Heavy silence follows my question. They hide their faces from my sight, shift, and fidget in their seats as if they aren't comfortable anymore. My eyes go from looking at all their faces to resting on Sylvester whose adam's apple bobs up and down as he swallows, opens, and closes his mouth like a fish out of water.
"That was not a rhetorical question Sylvester, I expected some answer!" I growl and he shot to his feet out of fear.
"I– I... Alpha. I don't know... I mean..." He stutters on and on. Well, not like I'm expecting any answer from him anyway. I just want to rattle him a bit. I watch him sweat some more under my scrutiny before I finally turn away to continue with the meeting.
"Now, let's talk about the trust Sylvester brought up..." I say, moving around as I talk.
"Whether you all like it or not, I am the Alpha of Silver-moon pack and not your precious Justin because I won the duel fear and square. And as the Alpha, how do you expect me to trust the people who pretended to be loyal to my father yet sabotaged him behind his back!?" I bellowed.
The photo slide moves from the fence to the smashed energizer inside my dad's workshop.
"But who could have done this?..." A female voice asks from amongst them
I laugh coldly at the question
"I'm sure you don't need a soothsayer to confirm to you that the person or persons responsible for that damage is amongst you guys," I replied to whoever it was that spoke.
Of course, I know it could also be someone that is not among the security team but I'm not about to tell them that. They will figure it out themselves as meeting goes on.
"But Alpha, the last time most of us saw that border was when the fence was newly commissioned. I for one have not been there after that day." The voice said again, standing up this time.
"Oh, and why is that?" I ask pretending as if I don't know what she is talking about but before she can reply, another person stands and reply
"Because we each have the zones that we patrol, Alpha. All of us forty-two patrol members don't work together. My name is Malik. I'm a warrior but I patrol the north under Elder Zachary.
You said earlier that you called this meeting to find out from us, how we can tackle the genesis of this problem. Perhaps the Alpha will permit me to make a suggestion?"
"Sure. Go ahead." I reply
"Respectfully, Alpha. Most of us dedicated our lives to the service of this pack. And our dedication and honest services also contributed to the growth of Silver-Moon. We have families, Alpha and it will be unfair if you take away our jobs or send us out of the pack for a crime we know nothing about.
"How am I supposed to know that none of you here have any hand in sabotaging my dad's efforts?"
"Because none of us here patrols that zone... My point is, that an investigation should begin with the shifters patrolling the border. They are responsible for the place and owe, not only you but all of us some answers as to what happened.
If they are indeed doing their jobs judicially then how come they didn't notice the fence and its charger has been vandalized? Come to think of it, none of them are here. Has anyone seen them?..." He asks, looking at his colleagues' faces
"I already ordered for their arrest..." I replied to his question and he looked back at me with surprise.
I smile and turn my gaze away from him and to the others...
"As Malik has said, it would be unfair to punish the wrong people and the investigation should begin with the shifters patrolling the border. All fifteen of them including their superior are currently on their way to the dungeon pending investigation as we speak.
Not only that. It would interest you to know that this pack is going through a restructuring. I'm reorganizing the pack's hierarchy."
Most of their mouths fall open to form ohs in surprise as I continue talking
"The reason for that is because all of the executives have been fired. No, sorry. I meant to say, that the pack has only one executive left while the rest have been fired. I called for an executive meeting to discuss the state of the border but only one of them showed up while the Gamma chief thought it was a good idea to kill me instead of showing up for the meeting."
The picture on the screen then changed to the video of my bullet-riddled car and the Gammas that attacked us, with Eric's voice explaining their crime in the background.
"So guys, what is the sentence given to shifters who attempted to ambush and murder their Alpha?" I ask but none of them answers
"Well, since this is not the council court, let's leave that for them to decide. Moving forward. I'm going to bring this meeting to an end by saying what I said at the beginning.
Any one of you who doesn't accept me as their Alpha is free to leave right now. Anyone of you that's loyal to their former superior, Justin, and Evelyn to the extent of thinking they can sabotage the pack should also leave right now.
You can choose to obey your superiors, I don't care. If you don't leave, I want you to know that Cyrus and his Gammas are lucky to get away with their lives. You might not be if you tried what they did. That's a fair enough warming..."
Before I finish my sentence, Malik steps out from the bleachers where he is sitting and starts walking towards where my men and I are standing. I thought he wanted to leave after the announcement I made but to my surprise, he went on one knee in front of me...
"I, Malik Jayden Johnson, do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to you, Alpha Thor Silver of the Silver-Moon pack, according to law. My wolf, I pledge to you, to fight for and beside you, so help me, goddess!"
I was surprised to see this. I wasn't expecting any commitment. I was expecting to kick if not all of them but most of them out of the patrol team tonight since I thought they would be committed to their superiors and Evelyn so much they wouldn't even think of kissing my ass but I got one of them already eating out of my paws.
I thought Malik was the end but no, Sylvester also comes forward and of course Victoria. I guess she didn't tell them she already pledged not only to fight by my side but also to go wild in my bed.
After Victoria, they started coming out. It's as if no one wants to be left out until there are all forty-two of them kneeling on one knee in front of me. My dad is right about not being too hard on them. Even with Victoria's help, I'm not sure I would have gotten their attention if it wasn't for Eric who suggested I let them see the evidence.