Unfortunately it was a few days later, and not a few hours, that saw Sophie once again follow Zack to the pack meeting at the community hall. The two alphas from the council had decided to begin interviewing pack members, and so had not left pack grounds for days. And because Zack felt the pack meeting should be conducted with only pack members in attendance, it meant that it had to be delayed. Sophie was not happy with the delay but ultimately she understood why Zack wanted to keep it away from the councils attention.
The delay had also meant that she and Zack had been together almost constantly for the last three days. They had talked and argued, laughed and cried (her doing the crying) together and just gotten to know each other. And she was amazed to discover she actually liked her mate.
He had a sharp sense of humour and a dry wit that she loved. He had told her stories from his childhood that had tears of laughter streaming from her eyes. She had told him about her parents and her idyllic childhood, before their death. And she discovered that they had a lot of likes and dislikes in common. If not for their tragic beginnings, they could have had the perfect mating.
She strode confidentiality alongside her mate as they entered through the large open doors, she found that this time there were no nerves as she looked over the assembled pack. Only determination.
The pack had already gathered and the noise was profound as curious pack members speculated on the purpose of the hastily called, then postponed meeting. When the first person saw us enter, word spread quickly and the noise soon quietened till an uneasy silence prevailed. As we stepped up on to the dais, together this time, Zack stepped up to the front and slowly looked out over his assembled pack.
Sophie could see the determined set of Zack's spine and shoulders as he looked out over his pack and a feeling of pride in him crept over her. In one way she was proud that he was finally taking a stand against those members who were just bullies. But she couldn't help the feeling of disappointment and even despair that it had taken this long for these changes to happen. But she knew he was now trying to do the right thing.
The saying "better late than never" came to mind, but was quickly dismissed. Sometimes it is just too late. She hoped this wasn't one of those times.
Sophie turned her attention back to Zack as he addressed the assembled pack.
"Good evening everyone. Thank you all for coming here tonight. I'm sure you all are wondering why I have called this meeting, well I won't keep you all waiting." Zack paused, looking at Sophie.
"I stand here before you today and I am ashamed!" He proclaimed. Gasps and murmurings came from the pack. Zack held his hands up silently asking for quiet. When there was silence once again, he continued.
"Yes ashamed. I am deeply ashamed of both myself and of certain members of my own pack." More gasps and muttering. "When I think back to when I was a young pup, I was so proud to be a member of this pack and proud to be the Alpha heir. I had what most, even humans, would call a perfect "childhood". But what I didn't know then was that it was all an illusion. What I didn't see when I was young was the darker side of pack life, because it didn't effect me, I could not see it."
He shook his head sadly. "And when I did begin to see something wrong......I did nothing. When I took over as Alpha I told myself I would change things. I would make pack life fairer for all. I vowed to protect the weak and stand beside the strong in defence of my pack. When I took the alpha vow I wholeheartedly meant every word. I had saw what had happened to my own mate, under all our noses and I told myself that I would make sure nothing like that would ever happen to a member of my pack again. But I failed."
Zack hung his head before slowly bringing it up again to look out at the many shocked faces. "To my shame I told myself that I could only do one thing at a time. I was faced with so much opposition from certain pack members that I told myself it was better to fight the fights I knew I could win, before moving onto issues that were more......controversial. That was wrong!"
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Betrayal And Redemption (Wolves of Hollow Ridge Book 1)
WerewolfHighest Ranking #1 in Alpha Female Taken in by a relative she had never heard of after the death of her parents, Sophie was subjected to abuse so vile most people would not have survived. Betrayed by the pack who took her in and the mate who shou...
