me when I wanted nothing to do with him because he couldn’t let me go. It was the way my body reacted to him from the very beginning, as if I was made just for him. And the way—” My breath catches. Dammit. I don’t want to cry. “The way it felt when we first made love, as if I’d come home and finally found where I belong even though I’d never known I was lost.”
When I finally meet her eyes again, her irises are misted over. “Has he ever been anything but good to you?”
I wipe at my tears. “When he first abducted me, his beast tried to kill me, but that was before his beast recognized me as his fated mate. And the entire time, Collin tried to protect me, and once his beast realized who I was, his beast protected me too.”
“So a rogue werewolf protected you instead of hurt you?”
I nod.
She sits back. “In all of my years living with our pack, I’ve never heard of such a thing. No rogue’s come back from his murderous need for bloodlust no matter who the victim is.”
I can’t contain my tears any longer. A fat drop rolls down my cheek. “But that’s what his rogue did with me, and every day we were together, it was like he healed a little more. By the time the SF caught up with us, Collin said he felt like a normal werewolf again.”
She squeezes my hand. “So a young woman who didn’t even know she was a werewolf pulled her rogue mate back from the depths of insanity. If that isn’t a fated mate, then I don’t know what is.”
I take a deep breath and the rapid beat of my heart slows. “Yeah, exactly. I don’t know why I second guessed it.”
She sips her tea again, and I finish mine. And while the hot brew warms my insides I realize how lucky I am to have found Collin and my grandparents. If I hadn’t met my mate, I would have never known the Drummonds.
I close my eyes. Thank you, Collin. I’ll never doubt you again.
Chapter 39 – Collin
Day two of my trial begins and ends similar to the first day. I’m paraded out like a monkey a flamingo barfed on and shackled well away from the general public. Even though I’ve never thrown a rage, never shifted uncontrollably, and never lunged at my bars trying to break through them, they all still think I’m a rogue.
On day three, Brianna still sits on the bench in the back. I’ve come to look for her the second the witch flies me out. My mate’s chin is high today, her expression resolute. Fuck, I miss her. I miss her fire, resilience, determination, and grit. She’s as breathtaking on the inside as she is on the outside.
Our gazes connect repeatedly as the day drones on. I try to convey how I feel for her even though I’m not allowed to say one word. She’s become my only comfort in my damned existence, so I sit, wait, and watch. It’s all I can do now.
“As you can see, Collin Ward is a danger to society and cannot be trusted. He murdered twenty-three victims, and those are only the ones we know of—”
I stop listening when the gasps and scornful looks begin in the crowd. Even my mother pales. I haven’t talked to anyone in my family. I haven’t talked to anyone at all. They keep me locked away and contained. It’s how they treat all rogues.
And as more evidence of the abhorrent rogue my wolf had become is displayed for everyone to see, the evidence mounts until it’s as if Mount Everest sprouted in this courtroom and looms directly over me.
As my crimes come to light, shame clouds me in a persistent fog. I’ve felt months of self-loathing and self-hatred prior to the start of all of this, but seeing my crimes advertised for other supernaturals to judge and witness…
I’ve never felt so much sorrow, guilt, and despair, and worst of all, nothing I can do will make it right.
I know that, but I still wish fervently that I could go back in time and change it all. I wish that I’d kept my ego in check, that I’d been wiser and smarter in my decision making. I wish I’d met Brianna on a random summer night while I was traveling with my pack brothers. That I’d seen her waitressing while I was out for a