Forever in the Past and Forever in the Future

I wake up in the morning in my bed next to Kas, who has herself wrapped around me. Her light snores tell me she is comfortable, sol try not to interrupt her. The last thing I remember is Saint blocking me out after we shifted, so he could spend some alone time with Lex. I rub the sleep out of my eyes and realize I have sap stuck to the side of my face with pine needles embedded in the sap. My hands are filthy and smell like I may have gotten sprayed by a wild animal. '

I carefully unwrap Kas from around me, so she doesn't wake up. She has fared no better. Her hair is full of dry, caked mud with little twigs and bits of leaves sticking out. There are streaks of dirt on her face and dried blood on her chin. Looks like Lex must have been hunting rabbits. Kas lets out a content sigh as I get out of bed and pull the covers over her.

I stop short when I realize she has bite marks all over the scarred part of her back. Saint knows Lex can't heal Kas's scars quickly. Why would he do that to her? I finish covering her up as much as Ican when I realize the bedding has been destroyed.

"Saint, you wanna tell me what the Hell happened last night?" I ask as I look at the dirty, shredded sheets on the bed. Around the room, the chair was knocked over and broken and we scattered everything from the nightstand on the floor. There are deep gouges on the wall behind the bed and a spot where the drywall looks like someone got slammed into it.

"Adult stuff, dummy. Now go away," he huffs and rolls back over in my mind to finish sleeping. 7

"Well, I don't care what kind of freaky shit you and Lex are into, but you can't be biting Kas on her scars, Saint. Lex can't heal them as fast. Don't hurt our mate," I scold him.

"Whatever. Our mate is strong, she can handle it. She's been holding back for your benefit. We're strong enough for her now," he says defiantly, yawning and stretching before he curls up to ignore me. I take in his words. It never occurred to me that the silver embedded in my body could make Kas and Lex feel like they needed to go easy on me.

I get a shower and get myself ready for the day before I rouse Kas out of bed. I wipe the blood off her mouth before she sees it. Of all the things she still has trouble with, the sight of blood still makes her squeamish. Once she is out of the shower and has her business suit on, she looks like she's in a much better mood.

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I take my seat in the front row of the makeshift courtroom we have created in the Blood River ballroom for Randall's trial. With the number of pack members who need to give statements against Randall, it didn't make sense to have the trial in Vienna where the Council headquarters is. Ashley and Carly have arranged for the room to be set up as close to the official courtroom as possible.

Kas sits next to me, listening intently as former members of Silver Moon step up to speak out against Randall. They unveil story after story of neglect and cruelty as the pack members give their testimonies. I can slightly sense her anger as the stories come to light, but I can tell she is doing her best to hold it in. Especially from the ones dealing

with children being pulled from school to work. When Kas was a Silver Moon pack member, the same thing happened to her. It is an inexcusable issue for her.

Kas also has a turn to speak about her experiences when she was there fora week, including our team finding the body of Alexandros DeCaul, who Randall allowed on pack territory without official reason. I watch as the fourteen Council members take notes and ask questions of each pack member and Kas. Nodding or shaking their heads as they write and whisper to each other.

I feel uneasy knowing Silver Moon was supposed to be under my jurisdiction, but the Council had taken over to help find a new Alpha. I was not responsible for them for the last two years, but I should have paid closer attention.

Little Hannah Fisher will go last. Her parents bring her in from a side door where she was being held for the rest of the trial, so she wouldn't have to hear about all the horror stories told by the adults. When it's finally her turn, her mother helps her to the front of the crowd, and has her sit on a booster seat, placed on top of a chair, in front of the Council. That way, everyone can easily see and hear her. She gives her daughter a kiss on the cheek and whispers something in her ear before she takes a step back.

Hannah looks back at Kas and me with watery eyes. Her little face looks so scared. I give her a nod and try to smile reassuringly at her. Kas gives her a big smile and a thumbs up. She mouths 'be brave' to the little girl, who smiles with a renewed confidence and faces the Council again. I give Kas's hand a squeeze as we listen to Hannah tell her story about being pulled out of school to work in the packhouse kitchen

She doesn't know if she was being paid or not. She talked about Randall letting a stranger take her down to the basement, and the promise of money so her parents could leave the pack. Then she tells them about the woman who looked like Kas appearing from a portal and the fight that ensued that resulted in the stranger's death before the woman disappeared.

She tells them the man's blood ruined her only pair of shoes. Her parents couldn't afford new ones. When she came to Blood River, we gave her two new pairs. One pair of trainers to wear to school and one pair of dress shoes. We even gave her a pink dress to wear for

parties and her parents were happy again. She finally asks the Council if she and her parents are allowed to stay at Blood River forever. She doesn't want to leave.

Elder Henri steps away from his seat and approaches the child. I see her body posture stiffen as he leans down, so he is eye to eye with her. "Mademoiselle Hannah Fisher," he says in his friendly, thick French accent, " You are a brave young lady for speaking to us today. You are a perfect example of the type of wolf your Alpha Regent Bronx and Luna Regent, Goddess Kas, want as a member of Blood River. Icommend your courage and thank you for your honesty. You have a bright future ahead of you, Hannah.”

I smile at my old friend as he holds his large hand out to the little girl, who looks at him shyly. She tentatively puts her hand in his and lets him shake it heartily. Her face turns beet red as she giggles at him. The rest of the Council and members of the crowd laugh politely at the interaction. Henri pulls Hannah down from her seat, and points her toward her mother near the back of the room. We watch as Hannah runs happily into her mom's arms and they leave the room.

The Council announces everyone except for ranked members of Blood River should also leave the room. We sit patiently as everyone files out.

When the room has emptied, four armed Council warriors, flanked by four more in wolf form, enter the room. Randall is in silver wrist and ankle shackles in the middle of the group. He looks like he hasn't had a shower since he they arrested him."

"Elder Randall Morris, we have heard the accusations. We have your heard your statement of the events, the statements of the former members of Silver Moon pack, and reviewed all the evidence against you in the matter of abuse of power during the temporary leadership of the Silver Moon," Elder Henri says, looking down at a piece of paper, "The Council will now vote guilty or not guilty. If we find you guilty, the charges against you will cause your titles of Elder, Regent, and Alpha being stripped. We will impose a sentence of life in prison in a remote location that will remain undisclosed for security reasons. Do you understand?"

Randall looks up at Henri and the other Elders, "I-I thought you we-were my friends. You ha-ave to understand, this... this isn't what it seems."

"Randall, I asked if you understand, not if WE understand. We understand perfectly," Henri growls and his eyes grow darker, "You had your chance to give a statement. To prove to this council that your acts were not criminal. To prove there was someway to justify what happened under your direction. Your excuses were weak at best and pure evil at worst. They elected you to this Council to protect werewolf kind, not mistreat them. So I ask again, Randall. Do you understand?" Randall looks to the ground, finally accepting his fate, and mumbles, "Yes. I understand."

Henri starts off with a guilty vote. The other thirteen members all take their turns while we sit by and watch the fate of the former council member become solidified by a unanimous guilty vote from all council members.

As they announced the last vote, Randall drops to his knees and starts blubbering like a coward. The guards bend down to pick him up by his armpits but get interrupted.

"Wait!" Kas stands up, approaching the guards.

"Kas what are you doing?" Lenora hisses at her. I take a step forward, but I don't want to undermine Kas's authority in front of everyone. I silently hold my hand up to Lenora to stand down and watch her intently. Saint is ready to shift at any second if something goes wrong.

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I watch Kas confidently walk over to Randall and bend down slightly so she is at eye level with him, "Randall?" "Goddess lokaste, please, please ask the Council to show me mercy. Please, I can't go to that prison. Do you have any idea how many werewolves I have sent there? Please help me. Goddess, please," he wails pathetically. He tries to reach out for Kas, but a guard stops him and smacks his hand down I can feel my fangs elongate as Saint loses his temper. He feels so much stronger than he did yesterday, but so dol. I push against him and keep control.

Kas grabs Randall by the chin so he will look directly into her eyes, "Randall, there is no chance in the Goddess's name I would ever ask anyone to give you mercy after what you have done. You are a pathetic excuse fora werewolf."

Whoa. What? I don't know what I thought she was going to say, but it definitely wasn't that.

A flash of a glow comes from her hand as she squeezes his jaw slightly, "In fact, here's what! AM going to do. I'm going to wish you the best in your new, well deserved prison cell, Randall. I'm certain that you will have nothing bad to say about it...ever. Are you?"

She shakes her head while she speaks, reaffirming what she is saying. Her words make me uncomfortable, but I watch as Randall awkwardly shakes his head against her hand, sniffling. I can't tell if he is doing it on his own, or if she is manipulating the movement. "In fact, you're not going to say anything at all...ever. Are you Randall? You're going to keep quiet and accept the fate that you brought upon yourself. Isn't that right? No more crying or whimpering or anything else...not a peep out of you," Kas says in a calm, sweet manner that doesn't sit quite right. The surrounding guards are all

looking at each other uncomfortably, as if they are fighting the urge to step back from the interaction.

"What the fuck is she doing?" Milo leans toward me and whispers, "It's giving me creepy vibes, Bronx."

"Shh. We'll talk about it in private later, not in front of the Council," I whisper back as I watch her intently.

The look in Randall's distressed eyes changes. Softens and relaxes as he absorbs her words. His tears and sniffling seem to dry up almost instantly, and he nods at her, while she nods back at him.

"Good boy," Kas says, removing her hand from his chin and patting him on the head. She turns her attention to the guards, "You can take him now."

When she turns around, I can see a glow in her eyes fading. By the time she crosses the room and gets back to me, she seems back to her normal self. '

We watch silently as the guards take the now cooperative, quiet Randall out of the room so they can transport him to prison.

"Kas, we're gonna talk about whatever the fuck that was," I growl] quietly at her while we exit the room.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I just put in my two cents before they took him away," she says in an innocent tone, "I'm going to say goodbye to Katherine and Amari and make sure Tessa is settled into her new suite."

She gives me a kiss and turns down the hallway as if what happened was completely normal.

"Uhh, Bronx, is Kas okay?" Ashley asks, looking down the hall after my seemingly happy mate.

"I'm not sure Ashley, but I think I need to start keeping a closer eye on her," I muse.

"Yeah. That's probably a good idea, Alpha," she nods in disbelief.