Betrayal And Redemption (Wolves of Hollow Ridge Book 1)

Chapter 22. The Inquisition Begins!

Early the next morning, Zack stood in his kitchen sipping a cup of coffee as he waited for his mate to join him for breakfast. Sleep had not come easy for him after Sophie had all but ran from his room, and her lingering scent had left him painfully aroused all night.

Goddess he felt like such a creeper being so turned on after what had obviously been such an traumatic time for his beautiful mate. But being a werewolf surrounded by his mates scent it was a biological certainty.

A few minutes later the soft padding of small feet could be heard coming down the main stairs. A slight hesitation when the feet reached the bottom then them continuing on towards the kitchen. Not wanting to make things any more awkward than they had to be he quickly poured another cup of the fresh coffee and turned to hand it to his mate as she slowly entered the room.

"Good morning my beautiful mate." He said smiling gently. "I've made coffee. I thought I would wait to see what you wanted for breakfast."

As Sophie stood in the doorway Zack could see the tension ease from her stiff frame, making him glad he had decided against mentioning the previous night.

"Just coffee thanks." Sophie said quietly as she moved further into the room reaching both hands to take the large mug from him. "I don't usually eat in the morning."

Zack frowned thoughtfully, "That will change as your wolf get stronger. You will need more calories to fuel your change."

Sophie sighed softly. "I haven't been able to shift in years Zack I don't see how it will be any different now."

Zack looked at his mate and could see the sadness in her beautiful face at the loss of her wolf and it filled him with joy knowing that if he could do nothing else for her he could give Sophie her wolf back.

"Sophie now that we are mated your wolf will strengthen very quickly. You will draw strength from me. You should be able to shift again within a few days."

Sophie sat silently, shock and awe clear on her very expressive face. "You can give me back my wolf?"

"Yes mate. It might be a while before you are both at full strength but it will happen soon."

"Thank you Zack. I can't believe it. It's been so long since I've been able to run. I...." Emotions choking of her voice, her shoulders trembling, Zack could see how much his news meant to her.

Before he could say anything more voices could be heard and the front door close with a thud.  Sophie's whole demeanour changed the second she realised who had entered the pack house.

The two council representatives strode into the kitchen chasing away the easy atmosphere between them.

"Alpha Thomas, Alpha Jacob. Good morning." Zack said moving forward to greet them, also managing to put himself between his new mate and the two alpha's.  "Would you both like some coffee?"

"Zack." Alpha Jacob acknowledged gruffly. He looked over at Sophie sitting silently at the table holding her coffee in a tight grip her unease obvious.

"No thank you Zack, we had breakfast in town.  Good morning Ms Danes, I trust you are feeling.... better today and ready to answer our questions." Jacob said. "And I expect you to answer all my questions fully and honestly." He added.

Sophie sucked in a quick breath but as she went to answer she was interrupted by Zack. "It's Donovan! Sophie Donovan. If you take the time to scent her you will see we completed our mating." He stated firmly moving to her side and placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

Sophie tried to hide the slight flinch at the feel of his hand on her but after seeing Alpha Jacob's eyes narrow on her she knew she hadn't quite managed it.

"That has no bearing on our investigation." He barked out. "The only thing that matters is what happened. Mrs Donovan if you wouldn't mind joining me in Alpha Zack's office we can get started."

"Now hold on a minute!" Zack growled, anger evident on his face at the high handed attitude of the council representative. "My mate and I haven't even had breakfast yet, and you come in here demanding to begin questioning her......"

"It's ok Zack,"Sophie said softly, "I want to get this over with as quickly as possible. Then we can all get back to normal and the young can be returned to their parents. Isn't that right Alpha Jacob?"

It had not gone unnoticed by anyone in the room that his brave mate had not even so much as looked in the direction of the other council alpha, who until now, had stood silently in the doorway.

"Yes Sophie, that's right. The quicker we have our answers, the quicker the cubs can come home." Alpha Thomas agreed, giving Jacob a pointed look.

Sophie's eyes remained fixed on Jacob, even as Thomas spoke directly to her, she would not turn her gaze to him. She stood and moved towards the doorway. "After you Alpha Jacob." She said politely, ensuring the other alpha went through the door first, so much was her determination not to be anywhere near Alpha Thomas.

Jacob turned quickly and exited the kitchen with Sophie moving along behind him.

Once they had left the room Zack turned to Thomas. "What the hell was that all about? Whats with Jacobs attitude?" He asked the other alpha angrily.

"He has to do it by the book Zack. There is a lot at stake here, not only with your mate directly but with your parents and the other members of your pack who knew what was going on."

"And do you include yourself among those who knew Thomas? Because Sophie seemed pretty sure yesterday that you knew what a monster Frank was. So why are you not in there answering questions? Or does your position on the council mean you don't have to answer for your own wrongs?"

"Be very careful Zack with your baseless accusations." Thomas growled.

"Are they baseless?" Zack asked into the pregnant silence and watched as the other alpha seemed to deflate in front of him.

Thomas moved further into the kitchen and sat heavily at the table. "I honestly didn't know what he would do to Sophie when we sent her to him. Yes there had been some accusations of inappropriate behaviour towards the younger females of his last pack, but none of those were under mating age. I had no way to know what he would do." He sighed loudly. "I swear to you Zack if I had know what he was truly like I never would have allowed him to take her. I would have fought to keep her with my mate and I."

"I don't think you will ever convince my mate of that Thomas. To her you both sent her away to be......". Zack chocked on the foul words.

Thomas looked at the young alpha sitting across from him, sadness almost a visible cloud surrounding him. "You have a long road ahead of you son. But you both deserve a bit of happiness, especially Sophie. I will do all I can to speed this investigation along so you can try and get on with your life. It's the least I can do. But remember Zack, I will not cover anything up. If I discover anything that goes against council law it will be dealt with swiftly and harshly. No matter who the perpetrators are. Do you understand me?"

"Yes Alpha Thomas I understand completely." Zack stood and moved across to the door. "There is plenty of blame to go round, and we all have to carry that burden for the rest of our lives. I can only hope that Sophie can find it in her heart to forgive us."