The Alpha's Prisoner

The square was full of people. Violet, Jack and the others found a place to stay and watch the trial.

There was a sort of stage at one part and people were gathered around it. A few men with suits were already up there, but there was no sign of anyone that Violet knew.

Not Gwen, Harry or even the traitor himself.

Violet kept looking around to see if the group of troublemakers had been able to reach to the square, but there was no sign of them yet.

As the minutes passed, everyone started to get impatient. People started to scream, asking for the judgement to begin.

That’s when Violet saw Gwen coming out with a bunch of guards around her, like she was a queen or something..

Not even Arden used to walk like that. But since the situation was a bit dangerous and unstable, maybe she was doing that to protect herself from the rebels.

A few steps behind her, other guards showed up dragging a man by his arms, and even though his face was full of blood and his clothes were dirty, Violet didn’t recognize him.

“Do you know him?” Jack whispered in her ear, but she simply nodded her head in denial.

Everyone started to boo him, but Violet couldn’t stop but look at Gwen. It hadn’t been long since they met each other, but Violet felt that there was a different aura around her now.

Her face was inexpressive and she didn’t let any emotion show to others. Violet couldn’t read what she could be thinking at that moment.

The man was put seated in a chair facing the crowd, while on of the men with a suit grabbed a microphone and started to speak.

He introduced himself as one of the members of the Diamond Pack responsible for the laws and trials. Violet vaguely remembered him in some of the many meetings Arden would summon on the palace.

The man guaranteed that the judgement would be a clean and fair one, but a lot of people didn’t seem to believe him.

“So let’s begin. This is Mr. Brown, and for those who don’t know him, he used to be one of the soldiers of the Diamond Pack’s army. He was recruited when he was really young by Arden Thompson himself.”

The uproar was extremely loud once Arden’s name was mentioned and it took a few minutes for people to stay silent again.

“Everyone here understands the situation that you’re in, and I’m assuming you do as well, right, Mr. Brown?”

The man nodded, and he seemed really nervous.

“Just to clarify, Mr. Brown is under the use of a substance that inhibit his ability to shift, for everyone’s safe, including his own, during this trial.” the judge continued.

Violet was torn between looking at him or the judge. Mr. Brown was clearly scared and she could see his legs trembling with fear.

Gwen, on the other hand, was on the other side of the stage and still had the unshaken look on her face.

Violet pressed her nails against her palm as the trial moved forward.

“Mr. Brown, when were you contacted by Arden Thompson to become part of his schemes?” the judge asked.

The other man with a suit passed him another microphone so he could answer the questions.

“A few months after I became a soldier. Arden said I had proven my loyalty with my missions.” he said with a little pride.

The judge nodded and continued.

“Were you completely aware of what the proposition meant at the time? That Arden was betraying the Diamond Pack and also breaking the peace agreement in the Crescent between all packs?”

“Yes. Arden was really proud of what he was going to do. He said the continent needed remediation, that everything was wrong, and it had to start somewhere. The Diamond Pack was the best opportunity to do so.”

“What were Arden’s real plans? What did he really mean to do by bribing people to stay on his side and turning the Diamond Pack against every other pack on the continent?”

The man shook his head in denial. He didn’t seem to want to answer to that question.

People started to boo him again, and Violet glanced the group of troublemakers finally getting to the square.

She looked from them to Jack, but Jack didn’t say anything. He simply looked at the direction of the group and turned his head towards the stage again.

Violet nerves were a wreck. She didn’t imagine she would be so nervous because of a trial.

“Mr. Brown, I’m gonna ask you one more time. You know this is a trial, and the information you give can help you. Arden Thompson is a criminal and is being chased all over the Crescent by the most powerful packs. So, the question is, what were his real plans?” the judge repeated the question.

But Mr. Brown shook his head again, more aggressively.

In the middle of the crowd, Violet heard someone yell and it made her blood freeze.

“Just kill him!”

She turned to look who it was, and apparently the man was the one in charge of the troublemakers.

He looked infuriated.

“You don’t know what Arden is capable of. You have no idea what he can do.” Mr. Brown answered with a shaky voice.

“Are you sure you don’t have any more information you’d like to share, Mr. Brown? This is your last chance. Otherwise, you’ll have to face the consequences of what you did. You could stay in prison for the rest of your life.”

“So life imprisonment is the worst the Diamond Pack do to its criminals.” Jack whispered by her side.

“Mr. Brown, do you know where Arden and his allies are?” the judge asked, as a last attempt to get something useful out of him.

“I wouldn’t say even if I did. The man is a beast. You wouldn’t go after him, even if your life depended on it.”

The troublemakers started to scream and push people forward, so they could get closer to the stage.

A few guards from the Diamond Pack came in their direction and held them, but they didn’t seem quite willing to stay away.

And suddenly, something that Violet had never seen in any of the possible outcomes of that, was that Gwen would come forward and declare what she declared.

“He doesn’t have anything else to say apparently. So just kill him.”