Chapter 13
The trial was held in the Grand Cathedral. Full Council attendance. Alphas from twelve states. Media wards buzzing.
I entered last. Black dress. Hair unbound. Crown unnecessary—my aura was crown enough.
Alaric sat at the defendant's table. Gray suit. Immaculate grooming. But his eyes—those golden eyes that once made me believe in fairy tales—were hollow.
Three years of searching for me had hollowed him.
And yet—I felt no sympathy. Sympathy was for those who earned it.
The proceedings moved swiftly. Evidence presented. Testimony from pack members who'd witnessed my mistreatment. Vanessa's deposition—delivered via written statement, since she'd left his pack two weeks prior.
Then Alaric was called to the stand.
He rose slowly. Faced the gallery.
And when the Council asked him to account for his actions, he didn't lie.
"I broke her." Simple. Quiet. Final. "She was my fated mate—the one gift the Moon Goddess gave me in three centuries—and I broke her. Not once. Not in a moment of weakness. Deliberately. Repeatedly. I chose comfort and cowardice over the woman who gave up everything for me."
He looked at me.
"She was never defective. I was."
A murmur swept the cathedral.
"I'm not here to beg for leniency." His voice steadied. "I'm here to say—on the record—that Nora Laurent was the best thing that ever happened to me. And I was the worst thing that ever happened to her."
He sat.
Silence.
Then Dominic rose. "The Council has reviewed all evidence. Alpha Alaric Black is found guilty of bond violation, bloodline negligence, and conduct unbecoming. Sentence: formal dissolution of territory claims west of the Hudson. Reduction of pack standing from Tier One to Tier Three. Public censure, to remain in the permanent record."
Gasps.
Tier Three. From the most powerful pack in the Northeast to... irrelevance.
Alaric didn't react. Didn't appeal.
He simply nodded.
And when the trial adjourned, he walked past me toward the exit. Paused.
"I know you don't want to hear this." His voice was barely above a whisper. "But leaving you was the only good thing you ever did for yourself. And I'm glad you did it."
Then he walked away.
I watched him go.
And felt—finally, definitively—the last ghost of our bond dissolve.
Like smoke.
Like a lie.
Like nothing at all.
---
I entered last. Black dress. Hair unbound. Crown unnecessary—my aura was crown enough.
Alaric sat at the defendant's table. Gray suit. Immaculate grooming. But his eyes—those golden eyes that once made me believe in fairy tales—were hollow.
Three years of searching for me had hollowed him.
And yet—I felt no sympathy. Sympathy was for those who earned it.
The proceedings moved swiftly. Evidence presented. Testimony from pack members who'd witnessed my mistreatment. Vanessa's deposition—delivered via written statement, since she'd left his pack two weeks prior.
Then Alaric was called to the stand.
He rose slowly. Faced the gallery.
And when the Council asked him to account for his actions, he didn't lie.
"I broke her." Simple. Quiet. Final. "She was my fated mate—the one gift the Moon Goddess gave me in three centuries—and I broke her. Not once. Not in a moment of weakness. Deliberately. Repeatedly. I chose comfort and cowardice over the woman who gave up everything for me."
He looked at me.
"She was never defective. I was."
A murmur swept the cathedral.
"I'm not here to beg for leniency." His voice steadied. "I'm here to say—on the record—that Nora Laurent was the best thing that ever happened to me. And I was the worst thing that ever happened to her."
He sat.
Silence.
Then Dominic rose. "The Council has reviewed all evidence. Alpha Alaric Black is found guilty of bond violation, bloodline negligence, and conduct unbecoming. Sentence: formal dissolution of territory claims west of the Hudson. Reduction of pack standing from Tier One to Tier Three. Public censure, to remain in the permanent record."
Gasps.
Tier Three. From the most powerful pack in the Northeast to... irrelevance.
Alaric didn't react. Didn't appeal.
He simply nodded.
And when the trial adjourned, he walked past me toward the exit. Paused.
"I know you don't want to hear this." His voice was barely above a whisper. "But leaving you was the only good thing you ever did for yourself. And I'm glad you did it."
Then he walked away.
I watched him go.
And felt—finally, definitively—the last ghost of our bond dissolve.
Like smoke.
Like a lie.
Like nothing at all.
---