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

the victim, it was my job to conduct the trial.

However, in order for an alpha to bring someone to trial they had to have at least two witnesses to the crime. Something I had, and at least one other alpha to supervise to make sure that the alpha conducting the trial wasn’t acting on a bias. Which, as it turns out, would be Drake, since the crime was committed on his territory and Tom was a member of his pack.

But since he elected to have someone there to defend him, it changes things. For one, I will end up having some stranger argue with me, over what had been done to me. And most importantly, I’ll have to have at least a ninety percent consensus from all alphas that will be present in order to find him guilty. But once I have the guilty verdict, since I’m the victim bringing charges against him, I can administer any punishment I see fit.

Drake had a point though, he would have a lot of support from the other alphas. I wasn’t too worried about the females. He had treated them badly for long enough that they would probably be looking for a reason to convict him. But the males were my biggest problem. They were less likely to take a stray female’s side, even if a respected alpha supported me. If I failed, then it was likely that Tom would get an invitation to join another pack, and Drake would be shunned by all of them. Ending all treaties and alliances. No pressure.

I went over all of the rules in my head again. Every member that I spoke to was to be addressed by their rank. According to Asher I would automatically know what they’re rank was. It was an extra sense that every alpha possessed.

I was never to sit. It diminished my standing, giving the defense the appearance of being more powerful. I was never to step above Tom. I had to be on even footing to give the allusion that I was charging him as an equal, not lording my position over him. And if another alpha spoke, I had no choice but to listen. All alphas are equal and interrupting one was an insult and I could lose their support. But I received the same courtesy, if I was speaking no one was supposed to interrupt me. If another alpha did so, then their obvious disregard for custom could sway others in my favor.

But at the same time Asher had told me that all of them may gang up on me. Never letting me get a word in, as a way of diminishing my position as alpha. Since I was young it was more likely to happen.

This was the first time that someone so young had conducted a trial in over a hundred years. Simply for that reason. The older alphas had a tendency to be condescending to the younger ones. Regardless that they were their future potential allies or enemies. Apparently, the stronger your pack, the more respect you got, regardless of your age. But I had no pack. I was a lone wolf, and once a lone wolf always a lone wolf.

I could mate an alpha of a pack and join it that way, but even though Drake was my legal guardian, I couldn’t be made an official member of the pack. The best I could hope for was to take the same position as Sadler. Give a service to the pack in exchange for admittance to live on the territory. But Sadler had one up on me, simply because he was male and a trained enforcer. Females weren’t traditionally allowed to train in combat. Not even self defense. From my point of view it looked like werewolf pack customs were terribly outdated and offensive.

Just the thought of Sadler brought a measure of sadness. He hadn’t been to see me all week, and I wasn’t supposed to leave. Not a rule just a precaution. Tom’s supporters weren’t thrilled with me, and might take the opportunity to take action against me if I was seen alone. It wasn’t unheard of for a female to suddenly drop the charges after being caught out alone.

Last week he had dropped off some books for me, but didn’t actually stay to give them to me. He just left them with Adrian to pass them along. I hadn’t even had the chance to say thank you or tell him how much I liked them. I didn’t have his number so I couldn’t call him, and I didn’t want to ask for it, it might give everyone the wrong idea. It was just that he had been my only friend here, and it hurt that he suddenly wasn’t around to help me. I could have used his support.

Asher did alright though. He was surprisingly funny, given how quiet he used to be around me. Especially since he had broken up with that horrible girlfriend of his. Which he made a point to tell me one day while we were sitting in the garden. I spent a lot of time in the garden these days.

He was my only company most days, since the girls had school. Which I would be allowed to attend but not until the trial was over. We spent most of our time talking, sometimes about pack etiquette, which he had volunteered to teach me, but other times it was about nonsense. Favorite foods, movies, etc. Sometimes I would catch him staring at me, and other times he would catch me staring at him. Every time we would both looked away awkwardly.

There were times when I would be sitting on my balcony, finally managing to bring myself to go to my room again. I was fine if I kept the door open. But I would sit there and draw him, or the wolf that I saw the first few nights I was here. I hadn’t been able to pick up a pencil and sketchpad in years. I had forgotten how freeing it was.

But usually after I had finished a sketch of him, I would turn the page and spend another hour drawing one set of eyes. If anyone ever saw it they wouldn’t be able to figure out who the eyes belonged to. But I did, and they weren’t Asher’s.

“Ailith, there’s someone here to see you,” Asher said as he stepped onto the back patio. I had gotten to know him well enough to be able to distinguish when he was just being him and when he was serious. This was something serious.

I got up and followed him to the foyer. Standing there was a girl about Lori’s age. She had dirty blonde colored hair, and slim frame. Though it was hard to tell by the old dress she wore. It hung on her like a sack. Her eyes were a dark blue but filled with caution.

“Hello,” I said quietly, everything about this girl said that she would bolt at the first sign of harshness.

“Are you Ailith? The girl that is bringing charges against Doctor Tom?” she asked in a rush, I had to really concentrate in order to catch what she said. Her hands bunched in the skirt of her dress over and over again.

By this time most of the house was standing in this doorway or that, watching with interest. That much attention couldn’t help her nervousness. So I decided to throw her a bone, no pun intended.

“Yes, would you like to talk in the garden?” I asked and she nodded her head quickly with her eyes wide. The audience she had acquired seemed to frighten her. I motioned for her to go ahead of me so she felt a measure of safety at her back.

Asher had warned me about this. That there might be others that wanted charges brought up. He said that they had to come to me, so I could decide whether or not they would help my case or not.

When we made it outside I directed her to the middle of the garden. It was as far from any eavesdropping spot I knew of. Anyone who listened in would have to strain. I wanted to make her as comfortable as possible.

“What can I help you with?” I spoke softly and her eyes brimmed with tears before she began her story.

 

 

 

Asher

 

 

 

She stood there talking to the small girl. I knew her name and her rank. Her name was Elizabeth, and she was the beta’s oldest daughter. She held a lot of potential to be the female beta when she was younger. But as she grew older her potential just seemed to diminish over night. She became weaker, skittish.

I was too far away to hear what she was saying, but the tears on her face were obvious. As she spoke Ailith’s face grew harder and harder until it looked like you could freeze water on her cheeks. I had seen Ailith in a lot of positions. I’ve seen her regal, when she was told that she was going to be locked up. I saw her emotionless, when she first came to us. I’ve seen her laugh and smile, sick, injured, and helpless. But I’ve never seen her angry. And right now she looked like she wanted blood.

Finally, she wrapped her arms around the girl, and rubbed soothing circles on her back. Elizabeth just cried harder. After several minutes Ailith pulled back and Elizabeth calmed down. They spoke quietly and then started heading my way. With Ailith keeping her arm wrapped around Elizabeth’s shoulders.

I backed out of the way and they passed me into the house without seeming to notice me. All the while Ailith whispered in the girls ear. I couldn’t hear what she said but I caught her reassuring tone. When they reached the front door Ailith opened it and held it for her. Just before the girl could get all the way down the front steps Ailith stopped her.

“Liz!” She stopped and turned to look back up at her. “Are there others?” I had no idea what she was talking about but Elizabeth nodded. “Bring them to me. As many as you can find.” Again Elizabeth nodded and scurried away to the car that had been waiting for her, with a renewed strength in her stride.

“What’s going on?” Mom asked from the doorway, my dad right behind her. Ailith closed the door, her expression returning to the hardened look.

“I’ll have that bastard’s head if I have to cut it off with a dull, plastic spoon,” she growled before going up the stairs. My parents looked to me with confusion and all I could do was shrug at them. I had no idea what was going on.

Over the next week Elizabeth came back, over and over again, and always with a different girl in tow. All of them ranged from eight to eighteen years old, and not all of them were from our pack. Some of them I only knew from formal gatherings between the packs. And some of them I didn’t know at all that came from families that held no prominence among their pack. Sometimes she showed up with more than one at a time.

There was one that I only knew by rumor. She was a beta’s daughter from another pack, but she had been disgraced. She had gotten herself pregnant and had an abortion in secret. Getting pregnant was forgivable if scorned, but abortions were not.

Her father had disowned her, though it wasn’t as harsh as it sounded in a way. He wasn’t able to kick her out but he had formally denounced her. Making her rank as a beta negligible. Last I heard she was being forced to work as a maid among the people in her pack. Which was harsh in it’s own right, but a punishment that was widely agreed with.

And each time they showed up Ailith was the one that opened the door. And each time she would get more