“Try to stay out of trouble this time.”
“Hey, I don’t go looking for trouble. It just kinda… finds me.”
“Uh-huh.” Shaun didn’t sound convinced. But really, how could it be my fault that some rogue wolf came running through Lachlan’s lands? Or that I was nearby when that first year busted out of his cage? Or that I happened to be coming back from my date with Cam when that chimera showed up? Huh, when I looked at it like that… I really was a trouble magnet. My face must have been a picture because Shaun chuckled.
“Just try to come back to Fur ‘n’ Fang in one piece.”
“Careful, teach,” I said with a grin. “People might think you actually like me.”
“Hardly,” he said, an amused look in his eyes. “You’re about the most infuriating student I’ve ever had.”
“Good to be top of the list for one thing, at least.”
“Oh, don’t sell yourself short. Your top of the list for lots of things. Most accident prone, most stubborn, most argumentative…”
“Don’t forget most exhausted.” I yawned and stretched out the kinks in my shoulders with an audible click.
“I hate to add to your already packed schedule…”
I was about to make a smartarse comment when I caught his change of tone, and the apologetic look on his face. I squinted at him.
“I’m not going to like this, am I?”
“Sorry. Alpha Draeven will be coming to the academy next week with a couple of enforcers, and he’d like to interview you while he’s here.”
“What?” I choked down the panic enough to squeeze out the word, and then they wouldn’t stop coming. “Why? I didn’t do anything. I promise, I haven’t done anything wrong, I–”
“Relax,” Shaun said, reaching over his desk to touch a hand to my arm. “You’re not in any trouble. He’s coming here for something else. He just wants to talk to you while he’s here.”
“About what?”
“I’m not sure.” Shaun shook his head and withdrew his hand.
“But I’m not in any trouble?”
“You’re not in any trouble. Promise.”
Chapter Sixteen
“And therefore, Alpha of Alphas, the only sentence you can pass is the death penalty.”
Madison bowed her head to Lewis, shot me a smug look, and sauntered back to her seat. Oh, crap. That had been one hell of an argument. And frankly I’d had no idea how to win this case before she’d dumped that on us. But someone had to save Fleming’s fictional behind, and despite what Shaun had said about the trials always being set so the prosecutors won, I didn’t want to just stop him getting the death penalty. I wanted to prove him innocent. Too bad I had no idea how to do that.
I got to my feet, cleared my throat, and moved into the clearing in front of Lewis’s desk that was serving as our court room. I inclined my head to him – trial procedure dictated that I acknowledged our ‘Alpha of Alphas’ every time I took the floor.
“If I may, Alpha?” I asked. He inclined his head solemnly – he was enjoying his role just a little too much.
“I must congratulate Ms Capell on a compelling opening speech,” I said. “Her story had action, suspense, intrigue.” I pivoted and swept my gaze round the room. “But that’s exactly what it was. A story. A misrepresentation of the truth. And I’m going to prove it to you. Not with fancy words and emotive language, but with cold, hard facts.” Facts that I didn’t have, but what the hell. I was on a roll. “By the time I’m finished, not only will you agree that Mr Fleming does not deserve the death penalty, but this court will exonerate him of all alleged crimes.”
Lewis scribbled something on his notepad. I hoped that meant he was impressed by my opening rebuttal, because frankly it was all I had. So much for my facts and proof.
“Mr Fleming,” I flung an arm at the third year Lewis had roped into playing the role of our accused, “is not a criminal. He is a victim of circumstance – of being in the wrong place, at the wrong time. But I am not here to prove he is innocent.”
I paused as a hushed chattering swept through the room.
“I don’t need to. The facts will prove that for themselves. By the end of this trial, Mr Fleming will leave here a free man, so that this court’s attention can be directed to bringing the true perpetrator to justice.”
I inclined my head to Lewis, and strode back to my seat, exuding a confidence I didn’t feel with every step.
“Nice speech,” Cam said in my ear.
“Too bad it’s all bullshit,” I mumbled back. “We are so screwed.”
Madison rose to her feet again and swaggered to the centre-floor.
“If I may, Alpha?”
Again, Lewis inclined his head.
“The true perpetrator,” Madison said, sending a nasty glare my way – apparently she hadn’t been a fan of my speech, “is already in this room, facing the justice he deserves. I would like to call my first witness.”
She glanced to Lewis, and he made a note, then gestured to her.
“You may proceed.”
“I call the wolf shifter, Enforcer Green.”
Another third year came and stood behind the table that was serving as our stand. I couldn’t help but wonder if Lewis was handing out extra credit for this.
“Enforcer Green,” Madison said. “You were the first enforcer on the scene, correct?”
“Yes.”
“And you were the lead enforcer on this case?
“Yes.”
“In your expert opinion, what took place in the home before your arrival?”
“Someone appeared to have forced entry into the house. The victim had been attacked while still in her human form and was bitten numerous times.”
“So she couldn’t have been the aggressor?”
“No. She had no weapon and hadn’t even partially shifted before she was killed.”
Shit. There went my best line of defence. I mean, it had been a long shot, but honestly what about this case wasn’t? I slumped over my desk, and flipped through my notes. There had to be something here. Meanwhile, Madison paraded up and down in front of the ‘enforcer’.
“Do you believe this could have been an accident?”
“With the severity of the wounds on the victim? Absolutely not.”
“And do you believe that the shifter responsible for this atrocity could present a danger to other members of our community?”
“Without a doubt.”
“Lastly, did you detect the scent of the defendant, Mr Fleming, at the crime scene?”
“I did.”
“Thank you.” She nodded in Lewis’s direction. “No further questions.”
I pried myself from my seat and tried to force some swagger into my step as I took centre-floor and dipped my chin to Lewis.
“Thank you for your opinion, Enforcer Green,” I said. “Tell me, did you witness the attack yourself?”
“No, but–”
“No? Did someone else witness the attack, then?” I paced as I spoke, turning my head to question him.
“No, but–”
“So you have no way to know for certain what happened? The best you have are guesses?”
“Educated guesses.”
“But guesses none the less.” I allowed myself a tight smile. “Do your guesses extend to a motive?”
The file said that Fleming claimed to have no association with the victim, and if I couldn’t pull a ‘she attacked him first’ defence, then the lack of motive might at least give us some wiggle room.
“You do have a motive?” I pressed. “Surely you don’t expect our honoured Alpha of Alphas to believe this man attacked the victim and killed her for no reason whatsoever?”
“No.” Green shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
“No, you don’t expect him to believe that?” I asked. “Or no, you don’t have a motive? Wait, perhaps you think Mr Fleming breached all the security into the victim’s home and brutally murdered her on a passing
whim?”
“No, we don’t know what his motive was,” Green clarified. “But that doesn’t mean he didn’t have one.”
“Ah, I see.” I paused, and cast a look at Lewis. “You would prefer we believe that an entire assignment of enforcers were unable to find a motive that must surely exist, despite months of opportunity? I assume you did bother to look?”
Green sent a slightly panicked look in Lewis’s direction.
“Answer the question, please, Enforcer Green,” he said, looking faintly amused.
“We investigated, but we couldn’t find a motive.”
Madison rose from her seat.
“I would like to remind Ms Hart that we do not need a motive to convict, only proof that the crime was committed.”
“Ah, yes,” I said. “The proof. The defendant’s scent on the scene. By that logic, you yourself could be guilty of the crime, Enforcer Green.”
“Mr Fleming didn’t know the victim. There was no reason for his scent to be there.”
“And no reason for him to have committed the crime. I have no more questions.”
I dipped my chin to Lewis and headed back to my table.
“Flipping heck,” Leo said under his breath. “Where were you when I was at Dragondale? You had me convinced there.”
I snorted. “Don’t be. I’m pretty damned sure he did it.”
By the time the trial had gone on for another hour, everyone else seemed pretty damned sure he’d done it, too.
“The fact is, Mr Fleming, you had no reason for being at that house,” Madison said, tossing her hair and sending a knowing look to the class – she was enjoying this just a little too much. “Except to murder Hannah Wick in cold blood. Hannah Wick, who had never done anything to wrong you. Hannah Wick, who, as your woefully inadequate defence team quite rightly pointed out, you had never even met before that night.”
I leaned close to Mei. “Never mind Wick’s murder, do you think I could get away with throttling her?”
Mei chuckled, but the sound was filled with about as much humour as I was. I couldn’t believe Madison was spinning our best defence against us. Hell, she was right. We were woefully inadequate. I was missing something, I knew it. I just didn’t know what.
“I don’t care why you killed Hannah Wick,” Madison announced. “I couldn’t be less interested in your motive. I couldn’t care less that you’d never set eyes on her a single time before that night. I’m not interested in why. All that matters is that you killed her.”
“I did see her before!” Fleming blurted, and I slumped further over my desk. It was like he was on a mission to get himself the death penalty. Seriously, some people had no idea when to shut up.
“Oh?” Madison said, a nasty sneer on her face. “And let me guess, when you crossed paths with her, she slighted you, or maybe she looked at you the wrong way. Maybe she didn’t look at you at all. Was that it, Mr Fleming? Did you murder her because she had no interest in a shifter of such lowly status as you?”
“No,” Fleming said, curling his lip in disgust. “She slighted my alpha. My pack.”
Beside me, Cam groaned.
“If he gets the death penalty, does it mean I have tae study fer my law exam this year?”
“He’s not getting the death penalty,” I growled, with absolutely no idea how I was going to pull it off. Wait, unless… “Mei, pass me that book. The one on sentencing. I’ve got an idea.”
Mei passed me the book and I flipped it open, scanning the pages frantically. Something Fleming had said had given me an idea. It was a long shot – but apparently those were the only ones I liked. I hunted through the pages. I was sure I’d seen it in here somewhere. I didn’t realise the room had gone completely silent until Lewis spoke.
“Ms Hart,” he said. “Do you have any questions for the defendant, or should I assume you have no case to make?”
I snapped my head up. Madison was back in her seat, and everyone was staring at me.
“You bet your arse I do,” I said, getting up, and running my eyes over the paragraph I’d just found. Then I remembered who I was speaking to. “Uh, Oh Mighty Alpha of Alphas.”
I bowed my head to him and scuttled into the middle of the floor, leaving the book behind.
“Mr Fleming, do you know who is in this room?”
Fleming blinked at me in confusion, but I didn’t give him time to recover his wits or answer.
“You stand in the presence of the Alpha of Alphas, the most powerful and important wolf in this country, perhaps the world, and yet you insult him with your lies. Tell the truth. You killed Hannah Wick. Admit it!”
Across the room, Mei’s eyes widened with panic, and Leo’s slid closed in defeat. Cam looked quietly confused, but I liked to think he’d spent enough time with me by now to know I was going somewhere with this.
“No. I didn’t. I’m innocent.”
I tutted and folded my arms across my chest.
“I doubt there’s a single person in this room who believes that. I don’t believe it, and our Alpha doesn’t believe it, and you don’t believe it. Your only chance to save your life now is to be honest. Confess your crime. Admit that you killed Wick.”
“Okay! Yes, I did it.”
A gasp went up from the room, and I caught the smug look on Madison’s face. But if she thought I’d just handed her the case on a platter, she was going to be disappointed. I wasn’t done yet. I nodded, clasped my hands behind my back, and took a step away.
“Good. I’m glad you’ve decided to side with honesty. Now tell me, why did you do it? You never met the victim, and an entire assignment of enforcers could find no direct link between the two of you, so why did you kill her?”
“Because my alpha ordered it.”
“Your alpha ordered it.” I nodded again. “And tell me, Mr Fleming, what would have happened if you refused an order of this magnitude from your alpha?”
“He would have killed me for insubordination and sent someone else.”
“And he would have been within his rights to do so. Under pack law, the penalty for disobeying your alpha is death, correct?”
“Yes.”
“But, of course, he could have pardoned you, and I’m sure he would have done so if he understood your reluctance to commit murder at his behest, yes?”
“No.”
“No? He would not have allowed you to live?”
“What alpha would tolerate that kind of disrespect?” Fleming said.
“What kind of alpha, indeed.” I turned to Mei, and the open book in front of her. “Mei, would you be so kind as to read the passage I indicated to you earlier?” I turned back to Lewis. “The Official Pack Record of Sentencing 1901-2000 in the United Kingdom.”
He nodded, and Mei stood, head inclined a fraction as she read aloud.
“Between 1901 and 2000, there were twenty-nine recorded cases of alpha-sanctioned executions for violation of pack hierarchy and insubordination in England, and a further eighteen in Scotland, eleven in Wales, and nine in Northern Ireland. There are no recorded instances of appeals or pardons.”
“Thank you, Mei. So, you see, had Mr Fleming disregarded the command of his alpha, there was a very real possibility that he would have been sentenced to death, and his punishment carried out immediately, with no hearing of the court or the Alpha of Alphas.”
I started to pace, hands clasped behind my back again.
“No, had he refused to kill Hannah Wick, he would have been swapping her death for his. Therefore, the killing of Wick was an act of self-defence, an act designed to preserve his own life from forces outside of his control. Now, as stated by the Bond Mate Protection and Self-Preservation Act, 1709, and tried in the case of John Cutler under Alpha Thaddeus in the same year, and again in the case of Hiram Wilder under Alpha Harper, 1842, and I have no doubt, many times since, a killing carried out in self-defence is not murder, and nor can the perpetrator be found guilty of such.”
I paused for breath and took a momen
t to sweep my gaze around the room, at the two dozen rapt faces. They’d obviously never heard this defence before – probably because I’d just made it up. But the self-defence cases were real, and so, for the first time, were our chances.
“A crime has been committed,” I said. “But that crime was not committed by this man. I told you at the start of this trial that the job of this court was to find the true perpetrator of murder, and I believe we have now done so. Mr Fleming’s alpha is the man who ordered this killing, and he is the one who must be held accountable for it. Therefore, I put it to you, Alpha of Alphas, that the defendant is innocent of any crime for which he can be convicted, and that he should be exonerated of all charges, so that the true guilt party may be brought to justice.”
My lips curved upwards, and I dipped my chin to Lewis.
“The defence rests.”
Chapter Seventeen
Christmas in Scotland was every bit as cold as I’d feared, but me and Cam found plenty of ways to keep warm. And the glowy feeling that came from being the first Fur ‘n’ Fang student in over two hundred years to get her client exonerated of all charges – and trouncing Madison in the process – certainly didn’t hurt.
My family had always been small – just me and my mum, and, when I was younger, my aunt, uncle, and two cousins. Our Christmases had been quiet affairs – not at all like Christmas with Cam’s pack. For them, it was a huge celebration and the entire pack came together. Even the ones who lived outside of Scotland came back home – there were more of them than I’d realised when I was here before – and there were dozens of kids playing and screaming under the protective eyes of dozens of shifters. The food was incredible, and there was more than even the entire pack could eat, and the sound of laughter echoed in my ears until long after I fell asleep each night.
Returning to Fur ‘n’ Fang was a bit of a crash back to reality, and I was more than a little sad to leave Scotland behind. I hoped it wouldn’t be my last Christmas with the pack – even if they weren’t my pack, they still felt like a kind of family to me.
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