Chapter 44

Violet

I looked down at the document, Lucas’s words staring back at me in dark ink and pulling at every bit of my self-control. I felt the lawyers’ tension, felt the air heating around me with anger. I took a deep breath and kept reading.

Lucas painting himself in the right wasn’t surprising. The fact that he was saying that all of this had been according to my wishes, from the handover to the party, wasn’t surprising. When he tried to call me a humiliated and unstable woman, I brushed it off.

But it was the last line that drove me over the edge.

“He wants to claim that my father pressured him into marrying me?” I asked. “And void the prenuptial agreement because I’m only half a citizen of this country?”

I set the page down, setting my jaw. I thought back to all the work I had put in over the years for Darkmoon and Twining River even before we agreed to unify the packs. I thought about him proposing to me, the dinners, the dates, the seemingly happy facade of the seven years of our marriage. I was going to get him out of Darkmoon, even if I had to kill him.

I looked at the lawyers. “Where do you want me to start?”

The female lawyer gave me a thin smile. “We can start with the money and property first. Does he have any claim to any of it?”

“He has an account I helped him establish for Twining River with the Royal Bank.”

She frowned. “Not Darkmoon?”

“No,” I said. “Darkmoon’s Treasury, for the pack and otherwise, has always mirrored the royal treasury in that it is held in Darkmoon’s capital city.”

She took a note. “To your knowledge, what are his assets?”

I rattled off the accounts I knew to be of Twining River. They were all completely separate from Darkmoon’s accounts. Lucas never had signatory rights for any of Darkmoon’s accounts other than the one I’d set up for him for his allowance. The same account that I terminated his access to. I pulled my laptop out to pulled up scanned and notarized versions of all the documents they’d need and put in a request to the courts to get formal copies sent to Midnight so they could submit them as evidence.

By the time we’d talked through all of the details they didn’t have, the three lawyers looked a little more irritated and confident than before, but there was still a sense of unease in me.

“What about the bond?”

The lead lawyer shook his head. “In order to force him to the temple, we’d have to get that decreed by the alpha king and given your connection to Alpha Nightshade…”

It was unlikely. I paused. “What about through the temple?”

He nodded. “It’s possible, but the temple is outside the law in a lot of ways.”

I nodded and took a note to make a few calls to ensure I’d be free of Lucas regardless of what Owen decided to do.

“Let’s talk strategy. Based on the names on the documents and terms of the case, there’s a large likelihood that he has the support of several influential parties in the Civil Court. There are a lot of people on the Court’s bench, Capital and Civil, who would view severing your bond as a crime against everything they stand for with regards to mate and marriage law.”

I pulled my sleeve up and put my arm on the table between us. The two men drew back, staring down at the mark of the unwanted on my arm. The woman, however, grabbed her phone and snapped a photo, pulling a note book.

“When did it appear? I need a full timeline, and have you been seen by a priest?”

I told her everything, including the fact that I hadn’t been seen. She looked angry as hell and stepped outside to make a call.

The second male lawyer gave me a wry smile. “You’ve made a loyal ally out of her, you know? Her sister… died from being rejected. She’s been on a crusade to get a law passed to make formal rejection a requirement for years.”

“It would make a lot of things easier.” My lips twitched. “But… sense it’s mostly a women’s issue, I have so little hope for that to be the case.”

He grimaced, but he didn’t disagree.

“There is a lot of concrete evidence in your favor. Social beliefs aside, there’s no reason why it should not go in your favor, but we’re of Midnight, so we have a backup plan. I’ve gotten in touch with the lawyer of Darkmoon on your behalf, and he’s digging into Lucas’. I’m hoping there’s some thing he wants to stay hidden that we can use against him.”

I smiled. “I love ruthlessness… I’d like you to keep your investigation and your main arguments as quiet as possible. Knowing Lucas, he’s bound to start slipping up. He feels like he has the upper hand right now, he’ll act like it.”

“How do you want to approach his claims about Nora and your supposed instability?”

I scoffed. “I didn’t know she existed until the party, and I barely spoke a word to her. His choices are his own… Kincaid can provide you with recordings regarding his reaction to my finding out about him and Nora.”

The second lawyer grabbed his phone. “I’ll get on the line with your beta and get started on submitting it to evidence.”

He stood, leaving me with the lead lawyer. "I want you to know that I’m pushing for truth stone testimonies only.”

I blinked. “Do you think they’ll give it to you?”

“I don’t know, but it’ll put you in the best light and make Lucas look quite bad if they refuse it.” He took a note. “The documents about your prenuptial agreement, the pack registration documents all check out that you’re the alpha of record and always have been. Do you have your own copies of those records?”

“Signed, sealed, and recorded in three different places.”

He smiled. “A prepared woman is a wonderful thing?”

I grinned at him. “I am.” My smile faltered, and I looked away.

“You have concerns. If there’s anything that we should know…”

I chuckled. “I would never lie to my doctor or my lawyer. It’s just a feeling… brought on by my interactions with the alpha king.”

“Tell me about it.”

Just as I was about to start, the door opened, and Theodore stepped in, his gaze immediately finding mine before scanning the room. A smile crept onto his face, that usual mix of charm and mischief that always seemed to linger in his expression.

“Am I interrupting?”

“Actually, perfect timing,” my lead lawyer said, straightening up. “We were just going over our strategy for the case and Luna Nightshade was telling me about her incident with the alpha king.”

Theodore grinned and saunted toward me, sinking into the seat beside me.

“Luna Nightshade…” He said, like he was relishing the taste of it on his tongue. “Violet Nightshade.”

I scoffed. “As a Donovan, I’m not allowed to change my name.”

He scowled then grinned again. “I’ll just call you that in private, wife.”

My stomach jolted. He winked t me and his hands brushed against mine.

“So,” he continued, voice low enough that only I could hear, “how are you holding up?”

“Good. A little uneasy, but good.” I sighed. “It’s a shame knowing that the legal system has so many gaping holes that even a solid, legal defense isn’t enough to set my heart at ease.”

He took my hand, threading our fingers together. “I could kill him.”

I blinked. “Owen?”

He snickered. “I was talking about Lucas.”

I waved my hand. “Waste of time, and I’d like him to suffer well into his old age.”

Theodore laughed. The lawyer looked between us with a warm smile. His eyes seemed almost misty as he took another note. I explained about the conversation with Owen and handed over a copy of the conversation I’d recorded while alone with Owen.

After wrapping up the strategy session, I stepped out into the hallway and pulled out my phone, dialing Lily. It didn’t even ring once before she picked up.

“Hello, Soon-To-Be Luna Nightshade,” she said, her voice pitched formal and teasing. “How are you enjoying the amenities?”

I snorted. “Amenities?”

“I hear he looks hot like burning without his shirt on and none of his lovers have complained about anything but his attitude….”

My face heated. “That is not what I’m calling about.”

“Boring.”

I rolled my eyes. “I wanted to check in. How are things with you? Have you heard anything about Darkmoon?”

“People are asking a lot more questions now. Kincaid and I may be stirring the pot a bit. Oh, and we’ll be at the ceremony–all of us–with no problems.”

“Good. I—”

Theodore’s phone started to ring. I looked over as he pulled it out and smirked, turning the screen towards me.

“Speak of the devil.”

Owen was calling him.