"Did Alrick ever - at any time – force you to have sex?"
I shook my head, my eyes wide.
"Not at all?" Clint asked again. "He didn't push you, harass or try to talk you into it?"
"N..no, of course not," I answered, stunned. "He's..he's not like that."
"Did you feel obligated to sleep with him?" Clint pressed. "In exchange for his protection?"
I shook my head again.
"Absolutely not," I said firmly, glad my voice held. "I only did what I wanted to." I dropped my head. "I think he's the one who regretted it."
The laugh that barked out of Clint surprised me.
"I am absolutely confident that regret is not one of the feelings that Alrick experienced," Clint chortled.
"I..Idon't understand," I said slowly.
"What Clint means," Trevor said, shooting his mate an annoyed look. "is that Alrick is on trial because he says he raped you. That he claimed you without permission which would have made you unable to say no."
I gasped.
"But…but.." I trailed off helplessly, looking from one to the other. "He didn't! If anything, I took advantage of him!" I groaned. "He..he didn't even mean to cl..claim me. It was an..accident!" I choked out.
"Okay, calm down," Clint's face relaxed. "I think we can help him."
He pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and held it to his ear.
"Drey? Yeah, it's Clint. Better dust of your suitcase..."
Chapter Twenty
Alrick
"Gentle Beings," the attorney greeted the courtroom, his low voice formal. "Haldrian Christof, Esquire, for the defense."
When the lawyer introduced himself, a low murmur ran through the room. Curious, I raised my head, looking directly at him for the first time. Nope. Still didn't have a clue who he was or why the Brass all seemed so impressed. Not that it was really going to matter.
Once the hearing the was called to order, I found myself one again restrained in the interrogation chair as the charges against me were read. The only surprise came at the end; when my lawyer stepped forward to ask that the charges be dropped in their entirety. Every face in the room turned to him in confusion, mine included.
"Excuse me, Alpha?" I whispered. "You know I'm guilty, right? We're just here to enter my guilty plea."
"No, you're not," he responded so confidently that I laughed. "And call me Drey."
"No, really. I am." I assured him. "I self-reported."
"Then you must have been confused," he answered easily, pulling a sheaf of papers from the stack on the desk and rifling through them before approaching the bench. "If it pleases the officers?"
Annoyed at having been so easily dismissed, I watched as Alpha Christof – Drey, I corrected myself – passed the papers in his hands to the judge before rejoining me at the defense table. I opened my mouth to speak, to explain that he was misunderstanding the situation, but he silenced me with a shake of his head.
"Counselor," the judge spoke up. "I'm afraid that we can't honor your request to withdraw the charges based only on the word of an Omega who may or may not have been in his right mind at the time of the deposition."
"I understand," Drey's smooth voice answered. "Certainly, the Omega in question was still recovering from the broken bond at the time of the query." Rather than looking disappointed, Drey was biting back a grin, looking for all the world like they had played directly into his hands. "How long would Your Honor say would make the Omega's testimony reliable?"
"I'm afraid I can't say," the elder started apologetically. "I would need to evaluate the Omega's condition to be sure."
Drey nodded. "In that case, Elder, I request the leeway to present a character witness at this time."
