Chapter 5: The Sinners and The Saints

POV: Lucian Blackwood ​The waiting room of the Pack Hospital smelled like death. ​It was a sterile, suffocating scent—bleach, rubbing alcohol, and the metallic tang of fear. I hated it. It was the smell of helplessness, and for an Alpha, helplessness was a fate worse than torture. ​I stood by the window, staring out at the rain that was now lashing against the glass. My reflection stared back at me—silver eyes dull, hair wet and messy, shirt stained with mud and lake water. ​Behind me, Caspian was pacing the length of the room, a caged tiger ready to tear the walls down. Killian was sitting on the floor with his head in his hands, his leg bouncing nervously. ​"Why isn't Dr. Vance out yet?" Caspian growled, slamming his fist against the wall. Plaster cracked under the force. "It’s been an hour!" ​"She was underwater for four minutes, Caspian," I said, my voice sounding frighteningly calm even to my own ears. "It takes time to stabilize her lungs." ​"I don't care about time!" Killian snapped, looking up with wild, bloodshot eyes. "I care about her. I care about the fact that she was beaten before she went into that water." ​Beaten. ​The word hung in the air like a guillotine blade. ​I closed my eyes, and the image of Aria’s battered body flashed in my mind. The boot print on her ribs. The scratches on her arms. The terror etched into her unconscious face. ​Someone had done that to her. Someone in our pack. ​My wolf, Nero, let out a low, menacing snarl in the back of my mind. Hunt them. Kill them. ​"You two stay here," I said, turning away from the window. The cold mask of the Strategist slid over my face, burying the panic deep inside. "Guard her door. If she wakes up, she needs a familiar face." ​"Where are you going?" Caspian asked, his golden eyes narrowing. ​"To find the person who tried to kill our mate." ​The Investigation ​I didn't drive. I shifted. ​Nero was a shadow in the night, a charcoal-grey blur tearing through the forest toward the Frost Lake. The rain was heavy, washing away scents, but I was faster. ​I arrived at the muddy bank where we had pulled her out. The scene was chaotic—footprints everywhere. But I was looking for something specific. ​I circled the area where Aria had fallen. I found her small, frantic footprints near the edge. And then... I found the others little bit away but way from frozen lack... ​Heavy boots. Expensive tread. And a scent that the rain hadn't fully drowned out yet. ​Chanel No. 5. Vanilla. And malice. ​I knew that scent. I had smelled it in the hallways of the Academy a thousand times. ​Selina. Gamma’s daughter. ​Rage, cold and sharp, spiked in my chest. Selina had been trying to get Caspian’s attention for years. She was petty, spoiled, and cruel. ​I followed the trail back into the woods. About fifty yards away, half-buried in a pile of wet leaves, I saw a glint of metal. ​A phone. ​It must have fallen out of her pocket during the chase. I shifted back into my human form, ignoring the cold rain soaking my skin, and picked it up. It was locked, but that wasn't a problem for me. I forced the back open, pulled the SIM card, and slotted it into my own waterproof tactical device. ​I accessed the cloud backup. ​The most recent video file was timestamped just two hours ago. My finger hovered over the 'Play' button. I didn't want to watch it. I knew it would break me. But I needed evidence. I needed to destroy her completely. ​I pressed play. ​Aria’s terrified face filled the screen. She was on the ground, bleeding. ​"Please..." her voice was a broken whisper. "Just... let me go home." ​Then came Selina’s laugh. "You don't have a home here, Aria. You’re a stain on this pack." ​I watched as Selina kicked her. I watched as she mocked her white hair. I watched as she mentioned our names—using us as a weapon to torment our own mate. ​"The Triplets despise weakness... and you are the definition of weak." ​I crushed the phone in my hand, the glass shattering into my skin. ​She didn't just hurt Aria. She used us to do it. She made Aria believe that we would hate her. That we wanted her dead. ​"You made a mistake, Selina," I whispered to the empty forest, my silver eyes glowing in the dark. "You thought she was a nobody. You didn't know you were hunting the Queen." ​The Judgment ​I went straight to the Alpha Estate. ​Twenty minutes later, I kicked open the heavy oak doors of the Pack Hall. ​"Lucian?" Gamma Vick stood up from the meeting table, startled. My father, Alpha Magnus, looked up from his papers, his brow furrowing as he saw my state—wet, bloody, and radiating murderous intent. ​"Son?" Magnus stood up. "What happened? Where are your brothers?" ​"Bring her in," I ordered the pack enforcers who were waiting behind me. ​Two warriors dragged a screaming Selina into the room. She was still wearing her designer jeans, now muddy from where the enforcers had found her hiding in her room. ​"Daddy! Help!" Selina shrieked, struggling against the warriors. "Lucian has gone crazy! I didn't do anything!" ​"Lucian!" Gamma Vick roared, his face turning purple. "Unhand my daughter immediately! You cannot treat a high-ranking wolf like this!" ​"High ranking?" I laughed, a dark, humorless sound. I walked over to the main projector in the center of the hall and plugged in my device. "Let's see how high ranking she is after this." ​The video played on the massive screen. ​The silence in the room was absolute. ​Gamma Vick watched, his mouth falling open. He saw his daughter—his pride and joy—torturing a defenseless girl. He heard the cruelty in her voice. ​Alpha Magnus’s face turned into a mask of stone. The temperature in the room dropped ten degrees as his Alpha aura expanded, suffocating and heavy. ​When the video ended, the only sound was Selina’s whimpering. ​"I... I..." Gamma Vick stammered, looking from the screen to his daughter. The color drained from his face. He collapsed into his chair, looking aged by ten years in seconds. "I didn't know. I swear, Alpha... I didn't know she was capable of this." ​"It was just a prank!" Selina cried, crawling toward her father. "Dad, please! It’s just Aria! She’s a nobody! A freak!" ​"THAT FREAK IS OUR MATE!" "THAT FREAK IS BETAS DAUGHTER" ​My roar shook the chandeliers. ​Selina froze. Her eyes went wide, the realization hitting her like a truck. "M-Mate?" she whispered. "No... that's impossible. She's... she's the Ghost Girl." ​"She is the Future Luna of this pack," I snarled, stepping closer to her until I was towering over her trembling form. "And you tried to kill her." ​"Silver Cells," Alpha Magnus ordered. His voice was quiet, deadly. "Gamma, strip her of her rank. She is no longer a noble of this pack. She will rot in the dungeon until Aria wakes up and decides her execution." ​"Dad?" Selina looked at Gamma Vick, pleading. ​The Gamma turned his back on her. "Take her away," he whispered brokenly. "I have no daughter." ​As the enforcers dragged a screaming Selina away, I felt no satisfaction. Only a cold, hollow emptiness. Justice was served, yes. But it wouldn't heal Aria’s ribs. It wouldn't erase the fear in her eyes.