Betrayed and Claimed by the Lycan King Chapter 238

EZRA'S POV

The impact of my words hit the conference hall like a physical blow.

"No!" Evanthe's scream tore through the air, so sharp and desperate it made several people flinch. She slid from her chair, her legs giving out completely as she collapsed onto the cold floor with a painful thud. The sound echoed through the vast hall, followed immediately by the scraping of chairs as her parents shot to their feet.

I watched with cold satisfaction as Aiden and Selena Hawthorne rushed forward, their faces etched with terror and disbelief.

Around the room, whispers erupted among the werewolf family representatives and pack leaders, but I could smell their agreement with my judgment. Justice was long overdue.

Evanthe lifted her head, her makeup completely destroyed by tears, black streaks of mascara painting her cheeks like war paint. She looked pathetic.

"Alpha Ezra," she gasped, her voice breaking. "Please... you can't..."

She began crawling toward me on her hands and knees, reaching desperately for my polished leather shoes. I stepped back instinctively, revolted by the thought of her touching me. The woman who had once carried herself with such arrogance was now reduced to this—begging on the floor of my own conference hall.

"You can't do this," she sobbed, her fingers grasping at air where my feet had been moments before.

"I can't?" I repeated. "And who exactly is going to stop me?"

Evanthe's face crumpled further, tears flowing freely now. "That punishment is too cruel. I still maintain my innocence of those crimes. I don't even know those dead people. Please, Alpha Ezra, you have to believe me!"

Her continued denials only fueled the fire burning in my chest. Even now, with overwhelming evidence presented, she clung to her lies like a drowning woman clutching driftwood.

"This is an unjust verdict!"

Aiden Hawthorne's voice boomed across the hall, filled with the rage of a father watching his daughter's world collapse. I turned my gaze to him, unsurprised by his outburst but amused by his audacity.

His eyes swept the assembled werewolf family representatives and elders, searching desperately for support that wouldn't come. "Hanging is too cruel a punishment for my daughter. This decision should be made collectively by the Silver Moon Group board of directors, not by you alone!"

His finger pointed directly at me, his eyes blazing red with fury and desperation. The disrespect was staggering, but not entirely unexpected.

*Look at this pathetic old fool,* I thought with dark amusement. *Even with video surveillance and audio recordings clearly proving his daughter murdered several people, he still has the balls to demand leniency. He's yelling at me like I'm not his Alpha.*

"Mr. Hawthorne," I said, my voice cutting through his desperate pleas like ice, "did you not just watch all the evidence we presented? Your daughter killed innocent people!"

"No, she didn't!" Aiden shot back, his voice cracking with emotion. "This has to be a setup!"

Before I could respond, Orion stepped forward, his amber eyes filled with a mixture of shame and resolve.

"Father, please stop this meaningless resistance," Orion said firmly. "You heard the witness testimonies and recordings. You saw the surveillance footage with your own eyes. Evanthe's guilt is undeniable. Stop trying to challenge Alpha's authority!"

What happened next shocked everyone in the room.

Aiden strode toward his son and delivered a devastating punch to Orion's jaw, the sound echoing through the silent hall like a gunshot. Orion's head snapped to the side from the force, but he remained standing, his expression unchanged—as if his father's violent outburst hadn't affected him at all.

The conference hall fell into a deathly silence. Every werewolf executive and family representative watched this heartbreaking father-son confrontation with horrified fascination. Orion looked perfectly composed, completely unaffected by his father's sudden explosion of violence. Aiden, meanwhile, was breathing heavily, as if he might lose all control.

"How dare you!" Aiden gasped, his chest heaving. "How dare you conspire with these people to destroy your own sister? Don't you have any sense of family honor left?"

Orion simply shook his head, then turned to address the nearby Silver Moon security personnel.

"Take her," Orion commanded.

"Yes, Security Director," the guards responded in unison, moving toward Evanthe.

Nathaniel stepped forward, his expression grave. "I'll personally oversee the process to ensure nothing goes wrong."

Both Orion and I nodded our approval. At least some people understood the importance of justice.

But Mrs. Hawthorne had other plans.

She threw herself across the marble floor, wrapping her arms around her daughter in a desperate embrace. When the security guards approached, she let out a blood-curdling scream.

"No! I won't let you take her away. She's my only daughter. You can't do this to her!"

Her wails echoed through the conference hall.

The Hawthorne couple's behavior made me sick. This was exactly how Evanthe became what she was—they never said no to her. They let her believe she could have anything she wanted based on family background and beauty. Now they were going to pay the price for their wrong way of spoiling Evanthe.

The guards hesitated, clearly uncomfortable with forcibly separating a mother from her child, even under these circumstances.

Orion moved to his mother, gently grasping her arm as he tried to separate her from Evanthe. "Mom, please calm down. The evidence is conclusive. The verdict has been made!"

Mrs. Hawthorne turned her tear-streaked face toward her son, her hands reaching up to cup his cheeks, forcing him to look directly into her devastated eyes.

"Please don't let them take her away!" she begged, her voice breaking with every word. "She's your blood sister. She may have committed those terrible crimes, but you can't let them kill her. You should fight for a lighter sentence. She doesn't deserve this!"

She continued beating against Orion's chest with her fists, her desperation growing with each word.

"She's a Hawthorne! She's just a young girl who made some mistakes. She should have a second chance. Talk to the Alpha. Beg him to spare your sister."

Orion's response was as cold and emotionless as granite.

"What about the innocent people she killed, Mother?" His voice carried no warmth, no familial affection. "Did they deserve to be treated that way by her? Mom, Evanthe committed unforgivable crimes, and she will face the consequences. And she will!"

Before she could respond, Aiden pushed past his son, helping his wife to her feet as the security guards finally managed to drag a screaming Evanthe toward the exit.

Aiden turned back to face both Orion and me, his eyes blazing with paternal fury and desperate determination.

"This isn't over," he snarled, spittle flying from his lips. "I will never let you kill my daughter. Over my dead body!"

His saliva actually hit my face, and I noticed Orion grimace as some splattered on him as well, turning his head away in disgust.

*Damn it, this old bastard actually dared to spit on me!* The disrespect was unbelievable.

"You better watch yourselves! Ezra!" Aiden's final threat echoed through the hall as he stormed out, supporting his sobbing wife.