Tangled Hearts - The Alpha's Baby Mama-Chapter 154: Interim Leader - Beta Reid...

Selene POV ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

We all waited for the guards to leave and for Noah to sit down before we settled on our seats. As I took my place beside him, I couldn’t help but notice the inscrutable mask he now wore. His eyes betrayed no outward hint of the fracas and quarrel we had a while ago. How he could have moved on so quickly was a mystery to me.

He adjusted the microphone in front of him and began speaking "Good afternoon, Alpha of the Easter Coalition," he waited for the Alphas to acknowledge his greeting and continued "Let me first convey my gratitude for your patience and for remaining at Moon Whispers through everything that has happened so far," he rumbled "Initially, you were all slated to spend only a week at Moon Whispers and return to your various packs but, a lot of things forced that you remain here,".

He paused letting his words sink in as his piercing stare swept over all the Alphas stopping at Xavier and Kurtis who regarded him with unreadable expressions. "Now, regarding the purpose of your visit about Alpha Xavier Steele making Kurtis who is a known rogue leader an Alpha and not just that but also a member of the Eastern Alpha Coalition and his assistant leader. After careful thoughts and investigations, I will not give my verdict,".

Why was Noah referring to Kurtis as if he was still carrying out his rogue activities up until now? He stopped over six months ago, while was he making so much fuss at it? Kurtis on the other hand didn’t give a damn, he continued staring at Noah as if he hadn’t just called him a rogue in the presence of this Alphas... he must know that Noah was purposely rubbing it in.

"Honestly, when this case first got tabled here, I was at another crossroads one that would test my foundation as an unbiased and impartial King who takes cognizance of our laws and adheres to them. I am not doing this because I am related to Alpha Xavier the person involved and I hope that no matter the outcome of the verdict, you all will see the honesty behind it and not judge based on your personal feelings. Be rest assured, I made the best choice regardless of blood ties and relation,".

Drawing himself to his full height and squaring his shoulders, He continued again "As the Lycan King of the Easter Region and Zone, it is not in my place both constitutionally and otherwise to interfere in the electoral process of whatever activity that is done in your coalition. My role however is to make sure that the law is followed to the latter no matter who is involved. So..."

Another lingering pause held the room. I could feel the atmosphere charging with tension as all the Alphas had their eyes on Noah as if he were some kind of god. I had a feeling that the next word would spoil a lot of goodwill and Noah wasn’t relenting anytime soon.

"So... by the law, Alpha Kurtis is not qualified to be an Alpha," his voice rang out. I recognize that he has done a lot of good to the Eastern zone in terms of security, alms and a whole lot but that is not enough reason to make him one since the standard way of choosing an Alpha is through inheritance, unanimous agreement, or appointment by a..." his eyes strayed to Xavier by a Lycan King and in cases of the appointment, the person must come from a lineage of Alphas or Betas in most case and will have a track record of being useful in the society,".

"Why is why, I must unequivocally revoke Alpha Xavier’s decision to make Kurtis and Alpha and also a member of the Eastern Alpha Pack Coalition effective from this moment. Kurtis would return to Greyhound pack all the people he has gathered as pack members and relinquish all the access that has been granted to him since his ascension as Alpha. However, in the future, if Kurtis remains on his best behaviour, we might reconsider and if he’s worthy, he will be made an Alpha,".

Noah’s gaze turned towards Kurtis who rose to his feet and bowed towards Noah and without saying a word, he started moving towards the door. I felt Noah stiffen beside me as he arched his brow,

"Don’t you have any words to say or maybe express your displeasure or anything, Kurtis?" Noah stopped him.

Kurtis twirled slowly... his face was as blank as a whiteboard and his countenance was as calm as a stream that I wondered how he was so nonchalant about everything. Over the months, he has spent a lot trying to nurture his new pack. If I was the one that everything was taken from me because of some stupid criteria that if considered carefully, I would still qualify, I doubt I would remain as calm as he was.

"No, your Majesty!" he said calmly "I do not have anything to say regarding your judgment and final verdict,".

Noah scoffed and wanted to say something but thought against it. He simply waved his hands in dismissal at him and watched with disdain as Kurtis bowed again and resumed walking to the door. We all waited until he was gone before Noah turned his gaze to Xavier once more.

"Alpha Xavier Steele took the laws in his hands. He defied our sacred traditions and laws by refusing to listen to the voices of other Alphas which he was made the head. He acted alone, took advantage of his power as an Alpha Leader and at such would be punished,".

The words seemed to suck out every air in the hall as the rest of the Alphas turned to stare at each other with their mouths hanging open. The rebuke, the indirect dressing down of Xavier was a first for everyone including me. I couldn’t help but tense as I awaited his verdict too.

An eerie, silence filled the hall as Noah’s gaze left Xavier and swept across the hall once more. "This should also serve as a warning to anyone who wants to brazenly defile our traditions and lawful processes will be severely punished. I hope we all understand?"

One of the Alphas – who I recognized as Alpha Kyle of the Shadow Hunt Pack raised his hand indicating he wanted to speak and Noah nodded for him to go ahead.

"Your Majesty," Kyle started "It is also in our jurisdiction that a serving Alpha has immunity both he and his family would only be punished in situations where he is found guilty of treason which is not the case here. I hope you can look into it and retract your statement,".

"Oh!" Noah chuckled "I almost forgot one salient detail. I discovered that a lot of you Alphas have been taken advantage of the immunity system conferred on you and have committed all sorts of atrocity, so I asked the Judicial committee to draw up an act that will help checkmate you people,".

The screen came up and the act flashed on it. All the Alphas in the hall had shocks written boldly on their faces except Alpha Jared and Xavier. After making sure that the Alphas had read the new act, he turned off the screen and continued.

"Therefore, in addition to revoking Kurtis’s title, I am also suspending Alpha Xavier’s leadership over the Eastern Alpha Coalition pack effective immediately. This suspension is indefinite and he would only be reinstated depending on how contrite he acts,".

The stillness that followed after his pronouncement was so loud. All the Alphas had disbelief on their faces – I mean if Noah could do this to his nephew, how much more of them? Besides, I couldn’t have foreseen everything that just happened here. But Noah wasn’t done yet. He rose to his feet and came down from the platform, his eyes still on every Alpha present in the hall.

"In Xavier’s stead, I have appointed my Beta Reid to act as Interim Leader," Noah said gesturing towards Reid who was sitting behind me on the platform. Reid rose stiffly and nodded tersely before sitting back down.

"He shall be assisted by Alpha Jared of the Blue Moon pack. Hopefully, we pray it’s not permanent and I hope the affected parties will do the right thing and right their wrongs. This is my judgement,".

As he started back to his seat, I caught a smirk on his lips and that was when it dawned on me the real reason he had asked me to be in this meeting... It was for him to show off and flex how much power he can wield.

As the thought crossed my mind, our gaze met and he smiled... he did it on purpose.