Chapter 17 False Witness (cont'd)
The word echoes through the hall like a death sentence. For a wolf, banishment is worse than death. We're pack animals. We need community, family, connection. Without a pack, we're vulnerable. Weak.
Especially a pregnant omega.
"You can't do this." Damon's voice cuts through the murmurs. "Mason, think about what you're doing—"
"The decision is made." Mason's Alpha command rings through the hall, forcing Damon back into his seat. "Sage Mitchell is hereby banished. This hearing is concluded."
I should feel something. Terror, rage, grief. But instead, I just feel numb.
It's over. Everything is over.
The guards move to escort me out, but my legs won't work. I'm frozen, staring at Mason, silently begging him to see the truth. To remember who I am. To choose differently.
But he just turns away.
"Wait." The word escapes my lips before I can stop it.
Mason pauses but doesn't turn around.
This is my last chance. My only chance. If I tell him about the baby now, he might—
No. He won't. He'll think I'm lying. Making up a pregnancy to avoid banishment. And even if he believes me, Stella will make sure I never survive it.
The baby is safer if he never knows.
But I have to try something. Anything.
"Alpha command me," I say, my voice barely above a whisper.
Now Mason turns, confusion crossing his features. "What?"
"If you truly believe I'm lying, command me—as my Alpha—to tell the truth. Use your authority. Make it impossible for me to lie." I meet his eyes. "Ask me if I attacked Stella. If I'm the one who started this."
It's a gamble. A huge gamble. Because if Mason actually does it, if he uses his Alpha command, I'll be forced to tell the truth about everything. Including the pregnancy.
But maybe, just maybe, it will make him question Stella's story.
Mason stares at me for a long moment. I can see the wheels turning in his mind. See him considering it.
"Do it," Damon urges quietly. "If you're so certain she's guilty, what do you have to lose?"
Stella shifts in her seat, discomfort flickering across her face for just a second.
Mason takes a step toward me. Another. Until he's close enough that I can see the golden flecks in his brown eyes.
"Fine," he says. "Sage Mitchell, by my authority as your Alpha, I command you to answer truthfully. Did you attack Stella last night?"
The command slams into me like a physical force. My wolf whimpers, unable to resist. My mouth opens, and the truth spills out.
"No. She attacked me when she found out I was planning to leave. She was trying to hurt my—"
I cut myself off, biting my tongue hard enough to draw blood. But it's too late. The slip has been made.
"Trying to hurt your what?" Mason's eyes narrow.
I press my lips together. The command was specific—answer whether I attacked Stella. I've done that. I don't have to say anything more.
"Answer me, Sage."
But it's not phrased as a command this time. Just a demand. Which means I can resist.
"It doesn't matter."
"It matters to me." He grabs my arm, and I flinch from both the pain of his grip on my scratched skin and the intensity in his eyes. "What were you going to say?"
Behind him, I see Damon rise from his seat, understanding dawning on his face. He knows. He knows I almost revealed the pregnancy.
Our eyes meet. He gives the tiniest shake of his head. Don't tell him. Not like this.
"It doesn't matter," I repeat. "You've already made your judgment. I'm banished. There's nothing left to say."
"Mason." Stella's voice is sharp. "She's just trying to manipulate you. Creating mystery where there is none. Don't let her—"
"Be quiet." Mason doesn't even look at her. "Sage, I'm asking you one more time. What was Stella trying to hurt?"
This is it. The moment of truth.
I could tell him. Could reveal that I'm carrying his child. Maybe it would change his mind about the banishment. Maybe he'd force Stella to confess the truth.
Or maybe Stella would find a way to make sure both me and the baby disappeared permanently.
I made my choice.
"My pride," I lied. "She was trying to hurt my pride. That's all."
Mason searches my face, clearly sensing there's more to the story. But after a long moment, he releases my arm and steps back.
"You heard her confession," he says to the assembly. "She admitted she wasn't the one who attacked Stella. The banishment stands, but—" he pauses, and I see something flicker in his eyes. Doubt? Regret? "—but I'm reducing the timeline. You have three days to prepare and leave. Not sunset today."
It's a tiny concession. Meaningless in the grand scheme of things. But it's something.
"Thank you, Alpha," I whisper.
Mason opens his mouth like he wants to say more, but Stella stands abruptly.
"If we're done here, I need to rest. These injuries..." She touches her bandaged face delicately.
"Of course." Mason immediately goes to her side. "Let me help you back to our quarters."
I watch them leave together, Stella leaning on Mason like she's fragile porcelain rather than the monster who tried to kill my baby.
The assembly disperses slowly. Some wolves shoot me pitying looks. Others glare with disgust. Most just ignore me, already writing me off as a banished wolf. Not their concern anymore.
Only Damon remains when everyone else has gone.
"Three days," he says quietly. "I can work with three days."
"Damon, no. You've already risked enough—"
"I'm not letting you leave with nothing." His voice is firm. "The plan we made still stands. I'll just move the timeline up. Marcus can pick you up tomorrow night instead. Thomas is expecting you."
"And if Mason finds out you helped me?"
"Then he finds out." Damon meets my eyes. "That baby you're carrying deserves a chance at life. I'm not going to let my friend's blindness cost him that chance."
Tears blur my vision. "Thank you. For everything. For being the one person who believed me."
"You almost told him." It's not an accusation, just an observation. "About the baby. You almost said it."
"I know." I press my hand over my stomach. "But it wouldn't have changed anything. Stella would have made sure of that."
"Maybe. Maybe not." Damon glances toward the door where Mason and Stella disappeared. "But you're probably right. Better that he doesn't know. Safer for you both."
We stand in the empty hall, two wolves plotting treason against the pack that raised us. Tomorrow night, I'll become a rogue. Packless. Alone except for the tiny life growing inside me.
But at least I'll be alive.
At least my baby will have a chance.
"Go rest," Damon says. "Get your strength back. Tomorrow night, we will get you to safety."
I nod and turn to leave. But before I can take more than a few steps, I hear voices approaching from the corridor.
Mason and Stella.
They must have forgotten something.
I freeze, uncertain whether to hide or brazen it out.
"—don't trust her," Stella is saying. "She's up to something. I can feel it."
"She's banished. What more do you want?" Mason sounds tired.
"I want her gone. Today. Now. Not in three days."
"I've made my judgment. Three days gives her time to at least gather supplies, find somewhere safe to go."
"Why do you care if she's safe?" Stella's voice turns sharp. "After what she did to me—"
"Because despite everything, I've known her my whole life. I'm not going to send her out there to die."
They're almost to the entrance of the hall now. Any second, they'll see me and Damon still standing here.
Damon moves quickly, grabbing my arm and pulling me behind one of the large support pillars. We press ourselves into the shadows just as Mason and Stella enter.
"You're too soft on her," Stella continues. "She attacked me, Mason. Tried to claw my face off. And you're worried about her safety?"
"I used Alpha command. She said she didn't attack you first."
My heart leaps. He does doubt. He does question.
"She could be lying. Finding a loophole in how you phrased the command."
"Alpha command doesn't work that way and you know it."
"Then maybe she's delusional. Maybe she genuinely believes her own lies."
Silence. Then Mason's heavy sigh.
"Maybe. I don't know anymore. Nothing about this feels right."
"What feels wrong is you second-guessing yourself!" Stella's voice rises. "She's been trying to come between us since the moment we met. Don't let her succeed by making you doubt me now."
More silence. I can imagine Stella working her magic, using the mate bond to soothe Mason's doubts, to make him forget his questions.
"You're right," Mason finally says. "I'm sorry. This whole situation has just... it's complicated."
"It doesn't have to be. She's banished. In three days, she'll be gone, and we can finally move forward with our lives. Together."
I hear the sound of a kiss. Feel my heart crack a little more.
Damon's hand finds mine in the shadows. He squeezes gently. A reminder that I'm not alone. Not yet.
Mason and Stella leave, their voices fading down the corridor.
Damon and I remain hidden for several more minutes, making sure they're truly gone.
"Tomorrow night," Damon finally whispers. "Eastern border. Midnight."
"I'll be there."
He pulls me into a quick hug. "Stay strong. Stay safe. And Sage?" He pulls back to look at me. "When this is all over. When you're settled in Vancouver with the baby. I want to know. I want to be part of lives, even if it's from a distance."
"I promise."
We separate, each heading in different directions. Damon toward the pack offices where he'll continue playing his role as loyal Beta. Me toward my room where I'll spend the next day and a half preparing for a future I never imagined.
As I walk through the empty corridors, I touch my stomach gently.
"Just a little longer," I whisper to the life inside me. "Just hold on a little longer. We're almost free."
But even as I say it, I can't shake the feeling that something terrible is about to happen.
That Stella isn't done with me yet.
That the worst is still to come.