𝗦𝘂𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲 | 𝗔. 𝗟𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗼𝗱

𝗧𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘆-𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗿 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗸

....

Hope was at the restaurant with Luke and Hayden as she was helping out to make some extra money, she felt like she had a place in the pack even though she wasn't a werewolf. Alec had come in to talk about his offer within the institute and the cabinet he was forming and why Luke hadn't agreed or even considered it.

"You're the only one who hasn't agreed to join the Cabinet," Alec responded to the alpha

"Why should I?" Luke questioned in return

"Well, you're the most respected pack leader in New York and as a former Shadowhunter, you understand what's at stake for both sides," Hope convinced with a soft smile

"Yeah, that's exactly why I can see this for what it is an empty gesture," Luke added in return

"Look, after all the Downworld has been through, Alec, we need change. Real change," Hayden stated as he walked up to them

"I couldn't agree more," Alec agreed to the man

"Then prove it, destroy the Soul Sword," Luke stated in return

"You know that the Clave will never destroy a Mortal Instrument," Alec defended his choices

"Then Valentine needs to die," Hayden stated making Hope look at him

"You're right, I promise I will do everything I can to push for Valentine's execution with the Clave but this isn't just about Valentine. It's about improving Shadow World relations, and that's what this Cabinet can do but not without you," Alec admitted with concern

"I think it's a good idea," Hope commented with a sigh

"You think everything is a good idea," Hayden remarked with a smirk

"Keep it up and imma show you a good idea," Hope scolded her brother

"Come on, princess, let's see what you got," Hayden joked making her roll her eyes

"Okay, no roughhousing inside," Luke scolded pushing them away

"You know, you've grown less fun since becoming alpha," Hayden scolded his adoptive father

"Playing with fire," Hope remarked to her brother before kissing Alec's cheek and walking off

Hope went with Luke to the meeting, she was sitting outside the door when a stressed Alec came out of the door making her stand up and look at him. He blew out a breath filled with Stress while rubbing his temple in response.

"I'm guessing it's not going as planned?" Hope asked while looking at him

"Big opinions, Big people," Alec responded making her nod

"Valentine hurt a lot of people and it is now your job to listen to those concerns and opinions," Hope explained making him sigh

"Yeah, I just thought it would be going a lot better than it is," Alec admitted while looking at her

"Time will tell," Hope spoke with a soft chuckle

"You have a way of making me think clearly, Sunshine," Alec joked making her chuckle

"And the nickname is back," Hope joked with a laugh

"Might I speak to you for a moment?" Sebastian questioned as he came up to them

"Excuse me, what's going on?" Alec questioned the shadowhunter

"I saw Lucian Graymark heading to the Annex a few minutes ago and now I know there's a secondary door to the sub-cells through there, so I checked the security feeds, Luke disappears between the cameras," Sebastian explained to the Lightwood

"Someone's looping the footage?" Hope questioned the man

"Yeah," Sebastian responded before he and Alec walked off

Hope walked into the cell where they were holding Luke since she wanted answers, Sebastian went to go move Hope out of the room but Alec stopped him since he knew that they would have a better chance at getting him to talk if she was the one asking the questions.

"Why would you try and kill Valentine?" Hope asked looking at her adoptive father

"Well, he escaped once. He can do it again," Luke stated making her scoff

"And if your plan failed, it would have endangered everyone in this Institute," Alec added in support

"The security logs have been wiped clean, there's no data on whose clearance was used to unlock the Annex door," Sebastian explained looking at the tablet

"You really have no idea who this mystery accomplice was?" Alec asked looking at Luke

"No, they used a burner phone and a voice modulator, no discernible speech pattern. Hell, I can't even give you a gender," Luke added to the man

"But they had to be inside the Institute to loop the cameras, right? Everyone in this Institute has been affected by Valentine so it could be anyone," Hope spoke crossing her arms

"We have nothing," Alec spoke with a sigh

"Well, you got me and the Clave would love to put me behind bars," Luke added with a chuckle

"And they'd be right to, what you did tonight was reckless, and innocent personnel could've been hurt, you deserve to be in prison but consider this your get out of jail free card," Alec stated unlocking the cuff

"Why is that?" Luke asked as he was confused

"Because I'm trying to prove to the Downworld that we don't see them as an enemy and arresting you would prove the opposite," Alec explained to the alpha

"Look, so what do we do about the mole?" Sebastian asked his boss

"We track him down and one thing's for sure, Valentine's not safe here," Alec stated looking at the blonde

Once they had concluded, Alec went to work and Hope was waiting for him in his room like she had agreed to stay back so they could have a mini date or watch a movie. Hope ended up dozing off by the time Alec came into the room, he smiled and then covered her up before heading to bed himself.

....