Alpha Convict - Burgov Series I

9. Benson

"Here are the clothes your sister brought for you." - the guard said, slipping into my cell a hanger with one of my suits on it. Of course Sabi would have chosen something I hate just to torment me even more. I haven't worn anything from that part of my closet for so long that I'm a bit worried if it would still fit, but as far as I know the prosecutor made up his mind about me, so my clothing choice wouldn't probably matter. - "Dress up, I'll be back in ten." - the guard announced, strolling away down the hall.

I sighed and undressed from the red overall and a white t-shirt I was given, and started putting on the expensive clothes that couldn't be more out of place here. The material of the dress shirt was nice and surprisingly the suit fit me like a second skin, even after all this time. Yet it did nothing to make me feel more confident about today.

I snorted to myself when my eyes landed on a tie. Was my sister for real?! How am I supposed to pull it off with the f*****g collar around my neck? I left it on the hanger and waited patiently for the guard to come get me. And I didn't wait for long.

We repeated the drill from every time Sabine visited me, with him poking me with that damn metal baton and leading even further into the vast building. But this time he wasn't taking me to the visitation room, but to an entirely different part, where the courtrooms were located.

"Are you ready for your judgment day, VanWoert?" - the guard, whoes name I still haven't bothered to learn, asked and his tone only made it obvious that in his eyes I was already sentenced.

"I thought you weren't allowed to make small talk with me."

"What are you too good to answer a question of someone beneath your status?" - he sneered and I sighed with exasperation, deciding I liked far better when he was just a silent shadow. Even his nudging me with the baton wasn't bothering me as much as his words.

That's why I chose to ignore him. But he wasn't buying that.

"I know golden boys like you. Born with silver spoons by their mouth and having everyone bowing with respect. Power can be addictive, sure. But to harm your own Mate… what kind of sick f**k would do that."

I had enough. I turned around towards him, fast, slamming him against the wall, and I wrapped my handcuffed hands around his neck. It was clear that even with being restrained I had an upper hand and his life was literally in my hands. Just a one quick squeeze and his body would slide down. I knew that. He knew that. But what would that help me with? Absolutely nothing.

However, I can still make him shut up.

"Don't think for even a second that you know anything about me." - his eyes were full of fear, yet he didn't move, just stared at me, probably thinking those were his last moments. - "How about we walk the rest of the way in silence, huh?" - this time he nodded frantically and I released him soon after. The guard fell on his ass and started catching his breath and rubbing his sore throat, yet he stayed true to his word and he didn't peep a sound.

At least that went my way today, because my head was still hurting like hell and the rest of my life was spiraling down from a cliff. It was hard to focus on anything, and I would kill, well maybe not exactly kill, but certainly do a lot for a scotch. The crisp white walls in the entire place only makes the throbbing more unbearable. And they chose today to hold my trial. Not that the day even mattered to me, every single one of them looked exactly the same. So why the hell not get this over with.

Suddenly we passed a double door leading to the part of the prison clearly meant for civilians and officials, and the change was spectacular. White walls and concrete floors have been replaced by marble ones and a dark wood adorned each of the walls. I'm not in Kansas anymore, that's for sure.

The long corridor was separated only by the heavy wooden doors every now and then. And the second on the left hand side was exactly where the guard had led me. He didn't say another word, just opened them and escorted me to the courtroom filled with scandal-hungry spectators.

I haven't met any of their eyes, there was no pint, they just came to see the VanWoert name being dragged through the mud.

I sat down in the row meant for the defendant and his attorney making just a curt nod to the pawn my sister hired. He came here a few times and I told him everything I knew, but even though he assured me that he rarely ever loses his case, his face after I revealed all the facts I recall from the night, was far from convinced we could win this thing. Either way, with or without him, it was just a spectacle. Someone really wanted to get rid of me, and so far is succeeding.

Sabine and Trevor weren't allowed inside, because of the high profile of the trial. Apparently it's not an everyday occurance when Alpha is charged for murder and the League doesn't trust his closest associates. Figures. Another proof that it was all a set up.

We were ordered to stand up when from the room in the back the seven judges entered the courtroom. All of them were the former Alphas or Betas, who decided to fill their retirement's boredom with looking down on the new generation. After them from the same room came the man that visited the Midnight Banes a few days ago, what was it… Quentin, I think.

They all looked at me with judgmental stares, and I had no doubts that they were probably chosen to see me as a villain. And it all began. The farce of a trial, that I already knew the outcome of.

First one on the stand was some young guy from my Pack who lives in the Compound and is a next door neighbor of the missing girl. I remember him as if through the fog. He said he saw her last on Friday morning and she hasn't shown up after.

Next witness was my former warrior. The tall bulky guy with gray eyes and dark blonde hair. That annoying girl's brother. He met my eyes with determination and a scowl betraying a lot of grudges. He wasn't avoiding my gaze just like the guy before him, he wasn't afraid, he actually looked like another judge, who came to deliver justice.

"State your name and connection to this case." - one of the judges said to him.

"My name is Ivan Burgov, I was a regular warrior and member of the Midnight Banes Pack. And my connection to this case is that I was the one who notified the authorities." - he said, not taking his eyes off me.

"Was? As in past tense?" - the same judge asked, leaning his chin on his hand.

"Yes. Me and my family were banished under the pretext that we are untrustworthy."

"I see." - the judge said, looking at me. That didn't bring me any fans and all seven faces that turned to me confirmed that. I know I suggested it to Sabi, but now our family looks as if we were bullying everyone who didn't do our biddings. - "And how did you know that something that goes beyond your high ranked wolves authority was happening?"

"My little sister, she was worried about her friend and started looking for her. That's why she used a tracking app to find her phone, and that's how she stumbled upon that car." - my former warrior, Ivan explained knitting his brows together as if telling this was painful for him.

Then my lawyer stood up.

"The report says you specifically told during the phone call that inside the car is a large amount of Miss Montgomery's blood. How did you know that?"

"My younger brother confirmed it. He's from a Gamma bloodline and he's an incredible tracker. I decided to trust his senses." - Ivan answered and it made me raise my brows. They didn't mention in the application to my Pack that they are from any higher bloodline.

"He is?" - continued my lawyer. - "And you're not?"

"No. I took after my Mother."

"Is he going to be a witness in this case?" - my lawyer continued.

"No, he's a minor, and as his legal guardian I don't consent to his involvement in this trial."

"Convenient." - my lawyer scoffed sitting down.

Then the prosecutor stood up and went closer to him and showed him some picture.

"Do you recognize this necklace?"

Ivan immediately shook his head. - "No, I do not."

"Alright, that will be all for now Mister Burgov, please leave your new address to the assistant in the hall in case we need you again." - the judge with the most unbothered face said to him, and Ivan nodded yet again, standing up and going for the exit. But he left the room only after sending me another glare. Yeah, yeah, you don't like me, I know.

"For the next witness I call Miss Sasha Burgov." - said the prosecutor.

Then the door opened and she came in. The girl responsible for all this mess. She wore a simple black dress with long sleeves and her long dirty blonde hair were as usually brushed into a thick braid that rested on her left shoulder. She looks so innocent, yet I can't stop hating her in my head from the moment she insinuated that other one was my Mate.

She sat down on the stand and just then I saw how red and puffy her eyes were. Either she was really mourning her best friend, or she was an exquisite actress.

I haven't focused on the first part of her statement, but I'm sure it was just the same boring nonsense about who she is and how she is connected to the case. I however, was focusing on her face, that not once met mine. It was like a challenge for her to avoid me at all cost.

But when my attorney once again stood up, it snapped me from my trance.

"And how could you be sure that the message you received was telling the truth? My client denies that he saw this woman that night, therefore she couldn't recognize him as a Mate." - the lawyer asked and the girl finally looked at our side of the courtroom.

"I'm sorry, what's your name?" - she asked him, and I smirked seeing my lawyer taken aback that she had the audacity to not know who he is.

"Jermaine Wilcox." - my lawyer answers after a while, puffing proudly his chest, and with that his profound belly.

"Well, Mister Wilcox, I don't know in what sad reality you live, but when my friends tell me something I trust their every word." - she said and I saw how the attorney's face started getting red. - "But does the text I received matter at all? In the end it was just a clue that steered me towards him." - she pointed at me, yet still didn't look. - "Wouldn't this court care for her death if she wasn't an Alpha's Mate?" - she asked, looking expectantly at the seven judges. And most of them shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Impressive for a young girl like her to make those old dogs squirm under her gaze like a bunch of school boys. I may not like her, but I won't deny she has a spirit.

"Of course we would care. Each and every wolf's life is precious and protected by the law." - said the most composed judge shutting my lawyer up. How can this red-faced fool be a prestigious and probably one of the most expensive lawyers, if all he did so far is making me look even worse. I would probably do better in defending myself.

"So there you go. It doesn't matter who Claudia was, or was supposed to be. But her blood in the trunk of Alpha VanWoert's car was."

Her words brought a silence to the room. She was good. Intelligent. She would outsmart probably every man in this room. Which means she's also dangerous, because if she only wanted to she could orchestrate all of this. And I'm still deciding if that wasn't the case.

Then the prosecutor cleared his throat and stood up, going closer to the stand and handing her the same picture he showed her brother just a few minutes before. Sasha took it in her hands and immediately after her eyes landed on the picture she dropped it, putting her hands to her mouth with a loud gasp. The picture fell on the floor and I finally could see what was on it. It looked like a part of my trunk with a strap necklace with a black shiny rock on the end covered in blood.

When I looked up I noticed that Sasha was finally looking straight at me, and there was no denying that. Tears were streaming down her face and she was shaking her head from side to side as if she didn't want to believe what she was seeing.

"Judging by your reaction, Miss Burgov, I assume you recognize the object." - Quentin asked her slowly.

"I gave it to Claudia on Friday. It was a birthday gift and she was supposed to open it after midnight." - she answered him, but her eyes were still focused on me, and the storm behind this gray shade made me want to turn away. But I couldn't.

"And can you tell us what it is exactly?" - Quentin asked her.

"It's an enchanted piece of crystal. It was supposed to show the intentions of the person you were with. The darker the shade of the stone, the more dangerous the person is supposed to be." - she said, still looking at me with those piercing eyes. It looked like something broke in her and she wasn't even trying to wipe her tears anymore. - "How can you still sit here and pretend everything is great." - she said to me and a power of her voice combined with the obvious hurt took me off guard. - "Every other decent human being wouldn't be able to live with himself. Yet here you are sitting nonchalantly like nothing happened, when one of your Pack mates was killed. Are you really that above everything and everyone that you won't even admit that you saw her?! You have no honor. And you are disgrace to an Alpha title."

Her every word was like a needle to my heart. I know I wasn't the greatest Alpha lately, but her words were like a wake up call. What's the point of defending myself if I wouldn't have a place to come back to either way. Sabine and Trevor would want me back home, to my old position, but what about the rest? If the simplest wolves from my pack despise me so, I don't think I'm welcome there anymore.

I'm sure of one thing now. That this missing girl wasn't my Mate. There's not enough alcohol in this world to make one forget something like that. But that doesn't mean I didn't hurt her. What if I hit her by accident and my drunken brain figured out that covering her tracks by putting her in my trunk was the best option? After all, I don't remember much from that night.

"You're right." - I said to her ignoring my lawyer trying to shoosh me. - "I won't admit that I killed her, but there is a part of that night I don't remember, so I can't overrule it." - I admitted knowing that I just sealed my fate.