“The professor confirmed he and my godfather stumbled upon or overheard something about me soon after my birth. Rawlins and my parents knew who I was and gave me the name Blakesley to protect me, and my godfather told me to always wear the ring.”
The council head had Atticus’s parents come forward and asked them about the ring. Peregrine confirmed that it had been passed down for generations.
“And yes, the child scented human, not latent, and that suggested he was a hunter.” Peregrine stared straight ahead.
So they’d always known or thought that I was human. Them saying I was latent was a lie.
“And yet with your family history, you didn’t understand some hunters were also shifters.” The head peered at the pair. “Or did you?”
He didn’t wait for their response and told them to sit.
The council members conferred, and we waited. Atticus folded his arms and closed his eyes. I wanted to block everything out but rested my head on Phelan’s shoulders and longed to be with Eira. My mate showed me his phone with a photo of our daughter just outside, and tears rolled down my cheeks.
“Not long now, my darling, and we’ll be together,” I whispered.
The council head held up his hand.
“We have long known that the hunter gene was extinguished in all families who carried it.”
That caused an outcry in the room, and people shouted, “Why didn’t you tell us?” until he glowered at everyone.
“Let me finish. We suspected there was one family remaining, but the ancient texts didn’t specify which family that was.”
He told Atticus and his folks to stand.
“I understand you feared people discovering your family carried the gene. I can’t fault you for that. It had been dormant for hundreds of years, but you were aware that if you had twins, one would probably be a hunter and the other a shifter.”
He tapped his tablet. “What you were possibly not aware of was that some shifters were also hunters, as Rawling discovered in his research.”
It was Holden’s doing, digging up that fact, but I didn’t look for him in the crowd.
“But you chose to dump an unsuspecting child in an orphanage, not necessarily because he was human, but you suspected him of being a hunter. You left him to an uncertain life and left shifters in danger. That is unforgivable.”
Atticus hung his head and refused to look at his folks. I didn’t welcome that my birth parents were being exposed, but they set this in motion before I was born.
“And now for your sentence. You and your son will be banned from shifter society. You will not participate in shifter affairs, attend school or college, work with shifters or interact with them. You will leave your home and place of work and move far away from civilization.”
Oh, that was a lot, cruel maybe, but I had no power to stop it. Beside me, Atticus sagged and slumped into the chair, putting his head in his hands. That could have been me, but I had a mate at my side who adored me and our daughter.
Jack put an arm around Atticus, though he didn’t appear to notice.
Please, don’t let them do this.
Of course my wolf chose this moment to speak up. He’d not been interested in any of the proceedings up until now.
“What can I do?”
Phelan gave me a look and put his head against mine. “If you’re talking to your wolf, keep it internal.”
Damn, this brother of mine had brought me nothing but grief and aggravation. But he didn’t cause any of this. Other than being born with me, he played no part.
I glanced at Phelan who whispered, “You’re a good person, babe.”
“How did you know what I was going to do?”
“Because I know you.” He kissed my brow.
I stood up but still hung onto my mate’s hand. “May I speak?”
