Sharkbait

Gasps filled the room as the rear door opened, and a young woman of Caribbean heritage walked in with Luna Adrienne at her side. She kept her head high as she went to the witness stand, ignoring the high-ranking wolves staring at her. The Bailiff looked at Adrienne as she walked with her to the witness stand. “Personal guard,” she said quietly. “She would not testify without my vow of protection.”

The bailiff looked to the Chairman, who waved him back to his seat while Adrienne moved to stand behind the witness. Lawrence smiled at her as he began. “Miss Robinson, what was your position in the Killington Pack in 2029?”

“I was an Omega, assigned as a maid to the Alpha and Beta quarters,” she said.

“And in this time, did you have a relationship to Timothy Lords?”

She stared at him. “No, not until the night he raped me.” Timothy looked like he was going to pass out. Parker objected to her statement, and the Chairman overruled it. The Alphas and the crowd looked like they wanted to kill him. “I’d finished my duties when Timothy Lords called to ask for additional towels. When I came to his room, he trapped me in the bathroom, removed my clothing, and held me against the vanity as he took my virginity.”

“Did you report this rape,” Lawrence asked gently.

“To who? It’s the Alpha’s eldest son, the Next Alpha. Who is going to believe Monique, the weak Omega maid, over him?” She shook her head. “I requested different duties, and I was careful to avoid Timothy as much as I could. It didn’t always work, as he forced me three more times that week.”

“So you left Killington,” he said.

“Yes. I found I was pregnant, and Timothy was the father. I knew Alpha Theodore wouldn’t react well. I had a friend who had a friend, and I got out of there.”

Lawrence let that sink in. “Did you have any contact with Timothy after that?”

“Not until after Tyler was born. I was a single mother, struggling to pay my bills. I was hoping he would acknowledge paternity and provide some child support. I sent him a letter and photo, along with some of Tyler’s hair, to prove my son was his.”

“Did you hear back from Timothy?”

“No, I got a letter from Alpha Theodore a few weeks later. It had passed through a mail forwarding service to where I was living. The Alpha wanted the baby, and offered fifty thousand dollars for the child, along with a letter giving up paternity. He included a release of parental rights ready for my signature and a check for ten thousand dollars as a ‘good-faith’ gesture.”

“Did you take the money?”

“Hell no. I knew my son would be dead as soon as I turned around,” Monique replied. “Here.” She opened her purse and pulled out the letter and the check.

“The Prosecution enters the letter and check into evidence.” Lawrence passed it to the Chairman before taking it to Parker’s table and letting him read it.

“Why are you here today, Miss Robinson?”

“I’m here because these men are liars and killers. My son will never be safe with them in power, and I couldn’t sit back and watch them walk away from this,” she said.

“Aren’t you worried that you’ll be in danger from coming forward,” Lawrence asked.

“I’m a dead woman if Killington finds me,” she said. “My son is safe, and if I don’t return, he’ll disappear. He’s got the Mantle, and I won’t let him be killed for it.”

Lawrence nodded. “I called you as a rebuttal witness because your testimony directly contradicts that of Doctor Pendleton. The Killington Pack Doctor stated the paternity test conclusively showed Timothy was not the father. Do you have any other evidence to show he was lying?”

She opened her purse and removed a baggie with a swab. “I took his DNA,” I said. “Run another test, this time using Timothy’s DNA instead of someone else’s. Take mine, too. You’ll have your proof then.”

“OBJECTION,” Parker said.

The Chairman was in no mood for this. “Overruled. Doctor Martinsen is in the audience?”

A middle-aged Luna stood up from the back of the room. “Yes, Mr. Chairman?” She was Luna of a Pack near Boston.

“You can obtain samples and have them analyzed for DNA, correct?”

“Of course, sir. I can drive them to the lab and have the answer in a few hours.” He called her forward, and she took cheek swabs from both adults.

Lawrence went back to questioning the witness. “Monique, how old are you?”

“I’ll be 21 in July,” she said.

“So when you were raped multiple times by Timothy Lords, how old were you?” Parker objected without success; the Chairman wanted to hear this.

“Sixteen.”

“Mr. Chairman, the Prosecution charges Timothy Lords with the rape of an underage female, and charges Doctor Peter Pendleton with perjury,” Lawrence said.

“So noted,” the Chairman said. “Bailiff, take Doctor Pendleton into custody.” The guards had been watching the Killington Doctor closely and were ready when he tried to run. He was silvered and chained quickly, screaming as they dragged him out of the room.

Lawrence looked over at a shaken Parker. “Your witness,” he said.

Parker walked towards the witness, composing his thoughts. “Miss Robinson, did Alpha Theodore ever threaten you if you didn’t turn over the child?”

“You read the letter. The Alpha said it would be ‘best for all concerned’ if I did.”

“I see. So, you are just ASSUMING that Alpha Theodore’s intended to kill the child, not to bring his grandson into the Pack.”

She snickered. “It seems reasonable considering the lengths the Alpha would go to take Vicki’s child.”

“Yet you have no evidence Alpha Theodore ever did so. Isn’t it reasonable for him to think that his Grandson would be safer with his Pack than on the run with a rogue Omega?”

“No, not when he tried to kill us at least once.”

“Miss Robinson, you are accusing a sitting Alpha of attempted murder. Do you have a single shred of proof to back up your accusation?”

“Only if he will agree to testify,” she said calmly. “He let me go when he found out what the Alpha truly wanted him to do.”

“Who?”

“I’d rather not say out loud,” she said.

The Chairman motioned for Parker to return to his desk. “Bailiff, pass the witness a pen and paper,” he said. Monique wrote a name down; the Chairman read it with a raised eyebrow before he passed it to the other Council members. “This man can give testimony related to your claim,” he asked her.

“Yes, but only if he agrees, and only if he is no longer under Alpha Theodore’s command,”

The Chairman waved the bailiff over. “Have this man brought to chambers. The hearing will be in recess for ten minutes.” He banged the gavel, and the Council filed out to their room with Monique and Adrienne.

“What just happened,” I asked.

“Breakthrough,” Mom said. “We’ll see his Pack turning against him.”

Ten minutes later, the Council returned with a male in his thirties; he was well-built and had the bearing of a warrior. Adrienne brought Monique over to sit in our area while he testified. “Court is now in session. Warrior Kendall Wright has transferred the allegiance of himself and his family to the Miesville Pack.” Good, that meant all the previous Alpha commands that bound him were gone. He was sworn in, with Alpha Leo commanding him to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

“He’s a good man, a strong warrior, mated with two young girls,” Adrienne said to us privately. “He deserved a better Alpha.”

Lawrence was first up. “Warrior Kendall, have you met Monique Robinson before?”

“I have, sir.”

“How did that come about?”

He looked at the defense table with disgust before starting. “In April of 2031, Alpha Theodore and Beta Max called four of us into his office. The Beta gave us photos of Omega Robinson, who had left two years ago. The Alpha said that Omega Robinson had stolen from the Pack. She was reportedly working at a café in Charleston, South Carolina. The four of us were to accompany the Beta there, where we were to kill her and her family.”

“Kill? Not recover?”

“No, he was specific. I thought it weird that he didn’t ask to recover the property, or even say what it was. The five of us flew to Charleston and went to the location. I was assigned to cover the back alley, while the Beta and two others went inside, and the driver waited in front.”

“What happened then?”

“Monique rushed out of the back, carrying a baby in a child carrier. I stopped her; she was so frightened and begged me to let her go. I got a good sniff of the child, and I couldn’t believe it.” He paused and looked at Timothy. “The boy had an Alpha Mantle.”

Lawrence picked it up from there. “The boy was the ‘pack property’ that Monique had stolen.”

He nodded, pinching the bridge of his nose as he gathered himself. “I’m a warrior and a father, and I have a code of honor I live by. I don't kill children,” he said. “I told her to go, and she ran off. I bounced my head and shoulder off the door, blocking it with my body. When the Beta made it to the alley, she was gone. I told him her guard had knocked me out.”

“You defied Alpha order,” he said.

“I missed my opportunity to carry it out,” Kendall replied with a grin.

“And these three other warriors can back up your allegations?”

He nodded. “If removed from Command, yes.”

“Mr. Chairman, the Prosecution adds a charge of Attempted Murder of an Alpha Heir to the charges against Alpha Theodore.” The charge he faced now was only Kidnapping of an Alpha Heir. The Chairman accepted the new charge and told Lawrence to continue. “Your witness.”

Parker stood up. “To be clear, the Alpha never told you specifically to kill the child.”

“He said to kill Monique and her family.”

“No further questions, Mr. Chairman.”

“Any further questions for Miss Robinson,” he asked. Both lawyers said no. “The trial will adjourn until eight AM.” He banged his gavel to end the session. “Miss Robinson, the Werewolf Council offers you its assistance and protection. Our children are our greatest treasures. We will be happy to assist in helping you join a Pack, where you can raise him among our kind.”

“Thank you, sir, but I must decline. I have all the protection I need and trust. Have a good evening.” She got up and walked out with Luna Adrienne before anyone could react, and before the Council left the chamber.

“Where are you taking her,” I asked my Luna.

“Back to her friend,” she replied. “She knows we will help if she needs it, but she is safer on her own.” I snorted; my life proved that. Tyler deserved better.

“You’ve been protecting her all along?”

“No, but we’ve been helping a friend do it. Her protectors contacted me after she found out she was pregnant. Monique knew we could be trusted.”

“Because you had helped a woman with a mantled child before,” I said.

“Yes. I have to go soon.”

“Are you being followed?”

“Killington has allies too. They won’t be able to track her in a helicopter.”

I smiled at this; of course, they had already worked out her escape. Once again, we stayed behind and let the room clear out. I turned on my phone and sent a text to Kai, with a message for Amy. “Things are going well, no answer until tomorrow.” I followed it up with a photo of the letter Todd had left for me, asking Kai to read it to her when she was ready.

He texted back that she was resting after a long day of neurological testing, but she was showing progress. That was excellent news.

Leo was beset by both Council and Pack, all of whom wanted him to turn over the Omega and her mantled son to them. It got a little loud, and I watched as the sides formed. “Look, it’s not my call,” he finally said. “Monique is not in my Pack. I am not privy to her location, and I am not involved in her protection. She asked Adrienne to get her to trial and back out, and that’s what we did. If she wants to stay hidden, you need to let her and stay away.”

“He is the true heir of the Killington Pack,” one of the Alphas said.

“Alpha Theodore would kill him if he could,” I said as I stood and turned to the men. “I don’t doubt her story, and I’ve got scars from these same conflicts. Do you want the boy to be safe? Then STOP LOOKING FOR HIM. All you are doing is driving him farther underground and away from his people. Let him grow to be of age, and he can make his own decisions about his mantle.”

“What she said,” Leo said proudly. “Now if you will excuse us, we have to go.”

Our group formed protective rings around me as we moved outside and to the cars. I didn’t relax until we were off Pack property. “That was an interesting day,” I said.

“I can’t be involved in discussions about the trial,” Leo said. “Try something else.”

“I’ve received two-hundred-and-twenty-eight invitations to Prom, and eighty-seven marriage proposals this week,” I said.

He rolled his eyes. “Armed guards. We need more guards. And sharks, with frickin' LASERS attached to their heads.”

I just laughed as we drove to the hotel.