chapter 6

Adonis POV

The Pack square was noisy. Voices of men, women and children could be heard. There were loud chatterings and a few whispers too. One thing was certain, no one knew why the meeting was called.

I raised my hands, as was customary, to signal for everyone to maintain decorum and tranquillity, so I could tell them why they were there. They all kept mute, and slowly moved forward toward me for better understanding. They had super hearing as wolves, so I always wondered why they had to come closer each time I had an announcement.to make.

"Wolves of Westwood Pack!"

"Aye!"

"Wolves of Westwood Pack!"

"Aye! Aye! Aye!"

"Today, we're going to witness something quite spectacular and I hope you'll all be delighted when I make the announcement."

I glanced around through the crowd, from left to right for nothing in particular. Just before I could retract my gaze, my attention was caught by something; by someone. It was Zara, Lita's sister. She looked just like her sister but she always dyed her hair blue. After a while, I quickly took my attention back to what was on the ground.

"Today, we'll witness what happens to people who commit treasonable offences in the pack. What do we do to anyone who commits treason in this pack?" I asked.

"Away with him! The one who has chosen to be a traitor must be put away! Away with him!" They all chorused.

"What if it's a woman?"

"Away with her, dear alpha. By your hands, your mighty hands shall she meet death before her time!"

It was the law. Everyone knew the law. Everyone loved the law until they were faced with the law. Nobody ever wanted to be the victim. Nobody. Yet, someone always had to be and in this case, a very familiar face amongst the members of the pack.

I raised my two hands, gesturing to Danny that it was time to bring in the offender. He nodded, went inside and emerged with Lita, who was screaming and begging for mercy. He dragged her to the podium where I stood, her hands tied to her back and her pretty face full of tears. As she looked at me, she bowed a little, and I could tell that she was full of regrets for what she had done but it was too late. I wasn't going to let such disrespect go that way, even though I felt really bad for what I was about to do.

"This woman here, whom you all know that I love with all of my heart…" I said, before pausing to kiss her on the lips for a few minutes to show how much I did love her. It was a mistake. She didn't try to resist. She seemed to be content with enjoying her last moment with me and that only made my resolve to kill her a bit weaker, but I had to do it. "She has committed a treasonable offence, too big for my mouth to mention and as much as I love her, there's no one above the law. I'm an alpha who puts the pack first before anything else and I'll show anyone who defies the laws of the land, the wrath of my judgment, regardless of who they are. Who matters in this pack?"

I couldn't say what it was that she did as I knew that a lot of wolves wouldn't agree with me that it was a treasonable offence. But it was treason if I said so. I was the alpha after all and she defied my orders. That was treason enough for me. If she could do that, without any form of fear,.there was no telling what she could do next.

"Everyone matters; the alpha and the rest of the pack!" They chorused.

"Who's superior in the pack?"

"Only the alpha and the family of the alpha! The rest of us are equal!"

"Good. Today, you all would see that I'm an alpha that stands for justice and fairness. I'm strong enough to execute that, no matter what. Who wants to see the traitor executed according to the good old traditions?"

"We hail thee, Alpha! We must uphold the customs of our fathers!". All the wolves stamped their feet on the ground three times, as was the custom and I held Lita's throat, and stared at her lovely face one last time. I was moved to tears but I wasn't going to show signs of weakness to anyone in the pack. She brought it to herself.

As was the tradition for public executions of women, I ran my hands through her hair for a minute and lifted her head. I battled with myself deep down and I think she did notice as she began to smile at me. I shut my eyes for a while as the people kept screaming for me to do the needful.

Then I summoned up some courage. I couldn't change my mind at that point. I held out my hands and out, came my claws, which I positioned just on her throat, ready to take the life of my dearest concubine.

"I love you, Adonis. Even death can never change it," she said to me, totally breaking every resistance that I had. I felt tears drop from my eyes for the first time in a long time. I was lucky that I backed the crowd so they couldn't see it. I thought it wise to let her die without being bound, so I loosened the chains she was bound with.

As the chains fell off, she quickly brought her hand to my face. It could have been to attack me, but I didn't feel the need to defend myself. She slowly wiped my tears with her fingers, nodded and whispered to me, "Do it."

I put out my claws again and swiftly ran them across her throat as her blood splattered on my face and the floor. The deed was done. I had given everyone the justice we all deserved. I felt like I had done the right thing and even she agreed and didn't protest it. Yet, deep down, I was sad and lonely.

I turned around to cheers from everyone in the crowd. They all stamped their feet and clapped their hands. All except one person; Zara. She looked so sad but it wasn't just sadness. There was this look of disgust and contempt that I saw on her face. Yet, she managed to smile as our eyes met. Something was off. She may have thought about the consequences of defying me and kept mute. Yet, I couldn't help but feel like there was something wrong.

Could it be that Lita had told her what happened before she was captured? I could not quite tell. She just kept smiling.