Chapter 434 Don’t have much time

There was little to no rest built into her days, since she kept herself deliberately busy, filling every spare hour with work rather than let herself sit and worry.

On the fourth day without Sebastian, Viola felt nothing short of wrecked with worry, having barely slept the night before. She wanted so badly to cry, felt too raw and worn down inside, which was exactly why, needing even more distraction, she made the decision to personally oversee a pending inspection Sebastian was supposed to have attended at one of their pack factories.

“I can handle that, Luna. You should rest, you look exhausted.” Matt suggested, but Viola was quick to turn him down, knowing full well there was no rest waiting for her, even if she wanted it.

“I can manage it. From the report, it looks like the third Beta in charge hasn’t been doing his job well, two omegas have already died from the machinery there. We can’t let something like this keep happening in our pack, or the Alpha will get a terrible reputation for not overseeing the welfare of his lower-ranked workers. Every life matters in Silver. You can come with me, I believe I’ll need you there.”

Matt looked at the Luna with genuine admiration. Over the past four days, she’d taken on so much that some people didn’t even realize Sebastian was absent from the pack at all, she was the one handling things. Most were even remarking that the Alpha seemed to be making unusually far better decisions lately, no longer delaying their requests the way he used to, unaware it was actually the Luna they’d been dealing with the whole time.

Matt had wanted Sebastian to look into this particular factory for a while now, but with everything else pulling at his attention, he’d let his other Betas handle it instead. Though he still believed Viola should be resting, something told him her visit here might finally put an end to the constant complaints.

When they arrived at the factory, they were handed protective gear and helmets. It was one of the factories tucked away at the far edge of the pack, and the moment they stepped inside, Matt understood exactly why the complaints had piled up.

The building looked fine from the outside, like every other modern building in their pack, but from the inside, it barely looked like it belonged to Silver at all. Workers moved around without any proper protective gear, while the toxic atmosphere was enough to make anyone want to cover their nose.

Matt frowned, immediately reaching out through the mind-link to the Beta overseeing the site. This wasn’t how any of their factories should have looked, especially not in the biggest pack in the world.

“Head Beta Matt, what brings you here? You should have just called me over,” the Third Beta said, his smile broad as he approached them. However, the uneasiness in his expression was obvious as he took in the unexpected inspection from the Head Beta and the small woman accompanying him.

“If we’d called you before coming, I doubt we’d have gotten the chance to see the raw state of our biggest glass factory and how the workers are being made to work,” Matt said, his face displeased.

“Oh, I see what you mean, but it’s not what you think. We’re in the process of sanitizing the place and making some changes. You caught us at a bad time, when things are a bit messy, Beta Matt.” He laughed lightly, brushing off the state of the factory as though there were nothing unusual about it. “Would you like to step into my office? The atmosphere is much more breathable there,” he suggested.

Viola turned to look at him, her eyes narrowing at his smug attitude, at how he addressed Matt directly while not even sparing her a glance, as though she weren’t standing right there.

“Beta Hugh, is it?” Viola said, and he turned to her, his smile stiffening.

“Yes. And you must be the wolfless Supreme Luna, I take it?” he taunted, looking her up and down without the slightest regard for who she was.

Unlike Matt, most of the other Betas rarely witnessed how deeply the Alpha doted on his Luna or how he treated her. Beta Hugh clearly didn’t appreciate being spoken to with authority by someone he considered beneath him. To him, the strongest wolf’s voice carried the most weight, and he saw no reason to listen to her, much less stand there and allow her meet his eyes as though they were equals.

“If you don’t mind, I’m having a word with the Head Beta, and I would appreciate it if you kept those holes on your face sealed. If you can’t, you’re free to step outside and give us room to discuss this, Supreme Luna,” he said, emphasizing her title as though he were taunting her with it.

Matt parted his lips, ready to warn the Beta off, but Viola raised a hand, stopping him. She addressed the man herself.

“Not only are you exploiting your position, you seem to lack common sense as well,” Viola said calmly. She then glanced down at her wristwatch before continuing.

“I don’t have much time, and even if I did, I wouldn’t waste it on someone like you, Hugh. But the little time I do have, I intend to use well. I won’t repeat myself. Where are the monthly resources and equipments meant for this factory, and why do all these machines look like they haven’t been replaced in years?” she demanded, holding his gaze.

Beta Hugh, who had overseen this glass-producing factory for years and had carefully covered his tracks after being coerced into diverting resources and equipment to the packless, funneled there by none other than Nick, wore a smug expression, confident a wolfless woman wouldn’t be able to pry the truth out of him.

“I don’t see how that’s any concern of yours. This is a matter between the Supreme Alpha and myself, not something a wolfless should be worrying about, and—”

Hugh didn’t finish his sentence because Viola raised her hand and delivered a hard punch across his smug face.

A punch from a wolfless shouldn’t have landed with that much force, yet the Beta’s head jerked to the side, blood appearing at the corner of his mouth.

“You bitch—” he began, but Viola swiftly tackled him to his knees before he could recover from the blow. She yanked his head back by his hair, digging her fingers into it as she glared down into his eyes.

“Call me a bitch again, and I’ll make sure you lose your tongue. Look around you. Every worker here has burns across their hands, and none of them look like they’ve had a proper break in ages. Don’t assume that just because the Alpha hasn’t had the chance to inspect this place himself, your actions will go unnoticed forever. What did you do with the monthly equipments?” she demanded.

Hugh felt a shiver run down his spine simply from meeting her eyes at such close range. An overwhelming urge to bow his head washed over him so strongly that he had to look away, his gaze shifting toward the Head Beta, who stood behind her with an amused smirk as he watched Hugh’s humiliation.

Wasn’t she supposed to be wolfless?

Then how was she controlling someone like him, a Beta, someone who should have been the one in control here?

Viola tightened her grip in his hair when he didn’t talk in time and he gritted out, “The Alpha never sent any replacement equipments here, and as you can see, this factory sits at the very edge of the pack, he must have simply forgotten about it’s—”

“Don’t put this on the Alpha to cover for your own crimes, Hugh,” Matt warned. “I personally make sure this glass factory receives its full shipment every single month, since we use more glass than brick throughout the pack. So what exactly did you do with it all?”

Hugh, who knew exactly how crazy and a little touched in the head the Alpha’s cousin could be, the one he actually answered to, understood that speaking the truth now would mean nothing short of death for him and his entire family, and not a quick one either, not from Nick.

“I didn’t do anything with it.” He gritted out, firm on his words as he would rather die than rat on what he had been doing for Nick.