Out of The Woods (COMPLETED)

Chapter 29

The morning of the court case came. I smoothed out the creases of my dark black dress and eyed the dismal weather. Rain drizzled down on the country, leaving a slight fog along with it. I felt a puddle of nerves in my stomach but I kept my face neutral. Everything was set. Everything was in place. I had spoken to Esmeralda and Finn yesterday afternoon and they were just as determined to go through with it.

"That's crazy. An entire society that exist outside of Arden???" Finn exclaimed and Esme shushed him. He ran his hands through his disheveled hair as he paced back and forth.

"Is this really okay though? Once we reveal Arden, there's no going back. What if we're attacked? What if the wolves turn against us. Just because we have the support of one main alpha doesn't mean we have the support of the whole country."

"Does it matter?" Spat Esme, her eyes wide and angry. "We've spent so much years hidden away from the world. The amount of lies that the elders fed us should be reason enough. We're healers, we're suppose to help people yet we're hidden away, erased from existence. Arden was created to protect us from war. There are no wars now."

"Yet villages are still being attacked ?" I questioned softly. I needed to think about every angle of this before I did something that was impact the entire world.

"That was an oddity. Vampires normally stay out of the way. There are odd attacks here and there but the wolves and council normally deal with them, if their own species don't. The vamps have a hierarchy too and they don't like getting involved with the council. What happened there was a sub nest getting too much power and it went to their head. It was a singled event and not enough of a reason to hide."

Finn nodded, his eyes wide. "Bloody hell. I just can't believe it's all actually changing."

"Just one question though. Do I tell Isaac? He's going into convinced it's just that isolated vampire event we're dealing with."

"I heard they're just going to strip the main leader of that nest of his rank. He won't be killed. That's normally what happens. It just means he didn't have enough control over who he was in charge of so he'll be replaced by someone who will. Most of that nest was killed in the attack between Isaac's pack and what was left of that nest anyway."

"I should let him know so that he's not shocked."

Esme and Finn exchanged glances. "Do you trust him?"

I nodded. "Yes."

There lay my answer.

-//

"I need to talk to you." I informed Isaac and he straightened up, his tense back facing me as he turned, offering me a tired smile.

"What's up?"

I gulped. "There's something you need to know."

I saw worry flash across his eyes yet he kept his demeanor calm. "Is this the part when you reveal you're actually a serial killer."

I let out a shaky laugh before I began my explanation of what was going on. I started at when I first met the nymphs and be listened intently, not uttering a single word until I was finished.

Then he looked up, his eyes wide . "Wow. That's a lot to take in."

I gave him a sheepish smile as he brought his hand up to my cheek, rough calloused skin brushing softly against it. "Is this what you want?" He asked and I nodded softly.

He grinned widely. "Then, let's go get 'em tiger."

-:/

It was pretty much as I had expected. On one side stood Isaac, his father, Lily and I. On the other side stood a rather bored looking vampire, sighing as he had something better to do and was annoyed by being forced to attend. A judge sat in front of us, his piercing gaze on the vampire. A small group of higher ranked vampires sat stiffly behind him while one stood on front - seemingly to speak for him. Isaac took the role of defending me and I was grateful as I wasn't exactly sure what to do or say. I looked around, noticing the hard, observative eyes of the jury. One woman met my gaze and offered me a small smile which set my nerves at ease slightly. I subtly scanned the room and saw that Noah and Bobbi, my mother's best friend were seated somewhere near the back. Esme and Finn were nowhere to be seen, which worried me slightly. But before I could ponder on that anymore, it started.