The trial was held in my training centre. All of the men who were accused of committing a crime would be brought in one by one and the royals as well as myself and Grant would have a say in their punishment.

"Are you ready?" I asked Grant.

He hadn't come back to my home, but he had shown up to the trial which made me relax slightly. I was still a little frustrated that he had run away, but overall, I was happy he was here now.

"Yes." He said coldly.

Part of me wanted to lash out at him, to demand an explanation as to why he thought he could just abandon me when I needed him. I wanted to tell him that he had been selfish and ignorant to my feelings, but I didn't because this was going to be hard for him and as bad as I thought it was going to hurt me it was going to damage him much worse. He needed my comfort more than my yelling. So I reached over and carefully laid my hand on his lap, silently calming him.

"Bring in the first prisoner!" The king shouted.

My pack watched in awe. They were all seated on one side of the training area and the royals, including myself and Grant, were on the other side. Some of my pack members jittered with nerves, others couldn't hold eye contact with me anymore and it made my heart drop a little. I didn't want to be sitting so far away from them, so high up on a stage in a plush chair while they all sat on the concrete floor, holding their breath. They were my pack not my slaves.

But my thoughts were broken when the first prisoner was led in by three of my guards.

It was a man I had never seen before, but Grant instantly tensed beneath my hand. His lip even curled up in a snarl.

"Hey, it's okay." I whispered.

Grant ignored me and continued to snarl at the clearly frightened man. I had no idea what the man had done to Grant but I instantly hated him and felt bad for him all at the same time.

The man talked about the part he played in the kidnapping of the prince, he talked about the many tasks he had to carry out once the prince was in custody, and he explained that he was the man who pulled Grant into the car while he was on his run.

"I sentence you to life in prison with no contact with the outside world, what so ever. I command that you are removed from your pack completely, and you are never able to see your mate again!" the king announced.

"Wait!" I shouted back, watching the man drop to his knees and sob into his hands, "You're being unfair. You didn't give Grant or myself an opportunity to speak our opinions on the subject."

"Fine, you and Theo are more than welcome to put in your two cents." The king sneered.

Grant looked at me, startled by my little outburst but I just nodded in encouragement. "You know what happened better than anyone else here, what do you think his sentence should be?"

"Well, Tyler, you did a lot of wrong, but you didn't do anything without it being ordered by your alpha. You were simply being a good pack member. My sentence would be three years in a local prison and occasional visits." Grant declared.

The king scoffed, "Three years is hardly anything for a werewolf."

"I was the one who went through all of the tormenting, I choose the punishments." Grant argued.

The king opened his mouth like he was about to argue but the queen laid a gentle hand over his own and his mouth snapped shut.

The rest of the trials went quite similarly to this, a little squabble between Grant and his parents but usually fair sentences were given out to everyone. No one was going to face more than five years in prison which warmed my heart. I knew Grant had gone through a lot of suffering. I knew he could've been cruel if he wanted to. But the majority of the men who were convicted were simply following the orders of their alpha and didn't need to be punished so harshly.

But then Sterling came in and the whole trial went sideways.

"Did you or did you not play a part in the capture of my son?" The queen asked.

"I did." Sterling admitted, "I was part of the team who helped my alpha escape with Grant when he was just a boy, but I have no involvement with the second capture."

Grant tensed up, those green eyes locked on to Sterling, "Did you try to pursue my mate when you heard of my absence?"

Sterling visibly swallowed and I could see Karma holding her breath out of the corner of my eye, "I did." he confessed.

Grant let out a snarl that was so loud and so furious it caused a gasp to leak out of some people's mouths.

"When I heard that you were gone I simply assumed that Jordan had finally managed to kill you. I had recently lost my own mate and I was muddled with devastation. If I thought there was a chance that you were going to come back I would've never touched her, I swear." He rambled.

"I want you to be put away for life." Grant seethed.

"No, that's wrong!" I yelled, causing everyone to freeze for a moment, "You can't make decision like this based on your emotions." I argued, staring at Grant but then pointedly looking at the king as well. "This is not an offence that deserves a life sentence. He made a mistake, yes, and he should also be punished for his first offence, but that's hardly a life sentence. I think he should be imprisoned for three years, be rejected from his pack, and absorbed by my own to teach him to respect a female alpha." I proclaimed.

Grant was still furious and he refused to look at me like he were a child but the queen was on my side.

"Yes, that's a fair sentence, I agree." She said, "Now bring in Jordan."

I expected there to be a lot of fanfare regarding Jordan. I expected emotions to run high and everyone to start yelling out profanities, but that didn't happen. Everyone from my pack regarded Jordan with a cold glare and the occasional snarl but there was no blunt aggression. The royals looked as disgusted as I felt and Grant appeared to be less than concerned.

"Are you going to argue with me if I sentence him to life?" the king asked.

I just shook my head in response.

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