Chapter 41

(Isabella’s POV)

I wake up early and trek my way to the Elder Werewolf Council’s office. I decided to dress for court despite knowing I’m just dropping off my evidence with a secretary. I know I’ll have to wait for a court date.

I pull half my hair back and clip it in place, leaving some strands free to frame my face. Ariana actually had a regular suit I could borrow as opposed to her typical loud preferences. She told me she wears it to funerals, but whatever…it works for the occasion – a charcoal gray pinstripe suit.

The jacket is a single-breasted blazer with a notch lapel, and the matching slacks are straight leg. I pair the suit with a light, cream-colored blouse featuring a soft, tied bow, creating a modest cowl neckline.

I knock on the door, and the chairman of the council, Elder Elias, opens it to let me in. My eyebrows nearly touch my hairline as my eyes widen when I walk in. I’m not sure what I expected, but the warm, gothic tone wasn’t quite it.

“What did you expect?” my wolf asks. “A human medical office?” She chuckles inside my head.

I roll my eyes and shrug my shoulders.

The giant round table in the center of the room acts as a focal point for the office. It sits on a red and blue patterned rug. A large stone fireplace with an active, roaring fire and a candelabra chandelier lights the room.

Some light filters through the large, arched stained glass window with a depiction of a wolf howling on a rock against a blue sky.

“Elder Elias?” I say, bowing my head in submission. “Forgive me, I thought I was meeting your secretary, Amber?

He stands taller than me but slightly hunched over…showing his age. Long, stringy silver hair is tied back in a low ponytail. “Hello, Isabella. Amber relayed that you were bringing evidence for your case. Given the high-profile nature of your upcoming trial, the council wanted an Elder to be present to receive the sensitive information.”

My wolf growls inside my mind. “Don’t leave these here, Bella.” She says. “Something is off. I don’t trust him.”

“We don’t have a choice,” I say.

Elias stares at me with gray eyes devoid of any emotion and reaches for the folder I have clutched against my chest.

“It’s all there, Elder Elias. In black and white. I have included the notes and surveillance provided by our private investigator, as well as the phone records, showing Jesse’s affair with Layla, as well as their efforts to frame me. This is what the human courts would call a slam dunk.”

He takes the packet and chuckles lowly. “I see. Thank you, Bella.”

In my mind, my wolf’s body bolts up and stands rigidly. “The disrespect!” she shouts.

“With all due respect, Elder Elias…My name is Isabella. The only ones who call me Bella are my wolf and mate. Also, I am an Alpha and prefer the title used in formal situations such as this.”

He smiles like a Cheshire cat. The expression makes my skin crawl. “I see, Isabella. I can respect the use of your full name, but until the court rules in your favor, you do not hold the title of Alpha.”

“I am an Alpha by blood right, regardless of the title for my pack.”

He growls.

I jump, then straighten my face.

“Evidence received,” he says, then sees me out the door.

(Jesse’s POV)

My phone rings. I see it’s him and pick up immediately. “Elias?”

He tells me everything Isabella left him. The evidence that I hired a rogue to frame her and murdered him is circumstantial but incriminating. Fuck…she got a hold of Layla’s phone. This will prove without a shadow of a doubt that Isabella’s countersuit is accurate.

“Have your tech wolves work their magic and switch it out, make the evidence look like Isabella is the guilty one,” I suggest.

He agrees, reminding me that I'd better deliver on the healing gem.

(Isabella’s POV)

I’ve been avoiding Santiago and at all costs, Layla.

A surprise in all this has been becoming closer friends with Beta Levi. He greets me when I return from turning over our evidence against Jesse.

“Hey Isabella! How’d it go?”

I laugh, “I feel like punching someone.”

He walks over and throws his arm over my shoulder, “Alright, we missed our training session this morning. Why don’t you get changed and meet me on the mat in fifteen minutes? I’ll take it easy on ya.”

I nod. “Alright. See ya in fifteen.”

I pull my hair back into a high ponytail, allowing the face-framing curls to fall loose, and put on my forest green racerback-style rashguard and biker shorts.

Levi’s sitting inside the ring with crisscross legs on the mat when I show back up. When he sees me, he hops up on his bare feet. “There you are, thought ya chickened out!”

I scoff. “Oh, you wish.”

I bounce around loosely on my feet, working my way around Levi in a circle. I take a jab in his direction, testing the distance.

He doesn’t miss a step, throws a double jab, knocking me dizzy, then he sweeps my leg. Rather than let me hit the mat, he catches me, cradling my head as he takes me into a pin.

“You’re using kid gloves,” I tell him. “You go this easy on the Gammas?”

He smirks. “Nope, none of them are as tiny as you, Alpha,” he says with a wink.

From outside the ring, we hear Santiago’s low guttural growl. He glares at Levi.

Levi jumps up, offers me a hand to raise me back up to standing, then quickly side steps away from me, bowing his head.

My eyes widen.

Santiago steps into the ring. “Isabella, I’d like to challenge you.”

I square my shoulders and look him deadpan in his icy blue eyes. “Alright.”

My wolf prances and pants in my head, “He’s jealous, Bella!”

“I see that. Calm down.”

“Wolf up, don’t embarrass me!” she says.

“Ready?” he asks with a predatory grin.

I nod and immediately strike, going low with a palm heel strike to his ribs.

He blocks me with minimal effort, crossing his arms over my target. He fakes a right hook, then drives his knee up.

I step back, swiveling my hips to avoid contact.

We circle each other. Sensations of lightning strike electricity bolts through my core as our eyes lock.

Santiago lunges for me, wraps his arms around my waist to take me down to the mat.

I growl and grab his marble sculpted bicep, using his momentum to pivot hard and twist to reverse the hold.

Lightening strikes my core once again when this reversal inverts our positions so that my back is pressed taut against the chest of this Greek god of a werewolf.

“Stay put,” my wolf says breathlessly. “We like this hold.”

“Get a grip,” I tell her.

For a heartbeat, he holds me there, then I feel him sharply inhale with his face bent forward, buried in the curve of my neck.

With as much force as I can muster, I use my elbow to force him to let go.

I turn and face him. Sweat runs down my forehead, and I see the beads form on Santiago’s. I feel my cheeks flush and wonder if he can smell my arousal as he did all those weeks ago.

Every jab or kick, he seems ready for. I feel my chest rise and fall rapidly, along with my heartbeat playing a drum solo in my ears.

I decide to let him strike next. When he does, I drop my weight and use my legs to sweep his feet out from under him. I jump back, putting distance between us as he falls.

He lunges for me again, but I swear if I didn’t know any better it looks like he pulls the punch.

I evade his attempt, use his weight as leverage, and flip him over my body, then I go for the pin, straddling him. I push his shoulders down to the mat and whisper against his lips. “I won.”

His lips upturn against mine, “So you did.”