The Alpha King And His Chosen Luna novel Chapter 233

< The first witness

The first witness

(Caius)

The Council gathered once again the following morning. The mood inside the chamber had changed since yesterday. No one spoke as the elders took their seats around the table. Every face carried the same question.

Pryor stood beside my chair with another folder in his hands. He waited until Sorin acknowledged him before taking a single step forward. The silence in the chamber grew heavier with every passing moment. I could tell he had come prepared.

Sorin looked around the table.

“Yesterday we uncovered missing records. Today we will hear from someone connected to those records.”

He turned toward Pryor.

“You requested this witness. You may proceed.”

Pryor inclined his head.

“Thank you, Elder.”

He placed the folder on the table before him.

“While reviewing Wraithbone’s archives, I found the name of a former Ashcrest official whose duties placed him in direct contact with Rodan’s office. He agreed to appear before the Council after learning why this investigation had begun.”

Pryor looked toward the doors.

“If the Council permits, I would like to call Amos Vale.”

Every eye in the chamber turned as the doors slowly opened.

An elderly man stepped through the doorway with the help of one of our warriors. His hair had turned completely white, and the years showed plainly across his face, but there was nothing uncertain about the way he carried himself. He stopped a few feet from the Council table before bowing respectfully.

“Pryor,” Sorin said, “introduce the witness.”

Pryor opened the folder.

“This is Amos Vale. He served Ashcrest as its chief record keeper for twenty eight years before retiring six years ago. His responsibilities included maintaining official records, receiving correspondence, and documenting matters that passed through Alpha Rodan’s office.”

Halvon studied the man carefully.

“You understand why you have been called before this Council?”

“I do,” Amos answered. “I was told the Council is investigating matters connected to Luna Isla.”

1/5

The first witness

“You understand that everything you say here will become part of the official record?”

“I do.”

Sorin gave a single nod.

“Then speak truthfully.”

“I intend to.”

The chamber became silent once more.

Pryor stepped aside.

Claim

“Master Vale, during your years serving Ashcrest, did official correspondence addressed to Alpha Rodan pass through your office before reaching him?”

Amos nodded.

“Almost all of it did.”

“Almost?”

“Yes.”

His answer caused several elders to exchange quiet looks.

Pryor kept his attention on Amos.

“Explain.”

Amos folded his hands in front of him.

“Most letters arrived through normal channels. They were entered into the record before being delivered to Alpha Rodan.”

“And the others?”

“They never reached my desk.”

A quiet murmur spread around the table before fading again.

Halvon spoke next.

“How many are we talking about?”

“I cannot give an exact number. Over the years, I became aware of several letters that were delivered directly to Alpha Rodan without passing through the record office.”

“Who delivered them?”

“I never learned their names. They arrived alone, carried sealed Council markings, and requested Alpha Rodan personally.”

Sorin watched him carefully.

Claim

The first witness-

“Did that concern you?”

“At the time, I believed they were confidential Council matters.”

Pryor looked at him

“When did you begin to think otherwise?”

Amos let out a quiet breath.

“When I realized those letters were never entered into Ashcrest’s official records.”

The chamber fell silent once again.

No one needed Pryor to explain why that mattered.

Every official communication was supposed to leave a record.

Those letters hadn’t.

Evander broke the silence.

“That is unusual, but not unheard of. Sensitive Council matters have occasionally been delivered directly to an Alpha.”

Halvon turned toward him.

“Sensitive matters are still recorded.”

“They should be.”

“Then why weren’t these?”

Evander spread his hands.

“We don’t know that they weren’t. Ashcrest’s records may simply be incomplete.”

Amos looked at him.

“They were incomplete.”

Every eye shifted back to the old record keeper.

“I reviewed the archives myself before retiring. I searched for those letters because I wanted to close the gaps in our records.”

“And?” Sorin asked.

“I found nothing.”

Pryor folded his hands behind his back.

“So neither Wraithbone nor Ashcrest retained copies.”

“No.”

Claim

The first vulness

Amos lowered his head briefly.

“It was as though they had never existed.”

A thoughtful silence settled over the chamber.

I looked from Amos to Evander.

The elder’s expression remained composed, but he answered more quickly than he had yesterday. Each time the missing letters were mentioned, he was the first to offer another explanation.

I couldn’t prove it meant anything.

Still, I found myself wondering why he seemed so determined to make the Council believe the missing records were nothing more than an unfortunate mistake.

I broke the silence.

“Master Vale.”

He turned toward me at once.

“Alpha King.”

“When my investigation began at Ashcrest, every record connected to pack discipline and official decisions was placed before my Head of Counsel.”

Pryor gave a small nod.

“We found no copies of the letters Wraithbone’s archives referenced.”

I looked back at Amos.

“If those letters had followed normal procedure, would copies have remained in Ashcrest’s records?”

“Yes, Alpha King.”

“Even if the originals had been sent elsewhere?”

“Yes. A record of their arrival should still have existed.”

I folded my hands on the table.

“So the absence of those records was not normal.”

“No.”

“It could not be explained by age alone?”

“No.”

I studied him for a moment.

“During my investigation, we found no evidence that Ashcrest’s archives had suffered a fire, flood, or theft.

Did any event occur during your years there that could explain official records disappearing?”

The first witness

“None

19

“So someone removed them.”

“That would be my conclusion.”

The words settled over the chamber.

Halvon leaned forward.

“Did Alpha Rodan ever explain why those letters bypassed your office?”

Amos shook his head.

“He only told me they were not my concern.”

“And you accepted that?”

“I did.”

“You never questioned him?”

“I questioned him once.”

Every elder looked at him.

“He told me some orders were too important to be written where ordinary wolves might read them.”

Silence returned.

I looked toward Evander.

“What do you make of that, Elder Evander?”

Evander met my gaze without hesitation.

“It tells us Rodan abused his authority.”