Questions come fast and layered, but I raise one hand to set the pace rather than stop them, and when I am asked whether I authorized the release I answer no without elaboration, and when I am asked whether I encouraged the survivor to go public I repeat that I listened.
The room beyond the camera goes still as I confirm the documents are authentic, and I feel the shift as speculation gives way to consequence.
“These files confirm what people have been saying privately for years,” I continue. “They describe practices normalized without oversight and enforced without transparency.”
When a reporter asks if the institution abused its power, I answer that power was exercised without accountability and harm resulted, and when responsibility is demanded I pause deliberately before explaining that systems do not act alone, because people built them, people enforced them, and accountability must reflect that truth.
Ben’s presence at my back is a steady anchor, and I know he is watching the edges and tracking movement while preparing for backlash that has not arrived yet but will, and when a voice cuts through to ask whether I am prepared to step aside given the scale of the failure, I meet the camera directly and answer no.
“I am prepared to correct it,” I continue, “and I will not step away from that responsibility.”
The feed erupts as support surges and opposition sharpens, and somewhere behind the cameras the council is scrambling to draft language meant to contain and isolate me while reclaiming control of a moment that has already moved past them.
Sally’s tablet vibrates as she steps closer and murmurs that they are issuing a statement, and when a reporter reads aloud that the release was reckless and destabilizing and that leadership must prioritize unity, I answer calmly that unity built on silence is suppression and does not survive scrutiny.
When I am asked whether I knew about these practices before today, I answer yes and explain that I knew fragments but not the full scope until recently, and that I acted by dismantling what I could quietly and by refusing to silence those who came forward.
The camera lingers as I say the files matter because they validate lived experience that was dismissed for too long, and another alert flashes behind the lens as confirmation of further releases comes through, prompting Sally to inhale sharply while Ben’s hand presses briefly against my back.
I say that we will respond with action rather than denial just before the feed cuts without warning, and the room explodes into motion as terminals light up and voices rise, and when Ben says they cut me I answer that they had to.
Sally moves immediately to shift protocols toward safety instead of silence, and when my tablet vibrates with a message confirming a second release and promising more, I understand with absolute clarity that this was never a single leak or a single voice, and that what comes next will not be decided in closed rooms.
Ben watches me closely. “What happens now.”
I swallow once, steadying myself, my wolf standing shoulder to shoulder with me instead of pacing.

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Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The Omega and The Arrogant Alpha (by Kylie)
Very great read. Could have done with out the last few chapters....
Love the story. How can I read the remaining?...