A fresh start.
What should I do?
Chapter 29
Nik
I tug at the hem of my suit jacket as I wait for Mags to finish giving her testimony. Agent Elgin, who’s been heading our case since day one, assured us that the judge’s office is safe, and she promised that none of us have to testify in person against the cartel that was behind the pack trafficking, but I still worry. I don’t like that they’re not letting us in the room with Mags while she recounts the events at the Langley house. Shouldn’t we at least be able to stand behind her for moral support?
Kip and Kaden appear equally distressed. The pack bond practically vibrates with concern, but even without that, I can tell. They’re about to wear twin tracks in the federal courthouse carpet with their pacing, and I think their hands will develop calluses from all that wringing.
“Sit still, guys. She’s only been in there for, like, twenty minutes. It’s going to take at least that long for her to explain what we were doing there in the first place.”
“They’re going to tear her apart on cross-examination,” Kip says. He chews on a fingernail as he sits on a bench in the hallway and stares at the judge’s door. “Agent Elgin said we’d have to tell the truth. All of it. Poor Mags.”
Kaden snorts and leans against the wall. “Does Mags even know what the truth is?”
I smack Kaden upside the head and glare at him. “Look, she knows what’s at stake. Besides, we’ve got immunity for the stuff that we did before DeltaCorp. She has no reason to lie.”
“She’s nervous,” Kip whispers. “I can feel it.”
“We all can, Kip. But she’s not scared, and that’s the important thing. There’s nothing in there that’s threatening to her, so we just have to trust the system. I know that’s a new concept to all of us, but that’s where we’re at.”
“Does that mean if she gets frightened, we can bust in there to protect her?”
“No, Kaden. We tell the bailiffs and letthemhandle it.”
After I’ve calmed the twins down as much as I possibly can, I go back to monitoring the door. I really don’t have anything else to do until it’s my turn to testify. Next are the twins—one at a time—then me, then, hopefully, that’s it. All of our testimony given remotely, and from a location completely separate from our new home. We’re as safe as the feds can make us, so now it’s a matter of convincing the judge that we’re reliable witnesses and that our evidence is legit.
I can’t wait for this to be over with. Witness Protection set us up in a nice, small town, where there are plenty of jobs the twins and I can do while still making sure Mags isn’t left alone in the first few months with the baby. We’ve got a nice house, small, but it suits our needs. Sizeable nesting room, a couple of small guest rooms, a nursery, and, as Mags requested, both a large shower and an even larger bathtub.
She’s still uncertain about motherhood, but I think she’ll make a great mom. Always takes such good care of the three of us, and Lord knows the twins need extra attention some days. Mags practically raised them already, so if she can handle them, she can handle anything.
Mags’s testimony drags on for what feels like forever. Her nerves rise and fall, sometimes spiking so high that I want to storm into the room to make sure she’s okay. Each time that I brace myself for the worst, though, she sends reassurance through the bond. Defiance. Confidence. She wants to do this, to do the right thing for probably the first time in her life.
When she emerges from the judge’s office, her skin is pale, and she trembles a little. Kip kisses her cheek on his way in, and Kaden and I take seats on either side of her on the bench.
“How was it?” Kaden asks.
“It was … nerve-wracking. Humiliating. The defense really dug into me. They knew a lot about our past, about the heat helper grifting. The judge kept telling them to stop bringing it up because it’s ‘not relevant to the case,’ but then they started throwing legal terms around, and …” She sighs. “It’s not going to be easy. The defense is going after our credibility, but I think that we’ll be okay. We just have to stick to the truth and hope for the best.”
“Did you just say, ‘stick to the truth’?” Kaden casts a dubious glance at Mags. “Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”
She sticks her tongue out at him. “I’m fine. This honesty thing might not be so bad.”
I press the back of my hand to her forehead. “No fever. Alien abduction, maybe?”
Kaden nods sagely. “Pod person. Of course.”
“Very funny, you two.” Mags sighs. “I mean, it’s not like we have a choice. We have to be on the straight and narrow now. If we slip up, we’ll break our deal with the feds and wind up in prison.”
“Do you think you’ll miss playing beta?” I ask, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “I know that taking it easy once the pregnancy progresses is a foreign concept for you, but after that. Will you try to find a job as an omega?”
She blinks. “Doing what?”
“Hon, omegas can have jobs, too. Eventually, that baby will be in school, and you’ll have more free time, or maybe one of us can take care of our kid while you’re at work. Have you thought about what you might want to do?”
Mags rubs her growing bump, her gaze distant. “I never thought about it. I mean, I figured if I was ever found out, that would be it for me. I’d just be a breeding factory. Breed and birth, breed and birth. That’s what omegas do, isn’t it? That’s what all the ones we’ve come across in our former line of work did. I don’t think I’ve ever met an omega who was gainfully employed, except for unbonded ones.”
