The Pack's Hacker (by Cooper) novel Chapter 296

Piper

Jealousy. There’s no other word for it. I’m jealous. I mean, I’m happy for Lila. I really am. She’s great and what she did for Cyra was incredibly difficult. It says a lot about her integrity and honor.

But when she and Landon walked up and her scent was smothered with his, I felt the spike of jealousy. I’m not proud of it, but there it is.

‘We’ll find our mate one day, Piper. And when we do, he’ll want the world to know we’re his just as much as Landon wants everyone to know that Lila is his,’ my wolf, Fallon, says.

‘I shouldn’t be jealous, Fallon. It’s beneath us,’ I say.

‘Wanting our mate is an acceptable reason to be jealous.’ My wolf, always the voice of reason.

I watch as Stellan loses his shit while Landon practically devours Lila beside me. By the time Landon releases her, the Alpha Squad has forced Stellan to his knees. I don’t feel bad for him. He did this to himself and from everything that I know about Lila, she deserved a much better mate than Stellan.

When he’s done, Landon wraps his arm around Lila and smiles smugly at a panting Stellan. Seriously, what did he think was going to happen? That Lila would just wait for him after everything he did to her? He gives Alphas a bad name.

When the council files in, they try to get Stellan’s attention. When he doesn’t respond, Raptor puts his hand on Stellan’s head and forces him to turn to face the council.

“Alpha Stellan, I see we’re still having problems today. We’ll make this quick. After hearing the testimony of Lila McIntosh, now Lila Reed,” he begins and Osman, Landon’s wolf immediately begins purring loudly just as Stellan’s wolf begins snarling. Landon shuts Osman up, but not before Councilman Edward gives him a brief look.

Then he turns to Stellan.

“She is mine!” Stellan snarls.

“Geez, dude. Get a grip. You lost,” Zach murmurs beside me.

“Idiot,” I say.

“Alpha Stellan, keep talking out of turn and I will have Raptor muzzle you. It wouldn’t be the first time today we’ve had to muzzle someone who couldn’t control themselves,” Councilman Edward says. 1

“Osman, stay quiet. I don’t want them muzzling you,” Lila says quietly, putting a hand on Landon’s chest. Osman very, very quietly purrs his appreciation at his mate before she shushes him.

Councilman Edward continues. “As I was saying, we heard the testimony of Lila Reed earlier this week. The Council was also notified by Alpha Nevaeh about Mrs. Reed’s notification and the concern that you were going to try to force your mark on Alpha Cyra. You were remanded into custody later that night, by the leader of the council’s Alpha squad, Raptor, and the previous leader of Alpha squad, Steel. The Council finds you guilty of your second charge, knowingly and intentionally attempting to force Alpha Cyra into a mate bond to gain access to her inheritance.”

Alpha Stellan remains on his knees, panting with his anger, but he doesn’t say a word. I wonder if he saw Arden returning to prison with burn marks on his face.

“For your third charge, you are charged with tampering with a supply of birth control that was delivered to Alpha Cyra’s pack causing multiple, dangerous pregnancies in older she-wolves.”

Once again, he turns to the Tech Team. “Tracker, your team was able to track the delivery truck?”

“Yes, Councilman,” she says, going through how she tracked the delivery using the truck’s GPS system. She also stated that the company had cooperated completely with her request for information and she provided the information to Saber from C- Squad. 1

“Saber, please come forward,” Councilman says.

I hadn’t even seen her enter the back of the courtroom. She’s incredibly quiet. I’m surprised her code name isn’t Stealth.

She steps up in front of the council and explains her involvement, the information that she obtained in Yorick and Cyra’s pack, and how they hunted down the delivery driver.

Councilman Edward looks at another military person standing beside the bench and nods. I don’t know this person, but they are obviously part of one of the council’s elite squads.

“Do you know who that is?” I whisper to Zach.

“Beta Squad, don’t know his name,” he says. I know Zach is vying for the Alpha Squad, especially now that Yorick has plans to join C-Squad.

The Beta Squad member leads a man out of the back. Instantly, Stellan begins snarling.

“You fucking asshole!”

I squeeze her hand, so proud of her strength.

Stellan begins howling as they drag him from the courtroom.

“Good for you, Lila,” I say as the council leaves the courtroom.

Osman begins purring loudly again, making Lila blush as Landon pulls her into his arms. I hear him murmur about how he’s going to show her just how happy her words made him later, and I feel that flare of jealousy all over again.

“Ready to head back to the Academy?” I ask Zach and Chase.

“Yeah, let’s say goodbye. This week has put us behind and I could use the time to study,” Chase says.

“Hey, you okay?” Zach asks me quietly.

“Yeah. I’m good,” I say, smiling. It’s a fake smile and Zach knows me well enough to know it, but thankfully, he doesn’t push.

As we say goodbye, Alpha Quirin reminds me again that I’m welcome in his pack anytime.

“I need to reach out to Vivienne. She’s gone rogue again, but maybe a pack like yours would work for her.” 2

“Rogues are my specialty. Let me know,” he says.

“Thanks, I will.”

We say goodbye and head back to the Academy. Zach isn’t the only one vying for a position on the Alpha Squad and if I’m going to defeat him for the one position available, I’m going to have to work my ass off the rest of the school year.