Page 87 of The Alpha's Fake Mate
“That’s quite enough,” Powers said.
I watched his face for any reaction. I couldn’t believe I’d said it. All of it. Confessed out in the open in a court, in a room consisting of five Alphas and an Omega. And me.
I felt like I was floating somewhere above my head. Not really there, but apart from it all. I pressed my hands to the tops of my thighs to feel something. Anything. I realized I was jiggling my feet up and down. I pressed my palms hard into the thigh muscles to stop the motion.
Out the corner of my eye I saw Bosk’s lawyer jump up. “Your Honor, I have questions.”
Powers said, “Sit down.”
“But, your Honor, I--”
“I said to sit!”
To me, the judge said, “You may go back to your seat.”
The bailiff came up and escorted me back to the table where Ori and Saben sat.
Judge Powers scratched his head and read his little screen for about thirty seconds. The courtroom was silent. Too silent. My stomach began to ache.
I didn’t dare move to look at Ori, or anyone. I stared straight ahead, still feeling not quite present inside my body.
The truth was I had consented. I knew it. Add to that, Omegas have no rights, and I still wasn’t sure what the outcome might be. A judge had laws to abide by. Justice was supposed to be blind.
I couldn’t think anymore. I couldn’t see. I could barely breathe.
Finally, the judge gave a little cough and began to speak.
“Omega Holland. Do you want to go with Alpha Bosk Altimarian?”
“No, I do not.” My voice sounded like an echo coming from far away.
“I don’t know why cases like this one come across my desk. I don’t understand it.” He turned to Bosk and his lawyer. “Honestly, why would you ever want someone who did not want you back?”
The lawyer started to stand to respond. But Powers shook his head. “Stay seated please. I am talking.”
He rubbed at his forehead. He leaned forward and scanned us all. “The mate-bond is one of the most sacrosanct pacts of our country… and in the world. There is nothing that can come between an Alpha and his Omega in their time of need for one another, and during an Alpha’s Burn their call to one another is said to be stronger than even the call of death. You’ve heard the stories of Omegas breaking down walls to get to their Alphas in need, or traveling long distances until their feed bleed and their lungs seize to answer the call. And the same can be said for Alphas. They will go to any length to be with their Omega during their time.”
As Powers took a breath, I saw in my peripheral vision Bosk’s lawyer begin to nod.
“Even another claim legally made before the bonded Alpha and Omega can file their own claim cannot bar the way for them to be together, especially during the great need of the Burn.”
My hopes began to disintegrate as the words fell into me, forming a picture I did not like.
I heard from Bosk’s table loud exhales, and a tapping of excited fingers on a wooden tabletop.
Saben bowed his head.
Ori’s mouth fell open in shock.
I remained still, chin up, my spirit hovering about two feet to my left.
Powers tilted his head at me.
“That said,” he began. “Those words about tearing down walls, etcetera, etcetera are spoken about Alphas and Omegas in full, pure mate-bonds, where the souls meet and intertwine. It sounds mystical and full of silly poetry, but it is not silly at all. Those who have it know of what I speak. There is nothing like it under the sun. I would not sully the bond I have with my own Omega by ever thinking, or decreeing otherwise. This bond is rated a 1.2 out of a possible ten. Add to that the fact it was created under duress. A 1.2, under official law, is still considered a bond, but it is, in the eyes of this court, incomplete. One party of this bond has testified he has no desire to complete the bond. Therefore, we are back to the claims.”
He reached up and scratched at his head again, a habit he seemed to have.
“The claim of Alpha Orion Callahan pre-dates the claim of Alpha Bosk Altimarian.”
