Chapter 73

Alpha Gabe

I watched as the Council came into the large conference room and set themselves up in order at the head of the room. We had placed tables with chairs to face them, the tables bolted to the ground with iron hooks to secure the shackles to. We had yet to decide on how this "trial" was going to be handled, so I approached them. "Alpha, how can we help you this morning," Councilman A asked me as he looked over some notes in front of him.

"Good morning Council. I assume you have eaten breakfast and have all you need to start the day?". The nodded in unison. "Perfect. Now I would like to address the flow of this trial, so that I can properly prepare the witnesses and my warriors. Can you fill me in?", I asked.

"Certainly. Our Protectors will provide most of the security. However, we do request that you have two warriors at the back of the room and one at the door, outside. We will also have a Protector stand with your guard outside the door. We will bring in the prisoners first. We have finished our interrogation of them and conducted our investigation, so that will not be part of the process. Your witnesses will be brought in to the back of the room, but out of view of the prisoners. We want to make sure that your witnesses do not feel threatened by them during the process. We have no idea if they have things arranged in the event they were discovered, and the Beta of Godsend Pack has not been detained, so there are some concerns regarding him. I understand he is a concern?", the council all looked at me, eyes raised.

"He is," I acknowledged. "He was chosen by Alpha Chris entirely because of his ruthlessness and strength. Nothing more. I would not be surprised if he had been instructed to try and free him."

"As we suspected," Councilman B stated. "He is most definitely a concern. I wouldn't put it past him to try something." Everyone nods in agreement.

Councilman A continued on with the days events and how it would play out. The charges would be stated at the beginning, for all to hear. The witnesses would each come forward and make brief statements about the charges that pertained to them. The prisoners would be given a chance to give statements and either agree to the charges or give reason why they feel the charge does not apply to them. The council would break and the prisoners would be returned to their cells. Following lunch, any closing statements would be made and the Council would announce their verdicts and punishments. The witnesses could choose to come back for that if they wanted to, but it was not required. It could get messy once the punishments were announced and again, they did not want the witnesses to feel like they would be targeted. They assured us that the witnesses would be offered protection for a while after the trial, just to make sure that unexpected backlash didn't occur. I felt like that was a good possibility, but didn't say anything on the matter.

I thanked them for the explanation and left to confer with my warriors, the witnesses and hopefully my Beta. I was hoping Cody was finally able to leave Carolyn today. She would also need to be present, if she was able. I decided I better first head over to their house. I would have just mind linked Cody, but he had himself cut off from everyone for that past few days, as is understandable. I remember all to well what it's like to have a mate in heat, even if my children are grown now.

I made my way to Cody's and knocked on the door. I heard Cody hollering that he would be right there. A few minutes later, my Beta opened the door, barefoot with a pair of jeans on and t-shirt, his hair wet. "Did I interrupt?", I asked.

"Not at all Alpha, I was just getting out of the shower. Come on in," he opened the door wide so I could enter. "Can I get you some coffee? Carolyn will be right down."

"Sure. We have a lot to discuss," I said taking the coffee and sitting at the table. "The trial is today, no more putting it off. Will the both of you be able to attend?" Cody nodded and then excused himself to let Carolyn know to come down so we can all talk. I leaned back in the chair, waiting for them both to return. I was glad this would all be over with today, so my sister could have the happiness she deserved. She had been through enough already. It made me happy that Cody turned out to be the perfect second chance for her, for him as well. He had been alone for far to long.