The Alpha's Rogue ✔️

39 | A Confession

How smug is Lord Alistair in the image above? 😏

2698 words

The drink in his hand was bitter, but the sting as it slid down his throat sharpened his senses and fueled his determination. Zion refused a top-up from the bartender with a slight shake of his head; a few sips was all he needed.

"Enjoying the evening?" Lord Alistair asked as he slid smoothly into the seat next to Zion. "Or are our humble dinners nothing compared to the lavish banquets I'm sure you're used to in Vinlarhk?" He lifted his eyebrows with an easy smile on his face.

Zion barely even turned to acknowledge the head of the Council. "I'm not here to enjoy myself."

"Ah, of course. You have a very important job to do," Alistair eyed him knowingly.

"I have my own reasons for being here," Zion said bluntly, studying the older wolf whose face crinkled in a smirk.

"There it is. Honesty. You're definitely not a Vinn as you're so eloquently masquerading as."

Zion was only slightly taken aback by his response. He'd known it wouldn't take much for the clever Alpha to see through his charade. He chuckled. "Was it my accent?"

"No. That is quite good, actually," Alistair waved his hand casually, motioning to Zion's face. "It was the eyes."

Fixing him with a dark stare, Zion silently urged him to expound.

"I recognise Forrester eyes when I see them." Alistair's expression was smug as he continued, "If you're here about your father, you might as well stop wasting your time. I will only give you the same answer I gave him."

Zion clenched his jaw, resisting the urge to smash in Alistair's with his fist. "I know how you feel about the matter," he spoke calmly despite the resentment simmering in his blood. "But would you give a different answer if you saw evidence to disprove your theory?"

"What evidence might that be?" Alistair beheld him with a steady gaze, his demeanor nonplussed and completely unthreatened despite the dominance that radiated from Zion. The younger wolf was a full head taller, his strength undeniably greater than Alistair's, yet the head of Council seemed sure of his elevated status that demanded respect and submission.

Zion's lip twitched with a hint of a smirk. "The evidence you're hiding."

Alistair laughed, the sound coming out rather forced. "You have an even better imagination than your father. Why don't you just crawl back to the hole he's hiding in, and tell him this," leaning forward, Alistair lowered his voice, "He will never be acquitted for slaughtering five respected Alphas, each of them dear friends of mine. What Victor did is unforgivable, and there is no evidence on any continent or island that will change that fact. No one trusts his word over mine, and that is never going to change."

Zion continued to lean against the bar, a languid smirk on his face. With a confident voice, he spoke, "I figured you'd say that. But what if it wasn't just his word? What if it was the word of someone who could block all progress on this precious treaty of yours?" He relished in the twitch in Alistair's left eye. So, he had the pretentious Councillor's attention. "What if the Queen of Vinlarhk herself had proof that the contingent of Alphas you sent to pay her tribute were actually on their way to assassinate her? And that my father acted lawfully to prevent an international atrocity?"

"He killed his fellow countrymen," Alistair growled lowly, finally losing some of his composure. "You'll never find any evidence otherwise from me."

"Is that a confession?" Zion quipped. "Are you agreeing what happened that day may be different to the story you love to retell?"

Casting his eyes quickly around him, Alistair noticed far too many people within earshot. Jerking his head towards the large sliding doors that led outside, he motioned for Zion to follow him further around the deck that wrapped the south-eastern corner of the hotel complex.