Allie agreed. It really wasn't like she wanted to though. She had just fallen for the wrong guy. “Does that mean that you're going to let Justice go?” she asked with hope in her heart. Her brother wasn’t mad, so maybe he could be reasonable.
Ben's demeanor changed a little bit and his face tightened up. “I won't kill him because he is the father of my nieces and nephews, but there must be a price to pay. He will have to be banished. What would happen if it was allowed to stand?”
“Well, considering that I'm not going to fall in love with anyone else, I don't think much can happen at all. Why does anything have to be done? Why do you have to always push it and make punishment the only thing that anybody ever remembers? There must be a better way. There has to be something that can be done that does not make him a father that never gets to raise his children. How can you do this?” Allie was letting her emotions get ahold of her and she was practically in tears just thinking about what she was saying. She knew that it wasn't her brother’s fault either. It was her own. She was the one that had made it all so complicated.
“I'll have to think on this, Allie, and I am not letting Justice go right now. I don't know what's going to happen, but I will figure it out. He must pay. I can’t be seen to go weak on this. I will keep your feelings in mind, but I will tell you now, it doesn’t feel like something that we can just forget about. You must see the seriousness of this.”
Allie could feel the resentment that welled up inside of her. Once again, he was making all the decisions, and she just had to wait quietly for what it would be. Allie was sick to death of that. She wasn’t going to stay there, no matter what happened. If Justice was to be banished, then she would go with him. Her brother wasn’t going to interject himself into her life any more than he already had. Allie liked freedom too much, and she was never going back.
Chapter 26
Justice
“It looks like someone was on your side.”
Justice was confused, dangling, hurting and waiting for more blows. When they didn’t come, he was looking for an answer. It wasn’t because of anything more than curiosity. He opened his eyes and looked at Donald. “Does this mean you are going to let me go?” Even as Justice asked, he didn’t believe it to be true. He knew better. There was no way.
“I am not letting you go, but you get clothes and a cell.”
Justice was unable to stand and could barely move his arms when his feet finally touched the ground. He wished that he would have been able to get up and walk out of that room, but instead someone had to help him, and it was a hit to his ego. Justice would have done anything if he would have been able to do it all himself.
He was brought to a better cage and no longer hung up for torture. Justice didn’t know what was going on, but he was glad that something had changed. Justice didn’t want to think about what was going to come next. He was just thankful for a little respite, even if it was temporary, and he had no idea why it was happening. Those two questions were very important as far as he was concerned.
The cell wasn’t much better than hanging, at least not mentally. He was filled with the sort of feelings that came when a person couldn’t be bothered. Justice was done caring what his Alpha meant to do to him. It wasn’t like he wouldn’t do anything to get Allie back, but Justice figured that was never going to happen. She had likely won him his life and that was it. Justice had to question if life was worth living without her.
He waited for what felt like weeks, though it was only a few days. He had no idea what was going to happen next and since he didn’t have pain to keep him sidetracked, all he could do was think about what was going to happen next. Justice knew that he was going to be killed or banished. There was no alternative to what Ben would do. Justice knew it even if he didn’t want to believe it. He was never going to see Allie again. That hurt.
When he was finally beckoned forward to meet with Ben, he was forced to take a shower and straighten himself up. Justice was focused on what happened next, even though it was hard to imagine any of them getting it done right.
“It took you long enough.”
Justice could tell that his tone wasn’t going to get any better. He likely hated him for the problems that he had caused. “Sorry, I didn’t want things to go this way. I wanted to at least look respectable for this conversation.”
Ben pressed his lips together, his jaw tightened up and he wanted to know what was between Justice and his sister. He seemed to really want to know. Justice wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say. She was carrying his kids, but there was so much more to it than that.
“I love your sister, that’s what is going on. I love her and I know it is wrong, but I love her so much. Everything I am building is for her and I will do whatever is necessary to make her happy. I didn’t want it to happen, but it did, and I can’t walk away from her.”
“You know, I think my sister loves you too.”
Justice was happy to hear that, but he was still waiting for the other shoe to drop. There was no way that Ben was going to let it go. Justice had worked with him long enough to know that it wasn’t going to happen.
“Then you will let us get mated?” Justice let his hopes move upward for just a moment. All he was thinking about was Allie and having her. He wanted her so badly, and then the good mood and everything that he was hoping for could come true. In moments though, Ben was crushing Justice’s dreams and he tried his best not to listen. He didn’t want to hear it, yet he had no choice.
“There is no way that I’m going to let that happen. Not only did you try something with my sister and get her pregnant, but you lied about it. You did it behind my back. I can’t let it go without something being done. You will be banished, and Allie will be married to another. Since she was not with Bishop, she is still allowed to marry another suitable mate.”
Justice could just hear “no” in his mind. There was no way that he was going to be able to let it be no. He had a headache thinking about it all. Justice tried not to be too overworked about it, but there was nothing that he could do about it. Why the hell had he hoped? He knew better than that. What was his problem?
“You are going to marry her off again?” Justice asked, though he couldn’t believe it. What was Ben thinking? Why was he so quick to get rid of her? Allie didn’t deserve that and he told his Alpha that. It wasn’t his place, and he was likely going to regret it, but he had to say it all like it was. He didn’t deserve it, his kids would never have a father and he was doing it all because he was ridiculous. There was no other reason that worked.
“It’s none of your business, but yes. You have her all knocked up. What do you think is going to happen? The children will be born soon, so it must be quickly. Much longer and no one will accept her.”
Justice didn’t like to hear her talked about like that at all. He thought that he would be okay to shut his mouth, but it looked like he could be wrong about a lot of things.
“Don’t do it, just let me mate her. We love each other, that’s my kids. Why wouldn’t you let it happen? We could be happy together and if you don’t want us to be here, we will leave. Don’t make her get married to someone else. Allie just wants to be free.”
“So, you think that you would be able to handle her freedom? What if it doesn’t involve you?”
Justice knew that he could handle it if she didn’t want him, far more than he could handle her being forced to do something that she didn’t want to. “Then that is her choice. It’s her life and she should be able to be with who she wants to be with.”
