Chapter 115

Michelle

Pain bloomed across my cheek. I cried out, but it was cut off when he wrapped his hands around my throat. I struggled, trying to push at his chest, tear at his hands.

Owen stared down at me, his sneer venomous. “You belong to me,” he said. "And you will remain my wife until I decide you are no longer useful. You will die my wife. Don't force me to make that sooner than I mean for it to be."

He tightened his grip and I gasped for air. Tears streaming down my face. A wicked, vicious light filled his eyes.

“Now give it to me. If you don't have it, you’ll be a rogue before noon.” He smirked. "And dead before dinner."

My hands trembled as I slowly lifted them, presenting the delicate strands of hair. Owen’s grip loosened as he plucked them from my hand, his expression shifting from fury to something far more satisfied. He stepped back, rolling the strands between his fingers, grinning.

I collapsed to the ground, choking and weeping.

“Finally you do something useful,” he murmured, tucking them away. “Now get out. Return to the palace and clean yourself up.”

I sniffled, picking myself up, my cheek throbbing, my pride screaming to throw something, to fight. But I had already been down that path and I had no doubts that he would kill me. It would only be more painful if I angered him enough that he'd kill me before he meant to.

I stumbled toward the door. I looked back as he started to chuckle behind me, staring at the strands of hair.

He looked delighted, a dreamy look on his face. He didn’t have to speak for me to know what he was thinking.

Violet’s time was up, and Theodore was going to suffer.

All I could hope was that Violet continued to refuse him, that Owen never got an upperhand over her because I'd be as good as dead.

I walked out of the office and collapsed onto a bench nearby. The throbbing in my chest that wasn't from Owen's foot grew. I swallowed past it, pressing my hand to my chest as something twisted and stretched, broke and crumbled in me. A wolf's mourning cry echoed through my mind, but the pain of it just swirled with the rest of it.

What difference did it make now?

Violet

By the time we came back from our quick lunch, Lily had arrived. The final minutes of recess ticked away, her laptop clutched tightly to her chest. She slipped into the chair beside me, flipping the laptop open.

“I got the files,” she murmured under her breath, eyes locked on the screen as her fingers flew across the keys. “Sorry to come so late. Traffic was a bitch and getting the footage from the mainframe took longer than I thought it would. I’ve already started analyzing it, but I don't have a full breakdown yet.”

I exhaled slowly, nodding. “Just do what you can. Thanks, Lily.”

Before she could respond, the court was called back into session.

She carried the laptop with her, still typing quickly. As we entered, she hurried to a seat in the gallery. The tension in the room shifted instantly as everyone rose to their feet as Owen entered from the back room and took his seat. The heavy doors at the back of the chamber opened, and the High Priest stepped inside, flanked by temple guards.

Owen barely concealed his irritation, sitting in his seat with a tight smile.

"So glad you could come, I won't take up too much of your time. Your presence here is little more than a formality to verify--"

The High Priest raised a hand, silencing the murmurs that had begun to spread through the room.

“As High Priest,” he announced, his voice calm but firm, “I invoke my right to aid in the presiding of this case, and the application of temple law.”

Owen stiffened.

Gasps rippled through the courtroom.

The High Priest turned his gaze on Owen, expression unreadable. “Darkmoon’s status in this country is not merely political. It is a religious and spiritual stronghold, and its governance carries weight beyond the concerns of this court alone.” His sharp eyes flickered to me for the briefest moment. “Therefore, I will not simply bear witness to this trial. I will judge alongside you.”

Owen had no choice but to nod, his jaw tightening as he forced out, “Of course.”

The High Priest settled into his seat, and the proceedings resumed.

Lucas’s lawyers wasted no time. They stepped forward confidently, barely acknowledging the priest as they motioned toward the certified documents.

“Given the appearance of these documents, it may be that Lucas and Nora were confirmed to be mates,” he said smoothly. “However, this revelation is irrelevant to the matter at hand. The fact remains that Violet Donovan legally signed over Darkmoon, and that is the issue before us today.”

“We disagree. The evidence presented is flawed,” my lead lawyer stated. “We contest the validity of the contract on two fronts—first, the footage that is being used to claim she willingly signed it is unreliable and does not meet the burden of proof by temple law standards, and second, we believe the document itself is forged and thus invalid by secular and temple law standards."

Another ripple of murmurs passed through the crowd.

Owen leaned back in his seat, watching, but I didn’t miss the way his fingers tapped against his armrest. He was irritated.

Good.

"I cannot say I am inclined to listen to your reasoning."

The lead lawyer wasn't even looking at Owen, but at the High Priest who smiled at him, kindly.

"I recognize you… It is rare that a lawyer chooses to be trained in the temple," he chuckled. "I suppose with you representing Lady Donovan, it has truly come in handy. Do go on."

My lawyer looked incredibly young for a moment, like a young man unsure of himself and meeting a hero.

He cleared his throat. “The footage presented lacks a timestamp, clarity on the document being signed, and a verifiable witness within the shot. She could, in theory, be writing a letter, signing a bill, or anything else as we can't tell when the video took place."

"That seems to be a deficiency of the system the video was taken on," Owen said.

"And to prove that it is the result of tampering, we will call an expert witness to the stand. An expert on Darkmoon's surveillance system, specifically the surveillance on the Donovan Estate and is familiar with signatory protocols."

Lucas shifted in his seat, his hands curling into fists.

Lily tapped something on her laptop behind me.

"I will not humor Luna Violet taking the stand in this matter. She could say anything."

My lawyer smiled. “We call Gamma Lily Hawthorne to the stand as that expert witness.”

A ripple of murmurs passed through the chamber. Lily stood, shutting her laptop with a quiet click before making her way to the witness stand. As she was sworn in, Owen’s irritation was palpable. He leaned forward, eyes narrowing.

“We also request that the witness submit to truth stone testimony,” my lawyer added smoothly.

Owen tensed. “Denied.”

"I request to submit to truth stone testimony," Lily said.

He glared at her. "As I said. Denied."

“You cannot deny a direct request from the witness,” the High Priest interjected. “Particularly when they are serving in an expert capacity… that I believe is secular law.”

Owen’s jaw clenched. The room fell silent as the ceremonial box was brought forth. The truth stone, a glimmering crystalline shard, was placed into Lily’s palm. A soft glow emanated around her—proof that its magic had taken hold.

She took a slow breath and looked out at the courtroom.

“Gamma Hawthorne,” my lawyer began, “you’ve analyzed the footage submitted by Lucas Donovan’s legal team. Can you walk us through your findings?”

Lily nodded, opening her laptop and connecting with the screen, projecting her screen to it.

“Firstly, all of Darkmoon's surveillance footage, when pulled from the mainframe, has time, location, and other contextual codes on the screen. This is the same footage pulled from the mainframe." I smiled, seeing all the proper coding on it. On the other side of the screen was the video that Lucas's attorneys had submitted. The video that had been submitted started to play. Lily moved a dial and the picture quality improved until the lines of coding started to appear across the image.

Lucas looked absolutely devastated.

Idiot.

"Can you tell us how someone could have accessed this video and what the codes are?"

"Context and access codes showing where it was accessed from and by who. Based on the coding… Alpha Lucas accessed the surveillance footage from the Twining River pack house's access point nearly a month ago." A few clicks later and she brought up the access log, highlighting the matching information. "And this was the day she signed…"

A click later and the video zoomed in slowly until the text at the top of the page was legible.

"The Twining River budget for new infrastructure."