Page 72 of Moon Cursed

“Hold on a minute,” Callum barked.

“But by us, I’m not including my mother.” Tracy raised her voice over him. “Who was forced to stay behind with Callum through threats and commands. He raped, abused, and forced my mother to stay with him, and because she ran away too many times, he finally cut her ears and threw her out of the sun clan!” Tracy was shouting over him at this point. “So if you want my opinion on the law, I propose we start holding alphas, clan alphas most of all, to the same laws as everyone else!”

“—shut your fucking mouth, Tracy!” Callum bellowed.

“And every officer, lawyer, and judge who heard my father’s and my mother’s pleas for help, but turned them away because they refused to go after a clan alpha should be thrown in the same cell as him!” She plopped down in her seat. “Thank you for listening.”

And just like that, chaos resumed.

“My gods, Callum, is this true?” Mara screeched.

“Of course it’s not fucking true! The girl’s a lying bitch!”

“How about I call up my mom right now and let you tell her yourself!” Tracy snatched the first thing she could get her hands on—a fistful of potpourri—and flung it at Callum’s side of the screen. “We’ll see who the lying bitch is then, you limp-dick rapist! Here’s an unsolved mystery: The Case of How Callum Bethune Became Such A Pathetic, Cowardly, Misogynistic Cunt!”

“Who do you think you’re talking to!” Callum was half-changed, his wolf was begging to break free and attack. “Just like my shitstain of a brother to raise a lying whore no better than the one he married. I ought to come over there and teach you the lesson he never did!”

“Come by any time, bitch!” Tracy flung back, pounding her chest.

I could only sit there gaping at her like everyone else was. The comments and emojis were flooding the chat—quick and furious. Some of them against Tracy, but most of them calling for Bethune’s head. Tracy couldn’t work up that much pain and fury over a lie.

She also wasn’t done.

“One pair of earplugs, and you’re reduced to the limp-dick cunt everyone knows you are, andeveryone, will laugh their ass off when I live-stream your ass-kicking!”

“Enough! I will not entertain this slander a moment l—” He cut his feed off before finishing the sentence.

“Callum is a friend of mine. None of this can be true!”

“—very serious charges.”

“Is this why you brought us here?” Magnus went off. “To ambush us with baseless accusations!”

“There’s nothing baseless about it,” Tracy returned. “The proof of who owned and inherited Uncle Cunt’s stolen home is in my grandmother’s will. And if you want to hear my mother’s story from her own lips, let her back into the clan she was falsely thrown out of. She’ll tell you everything you want to know about therealCallum Bethune.”

“We will not—!”

“I will personally investigate these crimes,” Mara announced, silencing everyone better than a shout. “Have your mother contact me personally—the high priestess will give you my number.” Never had Mara sounded more grave nor did her voice carry more authority. “Her banishment is lifted untilIdiscover what’s true.”

“Thank you, Alpha Mara. You’ll hear from her within the hour,” Tracy said. “I promise.”

Mara pushed back her seat. “This seems a good place to end, wouldn’t you agree?”

I spoke up. “Actually, we have fifteen more minutes, and the live chat is blowing up with questions—”

“Yes, I agree.” Ash raised her palm and razor-rimmed throwing stars appeared in the air. Corrine and Tracy shrieked as they shot over their heads, burying in my computer screen and blasting it off the desk. “We’re done.”

I didn’t have a chance to react before tiny metal chains latched around my phone, ripped it out of my hand, and sent it flying at the wall too.

“I really wish everyone would stop breaking my stuff,” I said lightly. “It’s just bad manners.”

“All of you, back to your dorms.” Ash was shaking, she was so angry. “And, High Priestess,” she hissed, casting me a searing look as she ushered Corinne, Melisent, Davis, and Tracy out, but not before I gave Tracy a slip of paper with Mara’s number. “You and I will have words—trust me on that.”

I waved her off, shaking my head as she slammed the door.

Only Paxton and I were left in the office. We gave each other wry grins.

“She’s a hard one to figure out,” Paxton said, running his hands through his thick, vanilla-scented locks. “She destroys your computer and phone, but only after Tracy finished her story and got help from Mara. Like Ash wanted to stop this at all costs, but not at the cost of harming a survivor.” He tipped his head. “Why does that make me hate and love her at the same time?”

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