Ronan Silverback sat on his throne with one leg crossed over the other as he waited for Gavin to be brought into the audience hall. All Elders as well as Maya and her family were present for his trial.
The prospect of meeting Gavin again filled Maya with trepidation. Her complexion was especially pale and she kept twitching in her seat whenever someone spoke to her.
Quinn escorted Gavin to the audience hall herself. The young man had both of his arms and legs chained together. The chains were only long enough to allow him to do some basic movements such as walking and eating.
Maya's father growled violently when he saw the young werewolf who almost tainted his daughter. If he had not spared everyone in the room any thought, he would have lunged forward and ripped this insolent young man into pieces.
After getting caught and dragged back to the Pack House, Gavin no longer denied his sins. He admitted that he lusted for Maya and intended to take her against her will. If not for Lucien Clearwater who protected Maya for days, Gavin would have succeeded in his endeavor.
Gavin confessed to everything, admitting to all accusations on the list.
"You son of a bitch!" Maya's father roared. He had to be restrained by his fellow pack members in order to not attack Gavin. "You fucking asshole!"
'Silence.'
One word from the Alpha sufficed to put a stop to Maya's father. The latter slumped to the ground and said nothing else. Only a low whimper was heard as he tried hard to suppress his unvented anger. Ronan turned his attention to Gavin and spoke with an icy expression.
"This crime is unpardonable. You have used your gift to prey on your fellow werewolf, a member of your own pack to be precise. In accordance with the regulation set by the Werewolf Council, I herewith decide to send you to the prison on Black Reef Island.
You shall serve a five-year-imprisonment there, and then you will be released. The Werewolf Council will keep an eye on you for your whole life. The next offense merits no less than a death penalty."
Black Reef Island was a lone island that served as a correctional institute for werewolves. It was strictly managed by the Werewolf Council. No visitors were allowed on the island. Werewolves were only allowed to leave after they finished serving their sentence period.
Most of them were branded as criminals upon leaving the island. These werewolves would never again be able to rely on the pack's protection. They would henceforth live on as rogue werewolves unless a pack decided to adopt them.
The branding mark led to almost zero chance of adoption. Their best chance at life was living their life as a normal human being and forgetting their identity as werewolves.
Gavin's lips trembled when he heard about the imprisonment sentence. He sneaked a furtive glance at Maya who kept her eyes downcast, her shoulders shaking with fear. It almost looked as if Gavin wanted to say something, but then he decided not to.
Gavin was sent back to his bedroom where he was to spend one last night in the Infinite Eclipse Pack House before he was forever banished from the pack.
As his caretaker, Quinn was deeply ashamed of her failure to raise Gavin into an honorable werewolf. To atone for it, Quinn was going to deliver Gavin to the Black Reef Island herself.
Meanwhile, Jake had a problem on his own. He held in his hand a parchment roll that was no different from a roll of dynamites. He, the Beta, had the honor to deliver it to Ronan because no one in their sane mind wanted to be in the room when the Alpha went berserk.
After everyone poured out of the audience hall, Jake confronted Ronan.
"Ronan, the answer from the Silent Walkers Pack just came."
Ronan's eyes drifted to the parchment roll in Jake's hands. Wordlessly, he extended his hand to receive said roll.
He did not open the letter right away. Instead, he went to his study with Jake in tow. After they arrived at the study and Jake closed the door behind him, Ronan unrolled the letter and read the content. Jake followed Ronan's eyes as they flew from top to bottom of the letter, going from line to line. After Ronan finished, he kept staring at the letter without saying anything.
Jake was burning with curiosity. He wanted to ask what the letter said, but he did not want to offend Ronan. He just stood there and waited. Until Ronan turned to him with annoyance and threw the parchment roll at his feet. Jake closed his eyes and sighed in his heart.
Oh, no.
Jake picked up the letter and read it. It was a formal rejection letter, expressing a great deal of gratitude toward Infinite Eclipse Pack's offer of joining hands in marriage. Unfortunately, the Night Prowler Pack was the first one to make the offer. In order to prevent offending the latter, the Silent Walkers Pack thus regretfully had to decline the offer from the Infinite Eclipse Pack.
Jake forced himself to smile. "They are not wrong. The Night Prowler Pack did submit their proposal earlier than us."
Ronan's face was distorted into an ugly sneer. It did not work like that. Lucien simply chose to reject him. Again and again.
"Lucien," Ronan growled between gritted teeth.
Against better judgment, Jake spoke up again.
"Alpha, you should not take it personally. The Silent Walkers Pack has..."
... a right to decide which offer they would like to accept.
That was what Jake wanted to say, but he never managed to finish his sentence because Ronan silenced him with a sharp glare. The Beta of the Infinite Eclipse Pack could only purse his lips and kept quiet.
Ronan stepped behind the desk, crossing one leg over another as he sat on his comfortable leather seat. He put the tips of his fingers together and gazed at Jake over his steepled hands.
"Do you want me to do anything?" Jake asked, hopeful that Ronan would say no and kick him out of the room. The atmosphere was too stifling with Ronan's pheromones, threatening to suffocate him.
"No," Ronan calmly said. "I will."