by Lola Gabriel
The man shrugged.
“I don’t make the rules or dole out the punishments, I’m just telling you what happens. It’s up to you to bring that up and fight for it at your trial if that’s what you want to do,” he told Marin.
She nodded her head, already knowing she would have to plead guilty to the charges so she could try and convince the beta to fine her instead of executing her. Surely he would see that money would be of more use to him and his pack than killing her would be.
The man held up a small carrier bag that Marin hadn’t noticed him holding into the air and then he set it down on the ground inside of her cell.
“There are clothes in there for you to wear for the trial. You will be collected at one thirty p.m. It’s currently ten a.m. Don’t be late getting changed or you’ll be forced to go out dressed like that,” the man said.
He backed out of the cell and closed and locked the door without giving Marin a chance to ask any more questions. What else was there to ask, though? She felt like she had heard enough. More than enough. She listened as the man’s footsteps moved down the corridor and away from her cell. When she couldn’t hear them anymore, she got up and retrieved the clothes he had left for her.
He had said it was ten a.m. and she had to be ready for one thirty p.m. That gave her plenty of time and it wasn’t like she had anything else to be getting on with. Despite that, she wondered whether she would even bother getting changed at all. It wasn’t like it mattered what she was wearing.
She lay on her back on the bench and stared up at the ceiling, the bag beside her, untouched but not yet forgotten. Marin thought for a while longer and eventually, she came to the decision that she was ready to fight for her life out there at her trial, but that she was going to do it with dignity. No tears, no begging.
And she knew if she was to have any real dignity, she couldn’t go out there in the clothes she had worn since she came here, which even to her own nose didn’t exactly smell fresh. She had washed herself down a few times at the little sink in the corner of the room, but putting on the dirty clothes again had defeated the purpose really, and Marin’s intense panic and anxiety at her predicament had caused her to sweat more than she normally would, a musky, animal odor in the perspiration that permeated her clothes completely.
With a sigh, Marin sat up and opened the bag and looked inside of it, suddenly nervous about what she would find in there. She needn’t have worried; the bag contained what the man said it would—clothes for her trial.
She pulled out a pair of black tailored pants and a pale yellow blouse. Both of them looked like they would fit her. There was also a black suit jacket, black pumps, and a hair brush. It wasn’t the outfit Marin would have chosen for herself, but it was clean and presentable and smart. It was far better than anything that she had expected to find in the bag, and the hair brush had been an unexpected bonus too. It would be nice to be able to finally brush her hair properly. Running her fingers through it and trying to tease out the knots that way just wasn’t the same.
Cinderella shall go to the ball, Marin thought bitterly to herself as she took one final look at her haul. She swallowed down the bitterness, knowing it wasn’t helpful to her, and she stood up and began to strip off her grimy clothes. She moved to the sink and washed herself down. Now that she had decided to comply and put the new clothes on, she didn’t want to wreck them straight away. She was tempted to wait a bit longer before she put them on so there was less risk of them getting soiled, but she had no idea how much time had passed since the clothes had been brought to her, and she didn’t want to risk being frog-marched out of her cell in her now tatty underwear and nothing else. And if the guards came to collect her and she was still wearing only the tatty underwear, there was no doubt in her mind that they would indeed drag her out immediately despite her state of undress.
8
Rocco stood up and extended his hand to Mark when he came into the room. Mark smiled widely at him and shook his hand warmly, his grip firm but not hard.
“Good to see you, buddy,” he said. “How’s things?”
“Not bad,” Rocco lied, not about to tell him about his failed dalliance with Marin. “How about you?”
“Good,” Mark said with a wide smile. “Geri is pregnant again.”
“No way. How many is that?” Rocco asked.
“Seven,” Mark grinned.
Rocco laughed and shook his head.
“How do you have time to do anything except run around after them all?” he said.
“With great difficulty,” Mark laughed.
“I bet,” Rocco laughed with him.
He shook his head and then he nodded to the bag at his feet.
“That’s the package my mom asked me to deliver to you,” he said.
“Great,” Mark said, smiling at him as he picked the bag up and looked inside. He nodded his head in satisfaction. “Excellent. Thank you.”
Rocco smiled and nodded his acknowledgment of Mark’s thanks.
“Do you want to stay for lunch?” Mark asked.
Rocco debated it. He was in no hurry to get back home. It wasn’t like there was anything there for him really now that he had discovered that he had been wrong about his connection with Marin. At the same time, though, he wasn’t in the least bit hungry and he figured he might as well go back now. He shook his head.
“Thanks anyway, but I’d better get back,” he said.
“Duty calls, right?” Mark grinned.
“Something like that,” Rocco agreed, forcing himself to smile back at Mark.
They shook hands again and Mark walked Rocco to the front door. He clapped him on the shoulder after he had pulled the door open for him.
“It really was good to see you, Rocco. Feel free to drop by any time so we can catch up properly,” Mark said.
“And, of course, the same goes for you,” Rocco said. “If you’re ever down my way, pop in.”
“I will do,” Mark said. “And thanks again for bringing the package.”
“No worries,” Rocco said.
He walked away from Mark, cutting down the garden path and heading back to his car. He got in and pulled away from the curb, beeping his horn at Mark and waving as he pulled away. Mark raised his palm in return and then he closed the door. Rocco headed toward home, wondering once more if he shouldn’t just leave his home, maybe even the whole state. It would be so easy to turn the car around and drive in the opposite direction and just keep driving until something caught his attention and made him want to stop.
He seriously thought about doing it for a moment or two. He even reached down to hit his indicator switch, but at the last minute, he changed his mind, knowing it was a silly daydream and nothing more. He had a duty to the pack. It would have been one thing to walk away from them for Marin, but to walk away from them simply because he was upset about losing Marin was too selfish. He kept driving in the direction of home, accepting his fate with forced grace.
As Rocco drove down toward the freeway, he noticed that the usually quiet roads around that area were really busy today and as he looked closer around him, he saw that even the sidewalks were filled with pedestrians. He realized with a start that he recognized a lot of the people walking around; they were part of the local bear pack. Curiosity got the better of Rocco when he saw all of the bears heading out to the trading estate. If his memory was correct, the bear pack here used one of the warehouses as a courtroom.
Rocco did a U-turn and joined the flow of traffic heading toward the trading estate. If he was right about the bears all being headed to a courtroom situation, it could well be something serious that could affect all of the shifters. A hunter or a traitor within the pack, something like that. Rocco knew if it was something like that, his parents would be notified in due course, but if he could get ahead of that and take the news back home with him now, that could only be a good thing.
Rocco parked his car and got out of it to walk through the crowd of bears. All of them see
med to be heading toward a warehouse at the left-hand side of the trading estate. As Rocco watched the building the activity seemed to be centered around, some of the higher-ranking pack members went inside, while the majority of them gathered into a crowd outside of the front of it. There was an almost party atmosphere in the air and Rocco wondered if he had this all wrong. He looked around him and spotted a bear he half recognized.
“Hey. What’s going on here?” he asked.
“Mind your own business, pal,” the bear replied. He glanced at Rocco, shaking his head in disgust, and then his jaw dropped as he recognized him. “Shit. Sorry. I didn’t realize it was you. There’s a trial about to start within the next half an hour or so.”
Rocco had been right after all; this was a trial. The bears must enjoy doling out justice more than he had realized, judging by the way they were reacting.
“Do you think they’d let me inside to see the trial? Is it something that might affect all shifter packs?” Rocco asked.
The bear frowned at him.
“Wait. You mean you’re not here to represent your pack member?” he asked, seeming to forget that the conversation had begun with Rocco asking him what was going on.
“What? No. The person on trial is from my pack?” Rocco demanded, anger swelling inside of him at the news.
The bear shrugged, looking uncomfortable suddenly, like he had said too much. Rocco knew he wouldn’t get any further information out of him, but that was okay. He could demand to see whoever was in charge and now that he knew that the person being tried was one of his pack, he knew he wouldn’t be refused the request. He moved away from the bear, pushing through the gathered crowd. He heard some gasps and whispers going up as more of the bears started to recognize him, but he ignored them for now, more intent on getting into the building than anything else right now.
Rocco finally made it into the building. The higher-ranking pack members were seated in a rough semi-circle facing a single seat where the accused would sit. To the right was a large throne-style seat and in it was Leon, the bear beta who ran this section of the United States’ bear pack. Leon rose when he saw Rocco and Rocco walked toward him.
“What’s going on, Leon?” Rocco asked.
He was tempted to yell at the man and demand to know why no official correspondence had been sent to the pack about this, but he controlled his temper and kept his tone civil in case it was a genuine oversight or the bear outside had gotten his wires crossed somehow. Judging by the look of surprise on Leon’s face at his question, Rocco thought that one or the other option was likely the case and he stepped closer as Leon stood up and came to meet him. They shook hands and then Leon led Rocco away from the crowd and through a door until they were in a small room, just the two of them.
“My apologies, Rocco,” Leon said. “But there really isn’t anything for you to say in the accused’s defense and so we didn’t want to waste your time dragging one of you out here. How, may I ask, did you come to hear of the case?”
“I didn’t. I was here for something else and I saw the crowd,” Rocco said, waving away the question impatiently. “Why is there nothing any of us could say in defense of our pack member?”
Leon’s statement meant one of two things. Either the crime was minor enough that nothing much would get done and the presence of one of the wolf pack would indeed be a waste of their time, or the crime was major enough that no matter what was said, the perpetrator would be executed anyway.
“Well, technically, she’s innocent, but she took the blame for a crime committed by a member of her family. There is no question of whether or not the crime took place,” Leon explained.
“And what was the crime?” Rocco asked.
“Some young lad giving lip to one of our pack’s elders. He went too far, Rocco,” Leon said. “And honestly, I can’t see this going anywhere but an execution. If we go down any other road, it sends the message that we are not to be respected.”
“And if you execute someone for this, it sends the message that you are all animals,” Rocco scoffed.
Leon frowned and shook his head, but Rocco wasn’t ready to let him off the hook just yet.
“Who is it?” he asked. “I want to be able to see them and then represent them at this shambles of a trial.”
“What makes you think it’s a shambles?” Leon snapped angrily.
“Hmm, let’s see,” Rocco said. “Maybe the fact that you seem to have already decided on the verdict before the trial even began.”
“Well, like I said, the guilt isn’t even in doubt, and…” Leon started.
“And like I said, I want a chance to defend the accused. Who is she?” Rocco said.
“Her name is Marin Bailey. It was…” Leon said.
He trailed off with a concerned-looking frown as Rocco went white before him. Rocco felt as though the bottom had fallen out of his world. Leon started to ask Rocco if he was okay, but Rocco waved away his concern and interrupted him with his own question, one far more important than whether or not he was okay.
“Marin Bailey? Are you sure?” Rocco asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
“I’m certain,” Leon said. “I’m guessing by your reaction that you know her and I’m sorry, but that doesn’t change anything here, Rocco.”
“Oh, on the contrary, it changes everything,” Rocco said, his voice louder and stronger now. “See, Marin isn’t just anyone. She’s my one true mate. And if you don’t let her go right this instant, then you are going to live to regret that decision.”
“I’m sorry. I had no idea she was your mate. But she will still stand trial all the same,” Leon said.
“No. She won’t,” Rocco said firmly. “Look, I don’t want to be an asshole about this but it seems that you’re leaving me no choice but to pull rank here. You’re only a beta and I’m the heir to being an alpha. I outrank you and what I say goes. So here are your choices. You can go out there and say to your people that we’ve discussed the matter of this so-called crime and you have realized that you made a mistake and that Marin is innocent and free to leave. Or I can take Marin from you whether you like it or not, and then I can go to your ruling couple and tell them what you were planning to do to a future member of a ruling couple. It’s entirely your choice, Leon. What’s it going to be?”
Leon thought for a moment and then he nodded his head agreeably, although he looked anything but happy about this new turn of events.
“Of course. When you put it like that, it’s obvious that we made a mistake and Marin is in fact innocent,” he said. “Naturally, that means she is completely free to go whenever she wants to.”
“Good,” Rocco said, nodding his head. “I’m glad we’re seeing eye to eye on this now.”
“Allow me to go and collect the girl and release her into your care,” Leon said. “Please wait here. Once she is liberated and brought to you, you two may leave by the back exit and avoid the crowd, and once you are gone, I will then go and explain the new turn of events to the pack.”
Rocco nodded his head; all he wanted was Marin freed. He didn’t care what Leon told his pack or which door he was to leave by.
Leon scurried from the room and Rocco paced the floor as he waited for him to come back. As much as he was filled with worry and a faraway sense of dread for what had almost happened, stronger than those feelings was the sheer joy that Rocco felt when he realized the truth. The enchantment had worked in the way he had wanted it to after all, he just hadn’t known it until now. Almost the moment he had swallowed the potion, the enchantment had sent him here, sending him straight to Marin.
It was scary for Rocco to think he almost hadn’t taken the potion and then when he had, he had almost driven in the opposite direction to home, and if he had, he wouldn’t have seen any of this. He supposed that was where the magic came in, though. He had almost driven the other way, the emphasis being on the word almost. Something had stopped him. He had thought that something was a sense of duty. Now he thought maybe
it was more than that; maybe it was the pull of true love.
9
Marin cowered away as a large man came into the holding room. He shook his head, looking annoyed at her fear.
“Come on,” he barked. “I’m not going to hurt you. In fact, you’re free to leave if you just follow me.”
Marin was sure it was some sort of a sick joke, that she was being led into a false sense of security, only to have her hopes dashed in front of everyone. Maybe it was the start of her punishment. She didn’t dare to not follow the man, though, just in case somehow his words were true. She followed him out of the cell and down a short hallway. He pushed a door open and stepped through it. Marin followed him into the room and her jaw dropped open when she saw Rocco standing in the room.
“Rocco? I don’t… I don’t understand. What are you doing here?” she said.
“Getting you out of this mess,” Rocco grinned.
He held his hand out to Marin, and she ran toward him and slipped her hand into his, no longer caring whether or not the man nodded his permission to her. Rocco was here and somehow she was saved and that was all that mattered.
Rocco led Marin forward, and together, they followed the man back through the door they had come through. He turned the other way, away from the holding room, and they followed him to a door marked Fire Exit. He pushed the door open and stood back, gesturing for them to pass by him and go outside.
“If you ever have cause to cross paths with anyone from my pack again, then make sure the correct protocol is followed, regardless of your opinion on whether or not a representative needs to be here for the trial,” Rocco said. “Is that clear, Leon?”
“Crystal clear,” Leon said with a curt nod.
Rocco led Marin out the door and it closed behind them with a bang.
“I’ll explain once we’re in the car,” Rocco said before Marin had a chance to ask him once more what was going on.