I knew this was my testament to myself. If I failed this I won't be able to rise as their Alpha anymore, I believe they already lost their respect for me. If only I hadn't brought her here. My people lost their members because of my mistakes. If it wasn't for me Annabeth would be still alive. I would forever take my responsibility for her death. If only my mate waited for me to make a decision. I would have made her mine. But she chose to go down the same route as before. She believes that she is innocent now. What a joke? She is nothing to me now. A permanent headache to deal with now that I have brought her here.
I knew I should talk with Mike regarding her return but then she would escape from her action. My people would be against it. She should face the consequences of her thoughtless and cruel actions. This would go against our treaty, with humans. We had promised each other not to hurt or kill anyone. But he won't allow it I was sure since she already made a good impression on him. I would worry about diplomacy later. Now my priority is my people. We decided to do the persecution first and the funeral later. That shows the rage of my people. I'm with them. It's only second to what I feel for her at this moment.
I was greeted by Tony who was standing near my door. "You don't have to do this. It shouldn't have to be a spectacle. We are adults here, we could imprison her right now and decide the matter in our private court". What he meant was that if I wasn't feeling up for it we could delay. But how long can I delay? A day or two surely not anymore, besides, I didn't want to send any wrong message. It would be mistaken as my reluctance or worse my loyalty to her. My people didn't owe me anything yet here. My mate is accused but they are still letting me make the decision.
I want to be nothing more tonight, not a hero or a villain, just myself as their Alpha and leader. I must punish her if she is guilty. I would certainly give them a chance to prove her innocence and then only declare my judgement. But she didn't have anything and her past certainly stood against her.
This was very rare in our history. She didn't stand any trials before she would die. But this time I had put her on direct security and she was being observed via security cameras by my secretary. I wanted her alive to attend the persecution. Thereafter her life would remain in my hands. I may kill her or order someone else to do that. But her death would certainly happen. I have to prepare myself and my wolf for it. I walked for her public trial followed by Tony. When I reached there everyone was present. My mate stood on the trial bar her hands were chained just as a murderer should have been. She started at the ground mostly but I could see her unshed tears which made me feel numb.
I had to be very careful or else my wolf would try to influence my decision. I forced myself to calm down. My wolf was second nature to my baser instincts. It is very common among the wolves but to me, it would rain deep because my wolf was ruling as Alpha not me as a person. This judgement is something I would pass as Alpha, not Aidan. I can't control my wolf, only suppress it for a while. Being near her would cloud my senses if I wasn't careful.
I motioned for it to start. There weren't any advocates to represent both sides since our justice works on a visual basis. If someone saw something and it was credible then he/she would be a witness. They would explain the crime and the assailant would be given an opportunity for proving their innocence. If they aren't able to then someone else can represent them with their permission and the final verdict would be declared.
Today the witnesses were going to be her guards. One of them was willing to testify. He came and bowed before me. We all waited to hear what he had to say. " I Arthur Roven of Northern tribe was appointed as a guard to miss Angela. We followed her around all the time except those times Alpha took her out of the reservation. On the day of the murder, we were still guarding her but we also had explicit orders not to be seen in necessary. During our shift change, another guard came but he couldn't hear her inside so he decided to check out her room. When it was found empty he informed me. We immediately informed General Liam and we all looked for her. We followed the footprints and found her in Annabeth's room. But she wasn't there as well but we saw Annabeth lying with life on her chest. She was immediately brought to the medical team. We caught her soon trying to flee the forest", he finished.
Everyone was talking altogether. It was heartbreaking to hear it again. I held my hands up to silence everyone. I sighed and waited for myself to calm down to force my wolf out of me so I could pass an impartial judgement.
"Do you have anything to say in defending yourself", I asked her. She was silent as a storm, her eyes blazing warning me to declare my judgement. "In that case since no one is representing you, I would like to announce…"_, I couldn't finish but was stopped by someone. " Wait, I'm here to represent Angel", she said, a person I would never have expected to say anything to. It was Lana, my Secretary. I tried to warn her that the consequences of her action would be big. She would be alienated. But she wouldn't back down if I knew her correctly.
I asked my mate what she wanted but she didn't say anything, just nodded her head. So I gave her a go-ahead signal but deep down I was fuming. How dare she insult me like this in public? Everyone would feel as though im allowing her to escape but I had no clue she would do something like this.
She sought her permission to read out something which I granted. "I would like to thank Alpha for his kindness to say my piece. I'm here to defend her because in the short time I had known her I found her kind and compassionate. Frankly, I didn't see why a person would be punished because they had run away. Since it was the only thing that the guards were doing. No one saw her driving a knife through Annabeth even with tight security she escaped and killed another person who is a werewolf while she was only a human. This only looks to me as a clever ploy by someone who knew that she was an easy target. She was a tough woman I recall who had managed to land a proposal from Alpha. Why blame the mate who was here for a short period who helped Annabeth to organise her wedding. Some people are also arguing that she had done similar deeds in the past but I didn't believe it at all. It could all be circumstances considering how low she is lying on her luck. She was taken away from her home while she saved Alpha. She is only a guest who decided not to stay here anymore, a wise decision thinking how she could have wound up dead".
A very well thought out defence now she had made it easier for me to let her go. If she was trying to prove her loyalty to me this wasn't away. Normally under these conditions, the trial would be called off or postponed till there was some solid proof. But I can't forgo this trial. My integrity was in line thanks to my Secretary. She was making everything hard. "What else do you have to prove she is not guilty?"I asked her again.
" I want to ask her a question", she said. I allowed it. She went near my mate and asked again softly," Why did you run?" She sighed and my wolf whimpered. I warned it to shut up. I calmed myself and controlled its rage. I had no idea how this was going to end?
"Annabeth asked me to run and save myself", she said in a low voice. " What else she said"?, I asked her. "She betrayed me was her last words", she finished. Everyone shouted at once " Lies lies lies". I asked them to calm down."Alpha the only other person who saw her death was the killer himself you can hardly expect them in this case her to speak up. The killer is a female among us", said Lana.
Now the time had come for my judgement," in the present circumstances I can hardly declare her as killer or innocent. She would remain locked up until she proves her innocence. If it is proven otherwise then she would be killed in the same way Annabeth was", I closed my words. "In other words you want me to rot in prison", said my mate. " Take her away", I commanded. She resisted for the first time but she was no match for the guards who dragged her away as a hellcat.