The Wolves and the Vipers

Chapter 57 - Mutiny

"Are you sure you want me here?" I asked under my breath ... and not for the first time. It was early in the morning, and most of the pack was still looking at the world through bleary, half-lidded eyes. Jace had brought me to eat breakfast in the pack house, so I could be present when he announced the new treaty with Riverside.

A plate was placed in front of me, and I murmured a thank you to the girl responsible. Baked beans, scrambled egg and toast — naturally, that cheered me up a bit. Jace had the same thing with a side of bacon, but he wasn't touching his.

"Yes, Emma," he said with a slight roll of his eyes. "I want you here. A Luna represents stability, compassion, peace..."

"It's just that Bradley looks furious, and you haven't even said anything yet," I muttered. It had rankled me a bit, leaving Aria alone with only guards for company. And there was Rhys to worry about.

Jace followed my gaze. Bradley was sat at the head table with us, as the leader of the Deltas, and he was one of the few people in the dining hall who looked properly awake. His shoulders were tense, and he was doing little more than pushing his food around his plate with a scowl on his lips.

"We need to find out who started the fire. Once we do that, he can stop blaming Riverside for it, and he might actually support the peace treaty," Jace told me. He had switched to the mind-link, which was safer with so many keen ears in our vicinity.

"That's ... optimistic," I replied. "As it stands, we only have one suspect."

And the Beta had been locked up for weeks already, with no concrete evidence against him except a few vague statements he had made in the interrogation. They'd searched his house and found nothing. Jace couldn't bring him to trial without some proof, or he would simply walk free.

"I've checked his bank records," Jace told me. His jaw was set. "He didn't have nine thousand pounds at the time of the fire. He had seven. There was more money tied up in investments, but it would have taken him months to access it. The more I look into it, the less sense it makes. So now I'm checking everyone's bank records."

That would certainly take time. But it was the only lead we had, if truth be told. Aria would be a star witness if she had been old enough to have any concrete memories of the fire.

Tyler leant towards us. He and Kara were sat on Jace's right — their first proper outing as our Beta couple. "I think everyone's seated," he told us.

Jace stood up and rapped the table, and the entire breakfast hall fell silent within a few heartbeats. Hundreds of eyes were suddenly fixed on us, a whole sea of them.

"Could I have everyone's attention please?" Jace began, although he had it already. "I have an announcement to make. I'm delighted to say that after extensive talks yesterday with Alpha Jaden, we have agreed a treaty between New Dawn and Riverside. The truce will become a lasting peace."

I watched closely for the room's reaction, and it was ... mixed. There were some beaming faces, and there was even a moment or two of broken applause. But a few people had made dismayed noises, loud enough to reach us at the top table. Many more were frowning. And in the aftermath of the announcement, there was a buzz of muttering voices, none loud enough to be heard individually, but the tone of the voices was low and terse.

A lot of people had lost loved ones to Riverside over the years. They had been angry about the truce, and now they were angry that it had been formalised as a treaty, so it seemed they were more interested in avenging the dead than preventing their number from growing. I understood that to a point — my parents, Angie, Danny ... they had all been taken away from me suddenly and violently. I would often think about the fact that their killers were still walking around, scot-free.