by Erin R Flynn
“As I was saying, you have asked for leniency, and Chief Thomas—in her role as Alpha—agreed we should make the exception given the school did not act on the problem and agitated the situation. Also, the guilty are barely adults themselves. The professor is not being shown the same leniency and will come back with me.” She gave them a moment to let that sink in.
“What will happen?” Mrs. Parker asked, apologizing and introducing herself, which led the others to do the same.
Louisa did a double take when Freddie said his name. “I would have thought you more physically imposing from the way many have spoken of you and the fight you put up against the previous Alpha and his cruelties. I’m glad the situation was handled and your daughter not hurt.”
“Wait, so she’s accused others before?” Mr. Collins demanded, and I was not the only woman in the room who gave him a death glare.
“So according to you she only gets one chance to report crimes against her?” Louisa threw right back. “That is not actually how the law works, so I suggest you educate yourself especially when you have such the high opinion of yourself that you should check into me and my reputation.”
“And this situation is vastly different than before,” Jessica seethed. “And I’m doubting there’s any chance these boys can be rehabilitated and see the error of their ways when you clearly don’t care what is done to women. Stop poking because we will poke back.”
“What does that mean?” he sneered.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “You smell of sadness when you look at the couples here, touching your ring finger that doesn’t have a ring. Did your wife maybe leave you because you don’t know how to treat a woman?”
She nailed it. The anger that immediately filled him along with his heart racing let us know she was completely right.
“So she did, and you taught your son the same, awesome,” I grumbled, shaking my head.
“You asked me what will happen,” Louisa cut in, focused on Mrs. Parker. “The same steps you are used to in your US justice system but in an expedited manner. Reports were taken, witnesses spoken to, and warrants issued, but unlike the human crimes, we know who is telling the truth and lying, so there is no mistake, no extra horsing around.
“We are past the point where the police sit the accused down and start interrogating or putting more pieces together. Chief Thomas has confirmed they are guilty, and we’re moving to the next step.”
I snorted. “None of them even tried to deny it. They were pissed anyone called them on it when they’re such high profile guys, throwing at me I knew who they were.”
She glanced at me. “Truly? Do they not understand who you are?”
“Well no, I have breasts, which they don’t respect, and you know, they’re college freshmen, so yeah, they’re badass.”
Several people snorted. For all of my faults—and I had a lot of them—I’d never had that sort of ego when I was younger. I never thought I was so awesome and anyone notable or… How did people seriously get such egos when there was proof all around us how big the world was and we were all just fish swimming with each other?
“We are at the point of questioning the witness in court, which is why we’ve asked for these interrogations to be able to be shown. As many people falsely believe there is something shady going on or there is no oversight, we’re willing to use this as a teachable moment to educate others. This is part of the leniency, so agree to it now, or we go to the normal plan.”
Everyone was quiet several moments, but Mr. Nguyen finally said something when he and his wife had been silent this whole time. “I think I’d need to see what comes out of the interrogation and how far it goes. I mean, how far will you take things?”
Louisa nodded. “That is a fair question when you are unused to this practice. I care what crimes he’s committed. I do not care if he cheats on his girlfriends, but it shows a pattern of disrespect towards women and his character. This is not a smear campaign, nor meant to embarrass your son or humans. I want answers and facts; however, if he doesn’t remain professional, I won’t either.”
“Could we see you interview the girls first?” Mrs. Parker asked. “They agreed we could see that and it would give us a feel for this, yes?”
“Yes, but let me be clear that you cannot speak of what you see. These women deserve their privacy and are allowing this extra interview for the sake of facilitating this. They have already been interviewed by Chief Thomas and her people and everything submitted to file for the warrants.” She stared at all the parents. “Agree now, and I will know if you’re lying.”
“Fine, yes, fine,” Mr. Collins bit out after the others had agreed.
“Show them the viewing room while I take Louisa in,” I told Shaw. “I’ll stay in the room if that’s fine with you?”
“Yes, as they undoubtedly trust you, and these are unorthodox circumstances.”
“Thank you for understanding.” I led the way, giving a smile to Ashley and the others. “This is Louisa, she works with the council. She’s going to ask you some questions while the accused parents watch.”
“There is nothing you have to answer,” Louisa said firmly. “Your testimony is not being called into question, and all of the reports were diligent and well executed. I read them on the flight over, and I’m very sorry for what you have gone through. I simply am going to listen to your words directly so the humans see we play fair and aren’t skipping steps.”
They all nodded, and Ashely went first. “It started the first day of class. The professor made some comments about how many were allowed in his class over last year and on top of it, a few werewolves, and named me.”
“Why was it on your application you were a werewolf? You were born, yes?” Louisa asked. “Did the school require you to tell them?”
“No, but my dad’s the pack’s Beta and we’re out. I didn’t put it on my application, and yes, I’m a born wolf, but it was part of my entrance essay, as we had to talk about a defining moment in our lives. I chose my first time shifting, as shifting early had ripples and seemed to define who I was right then.”
“Understood. What happened after?”
“Alan Collins came over to us the second class was over.” She wrinkled her nose. “He smelled of lust and a weird sort of giddiness. It creeped me out, and honestly, it reminded me of how Alpha Engle smelled when he was going to force someone to do something he shouldn’t.” She relaxed a bit when the others nodded. “We ignored him and left class. He was pissed.”
“Like scary pissed,” one of the girls added. “Calling after us to get our bitch asses back there and he was a basketball player.”
I knew this, but it was really good their parents weren’t hearing this for sure.
“At first we ignored it, but that seemed to make it worse,” Ashley continued. “I snapped and told them to leave us the fuck alone, and Craig taunted us that no one was going to help shifter sluts like us, so no, they wouldn’t.” She jumped to her feet and started pacing. “I was telling Leo that I didn’t know what to do. I kept bouncing between them having to get bored eventually and upset I would accept that.
“He said we should learn from you and remember we were still students and there were rules, people to go to. He looked it up and found there was no protection for supes like other minorities, but we found who to report it to. And that’s what we did. The moment Alan tried to corner me and instead slapped my ass and ordered me to go back to wearing skirts, we reported them.”
“Back to skirts?” Louisa asked.
Julia Perry let out a heavy sigh. “That was part of their harassment shtick. That we wore skirts for easy access or to pretend we were good girls. We stopped wearing them. It just seemed easier to do that and maybe they’d move on instead of risking things blew up with how some of the teachers were acting too.”
Louisa nodded, taking down a few notes. “And so you reported the behavior?”
“Yes, we went to the liberal arts dean’s office and filed a miscond
uct report,” Ashley answered. “The woman took it down and said they’d investigate, and it wasn’t a lie but…” She looked at me and snapped her fingers. “It was like when Reagan lectures Hagan about not being a slob at pack functions and learning table manners. When Hagan bobs his head like yeah, yeah and burps a minute later.”
“Dismissive,” Julia added, the others nodding. “She was dismissive like it would be ranked somewhere under checking every desk didn’t wobble.”
“Yeah, you know what dismissive smells like,” I drawled. “That perfectly describes how Hagan blows off his twin.”
“Hagan and Reagan Cooney?” Louisa asked, and we nodded. “I would like to speak with them while I’m here if possible. I have yet to pay my respects after their parents died, as I could not make the funeral. I was friends with their mother.”
“I’ll let them know.”
She thanked me and focused back on the girls. “Not to put this back on you, as you are not at fault here, not in the slightest, but I want to check that there was no confusion in the message you gave. Was there anything the boys fed off of or maybe threw gas on the fire?”
They shook their heads, but then Ashley winced. “I did. I didn’t mean to but—” She blew a harsh breath. “I got fed up and snapped that we weren’t interested in dating so to leave us alone.”
“Craig made some shit comment how dating wasn’t what they wanted with us because we weren’t up to their level,” Julia sneered.
Ashley nodded. “I told them to stop being fucking stupid and we could hurt them. We shouldn’t be involved with humans at our age and certainly not in that way when emotions are heightened.”
“Slow down,” I said gently when she was darting back and forth in a way that would make the humans dizzy. “None of this is your fault, Ashley. She’s asking so we know what the boys might toss back at you. It’s like how I ask people to switch seats and what is the point the other side will poke.”
“I know, I know, but it was so stupid,” she rasped. “I got so angry.” She looked at me with tears in her eyes. “Alan said they’d just tie us up then so they could get what they wanted, and I blew, daring him to fucking try it. On top of everything, they didn’t even care if we would enjoy whatever they wanted us to be involved in like we were sex toys or something. It was horrible.
“He said something about he could change my mind once I saw his big black you know. And I snapped I’d seen others, so it wasn’t going to be new or shock me.” She let out a shaky breath. “I didn’t realize what I’d said. They went bonkers, and it wasn’t just they could harass us and no one would do anything, but we really were sluts and we had all kinds of experience—I wasn’t thinking.”
My hands curled into fists, and I glanced at the window the parents were watching through. “What you’re undoubtedly missing is we have a lot of black people in our pack, and as we don’t shift with our clothes on like they magically disappear and reappear, we’re pretty comfortable with nudity. They’ve seen naked males and know what they look like.”
“We tried to explain that,” Ashely rasped. “We did, but they wouldn’t hear us. It became all we’d done because why else would we see it? And it was—I’m sorry.”
I moved over to her and cupped her face as I lowered my forehead to hers. “Ashley, none of this is you. None of it. You could walk down those hallways in your birthday suit and no one should still touch you or harass you. You didn’t invite them with anything you did. You didn’t ask for it. You didn’t give permission. Their reaction was theirs, and they’re predators who thought you prey.”
She pulled away and snarled, her eyes flashing power. “I’m no one’s fucking prey. We did what we should because we didn’t want to make the pack look bad by eating those fucking losers who can’t get any unless they harass girls.”
“Good girl,” I praised, giving them a wink.
“Let’s get back to the school,” Louisa guided. “So you filed the report, and what happened?”
“We went to check on it when they kept hassling us,” Julia answered. “They said no report was ever filed. And we all knew they were lying. I told her we knew it, we could smell it, and she said if I was going to be belligerent, they’d mark my file or we could file a report and they’d handle it. So we did again.”
“And somehow that got to certain teachers, as that was when the confrontation happened where the teacher said if we shifted we’d get thrown out,” Ashley added, telling Louisa the full story again.
“What’s being done with these teachers?” Louisa asked.
“One is in custody, and two I have a team picking up now, as they had afternoon classes today.”
“Oh good, I look forward to meeting them,” she chuckled darkly. Yeah, I understood the feeling, as adults who were supposed to protect kids and not only didn’t but stoked the fires of hate and pain… There wasn’t a hell bad enough for them.
“Anything else I should know or you think relevant?” Louisa checked after hearing the rest of what had happened.
They shared a look and seemed to come to a collective decision.
“Todd and Jesse weren’t as bad as Alan and Craig,” one of the girls said as she rubbed her neck. “You know that from what we’ve said, clearly, but they sometimes smelled of, not regret, but like they thought the harassing was fun, but when it got physical they would give us sad looks.”
Julia snorted. “Yeah, poor them, peer pressure and all of that. I felt horrible for them as they sexually assaulted me and grabbed my breast or said they were going to show I was wet for them. They were taunting us they were men, and they were being boys who let others push them into crimes.”
“We’re not defending them, but you should probably know that,” Ashley grumbled.
“I do, thank you, and no, that’s not anything that will reduce their punishment, as they still did and said what they did, but it does speak to a larger problem of bullying and being pushed on the sports teams,” Louisa explained, taking more notes. “Ladies, thank you for taking the time to say this all again for my ears. I will start with the boys, but I would ask you to think on what punishments you feel are warranted.”
“Cutting off their dicks they said they would choke us with for one,” Ashley snarled.
I didn’t disagree, and it was hard not to smile as I felt the same, but I had to be the adult and guide them down the less violent path. I would have paid money to see her go all out against Alan Collins though because the guy would learn he really, really wasn’t the predator he thought he was.
14
Just as we stepped out of the interview room, Kim Evans came walking in with Chad Evans—her husband and one of the Chicago Bears—on her heels. Kim was a distant relative of Nina Jezebel’s, and they were friends with the pack, especially after I’d helped juice her up with power during her pregnancy so she and her daughter were more powerful witches.
It had gone well, but I hadn’t seen them since my abduction, and I smiled, glad to see them even if I was confused as to why they were there.
“Dain called and said there was a situation I might want to jump in on, as he could not even if he was an attorney, as he works for the FBI and it would be a conflict,” she said, answering the unasked question as she extended her hand. “And I’m thrilled to see you doing so much better.”
“We both are,” Chad muttered as he leaned in and gave me a half hug. “Brian’s kept us updated. Welcome home.”
“Thanks.” I introduced them to Louisa, and she was polite but gave me a questioning look. “What did Dain tell you?”
“Not much, but it’s already all over social media as a few kids recorded you coming into class and arresting the guys,” Kim told me. “I got into what I knew and contacted Chad.”
“Those little shits want to be all baller, and what they need is a reality check,” Chad seethed. “And I’ve got friends on all the Chicago sports teams ready to make a huge stink that this shit is not acceptable and as pro players we stand togethe
r in that.”
“Nice.” I bit back a chuckle. “Come with me.” I led them to the conference room where the parents of the boys had rejoined the others. I locked eyes with Freddie. “I have to recuse myself as Alpha on this, as it’s ramping up with social media and more. I name you in my stead.”
“Wait, you can’t just name him boss when he’s on the other side,” Mr. Collins snapped.
“I can and just did,” I said calmly. “Your sons went after people he thought had no power or pull. This is a lesson they should learn the hard way. They don’t know as much as they think.” I held up my hand when he opened his mouth to object. “The other Betas I might ask are not better options. None have children or might understand the line of adult and kid as parents.”
Jessica snorted. “The twins would force them to enlist in the military to straighten them out, or Christos and Theon would make them go to Greece to see how women should be treated. They’ve threatened that with some of the rowdy shifter guests we’ve had. Nestor is terrified at becoming a dad and might pound them all just in case he has a daughter.”
I nodded. “Freddie is actually who I would ask even if not involved, as he’s our most senior Beta. The older, alternate Betas can’t weigh in, as they’re FBI too.”
“Plus, Eugene would eat them,” Jessica added, both of us trying to not be amused at the visual.
“Why do you need to recuse yourself now?” Mrs. Parker asked me.
I stepped aside and let in Mr. and Mrs. Evans along with Louisa.
“I’m here to represent the victims,” Mrs. Evans said firmly as she pulled out several packets from her bag and tossed them in front of the boys’ parents. “Chief Thomas understands that there are more than legal ramifications and jail here, and as an attorney that has helped the pack in the past, I’m here to make sure punitive damages are paid as well along with clearing their reputations.
“What I’ve just given you are several cases in the past decade that I will use as precedence for any filings and damages I demand. As you can see for yourselves, people are tired of athletes misbehaving, and speaking as the wife of a pro player who has never had a scandal and respects women, this is a stand we believe important.”
