Chapter 397: Bearing Witness
Neoma went on to tell her story to the pack members who were riveted by every gruesome and difficult detail as she relayed how she had served as the scientific lead on the elders’ secret team researching alyko around the globe as well as within the pack and plotting their removal.
She explained how her team studied statistical analyses of the genetic makeup of each individual within the pack, determining which mates were most likely to have offspring without wolves and targeting those mate pairs for sabotage when the female became pregnant—another thing the elders were able to determine with the help of Neoma’s scientific expertise.
And her claims were backed up when she reluctantly pointed out the females in the crowd who had experienced miscarriages, referencing them by name and claiming responsibility for their losses. It was not something Neoma wanted to bring attention to—she didn’t want those females to be reminded of their losses or pointed out in front of the pack if their friends were not aware of the miscarriages they had endured, but it was the best way to prove that she was who she was saying she was. She had personal information about their lives. She had been a character plotting their downfall from within at the behest of the elders.
One name that she left out during this painful admission was Greta’s, because the Alpha’s sister was already aware of Neoma’s role in that painful event in her life, and she didn’t feel that pointing it out in front of the pack would be of any benefit. Greta may hate her, but it was precisely because she didn’t have any doubt about who Neoma was or what she was guilty of.
"I was trained and taught by Zagan. I was created into a monster by this vampire who imprisoned me for... decades," she shook her head, not even sure as to the precise number of years she had been in that dark world.
"And I do not deny that I willingly did the work set out for me by Andreas. In fact, I enjoyed it," she grimaced, staring into her hands. "It was my only purpose for being here. It was what I was good at, and only when Andreas attacked me was I finally set free from that insanity... from Zagan’s control," she explained, lifting a hand to gingerly touch the stitches on her face.
"Andreas gave you those wounds?" a female near her gasped, and Neoma nodded. "Why?"
"Because she was in the middle of revealing Andreas’ plot to abort our Alpha’s heir," Lucas roared. "The elders did not want Graeme back to find out their secrets, and they certainly didn’t want an heir to be conceived."
Bewildered faces and murmurs punctuated the crowd as they took all of this in. It was so much to digest. These plots and details... how had this all been going on amongst them without their knowledge?
"I can also attest to the vampire’s existence," Selah offered, stepping forward next to Neoma. "I was on Neoma’s team, although I wasn’t directly involved with much of what she has told you. But I was aware of it, and I am guilty of having not stopped it."
"I was gathering information, trying to discover more in order to protect the people I love who are alyko and who I wished to keep from being discovered. And because I was aware of all of this—because I was also aware of how to get to the vampire’s hideout—I was able to retrieve Livvy from that place when I realized we had an Alpha and Luna who would fight what was happening. I finally felt that the time had come when all of this could come to an end, because our rightful Alpha had returned. Our rightful, honorable, Alpha," she turned her gaze on Graeme who was listening along with the rest of them.
"I too was with our Alpha last night in the aftermath of this nightmare of Zagan returning to claim more of our alyko, including our Luna. And I know Graeme’s intentions and his actions to be true. He cares for this pack and for his mate who has been taken. No one who knows him can deny this to be true," Selah added. She looked around, hoping her words had been effective in supporting Neoma’s. She had returned a pup to this pack—surely that gave her some leverage in the trust and honor department.
Graeme made his way to where these two females and Lucas were, sighing heavily as he paused, searching for the words to once again address his pack. These people had been through so much, and here they were—going through more. Being challenged in their beliefs about what was true.
"Thank you both for sharing that. I know it was difficult," he said quietly, looking specifically at Neoma who still had her eyes downcast, as she was racked with guilt about the deeds she had just relived and confessed to. His gaze then went to Lucas, and he hoped the amount of gratitude he felt for the male who was compelled to speak in support of him was conveyed in his expression alone, because he wasn’t sure if words could communicate it right now.
"It is tragic what Violet has been through, and I do not wish that on anyone. Violet and I have a complicated past as most of you know, and since I have returned with a mate..." he paused, not wishing to paint her in a bad light publicly despite what she just pulled. The people here would need to judge her words and actions for themselves. "I know it has not been easy on her. She left this pack because of that."
"I did not imagine I would be put in a position to defend my honor like this, but because I have been, I vow to you that I have not nor will I ever betray the sacred gift of my mate bond. I was in Violet’s room, yes. I did check on her, and I did comfort her when she was having a nightmare about what she has endured, but it was in the role of her Alpha and her friend. Nothing more and nothing less."
"As I said previously, I wish for all of us to be safe here and protected. That includes all of the alyko, and that also includes Violet. Her words today, however..." he grimaced. "I am extremely angry that she would accuse me of lies and purposely imply that I did something unforgivable. She seems lost, and we must make sure she gets the help she needs so that she is not a danger to herself or to anyone else."
