Once a Rogue, Now an Alpha

The Trial

LENNOX

Nothing could have prepared me for this. I was seated on a cold wet floor, with both hands and feet chained and bolted to the wall just to make sure that I wasn’t going to escape.

I wasn’t given the chance of a criminal to defend my case, not yet anyway. Not even the chance to explain what had happened to me and why I ended up covered in blood. Well, not until Weston had his men pounce on me the second he could.

“None of this makes any sense. He got the title, why would he kill the Alpha King and Luna?” I heard a guard ask outside my cell like I couldn’t hear them.

I heard a chuckle almost like it was right next to my ear. “Greed and anger are two dangerous combinations.” The voice grunted.

Greed?

Anger?

Yes to the anger. I hated my stepmother for all that she had done to my mother and I. And I resented my father even more for allowing it to happen.

Just like that, I was expected to be grateful for what was mine to begin with. The guards dragged themselves away from my cell and finally, once again, I was left alone.

My mind was a mess but it was calm. You know, the kind that you know that crime had nothing to do with you. I was certain I would be out soon enough. All that was needed was prove that I was sure would be realized, and I would be free again.

But that was nothing but a wish.

Because the second that thought came, which was hours later, the cell door was dragged open. The shrieking sound of it was like claws on a board and I had to shut my eyes waiting for it to be over.

“Time to go asshole...” said a guard with a disdainful expression towards me. Asshole? This was new. It was usually loser, delinquent, piece of you know what.

He marched into the cell with another following him and they both yanked me up to stand. My shredded from my shift last night and the only thing I had on my body was a short that I had found by a tree after I shifted back when I returned.

Last night. What really happened? I asked myself.

I wanted to know. And if I wasn’t locked up I wouldn’t rest until my name was cleared of this accusation by Weston.

The chains on my hands were taken off, the ones on my legs left, and I was pushed forward to walk. I stumbled a few times, my walk like that of a penguin, until we made it to the throne room where Weston was now seated on my f*****g seat.

He had his elbow propped on the arm of the chair, and he had a cold, calculating look in his eyes. When our eyes met, his lips moved, curling into a smirk, and I knew that this was all his doing.

He did this.

In all of this – there was a large crowd from the pack’s elite seated waiting for my being interrogated and tried – my mind worried over two people.

Where are they? I turned in my spot until my eyes landed on my mate. June was in tears and fear reigned in her eyes. My heart broke at the sight of her, but I couldn’t tell for sure if she was crying for me or what I had been accused of. Either way, I just wanted her to be okay.

Not even a moment later, chains clunk to the floor loudly after me. Someone was coming or rather being dragged in. I peeled my eyes from June and whipped my head to the side in the direction of the noise and my heart fell to the pit of my stomach. I f*****g paled.

My mother was in chains just like I was. No. She had nothing to do with this. I knew that for sure. “Mum!” I called to her, already panicking. My head turned towards Weston once again. The fucker looked nothing like a man who had lost his beloved parents. Not even a little bit.

You bastard.

“Why? Why do you have my mother chained?” My voice was raspy from last night’s screaming match when Weston called the guards over to beat me and lock me up.

The room was quiet for a second before the murmuring began. I could hear a few things the crowd were screaming, but I paid no attention to it. And only when he felt like it, did Weston stand from his chair and walk down the podium.

“Your mother disappeared right about the same time as you did. She was only found when you returned home.” Weston spoke, the trial had begun. “And how did she appear? She was wet and in a towel, like she had run to take a bath from having killed my parents like you both planned it.” Ridiculous was what it was.

My mother shook her head. Her eyes were red from how much she had cried and she looked broken. Her mate was dead and the mark on her neck had long faded in the hours.

There’s no way she could have done that. He’s lying. I know he is.

“My mother would never....I would never,” I argued, like my life depended on it. It did. And if Weston was leading this trial, I needed to prove myself.

My father's Beta, Orion, stepped forward from the corner he had been standing in. “Do you have any proof then?" He asked. "Something to show that neither you nor your mother killed our beloved Alpha and Luna?”

This man, his hate was pure and loud. “I couldn’t have done it...” I started. There was proof that I didn’t do this, and I was going to show them. And for my mother.... “...mom, it's okay.” I projected through my mind to her. “... You all watched as I was asked to leave the party and my mother followed.” Nods there and there, the glares remained. “... I went out for a run. And there I was attacked by two rogues...” and then there was laughter. It doesn’t matter if it's the truth. I told myself, held my composure and continued to speak. “The blood on my body belongs to one of them. I have no doubt that the body is still in the woods and the blood can be tested.”

More murmurs and chattering. Nods from the elders and Weston included. I was relieved about this part. Now unto my mother. “I retired for the night early...” my mother spoke in a low intimidated voice after me. “My maid was with me all night and when the guards did come, it was about the time when I had just showered.

This was her truth. I knew that she wouldn’t lie, especially when it came to my father. For years, I hated how devoted she was to him despite how he treated her, but right now, I couldn’t be more proud of her.

But even with that, my relief was cut short. Shot before it could even grow a tad bit. “Is this why you had your maid get rid of your bloodied clothes that you wore last night?” What?

My eyes bulged in shock and disbelief. No. It couldn’t be.

My mother’s hand maiden approached the throne holding my mother’s clothes and sure enough there were stains of red on them. She handed the dress to Orion, who lifted it to show everyone.

I felt weak in my knees and my heart felt like it had been plucked out of my chest. My mother was innocent. Right? Like me, she had no cause to kill my father, right? I was too shocked to move.

Say something, Lennox. I urged myself, but what could I say? They had proof, and even I couldn’t get her out of this one. And as if knowing that they would come for me too, the taste in my mouth turned bitter.

“And back to you. This rogue you speak of. Where is the body?” Orion directed the question like he was trying to give me a chance to vindicate myself.

I did what any normal person in my position would have done. I took them to the spot deep in the heart of the woods where the rogues had attacked me. I may not have known the direction as I ran, but coming back home, I knew it well.

But the moment we arrived, and we did go in our numbers, - everyone was there to see the proof, my mate included – I realized that the body was nowhere to be found.

I stopped in my tracks right at the spot where I ripped its head off, confused and feeling a headache, start to bang. It was here. Right here.

That second, I turned in my spot, moving from side to side just to make sure this was it. The tree I had crashed into was there alright, but not the body. I pointed at it with shaky hands. “I.... I crashed...I” I couldn’t get the words out.

The rogue’s dead body was gone, and the blood splattered had somehow vanished as well. I knew, and I was certain last night the attack happened. The tree was proof that it did, but where was the body?