Chapter 50 050
Chapter 50
Thalia's POV
The week crawled by like nothing I'd ever experienced.
Every morning I woke up thinking maybe today the wolves would be gone. Every morning they were still there, standing at the boundary like statues. The townspeople kept up their watch rotations but everyone was getting worn down. You could see it in their faces, hear it in the shorter tempers and sharper words.
Miller let me work shorter hours because I couldn't focus anyway. My hands would shake randomly and I'd lose track of what I was doing. Once I gave a customer the wrong change three times before Margaret gently took over and sent me to the back room.
"You need to breathe," she told me. "Just breathe."
But breathing felt hard when everything was pressing down on me.
Elena came back two days before the hearing. She looked different, more stressed than I'd seen her before. She'd been working around the clock on my case and it showed.
"We need to go over your testimony again," she said. We were in Ruth's back room, papers spread everywhere. "The arbiter is going to ask you direct questions about what happened with Varian. You need to be clear and consistent."
"I know what happened," I said.
"I know you do," Elena said patiently. "But under pressure, in front of an arbiter and with Varian's representative there, it's easy to get flustered. We need to practice."
So we practiced. She asked me the same questions over and over. What led to the confrontation with Shelly. What exactly Varian said when he exiled me. Whether I ever formally requested release from the pack. Whether I felt my exile was just.
That last question tripped me up.
"Does it matter if I thought it was just?" I asked.
"It matters because it shows your state of mind," Elena explained. "If you believed the exile was unjust but accepted it anyway, that demonstrates you weren't trying to circumvent pack authority. You were accepting the consequences even though you disagreed with them."
"I did accept it," I said. "I left. I didn't fight it or argue or try to come back."
"Good," Elena said. "That's what you need to say at the hearing."
The night before the hearing, I couldn't sleep at all. I lay in bed watching the shadows on the ceiling and thinking about everything that could go wrong. The arbiter could side with Varian. I could mess up my testimony. Something could happen during the hearing that I hadn't prepared for.
Around three in the morning I gave up and went downstairs. Ruth was there, sitting at the bar with a cup of tea.
"Couldn't sleep either?" she asked.
I shook my head and sat down next to her. She poured me tea without asking if I wanted any.
"I'm scared," I admitted.
"You'd be crazy not to be," Ruth said. "But you're going to be okay. You've got Elena, you've got the truth on your side, and you've got a whole town backing you up."
"What if that's not enough?"
Ruth was quiet for a minute. "Then we figure out what comes next. But don't borrow trouble from tomorrow. You've got enough to deal with today."
She was right, but it didn't make the fear go away.
The hearing was set for ten in the morning at the regional council building, about two hours' travel from Greystone. Elena had arranged for a cart to take us there. Miller insisted on coming too, along with Ruth and Helen from the town council.
"You need witnesses to your character," Elena had explained. "People who can speak to how you've conducted yourself in Greystone."
We left at dawn. The wolves watched us go but didn't try to stop us. I kept expecting them to follow but they stayed at their posts. Maybe they had their own people going to the hearing.
The council building was bigger than I expected, a stone structure that looked old and official. My stomach churned as we walked up the steps.
Inside, a clerk directed us to a hearing room on the second floor. It was set up like a small courtroom with benches for observers and a table at the front where the arbiter would sit. There were two other tables facing the arbiter's seat, one for each side.
We were early but Varian's people were already there.
My breath caught when I saw who he'd sent. Not Varian himself, but his beta, a man named Marcus who I'd always been afraid of back in the pack. And sitting next to Marcus was Shelly.
She looked up when I walked in. Our eyes met for just a second before she looked away. She was wearing a nice dress and her hair was done up. She looked nervous.
"They brought her to testify," Elena murmured to me. "I expected that. Don't let it rattle you."
But it did rattle me. Seeing Shelly there made everything feel more real, more dangerous.
We took our seats at one of the tables. Ruth, Miller, and Helen sat in the benches behind us. A few other people filtered in, council members or observers I didn't recognize.
At exactly ten o'clock, the arbiter entered.
Marcus Stone was older, maybe in his sixties, with gray hair and a stern face. He wore formal robes and carried himself with the kind of authority that made you want to sit up straighter. He took his seat and looked over the room with sharp eyes.
"This is a hearing regarding the legal status of Thalia Winters," he began. His voice was deep and clear. "The claimant, Alpha Varian Blackwood, asserts that Ms. Winters remains bound to his pack and left without proper release. Ms. Winters contests this claim. We're here to determine the facts and render a decision."
He looked at Elena. "Counselor, you may present your opening statement."
Elena stood up. She looked calm and professional, nothing like the tired woman from yesterday. "Thank you, Arbiter Stone. The facts of this case are straightforward. Ms. Winters was formally exiled from Alpha Varian's pack on September fifteenth of this year. The exile was public, witnessed, and unambiguous. Alpha Varian himself declared that she was to leave pack lands with no protection and no right to return. That is, by definition, a severing of pack bonds. Ms. Winters accepted this exile and has since established an independent life in the neutral town of Greystone. Alpha Varian's current claim that she remains bound to his pack is legally baseless and practically absurd. You cannot exile someone and still claim authority over them."
Marcus, the beta, stood up for his turn. "The distinction between exile and release is well established in pack law. Exile is a punishment but it does not automatically grant freedom from pack bonds. Those bonds can only be severed through formal release, which requires specific rituals and documentation. Ms. Winters received neither. Therefore, she remains a member of Alpha Varian's pack, albeit one currently serving punishment. Her presence in Greystone without permission is a violation of that punishment."
Arbiter Stone nodded slightly. "I see. This appears to hinge on whether exile constitutes a de facto release or whether it's merely a temporary punishment. We'll hear testimony to establish the facts."
He looked at me. "Ms. Winters, please take the stand."
My legs felt weak as I stood up and walked to the small chair next to the arbiter's bench. Everything Elena and I had practiced suddenly felt distant and fuzzy.
Arbiter Stone looked at me with those sharp eyes. "Tell me in your own words what happened on September fifteenth."
I took a breath and started talking.
And prayed I wouldn't mess this up.