“Gabriella, take a breath. That’s not going to happen.”
“It is,” she said, tears falling. “He has evidence to prove that I’m dangerous.”
“You’re not dangerous.”
“I threw him into his truck and dented it, Westley. I am. I clearly don’t have any control.”
“Sweetie, you’re just coming into your magic. You didn’t know you had any. You didn’t even show signs. This is all explainable.”
She fell quiet, and she looked down. “I did… I mean, I’ve been feeling the pull for a while now.”
I blinked at her. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
She shrugged. “Because it can’t be possible. Hazel and I don’t have magic anymore. I never even felt it before, so I just figured it had to be something else.” She looked down at the bag. “Westley, you have to let me do this. This is the only way for us to stay safe. No one is going to believe me over him.”
I ground my teeth together, hating that once more she was trying to run instead of fight for herself. “No, we’re putting an end to this.”
“How?” she whispered.
“I’ll call a meeting with Brandon and Kaleb.”
It took me twenty minutes to get her to agree, but she eventually did. I called Brandon and told him we needed an urgent meeting and to make sure Kaleb was part of it. We were heading over to the city hall just minutes later.
I took Gabriella inside and found that Brandon and Kaleb were waiting for us in the meeting room. Brandon was sitting in a chair, flipping through papers, and Kaleb stood behind him, pacing back and forth.
“Thanks for coming here quickly.”
“I was already here,” Brandon said, not looking up from his papers as he flipped to the next page.
“I had to drive here, but I was already on my way,” Kaleb said, his eyes flicking to Gabriella. His eyes knitted together, and his voice dropped. I watched his body language shift. “What happened?”
Brandon’s head snapped up at the way Kaleb spoke, and his eyes went instantly to Gabriella. I could see Brandon’s demeanor shift into a more serious one, and he sat up a little straighter. They both then looked at me. “What happened?”
I let Gabriella explain what was going on. She told them about how Hazel and she had been getting bullied since they arrived here. She explained who was bothering her and how they had tried just keeping quiet, thinking they would eventually tire and move on. She was just getting to the part of what happened when we heard someone outside the doors.
“The Alpha is in a private meeting right now. You can’t go in there.”
The doors threw open, and Kyle stepped into the space. Behind him stood a handful of others who I knew were close friends of his. I frowned, watching as Gabriella tensed up in her chair.
“She’s a witch!” Kyle yelled. “She just used black magic on me! Look at the condition my truck is in! It’s dented because of her!” He pulled his shirt up, revealing bruising along his entire chest. I smirked, proud of Gabriella. “I’m bruised because she threw me! She used her magic and threw me.”
Gabriella looked down at her hands, her shoulder shaking. “What?” Brandon asked, looking confused now. “Wait a second, you have magic?”
Kyle nodded his head, still pointing a finger at her. “She just used dark magic on me! She threw me into my truck for no good reason, Brandon! She has been acting out and behaving dangerously for months. Ever since she and her sister arrived here.”
I watched her hands curl into tight fists now, and she bit hard on her lower lip. I placed my hands on her shoulders and narrowed my eyes at Kyle. I had let this go too long, and damage was done, but there wasn’t going to be any more.
Kaleb sighed, irritated now. “You do realize we were in a meeting, right? You can’t just barge in here like this, Kyle.”
Kyle raised his voice. “This is urgent. You don’t need to hear her side and think she is innocent when she isn’t. She’s a witch. A dangerous one.” Kyle stepped forward. “You need to lock her up before she kills someone. She could have killed me. You saw the bruises!”
“Do you have any actual evidence to back up that statement?” I asked. “You know, since you said she’s been dangerous for months now. What exactly has she done that was dangerous?”
“Why are you backing her up?” Ian asked, moving from the hallway, getting closer to Kyle. “Did she get dirt on you? Put some spell over you? That would explain your sudden marriage to her.”
I felt a coldness settle over me, seeing the way they were twisting all of this.
“Ivan, I would be careful what bullshit you want to spill. Because, unlike you two, watching an innocent person for fun, I do it for a living, and the shit I have on you two could ruin that perfect image you worked so hard on creating.” My voice came out sharp and warning.
