Words of Power (Alice Gray Book 3)

48

Emily ignored the rumble of complaint that travelled around the courtroom. She ignored the pack bond, which pulsed and throbbed with anxiety, magnifying exponentially as it bounced between us. She ignored everything, as she stared over the heads of the powerful paranormal creatures collected before her. Eyes forward, chin raised, back as straight as an arrow.

Emily was waiting.

Waiting to see if anyone would dare to challenge her authority.

Red stared at her, mouth agape, skin flushed bright pink with anger. But she didn't speak. Edward glanced at his fellow magistrates out of the corner of his eye, not even bothering to turn his head and give them his full attention. Finally, he leaned back in his chair with an audible sigh of chagrined acceptance.

A couple more seconds dragged out, the scrape of chairs and muffled coughs making me flinch with every sound. When it was obvious that nobody was going to speak, Emily looked down and shuffled her notes in an act of finality before addressing the courtroom again.

"The first witness is Rebecca Stone, Beta to the British Pack."

I felt the heat of Becca's powerful shifter magic before I turned to see her glide up the aisle that separated the two groups of spectators. Long limbs slow and sinuous, the grace of her movements belied the speed with which she covered the distance.

When she passed that lowlife Kev, the screech of his chair against the stone floor told even those that couldn't taste the acid tinge of his fear in the air, that he was terrified of his pack's panther Beta.

His words from the club came back to me. Man-eater, he'd hissed, in fear and disgust. I shuddered, not wanting to think about the connotations of that phrase when the person it applied to was the only one who could clear me.

Becca had been with me on the inside of that ritual circle, but she had been in her panther form. What her predator eyes would make of the proceedings was a mystery that I didn't want to stake my life on. Nobody was sure where Becca's loyalty lay. She may have reached the position of Beta, but she wasn't born into the British pack. She was a loner, just like her cat.

It was Dominic and Lucas that she bonded with, and now one was dead, and the other had broken that bond.

For me.

The only person who could speak on my behalf was a massive panther shifter with inscrutable motives and doubtful morals.

I was so screwed.

Becca glided straight up to the judges' bench, her wide yellow eyes never leaving Emily. My fearless Beta did not flinch under the scrutiny, a feat that I'm certain I would not have been capable of. Becca Stone was scary as hell.

"Rebecca Stone, please state your relationship to the defendant," Emily said.

Becca's eyes flashed and her smile widened even further, stretching over bright white teeth.

"BFF," Becca barked, the clipped letters sounding more like a response to a military command than a legal question. I was surprised that she didn't salute.

Whispered giggles danced out from the spectators, dissolving a path through the heavy tension that pushed in from all sides.

"Ms Stone, I expect you to answer with the gravity that this case warrants and to show the courtroom the respect that it deserves," Emily ground out between clenched teeth.

Becca stalked closer to the judge's bench, the heat of her anger sizzling around her form. When she reached the raised altar, she leaned forwards meeting Emily's gaze head on.

They were both Betas now, and Becca's shifter instincts would be pushing her to prove her superiority. Even though Emily didn't have the same animalistic urges, I could sense her bristle at the challenge. She didn't like Becca's defiance, but it was more than that. Becca had claimed a relationship with me that Emily felt threatened our own pack dynamic. What we didn't need right now was a bitch-fight to decide who my bestie was.

Emily closed her eyes. My breath caught in my throat as I felt the tug at my chest. She may be human but the pack had done something for Emily too. She could draw what she needed from the bond just like the rest of us.

"Your relationship, Ms Stone," Emily prompted again, her eyes now calm, her smile relaxed.

"Alice Gray is the charge assigned to me by the DPA. I am her bodyguard."

"Before that assignment was granted," Edward said while inspecting his manicure, obviously fearing that the trial would go on forever if he didn't intervene.

"Alpha Dominic sent me to the coven in Sheffield when Beta Lucas had been abducted. We thought Lucas had been killed when Dominic's bond to him was severed," Becca's said, tone clipped and formal. "It turns out, Lucas had finally grown a pair."

The shift from professional to comedic had the desired effect. Laughter echoed around the Minster again as the spectators responded to Becca's bravado. I couldn't stop my own little grin when I felt Lucas's embarrassment warm up the pack bond.

"You're suggesting that you were happy that Lucas, your former Beta and friend, had abandoned the pack to bond with witches and humans," Red said, her chin tilted up in challenge.

Becca's yellow eyes twinkled with amusement. "Why shouldn't I support my former pack-brother and friend," she said, emphasis on the last word that Red had baited her with. "It meant a promotion for me."

Becca was obviously satisfied with her answers, I could almost see her panther preen and purr thinking she'd got the best of the interrogator.

It was why she was as shocked as I was when Red spoke next.

"Ah, so that's why you failed to save your Alpha from being diced and butchered. Your ambition extended to becoming Alpha of the British pack. I'm surprised you didn't eat the pieces."

She didn't just say that, did she? This isn't gonna be pretty...
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