Lethal Temptation (by Michelle Ray) novel Chapter 290

< 290 The Reckoning of the Alphas-1

290 The Reckoning of the Alphas-1

Lucian

Clam

We showered together-quiet, focused, no words needed. When we stepped out and dressed, I linked my father. He and Martha were ready.

At the front of the mansion, Denis and Sam were already waiting. We climbed into the vehicles and

headed back to headquarters.

The crowd had grown.

People lined the streets, still cheering. Massive screens had been set up across the plaza, broadcasting the sentencing live to every corner of the island. The press was stationed in front of every camera. This wasn’t just a formality-it was the island’s reckoning.

Mara and I entered the hall hand in hand, the hum of whispers and drone of anticipation falling to a hush. My father and Martha followed behind us, then Denis and Sam. We were ushered to the high seats at the

front.

Mara took the seat beside me. My father sat next to Martha. Darian was already in place, calm but alert. The Alpha of Southwood sat near the edge-one of the only Alphas who had remained loyal. The others? They were the reason we were here.

I gave Darian a small nod.

“Bring them in,” he ordered.

The doors opened, and the prisoners were marched into the room, shirtless and bound in silver chains that burned against their skin. Most of them looked broken, staring at the ground, shame written across their faces. But two of them… two wore pride like armor. Their eyes met mine without flinching.

Fools. If they knew what was coming, they’d be begging the goddess for mercy.

Then came Alaric.

He stumbled into the hall, half-blind now-thanks to Sam-and missing an arm. There wasn’t a trace of the smug tyrant he once was. But I felt no pity. He’d earned every scar.

On the big screens, the cameras zoomed in. The journalists focused on him, hoping for some final

moment of drama. I didn’t give them theatrics. I gave them truth.

I stood. Mara squeezed my hand before I let go, grounding me.

I cleared my throat.

The hall fell completely silent.

“Alaric,” I began, voice clear, steady. “We tried to fight fair. And you chose to cheat.”

“You aligned yourself with the young Alpha of Neev, then double-crossed us the moment you realized you

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Claw

couldn’t win the challenge. You had the option to tap out. We would have honored it. You and your allies

would’ve walked away alive.”

I looked him dead in the eye.

“But you didn’t. You chose deceit. Again. You tried to win by force, by manipulation-by hiding behind

others. You gambled everything, and the goddess chose justice.”

I let the words settle. I could feel the weight of the moment building.

Then I turned my eyes to the line of traitorous Alphas-the ones who abandoned us in our hour of need.

“The sentencing of Alaric will be handled separately,” I said coldly. “But you-each of you-betrayed your oath. You left this island vulnerable for your own gain. You allowed a tyrant to rise again because of your

cowardice.”

Some bowed their heads. Others just stared.

“Today, your punishment will reflect the weight of that betrayal.”

And now, the reckoning would begin.

I stood tall, my voice cutting through the silence like a blade.

“A Nighthorn is not an Alpha by ceremony,” I said. “A Nighthorn is an Alpha because every other clan on this island was born from the Mooncrest bloodline. Every Alpha here carries a diluted version of our mark. That is why this land is called Mooncrest Island. That is why, when a true Nighthorn speaks, every Alpha Mark on this island burns in response.”

As I spoke, the skin over my shoulder seared with heat. My mark flared, glowing faintly, and I saw the flickers of pain flash across the chained Alphas. Some shifted in their seats. Some gritted their teeth.

“You were granted authority-not because you earned it, but because our population grew too large for one family to govern alone. So we let the clans form. We let you lead. That was our gift to you.

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<290 The Reckoning of the Alphas 2

290 The Reckoning of the Alphas-2

And you used it to stab us in the back.”

My voice dropped lower, heavier.

Clam

“You tried to steal the Nighthorns’ birthright. You conspired with a traitor to corrupt our land. And now, I stand here… furious. Not just because you turned your backs on us-but because good people died yesterday due to your cowardice. Warriors. Families. Innocents. Blood spilled for your ambition.”

I paused, let it land.

“They had mates. Children. Parents. Friends. And you-you-chose your greed over their lives.”

My tone hardened.

“As Alpha of your clans, you were still bound to serve the Nighthorns. Instead, you sided with our enemy. You betrayed that oath.”

I looked each of them in the eye, one by one.

“For that, I strike your family names from the Alpha registry. No one in your bloodline bearing an Alpha Mark will ever lead again. That line ends now.”

Gasps rippled through the hall, but I continued, unflinching.

“Next-your werewolf gifts will be stripped. Each of you will have a silver ring embedded into your spines. You will no longer shift. No longer heal. No longer run with your wolves. You will live as men.”

A pause. Then the final blow.

“And you will spend the rest of your human lives in imprisonment-with hard labor. You will break stone until your bones give out, until your backs bend, until you die with the weight of your betrayal etched into your flesh.”

I turned toward Alaric without meeting his eye.

“As for you… your fate will be decided by my father and his mate.”

Then I sat, the silence in the hall thick as smoke.

But one of the Alphas-the youngest of the defectors-lifted his head, pain laced in his voice.

“We did nothing wrong, Alpha,” he said. “We stayed neutral. We didn’t raise arms against you. We only

wanted to survive.”

“That is your crime,” Mara said, rising from her seat with a voice that rang out across the hall like steel

drawn from a sheath.

Every head turned.

“As lower Alphas, your duty is to protect the island and uphold the Nighthorn lineage. That is your first

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responsibility. The foundation of your role. And when the moment came-you abandoned it.”

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