pups, and a few mates. How would you feel?”

“Bad.”

“Everyone would blame you, Steve. You could have prevented it all. How would you tell their families? How would you justify it all?”

Steve looked at Rowan, but the king had a flat look on his face. “I don’t know, okay!” he screamed.

I sat back in my chair. “None of us know, Steve. That’s the truth. But these are the situations that alphas have to face. We weigh our dignity, our morals, our very soul against the odds, and we make a choice.” I wiped my face. “I didn’t enjoy scaring the she-wolf. I didn’t enjoy hurting her. But by doing so, I could save my father. And the next day, he was on my side when we were attacked. I almost died saving a family. I fought off three wolves to give two children enough time to run away, knowing I would not make it out of there.”

“That’s your job,” he snorted.

“You are right. It’s my job to protect the weak, to support the pack, to save children, and women, and men like you who sit back and judge me because they don’t have to make the hard decisions. You get to sit here and come to class and decide that I’m a monster because I tortured a woman, when in reality I already weighed the choice. I became a monster so that four little kids get to wake up and be loved by their parents. I sacrificed my soul to protect my father, my pack, and those kids. And the truth of it, Steve, I would do it again in a heartbeat.” Rowan nodded once.

“We have all made decisions that would ruin ourselves to save others.” Rowan stood and walked around his desk. “Now, let’s talk Python.” He clicked on the screen and started his lecture.