Chapter 252


    LEAH


    All I want to do is rush across the hall and pull Aaron out


    of that silver dock they’ve sat him in. To hold him, to know


    everything is going to be okay.


    All I can do is sit there and tell myself that justice will be done,


    and Aaron will be found innocent.


    It’s been days, and I never heard anything else from Karolina.


    I don’t know what she’s been doing, or if she’s managed to


    help Aaron in anyway.


    I had hoped she would be able to stop this trial altogether, but


    maybe that wasn’t within her power.


    Still, since I was brought into the hall and forced to sit as far away from Aaron as possible, I’ve been


    trying to catch Karolina’s eye, but she’s been keeping her attention split


    between Aaron and whichever Councilmember is talking at any given time and the longer it goes on,


    the colder my blood


    starts to run.


    Eventually I have to wonder if she tried to help us at all.


    What if she was just humoring me the day we spoke?


    The trial itself quickly bes a blur.


    The Council have brought together witnesses who have to be false, testifying that they knew Aaron had


    ns to kill Tobin for his power and a seat on the Council.


    They y a tape that’s recorded from Aaron’s interview in the cells, and it’s clear to anyone with half a


    brain that they’ve edited it heavily and spliced it together to make Aaron appear guilty, threatening and


    almost unhinged, like he’s already half


    gone rogue.


    I keep waiting to be called to give my testimony, so I can start clearing up all these falsehoods, but it


    doesn’t happen.


    They don’t even put Aaron on the stand or ask him to defend


    himself.


    Aaron sits there with a look of stony detachment on his face


    and doesn’t say anything as the evidence builds and builds


    against him.


    I find myself willing him to say something, anything.


    A few times he looks across at me, as if he can feel my mental


    nudging–who knows, with our mating bond going both ways


    now, maybe he can. I can certainly feel the quiet fury building within him. But he knows exploding or


    interjecting at this point will only make him look worse.


    N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights.


    When I realize things seem to be wrapping up, I can’t take it any longer.


    “This is a travesty!” I shout, jumping to my feet. “Aaron is


    innocent. All of this so called evidence has been concocted to


    make him look guilty.”


    “Leah,” Aaron says, and even though he doesn’t say it very loud, and there’s this swell of murmurs that


    ripple through the crowd, I still hear him loud and clear, like he’s standing


    right next to me and talking directly to me. “This won’t help. Remember what I told you.”


    “I’m not just going to stand here while my mate, an innocent man, gets condemned for crimes he didn’t


    because the Council are scared of him!”


    At this, the swell of voices gets louder, and I can tell I’ve pissed


    off most of the Council.


    “That is enough, Luna Leah!” Samsen shouts, banging the gavel. “Compose yourself, or you will be


    removed from this


    hall.”


    I want to argue some more, desperation and fear for what is


    going to happen to Aaron are surging through me like acid.


    “Leah,” Aaron says in amanding Alpha voice. “Do as he says.”


    I don’t want to be taken away, I need to be here to see what happens, so I relent, even though my


    instincts–my inner wolf -is telling me it’s the wrong thing to do.


    That I should be fighting for my mate with every single atom of my being.


    “The Council will now take a short recess to deliberate,”


    Samsen announces, before the Councilmembers all get up and file off stage to the back area where


    they can have some


    privacy.


    Loud chatter immediately erupts through the hall, but


    everyone stays seated, as if they expect the Council toe right back and they don’t want to miss a


    second of the unfolding drama.


    I don’t care that we have an audience, I get up and dodge the


    Enforcers standing nearby to rush across the space between


    me and Aaron.


    He stands when I reach him and extends his arms through the


    silver frame.


    “Be careful of the silver, love, I don’t want you to get burned,”


    he tells me as he catches my hands.


    “I don’t care about the silver, Aaron!” I cry, resisting the urge


    to tear the booth apart, even if it burns me down to the bones.


    “How can you be so calm about this?”


    He gives a brittleugh. “I’m anything but calm, Leah. Telling myself that I need to get you home to


    Ethan is the only thing keeping me from losing it.”


    “We have to do something!”


    “Like what?” Aaron asks in a gentle voice, looking at me in a way that breaks my heart. “If we run, they


    punish our packs. And they never stoping for us. They’ll hunt us down and


    won’t show any mercy. At least this way, you’ll live, Leah. You’ll


    live for Ethan, and that’s the most important thing right now.”


    Tears are streaming down my face again.


    I’ve cried so much recently, I have no idea how I have any


    tears left.


    “I can’t live without you,” I tell him, trying to hold back a sob.


    “You’ll find a way,” he says confidently, but no less gently. “I know you will, Leah. You’ll live for Ethan.”


    He’s right, but I still can’t ept this is happening right now.


    Before I can say anything else, the Councilmembers are


    returning, and the Enforcers pull me away from Aaron and


    force me back across the hall to my seat.


    Samsen bangs the gavel to settle the crowd. “The verdict will now be read.”