Chapter 104: The Trial
âIllegitimate Alpha Damon of the Moonshine Pack, youâve been accused of betraying your responsibility
to your pack, endangering your pack, breaking your treaty with the Federation, provoking conflict with a
neighboring pack, and breaching pack territory without gaining the permission of the other Alpha. How
do you plead?â Logan laid out the charges. âNot guilty,â Damon insisted with a smug grin. âAnd, it is just
Alpha Damon.â âNot in this trial,â Logan said. âThe plea is not guilty?â Thomas asked. The rest of the
Moonshine pack members were whispering amongst themselves.
âIs there anyone here who would like to speak in the defense of this illegitimate Alpha?â Logan asked.
He looked around. None of the pack members spoke up. Logan looked at Damon, watching his smug
smirk start to fade. âIs there anyone at all?â Thomas asked, looking around. Behind him, Logan heard
Damonâs family members struggling against their gags, crying out muffled protests. âWill you not let my
family speak for me?â Damon asked, looking at Logan. âDoes that not make you the same as me?â
Logan looked at Thomas. âYour family are not viable witnesses to your actions.â Thomas concluded.
âTheir bias is tainted by blood, not pack loyalty. A parent will protect their child no matter what theyâve
done, but a pack has a mind for self-preservation, even against their own Alpha.â Logan nodded in
agreement. âAgreed, your family cannot speak for you,â he said. âThen let me speak for myself,â
Damon insisted. Logan shrugged. He let go of Damon, nudging him in the back as he did so. Groaning,
Damon got to his feet. His legs trembled as he supported his own weight, the bandages on his back
began to redden with blood from reopened wounds. âI am Alpha of this pack,â he said in a deep, low
voice. âI have supported all of you, carried your weight, provided for you. You canât turn your back on
me now!â âYou stole from us!â someone in the crowd shouted. âYou starved us!â another persona
shouted. âYou sent us on raids to die!â another voice cried out. Logan sighed, shaking his head.
He stepped forward and held his arms out, urging them to lower their voices and settle down. He didnât
need a riot to break out over the trial. âIt seems as though your pack wouldnât agree,â Logan said. âAnd
does your pack agree with everything you do?â he snapped back. Logan arched an eyebrow at him. âI
doubt it,â he said. âBut Iâve never endangered my pack purposefully and Iâve never robbed them of
food.â He nodded out to the Moonshine members that were still munching on their rations. âI never got
any complaints,â Damon argued. Thomas scoffed.
âIs that true?â he asked the gathered pack members. âHe sent us on raids when we complained of not
having food,â multiple voices echoed the same sentiment. Logan nodded and calmed the crowd again.
âYouâve all been very honest and open about his treatment of you,â Logan said. âI believe everything
youâve said, because I also know that Damon is the one who ordered you to invade my territory and
steal from me. I understand now it was out of desperation. I apologize for the force we used against
you, not understanding your plight.â Logan looked to Thomas and nodded. Thomas stepped forward.
âWe promised you all that youâd have a choice in your packâs future. So, here is the choice. You can
vote, here and now, on whether or not you want to keep Damon as your Alpha or if you want to kick
him out of the pack and out of the Federation,â Thomas said. âMy family should get to vote on this,â
Damon argued. âThey are part of the pack too, the one youâre promising choice to.â Logan looked over
his shoulder at Damonâs family members. Carson was keeping a sharp eye on them. âYouâre right,â
Logan said nodding to Carson. âBring Damonâs family forward for the vote.â Carson and his wolves
pushed Damonâs family forward, setting them up near the rest of the pack. Most of the Moonshine
members that were close to them, backed away. âAlright, vote,â Logan said. âIf you want Damon to stay
as your Alpha, raise your hands.â Immediately, all of Damonâs family members raised their hands. The
rest of the pack murmured amongst themselves. Logan and Thomas exchanged another look. They
would give the pack time to deliberate. âAt least your family still cares about you,â Logan whispered to
Damon after several minutes went by and no one else raised their hands. âGive it time,â Damon said.
Logan shrugged, but he indulged. Several more minutes
Chapter 104 The Thai
passed, and no one else raised their hands
âThatâs all the time you get, Damon,â Logan said. He grabbed Damonâs elbow and secured him again.
âIt looks like youâre out of the pack, for good.â
âNo!â Damon cried, âI built this pack, I made it whole when there was no one else to take command!
You canât turn you backs on me!â Following Damonâs words, the seated Moonshine members began to
stand and turn their backs on Damon. He snarled, struggling against Loganâs hold, but he was
still weak âHow does it feel to be exiled from your own pack?â Logan asked. âThis isnât over,â Damon
assured. âThis is far from over! Youâll never be able to keep control of such a large territory by yourself.
Moonshine will be left in disarray. Youâll need someone to lead.â âIt wonât be you,â Logan assured. He
passed Damon off to Carson, âBring him and his family to the dungeons. We may have use for them
later. Also, call in for more rations and some clean clothes.â âIâll take care of it,â Carson said with a nod.
He pushed Damon forward, and the wolves around Damonâs family followed behind Carson, Thomas
approached Logan.
âThat went well,â he said, âDamon wasnât entirely wrong though, Moonshine is a large territory, and two
packs helped claim it.â Logan smiled at Thomas.
âDonât worry, I have no intention of cutting you out of the spoils, nor are we going to leave these pack
members to suffer and struggle to rebuild. Weâll help every step of the way,â Logan assured. Thomas
nodded. âGood,â he said. âSantino should be involved in these discussions.â Logan nodded. âI agree,â
he said. âWeâll give him a day to heal.â Thomas nodded. Logan looked around at the Moonshine
wolves. Most of them looked terrified, beaten down. He wanted them all checked out by the hospital
staff and given whatever treatments they needed to get healthy again.
He was willing to bet that most of them had deficiencies of some kind and or needed help with old
injuries, scars, or other ailments caused by malnutrition. He wanted to help them get on their feet first.
It was going to take a long time to fix the pack members and the territory. The farmlands needed to be
cleared and then worked. The orchards needed to be tended, and there were buildings that needed to
be repaired. It would be a full effort, but once Moonshine was restored, Logan was confident that the
territory could be useful. âAlpha Logan,â someone called, running up to him. âWhat is it?â he asked.
âIt appears that some of Damonâs loyal wolves split off from the attack and formed their own bands of
rogues,â the wolf reported. 3/4
Chapter 104. The Trial
âWhere?â Logan asked. âWe are tracking them,â the wolf assured. Logan nodded. âInform me the
moment that you know where they are,â Logan said. The wolf nodded
and took off. Logan chuckled to himself. Had Damon been a competent Alpha, he wouldnât have told
his loyal wolves to scatter if the battle seemed to be going sideways. Heâd probably assumed theyâd be
able to come back for him and break him free. Instead, Damon had sent those who could have voted
for him to stay in the pack away. They were running around in the woods somewhere instead of
standing by his side. Logan had thought it strange there was no one other than his family to speak for
him, but now he knew why. Theyâd have to keep patrolling until they were sure all the rogues had been
detained or eradicated. âRogues?â Thomas asked. Logan nodded. âApparently Damon did have some
loyal followers in the pack,â Logan said. âWe will round them up. They wonât be much good on their
own. Theyâve probably
already split into smaller groups,â Thomas said. âIâll send some of my wolves to track them as well.
âPlease,â Logan said. âIâm going to finish up here and go check on the hospital.â âIf you see my
daughter, tell her that she did excellent work today.â Thomas said. Logan smiled at Serenaâs father.
âShe always does,â he said fondly. Thomas chuckled and nodded. âThat she does,â he said. âWe had a
victory today. Letâs keep the momentum moving forward.â
âYes,â Logan said in confirmation. The battle had been fought, but there was still a lot of work to do.
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