Sharkbait

The news of Todd’s suicide hit me harder than I thought it would. I hated him for what he did to Amy, but in our time together, I saw he was a decent wolf at heart. I hated his father for ruining his life, choosing his daughter’s future over his son’s life. “Are we sure he killed himself,” I asked.

“He was being kept in solitary after multiple threats on his life. Prisoners don’t like rapists,” Lawrence said.

“He didn’t rape me,” I said.

“They were going to, and prisoners watch television too.” He moved to the table and opened his briefcase. “When I was down in Florida, Todd gave me a letter that I was to give you in the event of his death. I should have seen this coming; I expected him to be depressed, but he was resigned to his fate.”

“Why do you say that,” I said.

“The US Attorney was going for blood,” Lawrence replied. “She didn’t need his confession with all the evidence she had, and Amy’s extensive injuries took away any chance at a low sentence. She was offering fifty years in prison, parole after thirty with good behavior.” My jaw dropped; no werewolf could stand to be locked up that long without going mad. “He’d get life in prison if it went to trial.” He pulled the letter out and handed it to me.

I took it and walked to the corner of the room for some privacy while I read it. “Dear Vicki- If you are reading this, I am already dead. I know Alpha Theodore will try to take me out to protect himself. Now that I’ve given my statement, it won’t matter if he does. What happened, happened, and wishing things were different can’t change anything. I’m going out on my terms; one final act to save our kind from the prying eyes of human authorities.

The only defense I have left is the truth, and that is what my statement contains. I hope it proves useful in removing the rot that is ruining my Pack.

The consequences of my actions are more severe than I expected when we talked last. I don’t regret letting you go; that was one of the few things I’ve done right. I regret that my father will not face punishment. I regret that Amy Miller will pay forever for my cowardly actions. I regret that you were hurt. And, I regret that somewhere out there is a woman destined to be my mate that I will never get to meet. I will find the courage to end my life; only in this way does she have a chance to find a male worthy of her.

I go to Luna with the hope she will give my wolf another chance. He wasn’t part of this, and he deserves a better host than me.

Thank you, Vicki. You didn’t ruin my life. I did that on my own. You saved me from going to Luna with blood on my hands. Tell Amy I am so sorry, and I will ask Luna to help her when I see her. (s) Todd Mercer.”

Tears were rolling down my face as I held the letter with shaking hands. “Vicki,” Mom asked as she embraced me from behind.

“He killed himself,” I said. I held out the letter to Adrienne. “Read this to them?” I sat in Mom’s lap as my Luna read the words to the Council.

“Mr. Chairman, I’d ask that Vicki and her family leave us, and we bring Parker Stevenson in for a sidebar conference,” Lawrence said. “The letter makes it clear his statement was a deathbed confession. I’ll be entering a motion to reconsider its admittance into the trial.”

The Chairman nodded. “If you wouldn’t mind, Luna,” he said to Adrienne.

“We’ll get out of your way,” she replied. Our group left the room and headed back to our conference room; we didn’t say anything or talk to anyone on the way back.

We returned to our seats a few minutes before the end of the scheduled break. The Alphas forming the jury filed in, and the defendants were at their table, but the lawyers and Council were late. It was another fifteen minutes before they entered the room, and we convened again. “The Council was informed of the death by suicide of Beta Heir Todd Mercer during the recess,” he began. The audience knew about this, as the news spread like wildfire over lunch. “I previously excluded Todd Mercer’s statement as the Defense had not deposed him, and he was not available to be cross-examined at trial. However, his suicide note makes it clear this was a deathbed confession. As such, it is an exception to our normal rules of evidence, and will be allowed.” I smiled as I saw the expression on Alpha Theodore’s face change to dread. “The Bailiff will read the statement into the record.”

I listened with the rest of the room as the old wolf read Todd’s words. He started four years ago, around Thanksgiving of 2028. “On Monday, the Omega assigned to clean my room was new. I asked where Monique Robinson went, as she had been doing the job well for years. ‘She ran away,’ I was told. When I asked around, no one had any idea where she went or what happened to her. It was just after school started the next year that I noticed how distracted Timothy was in our training. That night, I went to his room and, over a bottle of whiskey, I got him to open up. He showed me a letter he’d received from Monique along with a photo. The baby boy in the picture was much lighter in complexion than Monique was, but he had Timothy’s eyes. Monique said the baby was his and included some of his hair as proof. She wanted him to sign away his parental rights so her future mate could adopt Tyler.”

Wow. “Timothy didn’t know what to do; he wanted to fight for his child. I convinced him to go with me to talk to the Alpha in the morning; Tyler was an Alpha heir and belonged with us. It didn’t go well. Alpha Theodore was furious he had gotten not just an Omega, but a black Omega pregnant. He refused to consider bringing the child into the Pack. He ordered Doc to perform a DNA test. When it came back showing Timothy was the father of the child, the Alpha directed my father to find and kill the woman and the son. We searched, but the trail was cold. No Pack records showed her or the boy; if a Pack was hiding them, they were keeping it very quiet.”

“Things only got worse for Timothy when he and Traci fell in love. My father was under intense pressure to find Monique, as Timothy got older and faced the pressure to mate. My father desperately wanted Traci to become Luna. He knew the only way to ensure his bloodline stayed in the Alpha position, was if Traci bore Timothy a mantled Alpha. Timothy wanted to get married, but Theodore insisted he wait until after this year’s Summit first.”

Of course, you have to get Princess Puppy Mill. “I was next to Timothy in line when he met and rejected Vicki. I was shocked; here was everything he and his father wanted, a woman destined for him who would bear a mantled child, and he rejected her. She walked off before Traci claimed him, and he claimed her back. I didn’t find my mate, but the next day, Beta Max told me we were to capture Vicki and hold her. I should have asked more questions, but I didn’t. I knocked out Amy Miller as they came out of the restroom, then drove the van to the hideout my father had prepared. When she woke, he beat her. He told me I should break her and use her for my pleasure, but I couldn’t fuck her. I was to keep her alive and monitor her temperatures, then call when she was ovulating. Unless there was an emergency, I wasn’t to leave or call anyone.”

“It was after he left that I started to question what we were doing. It wasn’t for revenge, and it wasn’t for money. Vicki was not the one who harmed Timothy, and with his mating, there was no chance of them getting together. Talking with Vicki exposed me to the truth; that this had always been about getting Timothy another Alpha heir. I wouldn’t participate in the rape and murder of an Alpha, so I let Vicki go. I wish I had more evidence, but I can say this. My sister was going to be Luna now, no matter what happened with Vicki. The only reason to do this to Vicki was to take her child, Timothy’s child, and pass it off as their own. The one who wanted the mantle was Alpha Theodore; he must have ordered my father to be ready to kidnap Vicki if she wasn’t Timothy’s mate. Follow the trail and get justice for them. Signed, Todd Mercer.”

The defense lawyer took notes, knowing he couldn’t cross-examine. The next witness called was Doctor Peter Pendleton, the Pack Doctor for the Killington Pack. He was sworn, but a silvered Alpha Theodore could not give an Alpha command. Lawrence Fenwick started the questioning. “Doctor Pendleton, did you conduct a paternity test for Alpha Theodore on behalf of his son, Timothy, in 2029?”

“I did,” he said. “The test showed Alpha Heir Timothy was not the father of the child in question.”

My jaw dropped. “Are you certain?”

“Yes. The DNA results were conclusive.”

“You took the DNA sample from Timothy Lords personally?”

“Of course. I took a cheek swab and sealed it in the sample container, then sent it and the hair sample in immediately.”

“And there was NO chance that the sample could be contaminated or tampered with?”

He shook his head no. “It was never outside my possession, and I took it straight to the Federal Express office and overnight shipped it. I had the results the next afternoon.” He looked smug, as did Timothy. I knew the Doctor was lying to protect the Alpha family, but I couldn’t figure out how Lawrence might catch him in the lie. I doubted Parker would let Alpha Theodore or Timothy anywhere near the stand in this case.

“Doctor, did you provide instruction to Beta Heir Todd on how to monitor a female’s basal temperature to predict ovulation?”

He nodded. “I did, at the direction of Beta Max. I’ve provided such guidance to many Pack females and their mates over the years.”

Lawrence looked at him. “Do you normally provide this to an unmated male?”

“No,” he said.

“No further questions.” Parker looked pleased and did not cross-examine. They excused the witness, and the Chairman called a twenty-minute recess. The rest of the afternoon was Lawrence trying to fill in the holes in his circumstantial case. The property purchase was in the name of a Pack shell corporation, and the money transfer had the signature of the Alpha and Beta. Pack records showed Omega Monique Robinson had left the Pack in November of 2029, but the new Pack wasn’t listed. Council rules required notification of a Pack change or her status as a rogue, neither of which happened. With that, the Prosecution rested.

The Defense moved to dismiss the charges against the Defendants, stating the Prosecution had not proved their case. The motion was usually a formality, rejected by the judge before moving on. In this case, Parker successfully argued that the Killington Luna and Traci had not been implicated directly by any of the evidence or testimony. The Chairman dismissed charges against them and ordered them released. Traci smirked at me as she kissed Timothy and moved to the audience area.

With that, the Defense rested. The Chairman declared a one-hour recess for dinner before final arguments.

During the dinner, Adrienne got up and went to talk to a Luna I didn’t know. “I have something to take care of, I’ll see you later,” she sent to us. Dinner was a New England Boiled Dinner, heavy on the corned beef. It also had cabbage, potatoes, parsnips, carrots, turnips, and beets. It wasn’t bad, but I wasn’t about to request it at home.

As the trial restarted, the Chairman called for Lawrence to make his closing statement. Instead, he handed a paper to the Defense table then the Chairman. “Mr. Chairman, the Prosecution requests to call the witness listed, who just arrived at the proceedings.”

“Objection,” Parker said as he jumped to his feet. “The Prosecution did not list this witness, nor did we have a chance to depose her!”

“The witness will directly rebut testimony presented this afternoon. As she is a rebuttal witness, I am not required to provide prior notice,” Lawrence said.

The Council conferred briefly, and the objection overruled. “The Prosecution calls Monique Robinson to the stand.”