Fated to the Warrior Wolf (The Hunted Omegas #3)

41. Gael

FORTY-ONE

Gael

A s night fell on the following day, the time for the tribunal had arrived. But instead of being laser focused as I should have been as the pack’s second and Kane’s head enforcer, I was giving the preparations half my attention at best. I couldn’t stop playing over the shitstorm that had happened the day before, Leigh’s stiff posture as she’d walked away, leaving me behind. My wolf hadn’t liked it, not one bit.

But I let her go.

I still wasn’t sure whether that was the right move, and the last twenty-four hours had been torture for me and my wolf. But deep down, I respected her need for space, even as I hated every single second.

The gathering area was prepared, and I’d had Sergei triple-check it for me. Apparently, half focus was still sufficient, because he confirmed that all the necessary security measures were in place— over the top were his exact words—and the natural amphitheater about a mile from the castle was as prepared as it could be. I cast one last glance around the large, natural bowl-shaped landscape. It was as if some great deity who’d formed the place had used the cup of their palm as a blueprint, which made for easy visibility as well as great acoustics.

Everyone present would hear about Alpha Varga and the Hungarian pack’s cowardice.

Attendees were already starting to filter in. I recognized at least two of the Alphas who’d pledged their packs’ loyalty to Kane this week, as well as quite a few of the locals who were lesser members of Pack Caelestis.

Someone is walking up behind me . I held stone still as I let my senses identify the other person.

“Lucien,” I drawled, not bothering to turn around as soon as I caught the other male’s scent.

“Damn, how do you do that? It’s freaky. Is that something they taught you in that warrior enclave you lived in?”

I snorted. Lucien was one of the few people who knew about my time there, and I mentally added that to the list of things to talk to Leigh about whenever she was ready to talk to me again.

I may have fucked up; I had plenty of times in my life. But I learned from my mistakes. She didn’t want me to leave anything out? She wanted to know my past? She better buckle up. I was going to tell her about every skinned knee, every boring state dinner, and even the awkward story about the night I lost my virginity.

She was going to know me better than my damn mother. As a mate should . I was holding on to that and making a mental list of things to tell her. Although if I’d thought of this many things in a day, I was going to need to convert the mental list to paper pretty soon.

I could send her letters . The thought was promising, giving me a spark of hope.

“Not even going to tell me. That’s cold, man. I thought we were friends.” Lucien slapped me on the shoulder as he stepped up to my side, not really mad that I hadn’t responded. He knew I wasn’t a talker.

“Are we set on the council front?” I asked, ignoring his wounded act.

“Yep. They weren’t pleased, but they aren’t allowed to interfere in matters of pack justice, any more than any other species. The Omega Defense League isn’t involved, and no petitions for asylum have been filed, so we’re square. They can complain, but they can’t do shit.”

“That’s good, because I’m certain Kane doesn’t give a damn when it comes to his parents’ killer.”

“Do you blame him? It was a pointless killing, and they had centuries left to live.” Lucien shook his head, a grim sadness in the downturn of his mouth. “At least justice will be served. It’s not enough, but it’s something.”

“And the witness?” I asked, scanning the amphitheater as more and more of the stone benches filled with wolves. The one I was looking for still hadn’t shown, and it had me on edge.

“With Reed, preparing his statement and the documentation for any who might demand it afterward.”

I grunted my acknowledgment. Everything was ready—now all we needed was Varga, Kane, and the witness. Which meant I was free to obsess about my mate.

Was she sick again? She hadn’t let Bri heal her morning sickness again, a fact I only knew because I’d twisted Reed’s arm for an update this morning during our meeting.

Stubborn woman .

But that wasn’t all. She was a loyal woman, loyal to her friend, and as any true alpha, she would take the burden from a weaker wolf, even at great cost to herself. The truth was, she’d make an excellent princess, a leader, if I wasn’t going to abdicate.

When I spotted her across the crowd, my muscles all locked into place, as if someone had tased me. She looked weary. Even from here, I could tell her stride was off and her shoulders were low. Although that could also be emotional issues, I worried about her nutrition if she’d spent the day throwing up.

Dammit, why won’t she let Brielle help her?

“You ready to get this show on the road?” Lucien asked, elbowing me and nodding toward the far side of the stage, where Sergei and Andrei flanked a very pissed-looking Varga.

“I was born ready.” I shot Lucien a smirk. He rolled his eyes at my cocky answer, but didn’t respond as we crossed the stage to secure Varga and lead him to the left side of the stage. A special wooden seat with built-in silver cuffs had been bolted to the floor. It was straight-backed and imposing, a sad shadow of a throne, with deep scars gouged from the dark wood by past struggles.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first wolf to go rogue on a larger scale who’d required a tribunal. The milling wolves out in the audience all quickly took their seats as he was manacled to the heavy wooden seat, everyone more interested in staring at the charged traitor than whatever gossip they’d been sharing. I tried not to stare as Leigh and the three women from our pack made their way down the center aisle. Dirge was at their back, scanning the crowd attentively.

Once the accused was secured—with barely a hiss of pain when the silver touched his wrists—Sergei and Andrei took up guard positions on either side of the chair, and I walked back to the edge of the stage to wait for Kane. Another glance at Leigh found her now settled in the front row, between Dirge and Olivia.

I didn’t like the other male so close to my unbonded female, no, but it also made me feel better to know she had protection when she wouldn’t let me be close enough to protect her myself.

It was a fine line, and one that I’d lost sleep over last night.

Kane stepped up to my side. There was no sign of Reed and the witness, but I assumed from Kane’s cool, confident stance that they were nearby, waiting to be called. He hadn’t yet looked at Varga, but I imagined that was to keep said cool.

“We’re ready whenever you are, High Alpha,” I said with a deferential nod. He was my friend, yes, but in formal situations, I leaned into his position. I had a job to do, just like he did. And right now, we were fulfilling our roles, not being buddies going for a run.

“Thank you, Gael. I’m ready to get this settled once and for all.”

“I have your back.”

“Thank you,” he said with bone-deep sincerity. And then he stepped up to the center of the stage. I shadowed him, staying one step behind his left shoulder.

He wasted no time on formalities, starting things off with a simple greeting to the gathered crowd. “Welcome, and thank you for coming. Tonight, we are holding a tribunal to assess the innocence or guilt of Alpha Varga of the Hungarian pack in regard to the murder of my late parents, Mihaela and Kosta, high alpha pair of the nine great packs.”

You could have heard a mouse squeak, so quiet was the fully packed amphitheater. People had come from all over to bear witness, and they didn’t want to miss a word. Something this big didn’t happen often in the wolf community.

“Alpha Varga, do you have anything to say for yourself?” Kane addressed him, clenching his jaw as soon as the words were out.

I could see what it cost Kane to not rip the man’s throat out, because I’d known him and lived so close to him for so long. But a casual observer probably would have thought him indifferent.

“I had nothing to do with your parents’ deaths, Kane, and I’m offended that you’ve dragged me here for this farce of a trial. ”

Kane nodded tightly, but I stepped forward, getting between them. “You will address the high alpha with the respect due his position, or I’ll see you muzzled,” I snarled, lifting a wicked-looking muzzle from the storage compartment under the chair.

Varga scoffed, but he couldn’t hide the way his face paled at the sight of the ball gag and the heavy leather strap that would buckle behind his head to keep it in place. The worst part was the muzzle cage that went over it in case he shifted, with spikes to hold it into his flesh in case the wolf was able to snap the leather straps.

When he held his silence, I resumed my position behind Kane but didn’t put the muzzle away. Let it remind him to think about his words more carefully as it dangled from my fingertips.

“The simplest solution in matters like these is to read the pack bond to determine innocence or guilt. But Alpha Varga has not yet made his pledge to me, and therefore, I do not have that pack bond in place. Alpha, are you willing to bend the knee and pledge your loyalty so that I might more easily read your intent and put this matter to rest?”

“Absolutely not.” He spat, a fat glob of spittle landing a few feet in front of him with a wet slap on the wood. I shifted on my feet, but Kane’s stance was calm. He was high alpha now, but Kane was clearly up to something. Even though I knew it, I had to grit my teeth as Varga carried on, growing louder the longer he slathered like a rabid dog. “I will never pledge my pack’s loyalty to my false accuser. You have no proof that I was involved in their murder!”

“I suspected that would be your stance, even though that alone is sufficient in a tribunal to presume guilt.” Kane turned toward the gathered crowd, his gaze passing over them to make them all feel included, a masterful speaker even with the weight on his shoulders. “You’ve all witnessed his refusal to allow me to interrogate him through the pack bonds. So let it be,” he said, using the formal finish required for the tribunal.

“As the second step of this tribunal, I will provide evidence that our claim is, in fact, not false,” Kane said, stepping toward the front of the stage, holding the crowd’s attention in the palm of his hand.

“My investigation into my parents’ murder uncovered several things. One, no physical wounds were found. Two, poison was suspected, but no known poisons were found at the scene of either death nor in their blood work. Three, a Drakenia guild assassin made an attempt on my mate’s life shortly after our bonding ceremony. He was unsuccessful in his attempt.” He lifted a hand toward Brielle, who sat straight-backed in the front row.

“In his possession we found a myriad of substances. After lab analyses, those were identified to be not traditional poisons, but deadly combinations of prescription narcotics combined with strong plant-based sedatives.”

He paused, letting that information sink in before he continued.

“Upon a second round of blood tests being run, we confirmed that substances in that assassin’s possession were present in Mihaela’s bloodstream, in a high enough dosage to be deadly and to take my father with her to the afterlife through their mate bond.”

An unsettled murmur rose from the crowd, but Kane lifted both hands in a silencing gesture, and they settled down fairly quickly.

“We then discovered a vial in the room next to hers. It matched the style and size of the vials found in the assassin’s possession and contained trace amounts of the same drug combination, which was been confirmed by two independent labs.” At that point, he stopped and lifted the vial in question high over his head so that all could see it in its plastic laboratory bag.

“That still doesn’t prove that I had shit to do with it. Our packs have been allies for years, and your ignorance of that fact proves that you are too young and hotheaded to serve as high alpha.” Varga lunged forward in his restraints, unable to stop the howl of pain at the silver burning his wrists and ankles this time.

“Do you want me to muzzle him?” I asked Kane, keeping my voice flat even though I wanted to snarl.

“No, let’s let him incriminate himself so there are no doubts,” he murmured quietly enough that no one but I could hear him.

Ahh . Interesting.

“I thought you might claim plausible deniability, which is why I call forward a witness to this tribunal, Rudi of the Hungarian pack.” He gestured toward the woods, and Reed stepped out with a wolf I’d never seen before at his side. Reed had his arm around the shoulders of the other male, who appeared to be shaking like a leaf.

This was the guy who was going to take out Varga? He was skinny as a twig, which I could tell even under the fleece-trimmed leather coat he wore. He had big, boxy glasses, a complexion that hadn’t seen sun in years, and by the scent of him, he was low in the pack ranking. Was he suicidal?

I cast a skeptical glance at Reed, but he shot me a grin and adjusted his cuff links as he strode past. So, he was nervous, but not about the guy’s credentials.

I guess we’ll see soon enough. I let myself check on Leigh as the Hungarian wolf passed, and found her looking a little peaked as she watched. Was she sick again, or uncomfortable watching the proceedings? I wished we had our mental connection, so I could ask her. It would be handy in times like this, even if she was shutting me out, to get a feel of her emotions. There was only so much you could hide with a mate bond, and I couldn’t wait.

Leigh was an enigma at times, and I was starting to realize that her talking was more of a shield than I’d known at first. She said a lot of words, but behind all those words, she kept a lot hidden. I wanted to know every inch of her, inside and out, so she had nothing left to hide from me.

“Thank you for being here, Rudi. I understand that this was a very brave and dangerous decision for you to go against your own Alpha to testify.”

“You sniveling, inbred traitor! I’ll see your family thrown into the streets for this! You’re a disgrace to the Hungarian pack—” Varga snatched violently at his restraints, eyes glowing and canines lengthening as he threatened his trembling pack mate. Kane gestured toward him with two fingers, and I strode forward to shove the rubber gag into his mouth.

“That’s about enough of that, I think,” I said, baring my own fangs at him. His wolf was too furious to be cowed, even though mine was certain we had the upper hand in dominance. There was a sort of sick satisfaction in fastening the leather straps behind his head as he fought uselessly. This was the man who’d killed my best friend’s parents, and I had no scrap of mercy in my heart for someone who took the coward’s way out.

He continued to thrash as I stepped back, satisfied he wasn’t spewing any more venom tonight.

That’s right, fucker. Bite it all you want; you’re not getting out of this .

I resumed my position at Kane’s shoulder and noted that he’d dropped a comforting hand on Rudi’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry about that, Rudi. Something about you being here seems to have triggered him. I’m guessing it’s because he won’t be pleased by what you have to say?” Kane asked, keeping his tone gentle and his dominance tightly under wraps for the weaker wolf .

Rudi nodded sharply, casting another terrified glance at his restrained Alpha. Reed walked past, handing Rudi a microphone.

“Can you please state your name, designation, and position?”

The microphone shook in his hand, but he straightened his shoulders before he spoke. “I’m Rudolph of the Hungarian pack. My designation in our pack is upsilon, and I have served for the last two hundred years as the pack’s accountant.”

I rocked back on my heels, suddenly realizing why this particular witness was so key. I could practically feel the smugness rolling off Reed from Kane’s other side.

“And why would an accountant be able to provide such a key testimony in the case of a murder?” Reed asked, damnably cool and collected even as he pulled the pin out of the grenade that would blow Varga’s case wide open.

“Because I have proof that he hired the Drakenia guild to murder the high alpha.”