Oath Sworn - K.N. Banet Page 0,104

his eyes betraying a deep sadness. “I’ll leave you with Landon for a minute. I want to talk to Jacky.”

“Yeah.” Carey pulled her legs up to her chest, her brother sitting quietly beside her. Heath didn’t need to say any more. I followed him out of the room, crossing my arms as I leaned on a wall out of sight from the other wolves. It hurt, but felt secure.

“They’ll be here any minute,” he told me. “I…”

“It’s okay.” I shrugged. “I did what I thought was right. I knew it was going to get me in trouble, but that’s the decision people have to make sometimes.”

“I’ll speak for you,” he promised again.

“I know.” We stood in silence for a minute until I couldn’t hold it back anymore. “I’m sorry about Richard. If he hadn’t…He came after Carey.”

“That’s more my fault than it’s yours. I don’t think you should carry the blame. I should have realized he was unhappy. After so many years…” He propped himself on the wall next to me. “Thank you for protecting Carey. That’s all that matters. That’s all you had to do. Richard made his decision. It was envy and rage that were his downfall. I might have been able to be a better father, I’ll never know, but it’s over now. Carey’s half in shock. She’ll miss him tomorrow. Landon’s been his captive since this started. He’ll be over it quickly, though he’ll have a hard time trusting anyone for a time. He was always stand-offish with everyone except the family.”

“Then his family betrayed him,” I finished.

“Exactly. But we’ll heal.”

“Emma and Dean?” I asked. “They have a son…”

“Dean was still alive when I sent all of you to the hospital. We got him into a holding cell before you got back. He’ll stand for the crimes committed by his mate in front of the Alpha Council. Maybe the Tribunal. His son will be sent to some extended family, but that’s going to take time to figure out.” He was fiddling with his hands. “I’m having a hard time reconciling the Emma and Dean I knew with the ones from tonight. I had no idea they were so…”

“Power-hungry?” I filled in.

“Yes. I should have seen it coming.”

“No.” I shook my head. “I say that because…a week ago I could have never seen me going this far for anyone, and yet, the opportunity came and I took it. They might have been fine…Until they weren’t.”

He nodded, looking away from me, his eyes distant. We stayed there in silence for a long time until someone knocked on the door.

“Sir. The Council is here.”

“Send them in,” he called back. The door swung open and several wolves walked in. A few of them glanced at me. “Welcome to my safe house, Harrison.”

An old-looking wolf inclined his head. I recognized his voice as the Harrison I had spoken to when he started talking. “It’s good to see everything has been resolved. You have two prisoners for us?”

“I’m going to send wolves out tomorrow night to look for any stragglers from the coup. It’s going to take a couple of weeks to stabilize. But yes, right now I have one prisoner and—"

“I’m turning myself in,” I said, cutting him off. “Hi, Harrison.”

“You knew it was going to end this way, Ms. Leon.” Harrison pulled out a pair of handcuffs.

“I did.” I put my wrists forward and let him cuff me. Another wolf grabbed my elbow and began to pull me out of the room. I looked back at Heath. “Tell her…That I’m fine with this.”

Heath nodded.

As I was led out, some of Heath’s wolves saluted me. Some wished me well.

Carey begged Landon to explain to her why I was being led away like the bad guy.

24

Chapter Twenty-four

They held me in a hotel in Dallas for over a week. Ten days, actually. My guards included several supernatural species, from vampires, werewolves, and witches, to fae, a rare kitsune, and more. I wasn’t allowed to leave unless it was to be taken in front of the Tribunal, where I wasn’t allowed to speak. Not until the last day.

There were procedures to Tribunals. Upon being taken into custody, they descended like riders of the damn apocalypse on whatever location they needed to be in. They came to Dallas to deal with me. It took a few days, since they came from everywhere, including the lands of the Fae.

After that, there was a week of trial. I was on the last day, but the previous days