Chapter 117

Lucas’s POV

The double doors to the Council’s chambers tower over me. Intricate carvings of the first werewolf and the Goddess decorate the doors—their story one that I heard many times as a young pup.

I’ve stood before these doors many times as the Alpha of my pack but never have I felt as much weight on my shoulders as I do now. There is so much riding on the outcome of Harper’s trial today.

The evidence and my arguments play in my mind over and over as I stand here. I can’t stop going over the testimonies, transport details from Logan’s computer, and Harper’s notes from her snooping in the dark web.

As I think, I force myself to stand still, crossing my arms and clenching my jaw. Levi prowls beneath my skin, ready to get this trial over with—ready for Harper to be proven innocent just as much as I am.

Sighing, I close my eyes and send a prayer to the Goddess for clarity and understanding on the Council’s part. If I can’t convince them… I must convince them. There is no option to fail because the Elders have already pegged Harper as guilty.

In their eyes, she’s nothing more than a criminal.

Our future together is on the chopping block, and even as I stand before these doors, I remind myself that we can’t fail. I’ve planned and prepared for every possible argument the Elders or Council could make.

My interaction with the Elders this morning fills my mind, and my anger flares up again. They cornered me in my office before I found Harper at the lagoon. One of the Elders had the audacity to warn me not to defend Harper.

He said I shouldn’t, “Defend a criminal who will bring our pack to ruin.”

Another Elder pulled me aside with a secondary warning, saying, “Defending a criminal like her will only jeopardize your Alpha title.”

Their ridiculous threats only made me and my wolf burn with more anger. I couldn’t stop the furious growl that split the air or my command that came after it. “Make a fair judgement or lose your place in this pack.”

Should I have said it? No.

Do I regret the threat? Not one bit.

Harper isn’t just any wolf in my pack. She is my mate, and I’ll be damned to hell before I let her go through something like this alone. I already screwed up once. I won’t do it again because losing her would kill me.

We haven’t had a lot of time together, but each second she’s by my side, it becomes harder and harder to be away from Harper. This morning, in the lagoon, proved that. I barely had enough strength to stop myself from kissing her.

Footsteps pull me from my thoughts, and I spot Harper walking down the hallway. Her shoulders are pulled back, her head held high, her beautiful green eyes shining with determination. To anyone else, she looks confident and ready, but to me, I can see beneath the mask.

Through our weak bond, I can feel her nerves. The tremble that wavers between us and the fear that skitters down the thin thread of our bond.

I want to comfort her, but calling attention to her nerves might make it worse, so I merely push off the wall to stand at her side. I’m not sure how much she can feel through our weak bond, but I try to send the feeling of how proud I am of her. She’s willingly walking toward danger, and that takes courage.

“Ready?” I ask, resting my hand on the small of her back.

“I have to be,” she says, her voice wavering a bit. She leans into my touch briefly, the acceptance light and quick. But still, it helps calm her because she adds, “It helps that you’re here.”

When she moves to pull away, I take her hand in mine, brushing my thumb over her knuckles in the way she likes. Once, twice, three times… and I see her start to relax a bit more.

“I’m always here,” I whisper before squeezing her hand then releasing it.

She needs to know I’m here, but when we enter, I don’t need to be touching her. It will be like painting a target on her that’s bigger than the one already there. I don’t need the council to comment on our relationship.

Soon, the guards open the doors and cold air floods the hall. I step in front of Harper to block her from the air and the instant calculating gazes that are directly in front of us. Our footsteps ring out loudly in the quiet chamber, sounding more like thunder than footsteps.

A soft touch against my back has me stiffening, but I don’t let it stop me.

The Council members span half of the room ahead, sitting high up in a half circle. Behind them, in another row, sit the Elders from my pack. They watch me with narrow eyes, glaring like they could see through me. Their words from earlier burn in my mind, and I glare back.

Harper moves to my side, and I lose all sense of thought. Instead of letting Harper stand without support, I put my hand at the small of her back again. Fuck their thoughts on our relationship. I need them to know she’s not alone in this.

She has me.

“Alpha Lucas,” one of the Councilmen calls out. “You’ve requested this trial to challenge the accusations against the criminal Harper Lewis.”

“I have. Harper is innocent of all the criminal charges against her, and I have the evidence to prove the Elder’s claims are false,” I announce, lifting the yellow folder full of evidence. They should already have copies of the evidence I sent over.

Several of the Elders glare again, but I ignore them as the head Councilman says, “You may begin.”

I start with the video and written testimonies of the clinic site manager and the man who tried to kidnap Harper. Each of them named Logan as the trafficker, not Harper. They detail how Logan contacted them through a friend of his who was also a rogue.

When I finish with the testimonies, I move to the maps and notes from Logan’s laptop. The Councilmembers flip through the pages, reading over the information that I present on trade routes, transport details, and time logs.

“As you see, nowhere in these logs do you see Harper’s name. Everything is under Logan’s name,” I announce. “If you’ll look at pages ten through fifteen, you’ll find information from the Dark Web that Harper gathered to prove her innocence. Pictures and communications on how the Domain works.”

“So, Harper found the Domain?”

I shake my head. “No. I found the Domain over a month ago. Only after she was accused of working for the Domain did Harper dive deeper to look for information. She gathered enough information to allow us to confirm what Logan was hiding.”

The Council leans in, looking over the documents that prove my findings and claims. Harper stands quietly at my side, doing her best to ignore the glares from the Elders.

Silence stretches for an undeterminable amount of time, and Harper fidgets beside me. Levi rumbles from within me, “They’re taking too long.”

“Harper is not to blame for any of this,” I say, my voice taking on Levi’s rumble. “Even as he died, Logan lied to everyone. He betrayed her trust and thought there would be an easy escape. Logan twisted Harper’s good work into a world of horror.”

“And what if you’re the one changing things now that Logan has died? You could—”

“Elder James,” the head Councilman cuts him off, silencing the Elder.

When he realizes the Elder is going to stay quiet, the Councilman turns back to me, or more accurately to Harper.

“You’ve made your case, Alpha Lucas. Now, I would like to hear from Harper herself. Young lady, do you have anything to add?”