Page 85 of Fated to the Warrior Wolf

She was going to know me better than my damn mother.As a mate should. I was holding on to that and making a mental list of things to tell her. Although if I’d thought of this many things in a day, I was going to need to convert the mental list to paper pretty soon.

I could send her letters. The thought was promising, giving me a spark of hope.

“Not even going to tell me. That’s cold, man. I thought we were friends.” Lucien slapped me on the shoulder as hestepped up to my side, not really mad that I hadn’t responded. He knew I wasn’t a talker.

“Are we set on the council front?” I asked, ignoring his wounded act.

“Yep. They weren’t pleased, but they aren’t allowed to interfere in matters of pack justice, any more than any other species. The Omega Defense League isn’t involved, and no petitions for asylum have been filed, so we’re square. They can complain, but they can’t do shit.”

“That’s good, because I’m certain Kane doesn’t give a damn when it comes to his parents’ killer.”

“Do you blame him? It was a pointless killing, and they had centuries left to live.” Lucien shook his head, a grim sadness in the downturn of his mouth. “At least justice will be served. It’s not enough, but it’s something.”

“And the witness?” I asked, scanning the amphitheater as more and more of the stone benches filled with wolves. The one I was looking for still hadn’t shown, and it had me on edge.

“With Reed, preparing his statement and the documentation for any who might demand it afterward.”

I grunted my acknowledgment. Everything was ready—now all we needed was Varga, Kane, and the witness. Which meant I was free to obsess about my mate.

Was she sick again? She hadn’t let Bri heal her morning sickness again, a fact I only knew because I’d twisted Reed’s arm for an update this morning during our meeting.

Stubborn woman.

But that wasn’t all. She was a loyal woman, loyal to her friend, and as any true alpha, she would take the burden from a weaker wolf, even at great cost to herself. The truth was, she’d make an excellent princess, a leader, if I wasn’t going to abdicate.

When I spotted her across the crowd, my muscles all locked into place, as if someone had tased me. She looked weary. Evenfrom here, I could tell her stride was off and her shoulders were low. Although that could also be emotional issues, I worried about her nutrition if she’d spent the day throwing up.

Dammit, why won’t she let Brielle help her?

“You ready to get this show on the road?” Lucien asked, elbowing me and nodding toward the far side of the stage, where Sergei and Andrei flanked a very pissed-looking Varga.

“I was born ready.” I shot Lucien a smirk. He rolled his eyes at my cocky answer, but didn’t respond as we crossed the stage to secure Varga and lead him to the left side of the stage. A special wooden seat with built-in silver cuffs had been bolted to the floor. It was straight-backed and imposing, a sad shadow of a throne, with deep scars gouged from the dark wood by past struggles.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first wolf to go rogue on a larger scale who’d required a tribunal. The milling wolves out in the audience all quickly took their seats as he was manacled to the heavy wooden seat, everyone more interested in staring at the charged traitor than whatever gossip they’d been sharing. I tried not to stare as Leigh and the three women from our pack made their way down the center aisle. Dirge was at their back, scanning the crowd attentively.

Once the accused was secured—with barely a hiss of pain when the silver touched his wrists—Sergei and Andrei took up guard positions on either side of the chair, and I walked back to the edge of the stage to wait for Kane. Another glance at Leigh found her now settled in the front row, between Dirge and Olivia.

I didn’t like the other male so close to my unbonded female, no, but it also made me feel better to know she had protection when she wouldn’t let me be close enough to protect her myself.

It was a fine line, and one that I’d lost sleep over last night.

Kane stepped up to my side. There was no sign of Reed andthe witness, but I assumed from Kane’s cool, confident stance that they were nearby, waiting to be called. He hadn’t yet looked at Varga, but I imagined that was to keep said cool.

“We’re ready whenever you are, High Alpha,” I said with a deferential nod. He was my friend, yes, but in formal situations, I leaned into his position. I had a job to do, just like he did. And right now, we were fulfilling our roles, not being buddies going for a run.

“Thank you, Gael. I’m ready to get this settled once and for all.”

“I have your back.”

“Thank you,” he said with bone-deep sincerity. And then he stepped up to the center of the stage. I shadowed him, staying one step behind his left shoulder.

He wasted no time on formalities, starting things off with a simple greeting to the gathered crowd. “Welcome, and thank you for coming. Tonight, we are holding a tribunal to assess the innocence or guilt of Alpha Varga of the Hungarian pack in regard to the murder of my late parents, Mihaela and Kosta, high alpha pair of the nine great packs.”

You could have heard a mouse squeak, so quiet was the fully packed amphitheater. People had come from all over to bear witness, and they didn’t want to miss a word. Something this big didn’t happen often in the wolf community.

“Alpha Varga, do you have anything to say for yourself?” Kane addressed him, clenching his jaw as soon as the words were out.

I could see what it cost Kane to not rip the man’s throat out, because I’d known him and lived so close to him for so long. But a casual observer probably would have thought him indifferent.

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