Free Web NovelChapter 94: Chapter 94 Consequences
Hudson’s POV
The voice was high-pitched, clear.
It sliced through the tension like a sudden thunderclap during a silent standoff.
Hudson’s head snapped around.
The little girl couldn’t have been more than seven. She wore a bright yellow dress with tiny white flowers and had pigtails braided so perfectly they looked like they’d been done by a professional stylist.
She stared directly at Hudson, completely unfazed by the fact that every adult was now staring at her.
A woman rushed to her side and gently covered the girl’s mouth.
"Don’t say such things, Lily," the woman whispered frantically. "You don’t know anything."
She forced a trembling smile toward Hudson. "She’s just a child. She doesn’t understand—"
"Let her speak," Hudson commanded, his voice leaving no room for argument.
The woman’s lips quivered like she wanted to protest, but she fell silent and stepped aside. No one defied an Alpha’s order.
Lily pointed straight at Isobel. "I was playing outside. I saw you talking to that lady, but she didn’t want to talk to you. She tried to leave, and you followed her. Then you fell into the pool and pulled her in with you. You lied!"
Isobel went pale.
Quentin’s jaw dropped. "What? Isobel, is that true?"
She forced a shaky laugh. "Of course not! She’s just a child. You know how children are—they make things up."
Quentin nodded eagerly. "Exactly! She’s only seven. She doesn’t understand what she saw!"
Lily’s eyes flashed with indignation. "I did see it!"
She pulled off her small purse, unzipped it, and took out a yellow phone covered in glittery stickers.
"I was filming a puppy and caught everything by accident! Look!"
"What?" Isobel’s voice turned strangled.
Hudson extended his hand.
Lily handed over the phone without hesitation.
The room fell completely silent as Hudson watched the video.
In the center, a playful Golden Retriever puppy.
In the corner, two figures.
Christina with her back turned.
Isobel lunging.
Christina stepping aside.
Isobel slipping.
Isobel grabbing Christina’s leg mid-fall.
Both disappearing underwater.
Hudson played it again.
Then he held the phone up to Isobel’s face, pausing on the exact moment she grabbed Christina.
"Care to explain this?" His voice was deadly calm.
Isobel’s throat bobbed visibly.
Her mouth opened.
Closed.
Opened again.
Quentin jumped in before she could speak. "Hudson, I swear I didn’t know. I just believed what she told me—"
"I panicked!" Isobel blurted, her voice shrill. "It happened so fast—I might have slipped—I don’t remember exactly. Christina was beside me, I just... reacted! It was instinct! I didn’t mean to pull her in, I swear—"
"A minute ago, you stood here making everyone believe Christina pulled you in," Hudson cut her off. "I gave you a chance to tell the truth. You chose to lie. Only now, when exposed by video evidence, do you change your story."
Around them, the crowd collectively held their breath.
Many had witnessed this side of Hudson before—his cold, measured tone that promised consequences.
Isobel stood frozen.
She turned to Quentin, desperately clutching his hand.
Quentin looked at her, his face a battleground of emotions—confusion, betrayal, anger.
Then he glanced at Hudson.
Before Quentin could make a decision, an older couple stepped forward from the crowd.
"She has nothing to do with Quentin or our family," the woman announced, her voice sharp and urgent.
"Mother!" Quentin exclaimed.
"Be quiet!" she snapped, then turned to Hudson, voice trembling. "Alpha Hudson, please understand. This woman has been deceiving all of us!"
Quentin’s father pulled his son away from Isobel. "You’re finished with her."
"Quentin broke up with her," his mother added quickly. "Didn’t you, Quentin? She has nothing to do with our family anymore!"
Hudson’s expression didn’t change, cold and calculating as he looked at them all.
"If you hadn’t brought her here," he said slowly, "none of this would have happened. She’s responsible. You’re all accomplices."
Quentin’s mother went pale at the thought of what would happen if she angered the Alpha.
She turned to Isobel and slapped her hard across the face.
"You stupid girl," she hissed. "You’ve dragged us into this mess. Now apologize to Alpha Hudson!"
She looked back at Hudson, seeking approval.
He gave her nothing.
The slap seemed to jolt Isobel back to reality.
"I’m sorry," she stammered. "It’s all my fault, I... I wasn’t thinking clearly—"
"My mate, the Luna of the Sabreridge pack nearly drowned," Hudson stated. "And you think a simple ’sorry’ is sufficient?"
Isobel’s mouth opened, but words failed her. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
Another slap hit the back of her head, this one from Quentin’s father.
"Try again! Like you mean it!" he snarled.
Tears filled Isobel’s eyes. "I truly am sorry. I was wrong—"
Hudson remained silent, his face expressionless.
Quentin exchanged desperate looks with his parents.
They could feel it—Hudson wanted more.
But what would satisfy him?
With a tense breath, Quentin clenched his jaw, then kicked Isobel in the shin.
"Get on your knees," he commanded. "Apologize to our Alpha properly."
Isobel gasped, eyes wide. "Quentin!"
"Just do it!"
Quentin glanced at Hudson, who remained stone-faced.
He kicked her again, harder this time, squarely in the back.
Isobel collapsed, hitting the floor with a dull thud.
Her knees hit the cold marble, knocking the breath out of her.
She remained there, hunched and trembling.
Then, slowly, she pushed herself up to a kneeling position, shaking visibly.
Hudson towered above her.
From her position on the floor, he seemed impossibly tall, his authority filling the room.
Isobel clenched her fists, nails digging into her thighs.
"I’m sorry," she whispered, staring at the floor. "I shouldn’t have pushed Christina. It was stupid. It was wrong. I..."
She hesitated, then raised a trembling hand.
And slapped herself across the face.
Once.
Twice.
Her skin reddened under the impact.
Each strike echoed through the silent room.
Hudson’s expression darkened.
None of this made up for what Christina went through.
The anger that hit him when he saw Christina drowning and gasping was still there.
The rage that built as he watched her struggle to speak, fight to move—it hadn’t gone anywhere.
A few slaps and a fake apology?
Not nearly enough.
Christina could have died.
His eyes drilled into Quentin.
If he hadn’t brought Isobel to the party—
"She deserves worse," Lycaon snarled inside his mind. "Our mate was hurt."
"I know," Hudson replied silently.
A maid rushed downstairs, breathless.
"Alpha Hudson! Luna Christina is—"
