Mated to My Step-brother and His Best Friend novel · Chapter 16 of 32

Chapter 16: Trial

I was on my feet and at the bars before I knew it.

"Then let me up to him," I said. "I can draw it. Right now."

The Elder turned and looked at me for the first time.

His eyes were old and wet and very tired.

"Did you put this in his bottle, girl?"

"I was in Graylick all week, until Tuesday night. Two hundred people watched me fold gauze." I gripped the bars. "Ask who brought it."

The doctor didn't wait to be asked.

"Arlis brought it," she said. "From a doctor in the county seat. He handed it to the Alpha's wife himself."

The Elder shut his eyes.

"The hall hears this," he said. "Tonight. All of it."

They brought me up at seven.

The meeting hall was fuller than it had been on Monday.

The Elder sat under the antlers.

Arlis stood beside the empty Alpha's chair with his hands folded.

Deacon and Bowie were by the door, between two security men.

The Elder had let them in to hear it.

Deacon looked at me across the hall, and I felt the bond reach for me.

I stood alone in the middle of the floor.

"Dovie Caskey," the Elder said. "Speak for yourself."

So I did.

I told them all of it, start to finish, and I did not look away from him.

Every head in the hall turned to the split-eared man by the door.

"And the shooter said there was a man in the truck," I said. "He smelled of gun oil and mint. He wore a ring on a chain around his neck."

The hall went dead quiet.

He unbuttoned his collar.

Then the next button, and the next, all the way to his belt.

He pulled his white shirt open in front of the whole pack.

A lean grey chest.

No chain.

Nothing.

"I sell gun oil, Miss Caskey," he said gently. "Half this hall smells of it. And I like mints." He buttoned his shirt again, slow. "Search my house. Search my truck. Take a drunk rogue's word over mine if you want."

← Chapter 15 · All chapters · Chapter 17 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend