Night

Two

Morning came quickly and Lily noticed her father's continuous strange behavior right away. He was fidgety and the stress lines on his face were more apparent than usual. He also looked even more tired than he did the previous night. The two were eating hot waffles and strawberries in silence when Lily decided to speak up.

"Please tell me what's wrong, dad. You're scaring me," she pleaded softly. He sighed and stared off into the distance for a few moments before turning to his daughter.

"I suppose I'll have to tell you," he conceded. "Alpha Ellison has been accused of a grave mistake." That was surprising. Their alpha was kind-hearted and intelligent. In fact, the Blue Moon pack had a reputation for its successful alpha. For years, Beta Michael had been proud to work alongside him.

"What kind of mistake?" Lily asked.

"Well, according to the council, a few years back he violated century's old law. He exchanged highly confidential pack secrets for a large sum of money. And the worst part was that it was with a vampire." Lily's eyes widened. Though it was unspoken, it was practically forbidden for werewolves to even associate with their sworn enemies. Lily couldn't even imagine how much trouble someone would be in for exchanging secrets with them.

"As you can imagine, the council has taken it pretty seriously. I was up almost all of last night gathering information about it. It was covered up fairly well, but you know what I say: the truth always comes out in the end." Just the fact that the council was involved meant that the issue was grave. Most problems among packs were handled by local officials or maybe even regional. But the council? They were linked to the king himself.

"You spoke with Alpha Ellison," Lily replied after a few seconds. "What motive did he give?"

"He was in financial need," Michael spoke with a sigh. "He was young and foolish and he thought he could get away with it. Now he regrets it more than anything," he finished with a sad expression. Lily immediately felt her own heart pang with sadness. Not only did she love her alpha the way that one might love a beloved uncle, she knew how hard it must be for her father. They had been best friends since before Lily was born and she knew that they respected each other immensely.

"I'm sorry, daddy," she spoke after a few moments of heavy silence. She reached her hand over to his and grasped it comfortingly. He nodded and squeezed her small hand gently.

"The worst part is that the council is so blinded in their outrage that they now believe the worst. They've only found enough evidence to support one instance, but there's speculation that the secret meetings happened repeatedly. Some are even accusing him of having current affiliations."

"And you know for sure that these allegations aren't true?"

"Yes. I spoke with Ellison for a long time last night and he would have told me if these accusations were true." Lily nodded in relief.

"So what's going to happen?" She asked fearfully.

"Well, he's asked for my help. I'm going to speak for him when they come here."

"They're coming here?" Lily asked, astonished. The council rarely ever traveled anywhere and when they did, it usually meant the alpha king came with them.

"Yes. Unfortunately, Ellison's actions are a reflection of the entire pack. They want to 'check some things out' I suppose. There will be a formal trial, the traditional style, of course. And as beta and long-time friend of our alpha, I'll be speaking for Ellison and this pack," Michael spoke strongly, but Lily could sense his nervousness. She squeezed his hand in reassurance before collecting their empty plates and silverware and walking toward the sink.