Page 142 of Rhythm Of Our Souls
“That’s good, right?” Gavin asks. “More people against her lessens her chances of getting out.”
“The fact is, there shouldn’t be this many people.” Her eyes well with tears. “She shouldn’t have been able to take advantage and hurt anyone. Let alone twenty-plus people.”
My eyes flick over to Lulu. She’s standing next to Gavin, eyes on Ally. She’s seen that Ally is stressed by this whole situation and has been trying to give her some room to breathe, but my girl just wants to be there for her woman. It’s killing her.
“Lulu, baby, come here.” I open my arms. She blinks over at me and licks her lips before burrowing into my side.
I wrap my arms around both my girls, pulling them close to me.
“Get the fuck out of here!” Liam barks, making us all jump.
Head snapping over my shoulder, I find Liam rushing towards what looks like paparazzi. “How did they get in here?” I snarl, tightening my arm around Ally.
Since the news about Julia’s parole hearing got out, they’ve been hounding Ally more than usual. Getting in her face, demanding to know things that are none of their fucking business.
Out of all the times Ally has been stalked by the paparazzi, it’s never been this bad. Mostly because Liam is good at his job, and Ally wore a lot of disguises when out in public.
For the most part, they follow around Tyson, Skyler, and Ryker because they were easier to spot and never hid their appearances, making them an easy target.
It helped a lot with keeping Ally out of the public eye. But since we’ve decided to stop trying so hard to keep our pack to ourselves, things have changed. People are noticing, and I’m quickly realizing that this whole superstar lifestyle is not for me.
How does that work? How can someone be mated to a celebrity but stay out of the public eye?
“They shouldn’t be in here,” Nate says, then shouts to a few of the guards that have been put on Ally’s watch.
“Alisha Williams.” Someone steps out of the door, gaining our attention. “The judge would like to see you now.”
“You got this, baby.” Lulu cups Ally’s face, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. “You’re not alone. Never alone.”
“I got this,” Ally whispers to herself. “I got this.”
With one hand in mine and the other in Lulu’s, we make our way into the courtroom.
It’s empty except for the judge.
We take our seats while Ally stays standing, approaching a little stand with a mic.
The judge asks her to state her name and why she’s there.
With a shaky breath, she leans forward. “Hi, I’m Alisha Williams, and I am one of Julia’s victims. I’m here to tell my story and why I believe Julia shouldn’t be allowed parole.”
My heart is beating wildly, my nerves are shot. I feel like I’m going to go out of my mind just sitting here.
Tiny, soft hands squeeze mine. I look down to find Lulu’s worried eyes meet mine. She’s just as much of a mess as we all are about this.
Ally starts to tell the judge about how it started, and when Julia first used her Alpha influence on Ally, beginning when Ally found out about Lulu’s trial. “I wanted to go back to my hometown to be there for the one person in my life I cared about more than anything else in this world. But when Julia found out, she commanded me not to go.” Ally grips the stand as she continues to tell the judge about the threats Julia made if Ally went.
“I thought it was only going to be that. She had no reason to control me to do anything else. Until she did. Any time she saw a chance for me to make more money, she forced me to take it. She signed me up for projects I didn’t want to do. Started mein modeling and acting, which were never really things I’ve ever thought of doing. Music was my passion, but I was commanded into becoming this trick pony that could do everything and anything as long as it made her money.”
With everything she says, my anger grows.
I’m furious for my Omega, for everything she’s had to endure. She never deserved to have to deal with any of that. My fucking heart breaks for her.
By the time Ally is done, she’s in tears. I don’t care what the judge says, I’m on my feet and pulling Ally into my arms.
“Thank you, Ms. Williams.”
We leave the courtroom in gloomy moods.
