The attorneys stood and made their arguments, while the court reporter typed so fast that her keyboard clicked like an angry rodent. For about twenty minutes, Mr. Atchison and the other lawyer ran through their sides of the case. It was like they used familiar words to speak a different language; things like witness statements and submitted evidence, though my favorite line of jargon was ‘legal support for our relative position’.
It reminded me of the good-ol’-days with Fen, when I first learned about therians and shifting. I frowned at the twinge of pain the memory brought, and refocused on Mr. Atchison as he handed the judge Officer Parker’s pictures of our injuries. Beside me, Jacob squirmed on the hard seat, and I squeezed his hand to reassure him. The judge looked over the photos, then shuffled through some other papers and called Malcolm up to the stand. If possible, even his freckles had gone pale.
“Malcolm McRae, you are charged with assault and battery on school grounds, as well as accessory to child abuse. These are misdemeanors. I am going to ask you a series of questions which I need a yes or no answer for, do you understand me?” Malcolm’s voice barely worked as he rasped his replies. “Are you prepared to enter a plea today?”
“Um,” he glanced over his shoulder at his mom who nodded at him, “yeah.”
“Before you enter a plea, I must ask, has anyone forced you to enter into a plea?”
“No.”
“Did anyone make any promises in order to ask you to make a plea?”
“Um, no?” Malcolm sounded confused and even more nervous. Even his voice shook, audible through the mic.
“How do you plea?” she asked.
Malcolm stumbled for words, “Look I—I didn’t mean for any of it to happen, I thought we were just gunna scare him. Jack’s the one that—”
“Dude!” Jack yelled at him and stood, “What the fuck, bro’?”
“Stop! Counsel, control your clients!” The judge shouted and cracked her gavel against the podium as Malcolm turned and yelled back at Jack, “No one’s your ‘bro’, the only reason I’m here is because of you!” The police officers moved toward them, while Officer Parker and Officer Jenson stood.
“I said stop!” The judge yelled again, each word punctuated in staccato, and Malcolm snapped to attention. Jack’s dad forced him bodily into his seat; his face livid with rage. Like father like son… The tension in the room ebbed somewhat and the cops’ hands eased away from their belts.
“Please be advised that I do not tolerate outbursts in this courtroom. When I ask you to stop, you will stop talking, you will not shout, nor will you interrupt anyone who is talking. Am I understood?” The judge’s hard gaze switched from Jack’s nodding face to Malcolm’s as she continued, “One more outburst, and I will hold you in contempt, understand Mister McRae?” Her words were sharp as razors, and her eyes just as piercing as she scowled at him, “Now, how do you plea?”
Malcolm leaned toward the small gooseneck microphone that protruded from the top of the podium, “Guilty, your honor.” His voice broke like a freshman’s, and I felt some small measure of sympathy for him. Everything he did was because of Jack; he was being punished for being his friend.
“Guilty,” she repeated. “I have reviewed the offer and plea-bargain that was provided to me by the District Attorney and I will accept your plea agreement to a lesser charge.” Malcolm’s tense shoulders released a little, and it looked like he took his first breath since his outburst. “Therefore, in light of the facts that you have no prior record and are under the age of eighteen, you are sentenced to ninety hours of community service, and a $1,000 fine plus court costs. You may make payment arrangements with the clerk in the lobby. Since you are a juvenile, I will note that this record will remain with you until you are eighteen years old, at which time your file and records will be sealed. Do you have any questions?”
Malcolm’s mouth moved but no sound came out, so he shook his head ‘no’.
“You may be seated. Jackson Reinhart Junior, please approach the podium.”
Jack and Malcolm squeezed past each other in tense silence, and Jack stepped up and clasped his hands behind his back.
“You are charged with assault and battery on school grounds, as well as child abuse; both are class one misdemeanors. I am going to ask you the same series of questions which I need a yes or no answer for, do you understand me?”
“Yes,” Jack said in a hard voice, not turning away from the Judge. They ran through the same chain of questions she’d put Malcolm through. Jack handled them better though, having seen Malcolm before him.
“Furthermore, you have been advised of your situation and discussed your options with the District Attorney. Is this correct?”
“Yeah.” I heard contempt in Jack’s voice, despite the fear he should have felt. Didn’t he realize there was no coach to vouch for him this time, no corrupt counselor to pull strings? This was the real world, and here he was nothing. Just another violent angry teen.
“I have the plea agreement that you and the District Attorney have entered into in this matter. This agreement is in exchange for your guilty plea, is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“Mr. Reinhart, understand that your sentencing will be more severe than Mr. McRae’s. First, you were eighteen years of age at the time of the crime, and I must sentence you as an adult. In addition, the court has also reviewed your school disciplinary records which indicate a repeated pattern of violence and anger management concerns. One of the charges that you have plead guilty to is child abuse, and this charge carries a maximum possible sentence of up to twenty-four months in jail, along with fines up to $5,000. Do you understand what I have just said?”
Jack swallowed hard, “Yes your honor.” I could almost see the realization dawning in Jack’s mind. I glanced at Jack’s father, who stared straight ahead with a scowl carved into his features.
“In accordance with the plea agreement you and your lawyer made with the D.A., I will grant you some leniency. You are still very young, but you must understand that you are being given one last chance to prove that you are not a risk to society as a whole. What is your plea at this time?”
“Guilty, your honor.”
“This court hereby sentences you to seven days in the minimum security penitentiary, where you will report to at 8:00 am tomorrow to begin your sentence. The court also imposes a $3,000 fine, court costs, and ninety hours of community service upon your release, along with one year of supervised probation.”
Jack’s hands shook behind his back. He looked back at his father, fear and desperation in his eyes; the eyes of a scared kid looking for his daddy to save him. Jack’s father wouldn’t even look at his son, he just stared straight ahead while muscles clenched in his jaw. In that moment, he reminded me a little of John.
“This court is adjourned.” The judge declared and struck the gavel. Jack flinched and dropped his eyes from his father. We rose as she stood and exited a door behind her desk. I struggled to breathe around the weight of anger and fear that drowned the room, and I almost felt sorry for Jack, for both of them.
Jacob reached over and took my hand, and then looked up at me and smiled, a pink line of healing scar tissue bisected his lower lip, and I knew he wasn’t sorry for them.
Then you shouldn’t be either.
I smiled at him and looked back up just in time to catch Jack’s glare as a uniformed officer led him out a side door.
We shook hands with Mr. Atchison and Officer Parker again, and I led us out into the lobby. Malcolm and his mom stood at the clerk’s window, Jack’s father near them by the door. By accident, I caught his baleful gaze as we walked past. His face was hard and mottled with rage, but I held his stare and refused to back down. His eyes flicked down to my throat and I realized he was staring at the cross Fen gave me as he said, “You are a blight in the eyes of God, and He is always watching…”
“Yeah, He’s always watching,” I repeated, “so remember that the next time you lay hands on
your son.”
He scowled at me with utter hatred and disgust, and then he turned and stormed out the door. Hmm, no bail for Jack then… I felt Mom’s hand on my back, and it snapped me out of it. My wolf settled and I walked out into the unexpectedly warm sunlight. My eyes ached as they adjusted to the brightness.
“You shouldn’t antagonize him,” Mom whispered at me as we buckled into the car, “It’s over, we won!” she shouted and high-fived Jake in the front seat. “Now, who’s up for breakfast?”
Jake whooped and started singing ‘we won, we won!’ while I sat back in my seat and stared out the window, a slight smirk on my face. It felt nice to win for a change…
Despite my dreams to the contrary, I felt—good— which was odd enough by itself, but oh well. ‘Weird Month’ hit full swing; I felt strong, invulnerable even. I was a wolf in man’s clothing, power drunk, and I fucking loved it. The sucky part was that Jacob got the whole day off from school, but I had to go in and finish the day’s classes.
After enjoying my court victory and the short day of classes, I walked Loki down the hall to her locker after school. When she opened her locker, my arms wrapped themselves around her waist before the notion of self-control even ghosted through my mind.
She twisted out of my arms and leaned back against the lockers as her eyes bore into mine. My body reacted, savoring her proximity, but I still didn’t dare cross that small distance that separated us. Slowly, we grew closer and our eyes closed—
“Loki!” Fen’s voice ripped through the air the moment he came around the corner, Geri wide-eyed by his side.
She looked back at me with strained eyes; “I’m sorry,” and she broke past me and ran down the hallway and out the door.
I turned and looked back at Fen, who stood there glaring at me, the stink of his rage ripe in the air.
“Meet me here after sunset…” was all he said, and he stalked off.
“No, wait Fen—” Geri tried to stop him, but Fen shoved him into the lockers with a snarl.
I ran over to help Geri up while he glared after Fen with unmasked resentment and hate, but he pushed me away. I watched Fen storm out the doors and savored the moment.
Finally Fen… your shell is starting to crack…
I smiled.
Chapter 14 – Enemy
Dinner passed and dusk fell. I watched the last colors fade over the mountains from the school lawn, waiting hidden in the shadow of the football bleachers, warm within my jacket. The unusually warm day—which apparently was normal for Colorado—faded into a frigid night, and my breath condensed as it floated away over the brown grass where a half-moon broke the horizon, fat and yellow. I felt his arrival the moment he set foot on the lawn, even before his familiar scent laced through the breeze with a sour tang. I stepped out of the shadows and walked out to face him. His anger was plain to read and he was ready to assert his dominance. Unfortunately, so was I…
“What part of ‘forbidden’ did you not understand?” he snapped.
“I dunno, probably the part where it’s spoken by a hypocrite! ‘I can tell you what to do ‘cause I’m Alpha, and I’m strongest’, bullshit! We choose our own damn lives! The only reason you forbid relationships within the Pack is because you couldn’t get the girl, so you made sure nobody else could either!”
“Liar!” he barked so forcefully that spittle flew from his lips.
“Prove it!” I snapped right back and he flinched, “You seemed awfully willing to lead me along! All that time, you knew I liked you, but you knew I liked Loki too; so you toyed with my heart to pull me away from her! You used me Fen!”
“No, that’s not—”
“You’re a hypocrite and a liar Fen, and I’ll be damned if I ever submit to you again. You are no Alpha!”
Our gazes locked and the contest was on… We circled each other, growling low in our throats. That amused tutoring look was gone from Fen’s eyes, replaced by rage, jealousy, and territoriality. I knew mine were the same. This was no lesson, no romp…
We met in a crack of teeth, tearing and biting at each other, punching and clawing in a melee of savagery. It wasn’t even a matter of thought, strategy, or timing anymore. My shifting energy swirled and surged like a cloud of electricity, crackling and itching over my skin.
When Fen realized I had the upper hand, he reached into his pocket. My gut ached as soon as he pulled out the lump of turquoise, and then he jabbed it toward me as a weapon. I jumped back on reflex and slipped into the shadows.
Fen froze, shocked as I disappeared right in front of him. I slipped around him, slapped the rock out of his hand, and then picked him up and threw him with a burst of berserker strength. Before he could even orient himself, I pounced and flattened him to the ground. With a snarl, I buried my teeth in his neck. He tried to push me off him, but I refused to relent and I squeezed until he coughed. When he realized it was over, that I had proved my dominance, he went still as death. I released him, and saw little beads of tears run down his face.
I’d never—ever—seen Fen cry before… But now his inhuman eyes looked more hurt—more human than I’d ever thought him capable…
He sat there with bits of dried grass all over him and glared at me. I wished I knew why he hated me so much.
“It’s not fair…” His human words pulled me out of my shift, leaving only the remnant energy boiling within me. “It’s not fair!” He screamed and surged to his feet, “Why does she love you more than me? I’ve been with her for years, and then you came along and she just discards me… She left me for you! It’s all your fault!”
“Loki’s life is her own, she chooses who she wants to and neither of us have any say in the matter!”
“Not just Loki!” He screamed, his fists balled at his sides and his face flushed crimson, “Lupa hasn’t visited me for months! She’s always loved you more; she just used me to get you back! You stole them both from me!”
He lunged at me and I tensed, but he collapsed against me. He sank to his knees, pounding his fist weakly against my chest. I knelt down with him and wrapped my arms around him as he wept out months, maybe years of pent-up anguish. Despite the pain he’d caused, I still couldn’t help but feel for him…
“I don’t think they left you for me,” I whispered into his hair, “I think your fear and jealousy pushed them away. They’d return to you if you were honest, I have no doubt about that.”
“They were all I ever had…” he sniffed, “I didn’t have money, or friends, or even a fucking dad… All I ever wanted was them…”
“We’ve always been here with you; I think you just needed to catch sight of us again…”
A car started in the parking lot by the athletic field, and its headlights flicked on, blinding me. I held my breath a moment, wondering if it was a cop, wondering what they saw, but its engine growled as it sped out of the parking lot. I relaxed a little, but felt uneasy.
“Hey, I think we should leave, that car spooked me.”
Fen nodded and we brushed ourselves off, “Let’s go to Loki’s, we need to resolve this completely.”
We walked to her house and knocked on her front door. Loki’s father answered, unhappy to see unannounced visitors so late, but he took in our disheveled and red-eyed state and then pounded on Loki’s door and told her to make it quick. We needed to talk but we couldn’t stay, so we quietly agreed to meet out at the den. She let me and Fen use her phone to call our parents, and we told them we were going to spend the night at Geri’s.
I tried to call Geri, but there was no answer. Something about it felt strange, but I tried not to dwell too much on it.
Fen and I left and walked just far enough down the street to be hidden from her house. The neighbor’s dog trotted up to the corner of the fence to greet us. She leaned against the fence and let me scratch her behind the ears as we waited.
Finally, a shadow slipped away from the house. After giving the dog one last goodbye rub, we slipped silently along the field’s edge, careful
not to leave footprints in the residual patches of snow along the fence.
Halfway back to the den the dog barked at something out on the street. I looked back, but she wasn’t barking at us so Fen started moving again and I followed. At the entrance Fen slipped down first, and I looked back where the dog was still barking.
I felt watched until I heard a bird caw nearby. I forced myself to relax, reassured that it was probably just Corwin keeping up on Pack business. Paranoia appeased, I got onto my knees and crawled inside the den as a car engine started and rumbled down the street.
We lay in silence for a while, each of us spread away from the others; a stark and painful reminder of the divisions that had formed between us as friends… as Pack…
“I guess…” Fen spoke first, “I owe you an apology… Both of you and Geri too once I see him. I was greedy, and jealous; instead of holding us together like an Alpha should, I’ve torn us apart…
“Jimmy, I’m sorry that I misled your feelings and hurt you, believe it or not, I do love you, but in the same way.” I swallowed down the bitter ache inside me as he continued, “Loki, I can’t stop loving you, I’ve tried, but I shouldn’t have caged you either; it wasn’t fair or right of me. I’m so sorry, guys…”
I sighed, hurting, “What are you supposed to say to someone when you accept their apology, but it’s not ‘all right’?”
“I guess you say that,” Loki answered and fidgeted in the dark, “So… What do we do now? What comes next?”
A voice whispered in the back of my mind. You beat Fen, you should take charge…
As if he read my thoughts, Fen answered, “Jimmy beat me fair and square; so he’s Alpha now. It’s up to him.” Well shit.
I cleared my throat. “I guess, we just take it one day at a time.” I tried to hide the uncertainty in my voice. “Take a step back and remember the things we love about each other that we started taking for granted somewhere along the way. Right now we have to make things right with each other again.”
Walking Wolf Road (Wolf Road Chronicles Book 1) Page 21