Conri After I ask my Brother why he thinks she got convicted, I know where his thoughts are going—the same place and time as mine—and I know why the Council chose us to go get this girl. Not that they don’t trust anyone else to do the job, but because of our past experiences. The Alpha is waiting for us as we stop in front of the Pack-house, and I can tell by the look on his face he is not pleased to see us—not that Evander or I care about that at all. "Alpha, we received a call that one of your Pack-members attacked your Luna. We are here to bring her in front of the Council," I say. Before the Alpha gets a chance to say anything, his Luna steps forward. "She hit me in the face and broke my nose," she growls angrily, and the Alpha has no choice but to show us where they are holding the girl. On our way to the dungeons, the Alpha tries to convince us that his Luna was overreacting to Umayza’s attack. "Alpha, Umayza attacked your Luna and broke her nose. There were witnesses to it, and they convicted her of assault. We will take her to the Council for her sentencing," I say—not that the Council will sentence anyone without hearing the full story. Over the years, I have seen males and females brought in front of the Council, and some of them were actually sentenced for their crimes. But most of them had been relocated or given the chance to get revenge for a wrongful conviction. Not that Packs were informed of what happened to the Pack-members we brought in front of the Council. Squad-members who are sent to get a convicted member from a Pack usually don’t even find out what they were accused of or what their explanation for their crime was. Sometimes we get to hear the story as we bring them to a new Pack, or we escort them towards the Sanctuary. We walk down the stairs into the dungeons, through a hallway leading us further into the dungeons, and the Alpha opens a door that leads into a small room with one cell. My eyes get drawn to the female inside the cell—her hair in a messy bun on top of her head, and her chocolate brown eyes don’t reveal anything. My Lycan growls in my head as she shows us what she is wearing under that sheet. I link Evander to tell him I won’t allow her to walk out of there dressed like that. He orders everyone out of the dungeons to give her time to change into something more comfortable for her. My mind is on Umayza, and I know her appearance affected Evander as much as it did me when I see him adjusting himself after I had asked what that piece of fabric was about. I had quickly shoved it into her bag when her back was turned to me—I wanted the Council to see what it was she had been wearing at the time. My Lycan is convinced it has something to do with the attack, and I have to agree with him on that. It was a little too revealing for my taste. I think as long as she was standing still there wouldn’t be a problem, but if she moved, it would have revealed more than any male should be able to see. From the corner of my eye, I see movement, and my yelling at Evander wakes Umayza up. Her eyes are on the left side of the road as I watch the right side of the road. Once I am certain the wolf is gone, I call Council-member Boaz with the information I have, and once he gives the okay, we head for the nearest safe-house. Despite the situation, she hasn’t lost her sense of humor, and my Lycan shows me an image of us chasing after her. I guide her into the cottage and show her where her room is, but she is more interested in the kitchen. There are fresh fruits and vegetables in the fridge, and I can smell that the Alpha has recently been here. Looks like the Council warned him we were on our way, and I am glad he put some provisions into the fridge and cupboards before we got here. Umayza seems at ease as she is putting everything she wants on the counter. I watch her as Evander walks into the cottage, and for a moment, he stops to look at what is going on in the kitchen. He smiles as he walks towards the back of the house with her bag. "You might want to get the dress out of there—I took it as evidence for the Council," I say through the mind-link, and he growls back at me. I chuckle at him, knowing exactly why he growled at me. I hear water running in the shower, and I wait for Evander to get back to the kitchen before I head for the shower myself. Once I am back, Evander asks her if she wants to eat first or if she wants to shower first. "Food first," she says as she places three plates on the kitchen island and takes the seat across from me. Evander sits down next to me, and we are enjoying the food she has prepared for us. She asks us if anyone knows that we are here, and Evander tells her that the Alpha does, but that he won’t be coming here, as that is the deal the Council made with him. "None of the Packs come to the safe-house when it is occupied. The Council doesn’t want them to know who is here, and it is for their own protection. If your Alpha was to call here, no one will be able to tell him if you are here or not," I explain, and she tells me that that makes sense to her. Evander and I tell her to take a shower while we clean up the kitchen. At first, she wants to object, but one look at us and she thanks us before she walks to the back of the house. It doesn’t take us long to clean everything up, and I start making coffee for Evander and myself. I hear her sniffle the air as she walks towards us, and I ask her if she would like some coffee as well. "Yeah, might keep me awake long enough to answer the questions from the Council," she says, and Evander and I chuckle as we know a meeting can be boring at times. Evander tells her that normally we don’t hear about the charges or why someone committed the alleged crimes—that we hardly ever hear about what triggered them to do what they did—and that in some cases, we are more than curious to find out. "Well, looks like today is your lucky day, as you will be here when I have to talk to the Council," she says, but she doesn’t sound as if it bothers her that we will be hearing everything as well.Umayza It is nine in the evening when Evander sets up a laptop for the conference call with the Council. Unlike I had expected, I feel comfortable with the two males next to me, and I know that they will keep me safe while I am with them. Instead of multiple screens popping up for the conference call, there is only one, and I can see the seven Council-members. Conri introduces the Council-members to me, and Council-member Dayanah tells me that she will be leading the questioning for this investigation. She asks if I want Conri and Evander to leave the cottage. "That won’t be necessary—they have seen a part of what I need to tell the Council," I answer. Conri sits down to my left as Evander sits down to my right, and for some reason, I feel completely at ease. I don’t feel the anxiety I would feel as I had during one of the meals back in my Pack. I take a deep breath to calm my nerves, and I decide to start my story with how we came to live in Bright Moon Pack. "My parents were fated Mates, but my maternal Grandparents didn’t approve of my Father, and my parents left Mom’s Pack to be together. However, they were hunted down by my Grandparents, and by the time they finally caught up with my parents, I had already been born. Not that it stopped them from hunting us down—they didn’t even stop after Mom died while protecting me. Dad kept running until we reached Bright Moon Pack, and Dad was offered the position of Assassin, as that is his rank. Dad was able to build a normal life for us there. It wasn’t until I turned fourteen that we found out this Pack has a rather strange look on Mates—our Alpha doesn’t allow anyone to accept their fated Mate, and anyone that finds their fated Mate is ordered to reject them. Every female starts living in the Pack-house at the age of fourteen—no exceptions. The unmated females have to stay inside the Pack-house. We were not allowed to go to our family’s homes, and they were allowed a minimum of contact with us at the Pack-house." I feel the males next to me get angrier the more I say, and even the Council-members look angry. "We have to do all the chores in the Pack-house. We prepare the meals for everyone, and when we have our meals, our stations get covered by mated females. During the meals, we sit in assigned seats, and each day, different unmated males sit on either side of us. When a female turns seventeen, our Luna takes her to a part of the Pack-house we call the fitting room. Your measurements get taken while our Luna picks out a drawing of your outfit, and from that day on, the female has to attend dance classes. They teach the female a very sensual dance, which you have to perform in front of all the unmated males six months before you turn eighteen. If a male wants to have you as his chosen Mate, he informs our Alpha. There is a ceremony for the High-ranking males and one for the Warriors. With my Father being our Pack’s Assassin, I normally would have to perform in front of the High-ranking males. But the Wolf that attacked us asked our Alpha to put me in front of the Warriors, as he has an interest in me. I am not sure if our Alpha wanted to grant his request, but on the day I attacked our Luna, she told me she had convinced her Mate to allow it. She told me she never wanted my Father or me to join the Pack, and this was her way of getting revenge. They also altered my dress to be a lot shorter than it initially was, and when I asked her about it, she told me how she had helped my nightmare to get me in front of him." I didn’t look at anyone as I spoke, and my eyes are still on the floor once I am finished. "Umayza, you had every right to attack her, and we won’t sentence you for this crime. I will send a team to investigate this Pack, because I want to know why the Luna didn’t want you and your Father in her Pack, and we will put a stop to their way of running their Pack. Is there any way you can contact your Father?" Council-member Dayanah asks, and I shake my head as I didn’t have my phone with me. "Council-member Dayanah, her Father handed me a piece of paper with a phone number on it before we left. He asked me to give it to her once she was safe, and if you would allow me to give it to her," Evander says. Council-member Dayanah tells him to give it to me. I smile as I open the piece of paper and recognize my Father’s handwriting.