Page 71 of Crave

“By yourself? You haven’t felt the urge to return to your Betas?” Theodore asked.

Errol shook his head. “No, Legion General. It was a weak bond to start with, as neither side really wanted it. We’d spent so many years blocking it, that I think it might have just fallen away.”

I blinked, but he was right. The place where Errol’s bond should be was blank. I hadn’t even looked for him there—that was how unused to being connected to the man I was.

“When was the last time you saw the accused?” Courtland asked.

Finally, Errol turned to me, meeting my eyes.Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“When they were running away from Wilkie. He wanted to bond them against their will. It was messed up.”

“And how would you describe your old Alpha?”

“He was a sociopathic piece of shit, Alpha General,” Errol snarled, and Quinn’s parents gasped. “He believed he could just take whatever he wanted. Me, the Betas—I mean, Omegas. They were Betas when we were Pack,” he said, with a small laugh to himself.

“When was the last time you saw Alduous Wilkie, Beta Errol?” the Legion General asked.

“When he and Joseph were fighting, after the Omegas escaped. He blamed Joseph for not being able to hold onto Susannah, and therefore them escaping. Joseph was a prick, and he mouthed back. I wanted nothing to do with it, so while they were fighting, I took our SUV and left them there.”

“You left your Alpha and Packmates in the middle of a forest fire?”

Errol’s lip curled. “Wilkie was like a cockroach. If he wanted to survive, he would.”

“Was?” Wilbur asked. “You think he’s dead?”

Errol frowned. “I know he’s dead. I can’t feel our bond anymore. Plus, I can smell his hand from over here. I’m not an expert, but I don’t think you can survive having your hand mauled off like that.”

“And your Packmate…” Electra looked down at her notes. “Joseph? Can you feel his bond?”

Errol shook his head. “I was never bonded to Joseph. Wilkie didn’t want us to be attached to each other. Just to him. Like minions. Slaves.”

“Do you think Joseph is still alive?”

Errol shrugged. “Probably. If he got a lucky shot in, he would have run. He was really good with knives,” Errol said in a soft voice, which made me think we’d been wrong about Joseph being the least psychopathic. He lifted his shirt, showing slices across the skin of his chest. “Joseph’s work.”

Courtland ground his teeth. “I see. In your opinion, could the Omega Susannah have killed Wilkie or Joseph?”

Errol shook his head. “No. If she could have, she would have done it when Wilkie first bought them.”

Electra’s eyes flashed. “Bought?”

Errol nodded, his cold gaze going to Quinn’s parents. “Gwenda and David Jack sold Quinn to our Pack when he was sixteen, for sixty thousand dollars, and another ten grand a year on the proviso that they never took him back and would turn a blind eye to what went on in the Pack. They upheld their end of the bargain,” he spat.

Courtland’s eyes flashed to me. “Is this true?”

I nodded. “We didn’t know it at the time, but Quinn’s parents admitted it two days ago, when Quinn confronted them.”

“Selling your offspring was illegal, even back then.” He waved at a Legion soldier, thankfully not the one who’d taken me to jail. “Take them into custody. We’ll deal with that on a separate day.” He ignored the protests of Quinn’s parents as he looked at me, and Bowie’s fingers tightened around my own. “Time for a judgment. I find Susannah Calathean not guilty.”

Electra was next, her expression disgusted. “Also not guilty.” The look she slid at Quinn’s parents promised she wouldn’t be so lenient with them.

Wilbur was next. “Not guilty, of course. Hell, even if she had murdered him, I’d call it self-defense and sleep soundly tonight.”

I looked at Legion General Theodore. “Not guilty. You’re free to go.”

An embarrassing, choked sob passed my lips as I stood, running toward my Pack. Quinn climbed over Murphy to make it to me first, and I wrapped my arms and legs around him. I’d never let him go again. Merrick and Murphy bracketed us both in their arms, kissing my cheeks and saying soft things I couldn’t really hear. When my feet reached the floor again, I looked over at Tanner and Jericho, standing off to the side.

Fuck it.

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