Chapter Eighty-Five - Willow

Pulling back into the courts had my heart racing in my chest. My wolf began to pace back and forth inside of me. She was antsy and nervous to be here again.

Honestly, I never thought I would come back after escaping.

There were several vehicles parked in the driveway. It made me nervous to know what Patch told these regions. That I escaped because I was afraid of my punishment.

Like I would ever be afraid of my punishment. I was too prideful to run away from it. I would stand and take it as calmly as I could. There was no way to tell what he told them.

What would they think when I walked into the room with them? I wouldn’t worry about it. I needed to keep myself together like Chase said. We didn’t want to get in here with an attitude, it would deter them from taking us seriously and make Patch look as if he were telling the truth.

We parked, and I nervously got out. My gaze shifted toward the field where I had run for my life. Where they shot at me with silver bullets.

Oddly enough, Chase’s Jeep still sat parked where they’d left it.

I was shocked they hadn’t torched it, but then again, they needed proof of them showing up to help me escape.

Chase walked around to meet me at the hood of the truck. He searched the field and the tree line for what I didn’t know.

Maybe for the wolves that were lurking in the forest in hopes of finding the remains of the monster. I prayed that they left him there. Or the animals hadn’t gotten to him by now.

The front doors to the courts opened and Patch stepped onto the top step.

I stiffened next to Chase, and he reassuringly rubbed his palm against my lower back. Patch’s gaze swept over the vehicles and then to us. There was a glint of smugness on his face. I wished I could wipe it off myself.

“Good afternoon,” he said.

Mrs. Young walked up to him and offered him a friendly handshake. He took it and winced, grabbing his shoulder. “I’m sorry, during the situation; Willow got me good on my shoulder. It still hasn’t healed.”

My wolf growled at his lies and I felt several eyes look over at me. I didn’t respond, I stared at his lying face and snarled.

“Well, why don’t we make our way inside,” Mrs. Young said. “We have the southeast region here with us as well. Are the courts ready?”

Patch opened the other double doors and walked her inside to where I couldn’t hear them anymore. I was thankful. I wanted to rip his head off that ‘messed-up’ shoulder and slaughter him.

A deep chuckle came from behind us. The Alpha King from the southeast region stood a few years back. “He’s lying. I have a gut feeling.”

“Yeah, he’s lying. I only tossed him over my shoulder once. Some Alpha King,” I mumbled.

Chase nudged me along and turned to the Alpha King. “He’s going to play the victim role,” he said.

“I have a few ideas for that,” he whispered. “I know how to test a man’s pride.”

I didn’t know what that meant, and I didn’t have time to ask, because Chase guided me into the front doors. The place reeked of bleach. Had they scrubbed the place down with hopes to clean up any blood or residue of something?

Dad mumbled from behind us. “Place smells overwhelming to me.”

The guard that I tripped in the hallway looked over at me and squinted his eyes. I dared him to make a move with a heated look. I’d take him down again.

Patch stood in the hallway with Mrs. Young, touching her arm and pretending to be a nice guy that I knew he wasn’t.

He turned to face me and I saw a glint of anger resting in his gaze. His jaw twitched, and then his fingers at his sides followed. Then it switched off like a true narcissist. “The courts are ready for you all. We have a packed house, so be prepared.”

Nerves traveled down my body. My feet cemented to the floor and I couldn’t get my body to move. Chase nudged me long but I took a step back. He put himself in front of me and placed his palms on my shoulder. “Everything is fine, Bunny. We have to go inside. You not going looks really, really bad.”

I knew that, but my body was frozen. I could see where this was going before I even walked inside. The Alpha King of the southeast region stepped aside and introduced himself to Patch. “I’m Pain Prince, nice to meet you.”

He slapped Patch’s shoulder roughly and Patch didn’t budge. Pain’s gaze shifted toward Chase’s and I watched them exchange a look.

“He’s faking his shoulder. We just need to prove that and his case will unravel,” he whispered into my ear.

Taking a few steps, I walked down the hallway and passed by Patch. His gaze followed mine until I stepped into the courts. He hadn’t been lying. Many wolves were sitting on both sides of the courtroom. Two tables were at the end past a small gate. A long table full of wolves on the opposite wall stared at me.

My mind raced with ideas on what they were thinking. Chase pushed me along to the right-hand side of the court and slid behind the table with me.

An elderly she-wolf cleared her throat as Patch took his seat on the opposite side. “We’re here today because Willow Jacks escaped from the courts before her ruling for fighting as a she-wolf. Patch claims she was spooked at the potential punishment he was going to give her during dinner and ran. We’re here to hear Willow’s side of the story, which from what I hear, is very different than our Alpha King’s rendition.”

Chase went to stand to speak for me but she cut him a look. “I’d like to hear from Willow.”

I stood, biting back the nervous chuckle in my throat, and tucked my hair behind my ears. I could have heard a pen drop in the courtroom. “Are you ready?” I asked.

She nodded and waved her pen at me.

“I was summoned here for fighting against the rogue pack. I killed Ian, the man who murdered my mother when I was six years old. Patch brought me here. During our meal, I began to grow very dizzy, and I realized someone had put something into my food, Patch confessed to me that he’d been in the rogue pack when he was younger to lure one of Ian’s children away to do science experiments on them. We have powers, and his royal bloodline doesn’t like it. I escaped, after fighting with Patch, and made it to the tree line where I was shot with a silver bullet. Then as I raced through the woods, a monster was sent after me. I hid in the top of a tree, where Chas and Rex showed up in time to help me kill the beast.”

I swallowed nervously, watching all these wolves’ startled faces.

“O-kay. Can you prove that you have any special powers that Patch would want?” she asked.

“I can read minds,” I said.

She lifted a brow. “Can you read mine?”

“You’re thinking how crazy I sound right now and you hope your husband put the chicken in the crock pot like you asked him.”

She gawked at me for several seconds and turned to the other wolves on the court. “That’s right,” she said.

“That doesn’t prove anything,” Patch said, interrupting. “That doesn’t mean I knew she had those.”

“He was in that rogue pack. They all have crossbones tattoos. Patch has it on his forearm,” I said.

She looked at Patch, who reluctantly rolled up his sleeves and showed the tattoo.

“So you did know Ian?” the wolf asked.

Patch shrugged. “Vaguely. This doesn’t prove I tried to drug her, Ma’am—“

“We’re having our lab check her urine for any trace of sedation,” Chase said. “But it takes a couple of days.”

She pursed her lips. “Tell me about this beast,” she said.

I swallowed the growing lump in my throat. “He walked on his hind legs and had wolfish features. He was … soulless. He looked through me like I wasn’t a person. He wasn’t a shifter. He was purely an animal. A monster.”

“It’s very hard to believe this without any proof, Willow. I hope you know that. It’s … almost impossible to believe.”

I pressed my mouth together. “My wounds have healed. The silver bullet I was hit with and where the beast tossed me a few times are gone. I’m a wolf, I heal just like you.”

She pressed her fingertips to her head. “I spoke with the guards before we started. All of them are saying it’s ludicrous. How about the two gentlemen that came to save you.” She looked at her notes. “Chase and Rex?”

Rex maneuvered out from the seats behind us and stood behind Chase.

The courtroom door opened and two wolves walked into the room holding a plastic bag. “We found something you may want to see.”

Patch turned around and looked at the bag in his hand. I couldn’t tell what it was but Patch knew because his face turned ashen.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Roofies.”