Talons

Chapter 92: The Denial

Colton’s POV

As Rhea tells the council members what I’ve done to her in the past, I see them flash in my mind, and now that I know she’s my mate, the memories are more painful than they used to be. 

Before, I just felt like a sick f*ck who tortured a child, but now I feel like I don't deserve Rhea or her forgiveness, and when her father went to attack me, I didn’t even try to defend myself.

“Alpha Colton, please respond to the charges against you.”

“There is no lie, but there are things she is leaving out.” I tell the alphas about her playing mind games with me, and at the mention of Jack, Alpha Newt makes a signal, and the man is brought into the chamber as a witness.

“Beta Jacques, you have been accused of conspiring against a future alpha with Miss Talons, how do you plead?” I look over at my mate, who is staring at Jack in confusion as he tells the high alpha that before Luke’s party, he had no real communication with my mate.

“Stop lying, I still have the messages.” I hand my phone to a guard who brings it to a high council member. Jack is questioned again under command and he’s telling the truth; it wasn’t him.

“Miss Talons, do you remember any of this conversation?” My phone is handed to Rhea, whose face goes white as she reads it.

“I do, but high alpha, I never sent those messages. The only person with me that night was…” She trails off and she is pressured to answer. “A human named Mike.”

High alpha Newt smirks and like some kind of movie, pictures of my mate in a swimsuit pop up on a screen. A male is tightly hugging her, and I presume that it’s Mike.

“You see Miss Talons, when you called this rejection hearing, my son thought it would be good to show Alpha Colt what type of woman you are.”

Rhea’s POV

I shiver as images of me that I forgot or didn’t know were taken, are flashing over the screen. Many of them are extremely old photos with Mike, Brice, or Brent, but some of them are newer. I never post images of myself on social media, so the pictures came from somewhere.

I grow white when I’m told that they came directly from the phones of the men who I am pictured with, and the newer ones came from Raven or Miracle.

“Alpha Colt, are you sure you want a mate who is so free with men?” Alpha Newt asks, and while the man is being a jerk, I don’t care if Colton rejects me, that is what I want.

The doors to the hearing chamber burst open, and in struts General, whose face falls in what I can only assume is disappointment. He pulls me into a hug, and Colton lunges for him. It takes a full minute to stop them from fighting.

“Test us,” General shouts, and his father produces that damned chalice. We both drip our blood into the cup, but nothing happens. “No one else will have you,” the man growls, then he grabs me, intending to kill me. 

Colton is the one who pulls him off, but High alpha Newt stops a fight from erupting with a command. 

My mother, who had been hugging me, was ordered to release me. With my wolf too afraid to be in the present, it's just me left to comfort myself, and when I see the guide who I offended all those years ago walk in, my heart sinks.

The woman tells the council that I’m a heretic. She tells them that I have spoken out against the bond on several occasions, and she puts the icing on the cake by telling the high alphas that she has reason to believe that I may have used some sort of 'science' to interfere with the bond.

“That’s not true," Colton and I simultaneously shout. 

“Silence!” High alpha Newt replies with force and I feel sadness overtake me. 

The guide hasn't even looked at me, but I can hear her warning about the goddess replaying in my mind.

“High alpha, please ask the guide how a bond is first established,” Colton says. The lizard grits his teeth, and when the guide tells him that it’s triggered by scent, I find myself understanding why I feel nothing toward Colton; I have no sense of smell.

With another gesture, my entire family is called into the chamber, including Dolton, who is protectively holding Miracle to his chest. This is obviously too much for her.

“I’d like to hear from witnesses,” Alpha Newt says, intending to interrogate everyone.

“Have you ever seen Alpha Colt assault your sister?” he asks Lark, who snarls in response because the answer is no. I know he has been listening in on the hearing, so he has heard everything I told the council. “Has he ever made you feel uncomfortable when it came to your sister?”

“Once, during our cousin’s wedding reception. B was bringing my son to our mother when I noticed him watching her as if he were in a trance.” My heart starts to hammer in my chest, I already know what Alpha Newt is trying to do.

“And was she wearing scent blocker?”

“She was not.” 

“So, in other words, he was drawn to her.” Lark grits his teeth. He has also just realized the narrow path he walked me down.

“Girls,” the lizard says to my sisters. “Same questions.” Robin looks the most conflicted, so the high alpha issues her a command that she tries to fight.

“Please stop, she is carrying,” I beg, and my sister looks at me in a way that is telling me that she is sorry in advance.

“Beta female,” the high alpha says. “Have you observed any curious interactions between the fated pair?” My sister sucks in a deep breath, clearly not wanting to speak, and without Luke by her side, she has no one to support her right now.

“Alpha Colt bought her a necklace once. She didn’t remove it for over a year.” My eyes go wide as I stare at my sister. “I didn’t know he hurt you Baby B. I just saw how happy it made you, so I didn’t say anything.”

“Happy?” Alpha Newt questions. He turns to Colton, who is just staring at me. “Has Miss Talons ever bought you anything?” I shut my eyes slowly as I consider the various gifts I’ve sent the man over the years.

None of them are ‘from me,’ but Colton goes into detail about the items he received, and I’m left cursing myself for wanting a reprieve in between his birthday and my sisters’ birthday.

“I did not know the gifts were from her until early this morning, but I still have them all,” Colton says. The high alpha nods and turns back to the witnesses.

“Miss Miracle Rivera; care to share.” My cousin looks down, and her mate rubs her back for comfort.

“I haven’t been in this country long, but when I came, Alpha Colton visited the pack. He kept asking for B.”

“And…”

“When he showed up at Luke’s party, he didn’t take his eyes off her. I had seen that look between my cousin and her mate; I knew they were fated.” The high alpha claps as he turns his gaze on Dolton, who has gone back to hugging Miracle, who truly had no idea what I’d been through.

“Finally, High Alpha Initiate Dolton Stone,” the lizard says.

“I can’t speak much about the time I was gone, but I can tell you that my brother has felt the pull toward his mate since we were young.” I hear my mother suck in a large breath, and I can tell she knows what Dolton is about to say.

My eyes go wide as he tells a story about Colton declaring me his mate when I was three. I didn’t even speak English back then. In fact, I stayed away from my siblings and the twins because I didn’t understand what they were saying.

“B, you have to understand; our parents were told that we would be fated to your sisters. Colt was punished severely after that incident and there were other things that happened between you two. If my memory serves me right, his aggression toward you started shortly after it was drilled into his head that you could never be his.”

“You're lying,” I whisper. “Everyone is lying.” I look around the room and suddenly feel like I don’t know who to trust anymore. If Colton felt anything toward me, he wouldn’t have tortured me for years.

Colton’s POV

My mate starts to hyperventilate and General moves to hug her. She backs away from the man, and falls onto the ground, holding her head as she rocks back and forth, unable to comprehend what’s being said to her.

“Are you sure you want her as a mate?” Alpha Newt says. “She seems... unstable.” I resist the urge to snap at the man who has been belittling my mate from the beginning of this hearing. I don’t know what the issue is between them, but it's more than his crazy son insisting that Rhea is his mate, despite it being proven that she’s not.

“I believe in the bond,” I say, hoping that B would hear me and calm down, but she is just sitting there, while her parents stare at her in clear distress.

“Any last words from Miss Talons?” The man asks, and my mate looks up with a face full of tears. 

“You all have children; imagine if they were in my shoes. You read the messages yourself, he’s going to kill me as soon as he gets me alone. My life is in the council's hands, please don’t throw it away.”

I look at the council members and two of them look conflicted. They have been mostly quiet, and I know it's because they are disgusted by my treatment of the one woman I’m goddess ordained to protect. 

“Let's take a vote,” Alpha Newt says, and given my experience with a rejection hearing in the past, I have already made sure the vote will go in my favor.

Before we walked into the chamber this morning, I showed Lark the drawing that I found at the rogue colony. He knew what I was telling him, and he knew what he needed to do to make sure it didn’t happen.

Only Raven and Miracle voted for B’s rejection to go through, and I don’t blame them because it should have.

“Then it's settled; Miss Talons, your rejection request is denied.”