Chapter 181

Chapter 181
Freya's POV

The werewolf courthouse felt suffocating despite its grand architecture.

Angela looked small and broken, her usually perfect appearance deliberately disheveled. Dark circles shadowed her eyes, and her clothes hung loose on her frame. The picture of a remorseful woman who'd made terrible mistakes.

'Bullshit. Every bit of it.'

"The court will now hear statements regarding the case of Angela Baker," the presiding elder announced. "Charges include conspiracy, attempted murder, and treason against the pack alliance."

I stood with Edward, Cedric and Anson behind the prosecutor's table.

"Look at her," Anson whispered, his voice heavy with sympathy. "She's just a broken girl who lost her way. Her grandparents saved me. Surely that counts for something."

Edward's face darkened with rage. "She colluded with hunters, Anson! My grandson is lying unconscious in a hospital bed because of her schemes!"

"We should show mercy—"

"If Alexander doesn't wake up, it should be a life for a life!" Edward's voice carried the authority of his years as pack elder.

I remained silent, watching Angela carefully. She was putting on quite the performance, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue while stealing glances at Anson to gauge his reaction.

When it came time for her statement, Angela rose on shaking legs, her voice trembling with what sounded like genuine remorse.

"Honored elders," she began, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I stand before you consumed with shame and regret. I allowed jealousy and heartbreak to poison my mind. I never meant for Alexander to be hurt so badly."

Several pack members in the gallery murmured sympathetically. Angela had always been skilled at manipulation.

"I lost my parents when I was just a child," she continued, her voice breaking.
"The Reid family elders raised me with such kindness. I betrayed that trust, and I'll carry that guilt forever."

Anson's face softened further. "You see? She's genuinely remorseful. Perhaps house arrest under pack supervision—"

"House arrest?" Edward exploded. "She nearly killed the pack Alpha! This isn't some teenage prank gone wrong!"

But something was bothering me about Angela's posture. While she spoke, her right hand remained firmly behind her back, her movements carefully controlled to keep whatever she was hiding out of sight.

I shifted position slightly, trying to get a better angle. The metallic glint I caught made my blood run cold.

'A gun. She has a fucking gun.'

"I know I don't deserve forgiveness," Angela was saying, her performance reaching its crescendo. "But I'm begging you to remember the girl you helped raise, Anson. The one who brought you flowers from the garden and sat on your knee during pack meetings."

Several pack members were openly weeping now. Even some of the younger elders looked moved by her plea.

But Edward remained unmoved. "Pretty words won't undo the damage. Alexander is fighting for his life because of your choices. If he doesn't recover—"

"Don't say that!" Angela's mask slipped for just a moment, genuine panic flashing across her face before she caught herself. "I mean... I pray every day for his recovery."

I casually reached into my purse, feeling for the emergency communicator Caleb had given me weeks ago. My fingers found the small device, and I pressed the silent alarm button without taking my eyes off Angela.

"The court will adjourn for deliberation," the presiding elder announced.

That's when Angela's carefully constructed facade finally crumbled.

"No!" she shrieked, the sound echoing off the stone walls. "You can't deliberate! I won't let you decide my fate like I'm some common criminal!"

The transformation was shocking. The broken, remorseful girl vanished, replaced by something wild and desperate.

"I gave you everything!" she screamed at Anson. "I've loved Alexander since we were children! I've served this pack faithfully! And for what? To watch him choose that bitch over me?"

Pack members gasped and started backing away as Angela's true nature revealed itself.

"Angela, calm yourself," Anson said, but his voice had lost its sympathetic tone. He was finally seeing what the rest of us had known all along.

"Calm myself?" Angela laughed, the sound high and hysterical. "Why should I calm myself when you're all determined to destroy me? When you've already taken everything I ever wanted?"

Her hand moved, and suddenly the silver pistol was visible, light from the high windows gleaming off its surface.

"Since you won't let me live," she snarled, the gun aimed directly at my heart, "then let's all die together!"

Time slowed as her finger moved toward the trigger. I saw Caleb and his security team burst through the courtroom doors, but they were too far away. Edward shouted something, but the words were lost in the chaos.

Then Cedric was there.

Alexander's father threw himself between Angela and me without hesitation, his body becoming a shield as the gunshot echoed through the chamber.

The impact sent him staggering backward, crimson spreading across his white shirt.

The silver bullet suppressed her healing ability, causing blood to flow continuously from the wound.

Anson and two security guards had tackled Angela to the ground, but she was laughing maniacally as they restrained her.

"You stupid old man!" she cackled at Cedric, who was now on his knees, his breathing labored. "Did you really think saving her would matter? You've both been dead to me since the day Alexander chose her over me!"

I dropped to my knees beside Cedric, pressing my hands against the wound to try to slow the bleeding.

"Why?" I whispered, meeting his fading eyes. "Why did you save me?"

"Because," he gasped, each word a struggle, "if I let you die... it would kill my son. And I... I've already lost too much."

Angela's laughter grew even more unhinged. "Oh, this is perfect! Just like old times, right Cedric? Just like when your precious wife died!"

Something in her tone made my blood freeze. Those weren't the words of someone confessing to attempted murder—they were the words of someone revealing a much older, deeper secret.

Cedric's body went rigid despite his injuries. "What... what are you talking about?"

"Everyone thought it was the Faith family members who killed her," Angela continued, her voice dripping with satisfaction. "But it wasn't, was it? Want to know who really arranged for Linnet to die?"