“Wait, I missed it,” I said, my panic rising. “What’s happening now?” I berated myself for checking out. I owed it to my alphas to be focused right now.
“That’s their defense attorney,” Gerald said quietly. “He’s about to make the opening statement.”
A lean alpha in a light gray suit and perfectly coiffed hair made his way up to the podium. I held my breath, ready to hear a defense of my alphas.
“Pack Ashwood are law-abiding citizens. This trial will show that the accusations against them have no merit. Pack Ashwood are respectable business owners who went through proper channels to interview an omega through the Designation Center.” His voice was monotone and droning, as if he were reading from an appliance manual and not making a defense of the three most important people in the world.
He sat back down.
Rage propelled me to my feet. “What the fuck? What kind of statement is that?”
Sam reached up and unfurled my hand to give it a squeeze, but Terrance was the one who spoke up.
“We tried to arrange a defense attorney for them, but the government would only allow a court-appointed attorney. I’m sure this defense attorney is in the government’s pockets, so don’t be surprised when he continues to be useless,” he said apologetically.
“But that’s so unfair,” I whined, looking around the room, indignant at how calm everyone was. “Why aren’t you all more upset about this?”
“We are, Josie,” Sam said, standing up and pulling me into his embrace. “We’ve had over a week to mentally prepare for this—you’ve only had a couple days. Nothing about this trial is going to be fair. You need to be ready for the almost certain reality that your alphas will be convicted and sentenced. But we will get them out and back to you, promise. Alright?”
No, nothing about this was alright, but I wasn’t about to throw a tantrum in front of everyone. I forced myself to sit down, suppressing the growl trying to rumble through my chest.
Lilah moved in closer and put her arm around me. The bitter scent of her anger was so strong it coated the back of my throat and that, more than anything, helped get me through the rest of the trial. With every false accusation and fake testimony, I stoked my rage. The government would soon find out what happened when they pissed off an omega.
ChapterForty-Three
Josie
The trial had been three fucking days of torture.
My nerves were stretched so thin I jumped at every slight noise and movement. I spent the nights wandering around the house with a big blanket wrapped around me, looking like a ghostly woman from the 1800s. I couldn’t spend another night in bed, waiting for my nightmares to find me.
Everyone was walking on eggshells around me. They kept throwing me furtive glances when they thought I wasn’t looking and speaking in hushed voices, as if I were mere seconds away from losing it.
Maybe I was.
Yesterday, Angie had quietly pulled me away from the trial with an offer to sedate me. Fear gripped me at her suggestion as I was reminded of all those hours I spent unconscious with Glen and Dr. Bishop, never knowing exactly what they had done. My omega acted on instinct and growled, causing one of her alphas to leap between us. I’d been mortified, my face on fire as I apologized profusely. Angie had taken it all in stride, rolling her eyes at her alpha before affectionately shoving him aside.
I knew she was trying to help, but I didn’t need to be sedated. I just needed my alphas. It felt like no one understood the depth of what I was going through. I had started resenting the other omegas in the Alliance who were all with their packs. Why was I the one who had to be separated from my alphas? Why did Glen have to set his sights on me all those years ago?
I sat at the kitchen counter and gripped my coffee cup hard, the heat stinging my palms as the first few pink rays of morning light streaked across the sky. I needed to get my shit together and pull myself out of this pity spiral. I wasn’t the only person they had harmed; at least I had been lucky enough to find my pack. My alphas needed me, and I needed to stay strong for them.
Watching the trial had been torture. The worst moment had been when Richard—fucking Richard, my useless pack father who had terrorized me with his temper growing up—had gotten on the stand to testify in my place. He had been moved to tears when talking about how my pack’s poor treatment of me had made me even frailer than I’d already been. Sam had half-heartedly restrained me to keep me from throwing a vase and shattering the TV.
The lawyers had delivered closing remarks yesterday afternoon, and now we waited for the all-alpha jury to finish deliberating. We expected them to have quick deliberations with how rigged the trial had been.
I stared out the window, my eyes unfocused as the sky grew brighter. I only returned to reality when the chair next to mine scraped against the floor and Lilah sat down, putting her head down on the counter with a groan. Grayson rubbed her back tenderly.
“Did you not sleep again?” he asked me, a hint of reproach in his voice.
I just shrugged.
He looked like he was about to say something when Lilah grasped his hand.
“Just leave it. I wouldn’t sleep if we were separated,” she said.
I looked away as he leaned in to kiss her cheek softly.
“I’ll make some breakfast,” he said, heading to the pantry.
