“All rise,” the court officer said loudly as Judge Harding took his seat and we all sat down again.“Mr. Bridges, I’ve reviewed all your evidence last night and I’ve decided that it’s not necessary to call those witnesses,” Judge Harding said, “does the prosecution have any more witnesses to call?”“No Your Honour, the evidence speaks for itself,” Nathaniel said.“Noted,” he said and looked at me, “the defense may start their case.”“Thank you Your Honour,” I said as I stood up, “the defense calls Dr. Gold for cross-examination.”Dr. Gold was led back into the courtroom and placed under oath again as she sat down in the witness box looking pristine and calm.“Dr. Gold, you see a lot of injuries don’t you?”“Yes, I do.”“How long have you been the Hastings pack doctor?” I asked her.“Eighteen years,” she said.“Did you do an autopsy on Jonas Lasing?” I asked.“No.”“Why not?”“The Alpha didn’t deem an autopsy necessary since we knew that he had been poisoned by wolfsbane,” she said.“B
“That was amazing!” Damon said as he followed me out of the court room and we headed to a restaurant down the street from the Council building.“Just doing my job,” I said.Sierra followed us into the restaurant and we got a table and sat down. The waitress handed us menus and I ordered coffee and waited for Damon and Sierra to also order their drinks.“This is Sierra by the way, and this is Damon, my father,” I said.“It’s very nice to meet you, Sierra,” Damon said as he shook her hand.“It’s nice to meet you too,” she said and smiled at him.“What other tricks do you have up your sleeve?” Damon asked me.“You’ll have to wait and see,” I said and smiled.“I guess I’ll have to attend court every day,” he said.“At least they know he was lying about me stealing information,” she said.“It’s not over yet Sierra, this just establishes distrust towards him, the jury will now think twice about everything he’s testified to,” I said to her.“I know but there’s still the wolfsbane and Jonas d
I had taken Sierra back to New York, she needed time and I gave it to her. She was young and she had her whole life ahead of her. She hadn’t outright rejected me again but neither did she accept the bond. Kane was restless and he told me I was an idiot for letting her go.I felt the bond, completely. I missed everything about her and I’d sit in front of my computer screens and search for images of her instead of searching for the hunters. She had stayed at the Council office for two more days before leaving.She had booked into a cheap motel and she was currently sitting in an interview where she had applied for the position as a receptionist for some architecture firm. She had no friends, no family, and she kept looking over her shoulder all the time.The other computer screen pinged and I focused my attention on it as another box popped open and Samantha’s image appeared on the screen. I could taste the bile in my mouth as I looked at her. This was the woman that I’d loved since I w
“Are you done with your little temper tantrum?” I asked Jett as I leaned against the doorframe of his room.“Are you done being a pussy?” he asked me.“Yes.”“Then I’m done as well,” he said.“I’m sorry,” I said to him.“I know, I’m sorry too,” he said.“Are you really?” I asked him.“No,” he said and laughed.“Good, you shouldn’t be,” I said to him as he stood up from his bed.“Let’s go kill some hunters,” he said as I slapped him on the back and he grinned at me.We met up with Damon and Connor on the porch and Kane followed us down the steps as we walked to the back of the pack house into a small clearing. I checked my weapons as Kane lazily stretched his body and yawned.“Shit Kane, can you be any more excited?” Jett asked him.“This is my excited face,” Kane said through the link and Jett laughed.“I’ll port us to the camp site where we can surround them, I want Samantha and Phillip taken alive for interrogation, don’t kill them and no I won’t be letting them go. Kill as many as
“We need to go,” I said to Kane after Jett had left my room.“I’m trying to sleep here,” he said.“Fine, stay,” I said to him and got up.“I’m getting real fed up with your self-pitying ways, where are we going?” he asked.“Home, there’s something I need to check on,” I said as he stretched his limbs and climbed off the bed.“Fine, I can do with a moose,” he said.I opened a portal right there in the room, Kane and I stepped through it and I headed directly for the shed. The computers were still buzzing but no new reports had come in, things were quiet and for the time being hunters had gone underground after the attack in Montana.I opened the copy of Sierra’s pack file that I still had and read through it, this time taking in all the information about her. My eyes skipped to the last section on the one page information sheet at the back of her file when they had just found her.‘The little girl was found wandering the forest bordering our pack territory. She was malnourished, dirty
The town of Limerick was small and I ported us right to the front gate leading to the Elder hall. The two warriors standing guard gaped open mouthed at us as we suddenly just appeared in front of them.“Alpha Damon Woods, Enforcer pack,” Damon announced himself, “Enforcer Griffin Woods and Enforcer Jett McDaniels.”“Who is your feline companion?” the second warrior asked as he eyed Kane.“This is my pet jag, he chews the couch whenever I leave him home alone,” I said and Kane glared at me.“I’m not a pet you bastard,” he growled at me.“Welcome Alpha Woods, do you have an appointment?” the warrior asked.“I have special permission from the Council to interview Alpha Clive Hastings,” I said and produced the certificate.“I will announce your arrival, you can follow the road up to the hall,” he said and opened the gates for us.“Come on kitty cat,” Jett said as he rubbed Kane’s ears and started threatening me in the many ways he was going to kill me.The Elder pack consisted of all prev
We were back at the clowder in Newport and I sat in my room with my phone pressed to my ear. I had logged into my computer system remotely but Sierra hadn’t gotten the job at the architecture firm and she’d checked out of the motel where she had been staying.She wasn’t answering her phone either. I had gotten her new number from Marius, but so far it went straight to voicemail. I couldn’t find her and that bothered me. I could find anyone, except the one person I desperately wanted to find.“This is Sierra, please lea….” I put the phone down in frustration before I broke it.My thoughts drifted back to Samantha and a grin spread over my face as I thought about her stuck in a cell down in the dungeon. So far Damon hadn’t gone down there to see Phillip and I wondered what his plans were.I must have drifted off on the couch because I woke up in a cold sweat with Sierra screaming my name in my head. I had heard it clear as day, filled with pain and terror. Even now I could feal the fear
“There’s nothing new to report Griffin,” he said to me as we stood in the hallway.“It’s been five days!” I said angrily.“She’ll wake up when her body has recovered, we know almost nothing of nymphs,” he said looking down.“Calm down Griff, let the Doc do his work, she’ll wake up,” Jett said.“All I want to know is when!” I yelled as the doctor pulled up his shoulders.“Thanks Doc,” Jett said and started pulling me down the hallway and out of the infirmary.Sierra was comatose and she hadn’t moved a muscle in five days. I had ported us back to Newport and handed her over to the doctor on duty and then waited. I was angry and frustrated and with all that’s going on I kept ignoring the Council and I knew I couldn’t avoid them forever.They wanted answers about the eradication of the Hastings pack, it had been a bloody battle and all our Enforcers had survived, some wounded worse than others, but we were all alive. The doctor kept telling me that she was stable and healing from her woun
“Wake up Samantha,” I said as I sat on one of the chairs that I had pulled up close to the bed.“Griffin?” she asked questioningly as she rubbed her eyes and sat up groggily, “what’s going on?”“Why did you do it?” I asked her.“Do what?”“Why did you betray me?” I asked.“I didn’t, what are you talking about?” she asked me.“You knew that attack was happening, you gave your father information about me, about my family,” I said.“Griffin….” she said.“Where is it?” I asked her.“Where’s what?” she asked me looking somewhat afraid now.“Your hunter’s mark,” I said and her eyes widened just a fraction. It was so sudden that I almost missed it.“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said as her eyes darted to the door.“You smell different, I didn’t want to believe it at first, but Kane was right, I can smell it now,” I said to her.She darted up from the bed and pulled the door open to find Kane standing there growling at her. I stood up as she backed away and pushed her back tow
I found Kane sitting near the jetty looking out over the lake. He seemed lost in thought and he hadn’t been in the house all day. I had brought his dinner with me because now I was worried. It wasn’t like Kane to act like this.“What’s up with you, big guy?” I asked him as I placed the container down in front of him.“Nothing,” he said and gobbled his food up.“What are you doing out here?” I asked him.“Waiting,” he said.“Waiting for what?” I asked.“Something,” he said.“I’m starting to worry about you, Kane,” I said and he looked at me.“I don’t know how to explain it. Something’s off, I don’t know what, something’s not right with Samantha,” he said.“What do you mean?”“Her scent’s different, she smells like them,” he said.“Them who?”“Hunters,” he said and looked back towards the lake.“I pulled her from a warehouse crawling with them,” I said.“No, her scent’s changed Griffin, how can you not smell it? She’s been here for a whole day and she still smells different,” he said.I
Samantha had fainted in my arms and I was now sitting on the couch watching her sleep after I had gotten us out of that building and safely through the portal. I still couldn’t believe that I was looking at her.The sun would rise soon yet I wasn’t as tired as I should be. I guess the shock of finding her was enough to keep me wide awake. She lay there peacefully while an inner turmoil waged war inside me. Kane had returned an hour ago and so far he’d only been staring at her intently.“Is this real?” Kane asked me after a moment.“I don’t know,” I said to him.She stirred slightly and I sat watching her wake up. It was like I knew every stretch of her muscles, every groan as her senses awakened, the way her eyelids flickered lightly before opening, the smile tugging on the sides of her lips.“Griff…. Griffin?” she said questioningly as she sat up blinking a few times.“All these years I thought you were dead,” I said to her.“I can’t believe you’re here,” she whispered looking at me
I kept my eyes closed for a few more seconds as my mind cleared from the fog of sleep and I swung my legs over the edge of the bed as I rubbed my face with my hands. The air was chilly but it didn’t bother me. I looked at the clock and saw that it was almost five am.I got dressed in sweatpants and a hoodie and made my way downstairs to the kitchen. I made coffee for myself and swallowed the aftertaste of scotch away. There was a dull headache thumping at the back of my head and I wondered how much I drank last night.Kane didn’t stir from his spot as I finished my coffee and slapped him on his ribs. He growled at me but said nothing, it wasn’t really unusual, he liked to ignore me. I left the front door open and started jogging to the other side of the house and into the trees.I didn’t really feel like jogging but I knew that I had to get the alcohol out of my system otherwise I’d be useless for the rest of the day and I had plenty to do. The run cleared my head and by the time I go
I don’t know how long I sat on the ground with Sierra’s body clasped against mine, willing her to live, trying to warm up her ice cold skin. Kane had left at one point and when he returned it was with Jett following him.“Griffin,” he whispered.I couldn’t look at him, I couldn’t even breathe properly. My head snapped up as Jett’s hands touched her and I wanted to rip his arms off for daring to come close to her. His hand landed on my shoulder instead but I couldn’t focus on his voice.“Shit Griff,” he said and I looked up as I saw tears in his eyes.“She’s gone,” I whispered.“I know Griff, I’m sorry brother, I’m so sorry,” he said.“Just leave me alone,” I said and lowered my head to hers again.“Griff you need to come home, bring her home so we can lay her to rest properly,” he said. He reached out for her again and I pulled her back against me.“Don’t touch her,” I said and he stood up and took a step backwards with his hands in the air.I stood up with his help and kept her close
I woke up on the floor of my bedroom, alone. It was dark and quiet and I groaned as I rolled onto my back. Sierra’s scent was fading and the choking feeling of pain gripped me again. She had left me, she had really left me. How had I missed our wedding?She would never forgive me or take me back now, all this for my revenge. It could’ve waited, I could’ve killed them later, after the wedding but like every other time in my life, that bloodlust took over and I just had to kill them.“Kane,” I murmured.“I’m here,” he said sounding dejected.“She left,” I said.We could both feel her pain, it would continue until I accepted her rejection. She was heartbroken and it was killing me slowly. Chester’s words were also still with me, Samantha’s abortion, locked in a cage for three years. She had wanted to tell me everything.I had killed her out of rage when she was forced to betray me. I didn’t want to believe him but I did. She had betrayed me but not that first time, only after being subje
“How did you figure it out?” Chester asked me.He was strapped to the stainless steel table and he knew that death would come for him soon, he just didn’t realize what I was going to do to him before he died.“Someone sent me a text, telling me where to find that original agreement that you kept in your safe,” I said to him.“Who?” he asked me.“I don’t know Chester, I don’t really care, once I had that agreement, the rest was fairly easy,” I told him.“It would’ve gone the same way, your father just beat you to it,” he said.“That was the biggest mistake of your life, you should’ve known I’d come after you for this,” I said.“That’s why I had Rosco, he was supposed to shoot you in the head,” he said.“Why do you want me dead so badly?” I asked him.“It all started with that hunter treaty, I gave them information and they took out my enemies too, you messed all that up,” he said to me.“How? You won that case, you got the treaty,” I said to him.“Samantha Cartwright, her father was li
I took a knife from the block in the kitchen and walked slowly upstairs and stopped at the first guest room. Kevin and Phil were sharing the double bed with a pillow placed between them. Phil was snoring and they were both lying on their backs.I walked right up to Kevin, one floorboard creaking but they didn’t even move in their sleep. I watched him for a few minutes as he lay there peacefully, not knowing that they willingly came with me to their deaths.I slit his throat quietly and had my over his mouth and nose to minimize the noises he’d make as he struggled for air. He never even opened his eyes, the cut had severed the arteries and not just nicked them.I removed my hand when I heard his heart stop and I stuck the knife deep into his chest, leaving it there. Kane was already on the bed when I closed the door behind me and took a shower to wash the blood off. Some of it had sprayed onto my face and my hand was covered as well.I slept peacefully that night and I was awake but s
“Kane,” I spoke in his mind the moment I ported back into the house, “computer room.”“Is that an order, Alpha?” he asked me and yawned.“Trust me, you want in on this,” I said to him.Kane didn’t answer me but I knew he’d meet me. He was loyal when it mattered and only gave me shit about things that didn’t matter. When it came down to it, Kane always had my back and I wanted him with me when I did this.“I’m here, what’s the emergency,” he asked me.“The Council has asked for our protection and we’re going to take them to a safe location,” I said to him.“You woke me up for babysitting duty?” he growled at me.“We’re babysitting the men responsible for Damon’s death,” I said to him.“What the fuck Griffin…. oh, I get it,” he said as realization dawned on him.“I’m not an idiot, Kane,” I said to him.“Debatable, how did you manage this one?” he asked me.“Seems Grant was murdered in his office and now they’re running scared,” I said.“And who killed Grant?” he asked me flicking his ta