Betrayed by My Pack – Wolfless Hybrids Escape
Chapter 55 –

Paxton's

POV

"Paxton, two members from the Werewolf Council are at the gate demanding entry. They didn't advise why they were here, only that they needed to speak to you. I just told the guards to allow them in. They are the same Council members that we saw at Black Adder, Glenn Floyd and

Gary Sharp," Clay announced after entering my office without knocking.

"Call Rex to meet them at the entrance to the packhouse. Shut the door before you speak again. You can go ahead and stay here with me. Take a seat on the sofa on the far wall. Why are they here? I haven't spoken to them since the incident at Jaxon's pack. Did they file a complaint against us? I haven't seen anything cross my desk that needs to be dealt with. You don't think that Jaxon figured out what we are doing? Do you think Lena would throw us under the bus like that?" I asked him, knowing full well she would do just that to save herself. "Let's no reason to assume anything. Don't offer them any information. Just keep your answers brief and only answer exactly what they ask of you. Eventually, they will tell us why they are here. I doubt that there would only be two of them here if they had found out about our plans. They would have shown up with an army to take us to jail. So stop worrying; they have nothing on us, and we won't give them anything while they are here. Just keep your face neutral, no matter what they say. I told Rex the same thing. They are just here phishing for something," Clay told me.

I relaxed a little, it was probably a routine visit, despite them not announcing they were coming. Clay was calmer than me because it wouldn't be his head on the chopping block if a problem existed. It would be me facing the punishment, which caused some of my anxiety to return. I would rather have a heads-up on their visit, which means they weren't entirely phishing. They were here for a reason, and they wanted to see our reactions to whatever it was. I braced myself to remain neutral. I was not just going to fold like a house of cards. I haven't done anything wrong.

Rex's mindlinked us that they were on their way up to the first floor, where my office was. Goddess, my hands were starting to get clammy. Why did they just show up with no notice? They have always given notice when they were coming. We always got a visit from the northern district of the Council, which consisted of only three members in total. We rarely saw anyone from the main legislative branch, which comprised of six members. One of them would act as an alternate. That allowed them to cover for when someone was out on vacation or someone sick for the vote to be a majority of the five sitting on the panel. They were in charge of this district.

The main branch had been built less than an hour from the southern area's five main packs. That was the cause for anxiety. The main bosses were here, not the underlings and this meant that whatever they were here for was serious. A knock at my door made me realize that it was showtime. Clay got up to open the door, with Rex stepping back and allowing the Council members into my office first. The door was shut, and when Clay and Rex went to sit on the couch behind them, they stopped them.

"Please stand behind your Alpha. We will need to speak to the three of you, and we would like to see you while we ask our questions," Council Member Floyd requested.

That is really not good because it means that they will be observing our reactions. This visit is not for a low-level reason. They have something, and they are planning to test us. I am glad that Clay warned Rex earlier. We didn't need to get our stories straight, we had to show no signs of collusion or mindlinking.

"What can I help you with? I didn't realize that Alpha Jaxon had filed a complaint against us for trying to get the members of our pack back," I told them. I was relaxed in my chair, as if they visited me often.

"This is not about your attempt to get them back. This is a much more serious visit," Council Member Sharp advised.

I was right. This is not good at all. "I don't know what is going on, but I am fully willing to cooperate in any way that I can," I assured them.

"A claim was made against your pack in the accidental deaths of your former Beta, James Sims, and his mate, Ellen Sims," Council member Floyd announced.

My heart almost stopped in fear. I had pretty much forgotten all about that. I was so focused on building the house for the girls to live in and getting them back here. I had totally forgotten what we had done to get the women as our mates in the first place. I can only hope that my men were keeping a neutral face.

"Beta James had gone out that night with his mate for a dinner date. They would periodically do that at least two times a month. Sometimes three times if he could fit it in. It wasn't unusual for them to do that, and none of us found it suspicious. We cooperated with the police in their official investigation. I was told that it was just an accident," I told them. I was surprised that my voice remained the same normal tone as I spoke.

"Beta Clay, what day did you move into the Kamaria pack?" Council Member Sharp asked without sparing me a glance.

"I got the call the night that Paxton called to inform me of the accident. We had already discussed my coming here some months ago to take over as Beta. Beta James only had three daughters, but females cannot be ranked in this pack," Clay answered. "Yet from what I am told, you arrived here the very next day with a full U-Haul truck. I was also informed that your personal vehicle was also packed full," Council Member Sharp pointed out.

"Yes, some of my pack members helped me to load up my things. I didn't think that was a problem. I was always supposed to have this position," Clay defended.

"Then answer me this, Beta Clay. How come when we spoke to the two warriors who helped you, they helped you pack everything up before the accident even happened? How did you know when the accident was going to happen? Don't allege you didn't know. We also went to the truck rental office. You had rented the truck for four days. You picked the truck up the day before the accident. Have you suddenly received psychic powers that we were not aware of? You just all of a sudden decided to pack up and come here. Beta James had not filed a petition to step down and was still a highly effective Beta. You can see where we would notice that something wasn't right about this. It is very coincidental," Council Member Floyd stated.

Clay was quick to make things up, yet my office was silent. I had to do something. "I had asked him to come out here. I wanted him to learn from Beta James. He is one of the very best in the country, almost as strong as an Alpha. He had techniques that needed to be passed down to Clay for him to be effective as the next Beta," I answered them.

"When did you call him?" Council Member Sharp asked. I had to be careful here, so I thought back to the call I made to Clay before announcing that James was dead.

"I didn't know I would need to remember the exact day that I spoke to him. I didn't realize that there would be a test on it later. I would say that it was about seven or eight days previous to my him calling to give the bad news that Beta James had died. Beta James shoes are almost impossible to fill. Who could have known that this would happen?" I replied. The clear sadness in my voice told them that I valued Beta James and hated that he had died.

"So that was why Beta Clay packed a whole house full of furniture to come here? Where could you put him, with so much baggage with him? It almost seemed as if he was ready to move into the Beta house. An amazing coincidence, to be sure," Council Member Floyd stated with contempt.

It did look bad when you consider it like that, but I never thought anyone would look into it. It was just a tragic accident. "Well, he was coming here to live. There was no need for him to have to move twice," I carefully answered. They weren't phishing. They had something. They were just waiting to drop it on us. It wasn't a good feeling to realize that.

"Yes, when he called to say that I should bring everything, I did. We were all upset that something awful had happened, but Paxton still needed a Beta. It also worked out for me because, as the second-born son, the Beta position in my former pack was given to my older brother. I was very thankful that my friend allowed me to train under Beta James. You were correct in saying that he was an excellent Beta. I was glad to further my education under his tutelage. I hate that I missed such a great opportunity. Beta James was a well-loved and respected pack member," Clay responded. I was glad he finally overcame his shock and was back in the game.

"That was the reason that we went to get his daughters back. They have only lived in our pack their whole lives. They are not used to being outside of it. We were worried about their safety. I am glad that they all managed to replace their mates. Our only concern was the fact that they were so overcome with grief about their parents being in an accident. It can cause a lot of stress to a person to lose someone like that. We only went after them because, in my opinion, there was no safer place for them to be than the pack they had grown up in. It was really upsetting that they decided that Kamaria was no longer the place they wanted to live anymore. I think that the accident hurt them more than we realized. I hate that we were not there for them enough in their pain. I can assure you that we would have helped them get through it. I am speaking for the whole pack when I say this," I told them.

"But, Paxton, it wasn't an accident. Someone killed them," Council member Sharp told us.