APEX - Season 2

Ch. 9: The Confession

Rhys

Four sets of glaring eyes faced me after I made my proposal. Liam's, to be fair, was more of the typical smirk he wore half of the time. My father seemed dumbfounded, and Calla appeared pained. But Aamon radiated an anger I hadn't seen from him since our brawl at the convention center.

"Please tell me you're joking," he said. "You must be. This is absolutely not an option."

"Why not?" Liam's smirk twisted into a bemused smile. "Rhys makes a good point. A scapegoat might just work."

Surprised to have his backing, I reiterate my point. "The humans might see the rest of werewolves more sympathetically if they realize this whole mess is the result of...a lone wolf, if you will. One shifter trying to spoil the bunch. If werewolves collectively turn on the culprit, they'll see that we have the same goal as them: to rid Sury of a menace that is dangerous to both groups. We'll be unified."

"Yeah, but the problem is..." continued Aamon, "the menace you're planning on getting rid of is me!"

The desire to laugh while simultaneously slapping him came upon me so strongly, I nearly rose out of my seat so that I would be within arm's length from him. "When did I say it should be you?"

"I think we can all agree that it was implied," Calla said, way too fast. "He's the obvious choice."

Again, differing emotions warred within me. As irritating as it was that she wanted to undermine my plan of playing sacrificial lamb, I also couldn't help but feel joy and a sense of pride. She cared enough to try to prevent me from destroying my future.

The problem was, my future would be destroyed if I didn't do this too. All our futures would be. Aamon would never take the fall for something he hadn't done. Hell, he wouldn't even if he was guilty of all the past months crimes. And besides, how would that look for me, the Alpha, to let my little brother suffer the consequences to spare myself?

"Aamon isn't the obvious choice," I said.

"I'm glad you're deciding to be reasonable." Aamon's hackles lowered.

"My decision is perfectly reasonable." I shot an apology out towards Calla, hoping she would be receptive to it, and then continued. "The scapegoat must be me."

A collective gasp sucked up all the air in the room. Everyone sat frozen for what felt like hours. Finally, my father thawed out enough to shake his head and mutter his disapproval. "This won't do, Rhys. You are my heir. You represent our pack."

"Wait, so you'd prefer it would be me?" Aamon's lip quivered.

"I would prefer it if we came up with a better plan. None of my sons should face a tribunal for these crimes. Liam, tell me more about your idea—that Romeo and Juliet nonsense."

"I'm set on this," I said, angry that he thought he could dismiss me so easily. "Some stupid forbidden love scandal isn't going to make humans forget their own have been assaulted, kidnapped, and murdered. The only way they're going to move on is if they have their guilty party to focus all their hatred on."

"What about one of our cousins?" Aamon offered.

"Enough!" Calla's face had turned red. Her voice exuded an authority that made us all snap to attention. Even Gerald.

"I agree with Gerald. But we need a better plan than Liam's."

"Why, what's wrong with my plan?" Liam asked, the smirk returned. Because of course he knew why she would reject his idea.

"We'll put it on the maybe pile," Calla said. "But right now, I think we need a short break. Everyone needs to take a breather and then come back here in half an hour with a clear head. Rhys, I need to speak to you in our office."