The Alpha's Stolen Luna - Chapter 155: Chapter 155

: Sutton
Yet again, order had to be called to the room. My eyes darted among the council members, trying to gauge how much they were actually believing of this testimony.
“Council members, this is pure speculation,” Alpha Renward announced loudly as he jumped to his feet. “Alpha Anders simply felt slighted because he was not included in the invite. A fact that didn’t stop him from showing up at the conclave on his own accord. The Council is well aware that conclaves can and are held between Alphas on a regular basis and no one Alpha is required to be in attendance at any point. Being excluded is by no means evidence of conspiracy.”
“Except I have it on good authority that the purpose of the conclave was exactly that,” Anders said. “Why else would Alpha Lucas bring Mrs. Langston? Why drag an inexperienced, fragile woman who had just gone through a traumatic abduction to a secret Alpha’s Conclave other than to extract information from her?”
Alpha Renward shook his head. “Perhaps to protect her from you. The conclave was called in response to Dawn Stalker aggressions along our borders, not…”
“Alpha Renward,” Councilman Erhardt interrupted. “Your objection has been noted. Please rest assured that your — now admitted — involvement in this conflict will afford you the opportunity to speak on your behalf. However, now is not that time. Alpha Anders has been given the floor. Please refrain from any further disruptions.”
Alpha Renward almost protested but, thanks to a tug from Darcy, stopped himself. He nodded his concession and took his seat, his shoulders squared and his jaw clenched. After a moment, I caught his eye and gave him a brief appreciative look. He returned it with a subtle nod.
“Thank you, Councilman,” Anders stated.
“Don’t thank me, Alpha,” Erhardt replied stiffly. “I will follow the regulations of this honor gathering. As the complainant, you maintain the right to speak your position on the matter. We will observe that right. However, so far, all you have done is provide hearsay, suspicions, and unsubstantiated accusations. Considering you have failed to mention any history of Ironpaw aggressions toward you or your pack during any of the last Alpha Summits, I will ask the Council and our fellow pack leaders to disregard that allegation until proof is provided. As for the abduction of one Sutton Langston, your current argument is based solely on the idea of her frailty and impressionability. While Mrs. Langston will also be allowed to speak on her own behalf, your insinuation of emotional and mental manipulation by Alpha Lucas does raise concerns. Still, at the moment, my worry is that this will all lead to a situation of your word against theirs. So, I will ask again, Alpha — do you have anything that will help support any of these claims?”
“Would the word of Mrs. Langston’s own sister be adequate?” Alpha Anders commented. “She is here and willing to speak on the character and countenance of her older sister. Having been raised together, she knows Sutton better than anyone.”
Erhardt contemplated the suggestion for a moment. The endless wave of whispers continued. Even more so among the council members now. I braved a glance at Hannah. I immediately wished I hadn’t. She looked at me with pity written all over her face but that newfound hatred she’d expressed behind her eyes. Even this morning, I would have wondered if she could do it… if she could actually get up in front of all these people and tell them horrible things about me. Not now. Now, I somehow knew she was perfectly capable of it.
“I agree to let her speak,” Councilman Erhardt announced.
Mason stepped away from the podium and motioned for Hannah. With her back straight and her head held high, she walked up to the microphone.
“Please state your name for the Council, young lady,” Erhardt instructed.
“Hannah Langston of Dranfort, your honor,” Hannah stated.
“Alpha Anders stated that you are the younger sister of Mrs. Sutton Langston, former mate of Beta Mason of the Dawn Stalker Pack. Is that correct?”
“Yes, sir,” she replied.
“How much younger than your sister are you?” Erhardt asked.
“A year and a half, sir.”
Erhardt’s eyebrows raised slightly. “So, you two must have been quite close growing up. Is that a fair assumption?”
“Yes, sir,” Hannah replied. “We were quite close. Until our mother died, that is.”
“When was that?” Erhardt asked.
“When we were children. I was nine. Sutton had just turned eleven,” Hannah informed him.
Erhardt nodded with a sympathetic expression. “I’m sorry to hear such a tragedy,” he told her. “I know how difficult that loss can be on young children. You said it affected your relationship with your sister?”
Hannah nodded. “We all struggled with Mother’s death but Sutton seemed to pull away from us. It changed her.”
“Beta Mason says that she is a bit fragile,” Erhardt commented. “Is that how you would describe your sibling?”
Hannah dropped her gaze slightly, letting out a long breath, as if she was thinking intently about her answer.
“I suppose it is, Councilman,” she replied. “I have known her to be flighty and a bit delicate. She has a hard time handling when things don’t go her way. It’s like she shuts down and expects everyone else to deal with it. It usually ends up with her relying on someone else to tell her what to do.”
“Can you give me an example?” Erhardt pressed.
“Well… moving to the Dawn Stalker Pack was like that,” Hannah said. “We have another sister. She has a medical condition. The expense of taking care of her ended up preventing our father from being able to pay for Sutton’s college tuition. She was so upset and disappointed. Which, of course, I understand. I would have felt the same way too. But our sister’s health came first. You would have thought she would understand. That she would step up but… she just kind of shut down. She barely spoke to us. Barely ate. Barely slept. Barely even came out of her room. Then we had an opportunity to get Helene, our sister, on an experimental treatment. It meant Sutton would have to move to the pack lands and work for Alpha Anders but it would mean Helene would be saved. I would have jumped at the chance but I was too young. I thought Sutton would be eager too but… no. Our father had to persuade her to go.
“I don’t think it was because she didn’t want to help Helene,” Hannah rushed to add. “But I can’t really say she was thinking all that much about her either. She ultimately went because my father convinced her it would be a great opportunity for her.”
I shut my eyes, unable to stop the heat flooding my face. My head was spinning and I just wanted to stay upright in my chair.
The hardest part of listening to Hannah speak was that I couldn’t tell if she was just lying or if she really that was really how she saw things happening. It wasn’t true. Any of it. But I didn’t know if it would actually matter now.
The damage had been done.