My Personal Hell - D. Richardson (read with me .txt) 📗

bomb shell. “Tom is our pack doctor. He’s held the position for many years, and has a lot of wolves that will support him. He gained his position when my father was the ruling alpha. He consults to several other packs and has supporters there as well.

“But he is under my rule now. I’ve known for a long time that he has a more sexist opinion. He believes that females are weaker and must therefore answer to males. I knew this but I never took it seriously. He only ever showed his distain for females in acts that would be considered ignorable. He mostly just disregarded them. Something that is looked down on but tolerable in most company.

“When he told me what you were, he led me to believe that you were dangerous. Not just to my family but my pack and the humans on my territory as well. When he advised me to lock you in your room he was well aware of what it would do to you. He assumed that you would either go insane like he had predicted or that you would die. Therefore getting rid of you, so you weren’t a threat to his way of life where females were subservient to males. He lied to me.

“If word got out that a female survived for as long as you have as a lone wolf, then suddenly females weren’t as weak as they are usually portrayed. He feels threatened by strong females, and lone wolves alike. To him all lone wolves should be put down. In short he attempted murder. A crime punishable by death.

“He will face a trial, not only in this pack, but with every pack he consults in attendance. You and I as well as all who witnessed your captivity will be held as evidence against him. His punishment is assured. But you are the alpha that he directly harmed. Therefore, you will be the one to dictate his punishment, and the one to see to it that it is carried out. It can be public, or private, it’s completely up to you, human laws have no place in this.

“But there’s one more thing. I also had my part in your ailment. And as such I will offer myself up for my own trial. It’s only right. And I will except any punishment you administer without a fight or complaint.” By the time he was done I was sure my jaw was in China.

“No!” I hadn’t meant it to come out so sharply, but his eyes snapped to me. “You trusted a man that you had known for most of your life. You only did what you felt was necessary to protect everyone you cared about. It’s not your fault that he lied, and I won’t fault you for doing what you truly felt was best. I won’t have you face a trial for it. And if you insist then I will just find you innocent. If you really want to face a penance then we can handle it privately. There’s no need for you to be punished because of another man’s actions.

“That being said, I will gladly handle his punishment. But I will need someone to teach me how all of this works before then. It won’t do any good for me to walk in unprepared and only add to his support because of my ignorance. I’ll figure it out, but I won’t be your judge and jury.” His eyes were wide, well, wide for him. He always seemed so stoic when it came to pack business, something I had noticed when he was facing down the Others.

“You’re sure?” he asked quietly.

“Of course I am. So when do my pack etiquette lessons start?” I asked if only to drop the subject of his trial. It just weirded me out.

“As soon as you’d like,” he answered but held up a hand before I could say, ‘right now’. “When you have a clean bill of health.” I smiled and nodded before turning back to my food.

 

 

 

Becca

 

 

 

I stood there listening to the both of them. When he had gotten out of bed I thought he was going to his office to get some work done. That’s what he does when something is bothering him. So after a few minutes I had followed. Intending to drag him back to bed.

But when I heard them talking I decided to wait. He had been on edge ever since he made the order to lock her up. The guilt stabbed at him, until he couldn’t sleep and barely ate. To him he had just given an innocent girl a life sentence. And he wasn’t wrong.

The girl could hardly control who her parents were, though I was becoming quite curious as to how she was brought into this world. Being born a lone wolf and an alpha besides has the makings of a good story.

It hardly mattered now, she was with us and would stay here until she was ready to move on. It was the least we could do for her. In our attempt to save three innocent lives, we only managed to torture the one that was worse off. In the worst possible way for a wolf. Caging requires a heavy violation, and is rarely done simply because of what it turns the wolf into.

I felt a small smile tug at my lips when she spoke so forcefully about refusing his trial. She was stronger than I ever imagined, to have that level of understanding. To be honest I didn’t think I could have that amount of forgiveness under those circumstances. If I had been treated the way we had treated her, I would be out for blood.

Though I suppose she could have her fill with Tom’s hide. I never liked the man. His determination to keep females on the bottom rung infuriated me. The number of times that he had ignored my rule and disregarded my word, made me only hope that I would be there to see his punishment first hand.

I couldn’t count the number of times that I had spoken against him to Drake. But Drake was his father’s son, and as liberal as he was considered among the packs, he was still a traditional alpha male. Pigheaded and arrogant. We owed this girl a heavy debt, she would be a wonderful alpha if she ever got a pack. Regardless ours would always be her ally.

I backed away quietly, leaving without being noticed. He felt like he needed to make all of this up to her. And I was willing to bet that she could ask for just about anything over the next month and it would be hers. I only hoped she didn’t take advantage of it.

 

 

 

 

Sadler

 

 

 

 

The summons for the trial went out today. It would be another three weeks before they took place. It wasn’t well known yet that Ailith would be the judge, jury, and executioner. The only reason I knew was because Drake told me that that’s what he would do before he told her.

All anyone knew right now was that an alpha was addressing charges against Tom. It probably wouldn’t be but a few days when everyone found out who she was. What was funny was that Tom wouldn’t hear of the summons for at least the next week. He was currently consulting for my father, and usually enjoyed his stay for a while. Voluntarily making himself oblivious to what was going on with his own pack.

I wasn’t worried about how she would handle it. She could handle just about anything by now. I was more worried about how the trial would be perceived. There were a lot of prominent males that would back him, and if his support was too strong she would have to give him a low punishment. A strapping and then allow him to continue with his place in the pack. It was the equivalent of a slap on the wrist, but she would be forever discriminated against for bringing the charges against him.

According to custom anyone could come to Ailith with a grievance against him, no matter how long ago it was committed. There was no such thing as a statute of limitations in pack law. He could go in with just her charges and end up with added charges of theft from when he was a teenager. But he was well respected and it wasn’t likely that anyone but a few would come forward.

I climbed out of my car and headed inside. She was allowed to remove the IV today, and I already knew where she was. I had spoken to her the day before and she had bounced back from her captivity remarkable well. As of last night she really only had a fear of closed doors.

I walked straight through the house and out the back door. I had brought her a few books from my own small library. It was really the only excuse I had to see her now. I was no longer under orders to watch her, and I wasn’t her only company anymore.

But as soon as I made it outside I stopped. She was sitting under a large willow tree, not far from the woods, but she wasn’t alone. Sitting in front of her, unusually close, was Asher. She was smiling at something that he had said and plucking at the grass. I hadn’t seen her that relaxed, not that I could remember. Not even from before she was locked up. She had always had a measure of tension about her. As if something would go wrong at any moment.

But she sat there as if she had no worries. Just enjoying her time in the sun with a friend. I couldn’t stop the jealousy that I felt towards Asher. But I could decide whether or not to act on it. So instead of acting like an idiot I simply turned around and went back inside. I left the books on the kitchen table, telling Adrian who they were for, and got back into my car.

Chapter 14

Ailith

 

 

 

I had two weeks until I was expected to get up in front of members from at least five packs. I was told that almost this entire pack would be allowed to attend. As well as, every alpha male and female from the other four packs that he consulted for. The number of attendants from those packs depended on who their alphas allowed.

I wasn’t nervous about speaking in front of them. Stage fright wasn’t one of my weaknesses. I was more worried about who would contest the charges that I was going to bring against him. Apparently, being a lone wolf, a half breed, and a female besides didn’t exactly lend me a lot of credibility. It pissed me off that this man could get away with murder simply because the victim was female. And therefore less believable.

The day before I was told that a beta from another pack would be acting as his defense. From what Asher had explained to me, the accused was to be tried by the alpha based on the complaint from the victim. But the alpha that tried him was always the alpha of the victim. Since I was the alpha and