Page 84 of The Alpha's Fake Mate
Glass doors led inside the building to a lobby.
Everything was bright and glassy and shiny. We had to walk through a security scan.
Orion emptied his pockets into a plastic container.
I had nothing on me, so I walked through first and waited for him, nearly trembling, on the other side.
Saben was waiting for us as he turned into a lobby area, and he came right up saying, “This way. This way.”
He led us to another set of doors and opened them, ushering us inside.
The room was smaller than I expected, with a low ceiling, no windows, and beige walls. A few rows of seats flanked two sides of a single aisle, a large, tall judge’s table up front, a witness booth, and two long tables facing front.
I saw two people sitting at one of the tables. No judge yet. And no one sitting in any of the rows.
I didn’t want to look at the two other people because I knew right away one of them would be Bosk. I had worked hard to wall away the memory of him, of his wild manic look, his hard, unseeing eyes, and the way his lips had curled back showing sharp, uneven teeth. I had willed away the impressions of his hard fingers poking into me, his bites, his strength as he shoved me hard against a wall, a floor, ignoring the mattress that was in the mating room for his use.
I didn’t care if Bosk was on medication now. I didn’t care if he seemed under control. It didn’t matter if they called him ill, or if his Burn gave him legal leeway for his unimaginably destructive behavior. His violence had been a choice. I hated him for it.
As Orion and Saben moved forward, and the two Alphas at the other table turned toward us, I froze. I couldn’t take another step.
Orion reached back for me, noticing I was no longer close, and turned.
Our eyes met and I shook my head. I’d changed my mind. I couldn’t go through with this. I couldn’t let Bosk take me back. I’d felt strong all day long, but now everything started to crumble around me, all my inner compartments and walls bursting open, falling away to rubble.
Orion came toward me, his arms open, ready to catch me if I fell.
But I managed not to collapse. My cheeks flamed. My heart pounded.
Orion glanced over his shoulder at Saben, who had turned my way.
“We have to stop this,” Orion whispered. “He can’t go on. We can’t do this to him. It’s our responsibility as Alphas to keep Omegas like him safe. What is happening here?”
“Tell that to the judge in exactly those words,” Saben said.
I can do this. I can do this.I kept repeating that thought in my mind over and over until I heard nothing else.
“Holland, you must go on. We have a chance to win this. Orion has to take this chance. You have to take it,” Saben said to me.
I did not trust other Alphas yet, not even Orion’s own personal house staff, but when I looked at Saben’s pleading eyes, the muscles soft and relaxed about the edges, I could see he told the truth. He was savvy or Orion would not have kept him on as his lawyer after his dad’s death. There was conviction in those dark depths. This lawyer would fight.
I swallowed, my mouth dry, and cleared my throat. Finally, I found the will to reach out and take Ori’s hand.Ori.I had started thinking of him as Ori only today, only after I realized I’d truly given him my whole heart. All the way.
No one could ever take that away from me. From us.
Ori took my hand in his and together the three of us went to the long table on the left and took our seats.
Soon a bailiff entered from a side door up front.
“All hail, Judge Powers. Rise.”
We all stood.
I still refused to look over at the other two Alphas.
A man in a black gown entered the room. He had a rather round, placid face and white hair. He had to have been old. At least a hundred and fifty, probably more. Some Alphas lived as long as two hundred years or more.
The judge walked up some steps to his high seat over his lofty desk and faced us.
