Page 33 of The Barren Luna

“Can you tell us about the visitors who came to see her during your shifts?”

“Well, I -” he paused.

“Tell us,” John prompted.

“The late Alpha, Henry Giles, Hannah Rogers, Julius Crawley, and the former Luna, Catherine Giles.”

“Now, were all of these visits authorized?”

“Only the Alpha was allowed to visit the Luna.”

“How come all these other wolves were let in, then?”

“I - ” he tried keeping the truth in but the command was far stronger than he was. “Julius was a friend, so I let him in as a favor. And the former Luna bribed me,” he said and looked like he would collapse.

I felt my face contort into a snarl, which I quickly stifled. I glanced around to see if anyone noticed and saw that David was looking at me, amused.

“So you left those visitors unattended in the dungeon with the Luna and don’t know what was being discussed?”

“Yes,” he gasped, and I worried something else was happening to him other than the command.

“What was the aftermath of those visits?”

“Hannah and Julius cut the Luna up pretty badly, and then the Alpha was there, yelling at them and beating Julius bloody. Then he brought in an Omega to clean the Luna's wounds and apply some salve to prevent scarring, I don’t know if it helped.”It didn't,I thought bitterly. “She also tried fixing the Luna up a bit. Then the Alpha used his claws to cut a lot of the Luna’s hair off since the Omega complained she couldn't untangle it,” he said and my hand unconsciously went to my new pixie cut.

The guard was now red in the face, “Luckily, the Luna was out for most of what was happening to her in the dungeon.”

“Why is that?” John inquired.

“Well, first, she was detoxing from whatever she was on before, and - ”

“How do you know she was detoxing?”

“I’d seen it before, sir, with my brother, and it ain’t pretty. That’s how I knew what was happening to her. And later, she just sat there, completely unresponsive, when she wasn’t writhing in pain from the two of them doin’ it. Sorry, Luna,” he grimaced and if he suddenly remembered I was there. Sweat was pouring down his brow, and he had difficulty breathing.

“And what happened after Catherine Giles visited her?”

“She had a split lip, and there was some dried blood on the floor. I don’t know what happened exactly.”

“Did you inform anyone of this?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I didn’t want to be punished.”

“I see. You are dismissed.”

The guard suddenly gasped and clutched his throat before taking in a deep breath, as if he had been choked by a huge hand that suddenly decided to let him go. He shot me another apologetic look and scurried out of the courtroom.

“The Crown now calls former Luna Catherine Giles to the stand,“ David’s voice boomed across the courtroom, and my blood froze.

My former mother-in-law slowly made her way towards the King, dressed all in black like the consummate grieving mother. Now that I knew her son had effectively banished her from the pack prior to his death, I had to wonder how much she was actually grieving him and how much she simply enjoyed being the center of attention. I felt mean for thinking that about a mother who lost her son, but the woman was a snake and I wouldn’t put anything past her.

“Tell the truth,” David commanded her, and she pursed her lips together disapprovingly.

“Ms. Giles,” David addressed her, and knowing Catherine, she minded him not using her title. However, there was nothing she could say or do about it, since he was literally our King.

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