Chapter 69. A Deal with Shadows
Shock spread across the living room like wildfire. Beta Gilbert and everyone else stared at Maria, stunned by the fire behind her final words.
"So... what’s the plan, sir?" she asked, directing her intense gaze straight at Beta Gilbert, her voice still laced with anger.
Beta Gilbert cleared his throat and adjusted his posture, as if preparing her for a truth she wouldn’t expect.
"Firstly, you need to understand something, Maria," he said calmly. "Elijah Simons cannot be sentenced to death—not just like that. He has royal werewolf blood. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard that before?"
Maria’s eyes widened, a mix of confusion and disbelief washing over her. "What do you mean, sir?"
"There’s a rulebook for the Blue Moon Pack," he explained. "And in that book, it clearly states that no royal-blooded werewolf can face execution—unless they’ve committed an atrocity against another royal-bloodline werewolf."
Her brows furrowed deeper as she tried to make sense of it. "So... where do I come into all this?"
"You’re a royal-blooded werewolf, Maria," he said. "He shot you. He also murdered your parents. But the strongest allegation—the one that will guarantee his execution—is the attack on you. That’s the only thing the elders can use against him."
Maria fell silent, her heart thudding. She’d never seen herself as a tool for justice before—but now, she understood the weight of her survival.
"We’ll say he shot you," Beta Gilbert continued. "That your body was taken away by some of your men, and since then, no one’s seen you. Not dead or alive. That mystery is what we’ll use. He won’t be able to escape justice this time."
Maria processed the plan, her thoughts racing.