by Tl Reeve
Mackenzie stared at her. “DID? You think I’ve got a mental illness?” He laughed. “Feral sounds a hell of a lot better than some kind of split-personality shit.”
She pursed her lips. “Mackenzie Raferty, you’re not feral!”
“Sure, Dani,” he replied.
“Are you saying you doubt me?”
“No, I’m saying, you love all of us and admitting I need to be put down rips your heart open. You want so badly for me to have this...this DID, so you don’t have to face reality.”
Danielle stood, slamming her hands on the desk. “You listen to me, Mackenzie Raferty! You are not feral. You’re a fucking mate!” She gnashed her teeth at him. “I have tried to be easy about this. I have tried to give you time to figure it out and to put yourself back together. You and I know I’m telling you the truth, and so does Kalkin. Now, I don’t understand fully what’s going on in your head, but all of this...this crap is because you won’t recognize him or her.”
Mackenzie reared back. “Horseshit.” Aurora had someone. He saw the mark.
“Your wolf, I have a feeling, is going to your mate when you’re losing time, and you’re feeling too goddamn sorry for yourself to see it!” she snarled.
“I don’t have a damn mate, Dani!” He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “I’d think I’d know if I had one.”
“Like you pretended to have with Holly?” She crossed her arms. “Who were you trying to protect, Mac? Hayden or yourself?”
He stood abruptly. “I have stuff to get done. If you don’t need me here, after all, I’ll be going.”
Danielle sighed. “Mackenzie Raferty, you’re a stubborn asshole. You’re worse than Kalkin and Caden put together.”
“I’ll take the compliment.” He started for the door.
“I did need you, though,” she said. “We’re having an issue with the water heater. It warms up a little but not all the way.”
He took a deep, cleansing breath and let it out slowly. “Sounds like the thermostat isn’t regulating the temperature. I’ll grab my gear and take a look.”
She placed her hand on his arm. “Thank you. Listen, I know I can be a shit when it comes to protecting our family. You should be happy, too. You’ve been through too much shit over the years. It’s time to start enjoying it again.”
He frowned. “Dani, I hate to break it to you, but I don’t get a happily ever after. I screwed that up the day I walked away with Marjorie.”
He finished working on the water heater at the same time his phone rang. Shit, in the last few weeks, he’d become popular. He pulled his phone out of his pocket after he placed his toolbox back in the bed of his truck. The District Attorney, Charles Frank’s office number was on the screen.
“Well, hello, DA Franks,” he said, answering the phone.
“Mr. Raferty,” the DA replied. “Can you come by my office for a moment? I have some information I need to go over with you before you start testifying tomorrow.”
He glanced down at his watch. He still had a couple of hours before he had to meet Abby at school. “Sure. Make it quick, though. I have to pick up the kids from school.”
“Not a problem Mr. Raferty.”
He hung up with Franks then got into his truck. He supposed talking it through with the DA before he could say stupid shit on the stand made sense. He pulled away from the orphanage and headed for the courthouse on the other side of town. Though he’d been worried about the case, he hadn’t given himself a chance to even contemplate much about what would be said. Sure, he understood they’d tear into his past, which parts on the other hand, he didn’t know. He also realized Holly’s attorney would try to pull him apart.
When he arrived at the courthouse, he was surprised to see Royce, Kalkin, Hayden and Nico, minus—Emmeline. He didn’t know what to think. Sure, all of them would be testifying, maybe Franks wanted to get it over with, with one go. He raised his hand in greeting as he joined the rest of his family.
“You, too, huh?” He lifted his chin in Kalkin’s direction.
“Yeah, seems like there’s been a development,” his brother answered. “Caught me right in the middle of—”
“We don’t need to hear about it,” Mackenzie muttered.
“Do any of you know what the development is?” Hayden stepped forward.
They all shook their heads.
“Well, whatever it is, we should get inside. Don’t need to make ourselves any more of a spectacle out here.” Kalkin ushered them forward toward the door.
“How are things going with Jefferson and Jochi?” Hayden asked as they entered the courthouse.
Charisma’s father had ulterior motives for showing up when he did. If the fuzzy photograph in the digital newspaper was anything to go by, it’d been wise to come to Window Rock in many ways. One, Keeley could track the source. Two, if anyone ever wanted to play dirty when it came to family, well, Kalkin enjoyed the mud.
“The investigation is going smoothly. I have to hand it to both of them,” Kalkin said. “They’re tenacious when they want to be. They have enough evidence to take down the whole of congress if they ever chose to use it.”
Mackenzie pushed the button on the elevator then held the door open for everyone as they stepped onto the car. He pushed the third floor button then folded his hands behind his back. Since Halloween, everything felt like it was on an accelerated schedule. The days sometimes bled into each other, and it was made worse by his losing of time. When the elevator dinged, they stepped out into the narrow hallway and followed it back to the District Attorney’s office.
The door was open, and DA Franks sat behind his desk. He glanced up when Kalkin knocked on the doorframe, announcing their arrival. “You called.”
Charles stood and motioned for them to enter. On his desk sat a few picture frames. They were all of his mate and their two young children. “I’m glad you could make it on such short notice. I promise I won’t keep you long.”
“What’s this all about?” Mackenzie grumbled.
“There is a small break in the case,” Franks said after closing the door behind them. “I think this has more to do with Nico and Hayden than the rest of you, but I suspect you should all be made aware.”
“Us?” Nico quirked a brow. “Why us?”
“Do you remember a woman named Justine? Blonde, svelt, you met at a bar?” Charles passed a photo to Nico.
Nico growled. “Yeah, what about her?”
“She came forward and had a pretty interesting story to tell me.”
“Come again?” Hayden snarled.
“It’s to help Nico,” Charles said in a soothing tone. “She had regrets and guilt. She’s a new mate and had to get everything off of her chest.”
“Sure,” Hayden snarked. “A new mate.”
The DA grabbed a folder off of his desk then opened it up. He sat there for a moment reading over everything contained within it. “This is my Sworn Testimony, that I, Justine Gabbles, am over 18 and of sound mind.” Charles glanced up at them. “On or about May 15, 2026, or thereabout, I entered into an agreement with Mrs. Holly Raferty, better known to me at the time as Holly Geithner.”
“What the fuck?” Nico yelled, jumping to his feet.
Kalkin placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Let him finish.”
Mackenzie agreed.
Charles cleared his throat. “Here is the meat of it: “On or about the 17th of June, I met Mr. Lopez at the Horseshoe Bar. I had my instructions. I was to drug Mr. Lopez, bring him home, and sleep with him. For services rendered, Miss Geithner promised to help fund my mother’s chemotherapy. I fulfilled my end of the bargain, except for the fact I never had sex with him. Although the remaining part of the plan was to have Hayden walk in on us while engaged in a sexual act, Mr. Lopez was too incapacitated due to the drug. However, Miss Raferty did appear at the door as scheduled, and it allowed me to modify the instructions given to me. Now, seven years later, I can admit how wrong I’d been to participate in such a
despicable act. I would like to formally apologize to Mr. Lopez and Mrs. Raferty-Lopez for any and all damage I may have caused them.” She then goes on to end her statement with a promise to cooperate fully with this trial and testify against Holly.”
Mackenzie had to sit down hard. “Are you friggin’ serious?”
“All this time,” Hayden whispered. “All this time I...” She choked back a sob and shook her head. “I am so sorry, Nico.”
Nico shook his head. “She drugged me? I can’t-I can’t wrap my head around this.”
“Son of a bitch,” Kalkin whispered. “Statute of limitations have run out, or else I’d nail both of their asses to the wall.”
Charles held up his hand. “I explained everything to her, and she willingly said if there were charges, she’d accept them. She is also willing to leave pack lands as a punishment, too.”
“Banishment doesn’t sound like too bad of an option right about now,” Royce grumbled.
“After she testifies,” Hayden said. “You can kick her out then.”
Kalkin scrubbed his chin. “I need to think on this, kid. Give me time to process this.”
“It’s a lot to digest, but I couldn’t allow any of you to enter the court room tomorrow without this little nugget of information. I have already sent it on to the judge, and he has accepted it. It won’t be brought up until you testify, Hayden. I’ll use it to show how manipulative your aunt was at the time and how far she was willing to go to get her way. It’ll also bolster your testimony, Mackenzie. She did this right under your nose with the understanding of what kind of blowback there’d be.” Charles folded his hands. “Before we start tomorrow, is there anything else I should know about?”
Mackenzie shook his head as did the others. The admission of Justine threw Mackenzie for a loop. He hadn’t been expecting that type of information to be shared between them, but as the main witnesses in the trial, they all had to be made aware. He sat back in his chair and grunted. Again, his fuck-up reared its ugly head.
“I will see all of you bright and early in the morning then,” Charles said, dismissing them. “Get some rest, Mackenzie. You look like shit.”
If only Charles knew the truth of the matter.
The first day of Mackenzie’s testimony for Holly Geithner’s trial...
Mackenzie stood before the judge, jury, District Attorney Charles Franks, and Holly’s PBH lawyers. He raised his right hand, swearing to tell the whole truth—even if it cost him his relationship with Royce and Hayden.
They had to know everything.
After his little tête-à-tête with Aurora the other day and the argument with Danielle, he’d kept to himself, mostly. All of his plans to explain what happened the day Hayden arrived, went out the window. He’d been angry. So fucking filled with rage, he even stopped speaking to Riley and Liam because he didn’t want to take it out on them. Mackenzie didn’t get a happily ever after. He didn’t get to have a mate. He didn’t deserve one. What he did warrant was a bullet between his eyes to finish off what Raymond started the night Marjorie turned on him. Then, everyone in the Raferty family could move past his transgressions.
He sat in the chair on the stand and adjusted the mic. When the district attorney asked his name, he said it. “Mackenzie Raferty.”
“Thank you, Mr. Raferty,” Charles Franks said. “We’re going to start from the beginning. When did you first meet Holly Geithner?”
“The same day the whole family did,” he replied. “When she and Hayden Raferty showed up in town going on almost twelve years ago.”
“Did anything appear out of the ordinary?”
Mackenzie shook his head. “No. Both appeared afraid. Said they were being chased by PBH and needed help.”
“You believed her?”
“Yes. I didn’t scent any deception in her statement.”
“Objection your honor,” the defense attorney said. “He might be a shifter, but in the court of law, we don’t go by smells.”
“Sustained,” the judge said. “Mr. Raferty, given you’re a wolf-shifter and we’re not, please stick to answers not pertaining to your heightened awareness.”
Mackenzie grunted. “Hard not to when it’s who I am, but okay. Since I didn’t know her at the time, I didn’t have any reason to doubt her, especially after all my family has endured at the hands of PBH.”
Back and forth they went. Charles would ask him a question and he’d answer. The majority of them were mundane, related to Holly’s involvement in the PBH. Most of them he couldn’t answer. For all intents and purposes, he’d turned a blind eye to Holly. He kept himself in the dark, not wanting to hurt Hayden. In the end, it hurt all of them instead—Hayden the worst.
When Charles sat down, the defense attorney stood up. The man wore a sharp suit and smelled of ill-begotten money. He had beady eyes and carried himself with an air of superiority Mackenzie wanted to beat out of him. “Mr. Raferty, what made you decide to welcome Holly into your home and how would you categorize your relationship with the defendant?”
“How would I categorize it?”
“Yes,” the man said. “Were you lovers? Friends? Mates?”
Mackenzie licked his bottom lip. “We were friends. Never lovers and definitely not mates.”
“But, you told everyone you were? Why is that?”
Mackenzie shrugged. “Guess I couldn’t stand to see a young girl lose her aunt. Holly was going to leave Hayden with us and go wherever she wanted to. I told her she–they–could stay with me for the time being. The rest kind of just happened.”
“You mean the fake mating and fake family,” the defense lawyer said. “Tell me, Mr. Raferty, are Liam and Riley yours or yours and Holly’s children?”
“They’re ours. We both adopted them,” Mackenzie answered.
“And are they still?” The defense lawyer pulled a packet of papers from his file on the podium. “Your honor this is exhibit C-1 and C-2 revised adoption papers for Liam Raferty and Riley Raferty.”
The judge took the stack of papers from the attorney. He flipped through them then glanced at Mackenzie. Yes, he’d changed out the forms. When Holly didn’t return home and when they found out she’d been in Boston and had taken over PBH, he’d done what he considered was right and prudent in the matter. No way would he leave that bastardized corporation open to taking his kids because Holly got some stick up her ass.
“I changed them,” he said. “But—”
“What about Holly’s rights to her children, Mr. Raferty?”
Mackenzie swallowed the growl building in his throat. “Her rights?”
“Yes. Liam and Riley are her children. You unilaterally cut her off from her children,” the defense attorney said.
“I did what was best. She decided to run off and take over her brother’s position within PBH. I won’t allow my wolf-shifter children to be exposed to the depravity of the Paranormal Bounty Hunters.”
“Because of the alleged abuse you say your family suffered at the hands of the Paranormal Bounty Hunters?” The man checked his notes. “Who is Marjorie Burke? Sorry, Marjorie Burke-Pendergrass?”
“My son Royce’s mother and the mother of Caden Raferty’s daughter; Sage,” Mackenzie answered. He squeezed his folded hands together, trying to keep the rage at bay. He knew this was coming. Knew these questions would be asked of him.
“Caden Raferty, your brother?”
“Yes,” Mackenzie said. “She raped him when he was fifteen.”
“Motion to strike that last statement, Your Honor,” the defense attorney said. “We have no evidence or conviction record to support Mr. Raferty’s accusation.”
“I’ll allow the statement to be stricken from the record.” The judge turned to Mackenzie. “Sir, I know you have issues with the defense, but I can’t allow you to make blanket statements about someone who can’t properly defend themselves.”
Mackenzie grunted. “I understand.”
“Good,” the judge replied. “You may continu
e.”
“Mr. Raferty, where is she now?”
“Dead,” he answered. “She died in prison awaiting trial for statutory rape and a sundry of other charges including the bombing of the Sheriff’s Department that killed five deputies, two inmates, and caused the severe injury to Jase Raferty’s mate, Loraine.”
“Convenient she died in prison; wouldn’t you say?”
“Objection, Your Honor, he’s badgering the witness,” Charles said. “Marjorie, her husband Allan, and the Honorable Judge Harold Malcom were murdered by her pack Alpha Raymond Quincy.”
“Quincy?” The judge cocked a brow. “I remember this. Sad day when Malcom died. Objection is sustained.”
“Thank you, Your Honor,” Charles said.
“Apologies, Your Honor,” the defense attorney said. “Let’s go back a little further shall we?”
Mackenzie tensed. A spark of doom shot through him. “Okay.”
“You were in an accident over thirty years ago, correct?” the attorney asked.
“I wouldn’t call it an accident, per se,” Mackenzie said.
“What would you categorize it as, Mr. Raferty?”
“Attempted murder?”
A gasp rang out in the crowd, and the judge beat his gavel against the hard wood of his bench. “Order in the court. I’ll have order here.”
“And who was the perpetrator of this alleged attempted murder?” the defense attorney asked.
“Raymond Quincy and Marjorie Burke-Pendergrass,” Mackenzie answered.
The defense attorney paused. “Would you call yourself unlucky?”
“Objection, Your Honor! What does past transgression committed against a witness for the state have to do with this case? He’s reaching, Your Honor,” Charles said, exasperation laced his tone.
“Sustained,” the judge said. “You’re going off on a tangent, Mr. Walker.”
“I promise, Your Honor, I’m not,” the defense attorney said. “I have a point to these questions.”
