The Barren Luna

13 - Ginny

I looked at Liam’s determined, young face with an indescribable tenderness. I’d missed him so much.?

“Gamma Bidey, tell the truth . How long have you been the Gamma of the Spruce Mountain pack?”

“Not long, I was assigned the post in January of last year.”

“Gammas are traditionally the protectors of the Luna, aren’t they?” David asked and Liam’s eyes flashed black for a moment before he composed himself.

“Yes,” he managed to say through gritted teeth.

“Well, what a fine job you’ve done,” David was clearly needling him and Liam was losing it.

“Don’t you think I know that!” Liam jumped up, his canines descending, the guilt on his face clear as day for everyone to see.

“Calm down, pup,” David dismissed him with a wave of the hand and Liam sat back down. “I see you are guilt-ridden, but now, under command, tell me what else a young, newly minted gamma such as yourself could have done?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Liam hung his head. “I could have died for her.”

“And you still wouldn’t have saved her, so it would have been pointless,” David said almost cheerfully. Was he trying to make Liam feel better?

“Now, please tell us what happened on July 20?”

Liam blew out a breath and cleared his throat: “The Luna and I were visiting an older pack member, Mrs. Hemsworth, as part of the Luna’s initiative to provide a sense of family to those without any. Normally, we’d spend the entire afternoon with her. That day, however, the Luna started clutching her stomach and demanded that I take her to the pack house immediately. While we were in the car, she seemed to be in unbearable pain. I could just feel it radiating off of her, together with despair, and I began to suspect that it was due to her mate betraying her.”

“What made you jump to that conclusion?”

“I knew that she had collapsed from the pain during Miss Rogers’ first heat, and had to be sedated in the hospital for the second, so it wasn’t much of a leap to conclude that someone who cheated on their mate with one excuse might soon find another,” Liam said and bravely met the gaze of all the wolves in the first row.

“You said that the Luna was in the hospital for Miss Rogers’ second heat? When was that?”

“She was, I was the one who picked her up when she was discharged. It was two weeks before that day at Mrs. Hemsworth’s.”

“So it was physically impossible for Miss Rogers to be in heat again?”

“That’s right.”

“What happened then?”

“We arrived at the pack house, where a guard informed us that the Alpha was in his office. I basically had to half drag, half carry the Luna up the stairs since she was in no condition to walk,” Liam recounted with a faraway look in his eyes. “The whole way up, I kept praying, please let it be a fluke, please let it not be true , but when we opened his office door, we saw the Alpha standing next to Miss Rogers, both of them disheveled and out of breath. He was zipping his pants up, and she was tucking her shirt back in. It was pretty clear what had happened. The room reeked of sex,” Liam said, his disgust evident on his features.

I was afraid to look at the Lunas in the audience this time, but I did. Instead of pity, most of their eyes held gentle compassion. Together with Liam’s prayer, which I didn’t know about until today, it soothed something inside me, a part of me which believed that no one cared about the pain that I went through. A part that would maybe always think I was all alone in the world.

“What happened then, Gamma Bidey? What did your Luna say to Alpha Giles?”

“She said nothing. She glared at them in disgust and we left. She then asked me to get her more poppy seed tincture syringes.”

“Why do you think she asked that?”

“I believe she was aware that this was only the beginning of their dalliance.”

“And was she right?”

“Yes, over the following two months, I’d had to repeatedly refill her supplies.”

“I see. So all of those were non-sanctioned trysts. Let’s jump ahead. What can you tell us about the Luna’s state when you visited her in the dungeon with the Beta’s mate?”

Liam briefly closed his eyes, “She was emaciated, her once long hair looked like it had been chopped off with an axe, and her wolf was completely absent, I could not feel her at all.”

“What did the Luna tell you at your visit?”

“She told both Lucy and me not to visit her anymore so that we wouldn’t endanger our lives.”

“So she wasn’t pleading for help or asking you to find solutions to her problem?”

“No, I don’t think she thought that was our job to do so, nor do I think she believed a solution existed at that point. All she worried about was keeping her remaining friends safe.”

“Would you say that is in line with everything you know about your Luna’s character?”

“Absolutely, Luna Ginny is the best, kindest, most selfless person I’ve ever met in my life,” Liam puffed his chest out as he was saying this, and David smiled at me proudly, or so it seemed through my tear-filled eyes.

“Thank you, Gamma Bidey, you may step down.”

“The Crown calls Robert Glover to the stand,” John called the next witness, and a male I barely recognized as one of the dungeon guards walked into the courtroom.

“ Tell the truth ,” David commanded the male, who shuddered.

“Mr. Glover, can you describe your guard duties in the period between September and Christmas Day last year?”

“I was part of a roster of guards assigned to the dungeon while Luna Regina was being detained in it.”

“What were your standing orders regarding the prisoner?”

The guard looked a bit uncomfortable, “We were ordered not to have the Luna’s cell cleaned, and she was only to be given bread and water during her stay.”

“Were you ever directly given any reason for her imprisonment or an explanation for the treatment she was being subjected to?”

“Not directly.”

“But indirectly?” John trailed off.

“Former Luna Catherine had been going around the pack, telling everyone that Luna Regina had tried murdering the pack’s heir,” he said and all I could think was that bitch .

“Did you believe that?”

“At first, I didn’t.”

“Why not?”

“Luna Regina didn’t seem the type. She was always so nice and kind.”

“But then?”

“I figured no male would keep his mate in the dungeon for three months without good reason,” he shrugged as if it was the most obvious explanation in the world.

“Wow, I – okay. Can you describe to us the events that transpired on September 10, the first night the Luna was imprisoned?”

“Yes. The King assembled us four guards, explained our duties, and instructed me and Daniel Mitchell, another guard, to go to the home of a pack member, Jonathan Wilkes, get his live-in partner, Dorothy Evans, and bring her to the dungeon.”

“Did you have any idea why?”

“None whatsoever.”

“Who was Miss Evans to the Luna?”

“I think she was her old nanny or something like that. She moved to our pack together with the Luna, and they were always together.”

“What did the Alpha do with Miss Evans?”

“He told the Luna that he would take what was most precious to her. She begged and pleaded with him not to do it,” he said and I shut my eyes, suddenly transported back to the dark, musty dungeon. I could almost feel the unfinished concrete under my knees.

“Are you alright, Gina?” I heard David’s smooth voice in my head and my eyes shot open and found his. He was looking at me with concern.

I mind-linked back: “To be honest, I’m struggling with this part, but it's important for her story to be heard.”

“If, at any time, you want to take a break, let me know. I’ll keep the mind link open for you.”

I nodded in thanks and we both refocused on the guard’s testimony.

“... The Alpha then commanded the Luna not to look away,” shocked gasps and hushed conversations could be heard throughout the courtroom and the guard himself looked uneasy at the idea of an Alpha using his power to command on his mate. David banged the gavel once and everyone stilled.

“Please, go on.”

“As I was saying, the Alpha commanded the Luna to watch as he ripped Miss Evans’ throat out, and the Luna then screamed until she fainted.”

I swallowed the bile that rose up and wanted out. They needed to hear this, for Dotty.

“Please ask him about Dorothy’s pendant, what they did with it,” I mind-linked David quickly.

“John, if I may,” David interjected. “Mr. Glover, I was told Miss Evans was wearing a pendant that night, do you have any idea what happened to it?”

“No, sir. We buried her behind the pack house in the condition she died in, so if she had it on, it was buried with her.”

My Dotty wasn’t even given proper burial rites. Her body hadn’t been washed or shrouded in green sheets to be given back to the earth in a beautiful ceremony. There was no stopping the tears now. I felt them flowing down my neck and didn’t make a move to wipe them off.

“One more question, and then we’ll reconvene tomorrow,” David said after glancing at me.

“Based on the events that you just described, is it your testimony that the late Alpha Henry Giles murdered an innocent pack member solely out of revenge, using the Alpha command on his mate in the process?” John asked.

“Yes, it is.”

Lucy ran over to me as soon as court was adjourned, and led me outside. We found a bathroom, where I cried and cried while she held me tightly, stroking my hair and murmuring comfortingly like the mom that she was. An hour later, with the reassurance that I would, indeed, be fine, I forced her to go eat dinner with her mate while I went outside to clear my head.

I walked to the small pond on the palace grounds that I had discovered on my walk two days ago. I wished Dotty could see it. Most things I’d seen or experienced since I’d arrived here were tinged with the sad realization that she would never see them or hear about them from me.

I sat down on the grass and hugged my knees tightly. The white wolf who watched over me soon came to my side and cuddled up to me. Feeling the soft white fur under my hands brought me great comfort and we sat in silence until the stars came out.

The next day, I felt much less anxiety at the thought of the proceedings. I figured the worst part was over, and now I also had a much better sense of what to expect. The assembled Alphas and Lunas (as well as the Betas) no longer felt like my enemies. Instead, it now felt vital that they be told my story, Dotty’s story.

Again, I dressed in a simple black dress with the same shoes and pendant as yesterday. Might as well not complicate things for myself. David smiled warmly at me as he took in my appearance, nodding in what seemed like approval. Perhaps I’d nailed the ideal court attire on my second try.

As soon as the clock struck 9, John called the first witness, “The Crown calls Daniel Mitchell to the stand,” he said and I recognized the name from the other guard’s testimony.

“ Tell the truth ,” David commanded before John began questioning the male.

“Mr. Mitchell, you were one of the guards assigned to the dungeon during Luna Regina’s stay there?”

“That is correct.”

“Can you tell us about the visitors who came to see her during your shifts?”

“Well, I -” he paused.

“Tell us,” John prompted.

“The late Alpha, Henry Giles, Hannah Rogers, Julius Crawley, and the former Luna, Catherine Giles.”

“Now, were all of these visits authorized?”

“Only the Alpha was allowed to visit the Luna.”

“How come all these other wolves were let in, then?”

“I - ” he tried keeping the truth in but the command was far stronger than he was. “Julius was a friend, so I let him in as a favor. And the former Luna bribed me,” he said and looked like he would collapse.

I felt my face contort into a snarl, which I quickly stifled. I glanced around to see if anyone noticed and saw that David was looking at me, amused.

“So you left those visitors unattended in the dungeon with the Luna and don’t know what was being discussed?”

“Yes,” he gasped, and I worried something else was happening to him other than the command.

“What was the aftermath of those visits?”

“Hannah and Julius cut the Luna up pretty badly, and then the Alpha was there, yelling at them and beating Julius bloody. Then he brought in an Omega to clean the Luna's wounds and apply some salve to prevent scarring, I don’t know if it helped.” It didn't, I thought bitterly. “She also tried fixing the Luna up a bit. Then the Alpha used his claws to cut a lot of the Luna’s hair off since the Omega complained she couldn't untangle it,” he said and my hand unconsciously went to my new pixie cut.

The guard was now red in the face, “Luckily, the Luna was out for most of what was happening to her in the dungeon.”

“Why is that?” John inquired.

“Well, first, she was detoxing from whatever she was on before, and - ”

“How do you know she was detoxing?”

“I’d seen it before, sir, with my brother, and it ain’t pretty. That’s how I knew what was happening to her. And later, she just sat there, completely unresponsive, when she wasn’t writhing in pain from the two of them doin’ it. Sorry, Luna,” he grimaced and if he suddenly remembered I was there. Sweat was pouring down his brow, and he had difficulty breathing.

“And what happened after Catherine Giles visited her?”

“She had a split lip, and there was some dried blood on the floor. I don’t know what happened exactly.”

“Did you inform anyone of this?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I didn’t want to be punished.”

“I see. You are dismissed.”

The guard suddenly gasped and clutched his throat before taking in a deep breath, as if he had been choked by a huge hand that suddenly decided to let him go. He shot me another apologetic look and scurried out of the courtroom.

“The Crown now calls former Luna Catherine Giles to the stand,“ David’s voice boomed across the courtroom, and my blood froze.

My former mother-in-law slowly made her way towards the King, dressed all in black like the consummate grieving mother. Now that I knew her son had effectively banished her from the pack prior to his death, I had to wonder how much she was actually grieving him and how much she simply enjoyed being the center of attention. I felt mean for thinking that about a mother who lost her son, but the woman was a snake and I wouldn’t put anything past her.

“ Tell the truth ,” David commanded her, and she pursed her lips together disapprovingly.

“Ms. Giles,” David addressed her, and knowing Catherine, she minded him not using her title. However, there was nothing she could say or do about it, since he was literally our King.

“Can you tell us a little bit about your former daughter-in-law, Luna Regina Haines?” So many words in that sentence were shots fired at Catherine’s pride.

“Well, she and my late son Henry, God rest his soul,” she started sniffling but David’s face remained impassive, “were mated about five years ago. As soon as he brought her to our pack, I - ” she stuttered, and I hoped to God it was the command preventing her from lying, “I always got the feeling she thought she was better than anyone else,” she finally found a way to express her opinion without technically lying.

“I’m sorry for your loss. What prompted that impression?”

“Thank you. I don’t – I’m not sure. It was her general demeanor.”

“Hm. And did you two have a good relationship?”

“No. It was cold at best.”

“Who was the one causing the tension in the relationship?”

Catherine just sat there with her mouth pursed, childishly refusing to answer.

“Ms. Giles, a she-wolf of your age and rank should know how unhealthy it is for the body to receive several consecutive commands,” David warned.

“Alright! I was the one always criticizing her and reprimanding her for minor things. But she was weird! She didn’t care about what the pack thought, and seemed content to never bear my son an heir! My son was suffering, and his reputation was suffering, and all she cared about was her recipes and her friends. I wanted grandpups, I wanted an heir for my son, and now he is dead in the ground, and she is the one that killed him!” she pointed a shriveled, accusing finger at me. “I demand the worst punishment available for her, mate killer!”

By some miracle, I remained composed and held her gaze without showing any of the turmoil I felt. She wasn’t wrong – he was dead because of me, and I was a mate killer. I really didn’t see any way around that fact.

“The punishment of any defendant in the Royal Court is not for you to determine, Ms. Giles. Now, back to the issue of your late son. Were you aware that he was planning to take a concubine?”

“I was the one who suggested it! His barren mate wasn’t going to get pregnant any time soon, someone had to do something about it.”

“What makes you think Luna Regina was the barren one?”

Her eye twitched. “Well, I felt that it couldn’t have been my son.”

“May I remind you that your son failed to impregnate two she-wolves, one of whom got pregnant by her stepbrother on their first attempt?”

Catherine’s eyes flashed black and her claws dug into the armrest. I didn’t know what she had hoped to achieve with her testimony, but I was sure this wasn't it.

“It’s fine if you don’t answer that. I have another question for you. You yourself only gave birth once, five years into your mating, so how did your situation differ from Luna Regina’s?” the question delivered the final nail in her coffin. She lifted her chin in defiance but remained silent.

“ Respond ,” he roared, and blood started trickling from her nose.

“It didn’t. My situation was no different. I just hated her so much, and I was jealous of her because she took my son and my title,” she said, defeated.

“What happened when you visited her in the dungeon?”

“I backhanded her and split her lip open with my ring. I wish I could have done worse, but I didn’t want to hurt my son,” she recited in a monotone voice, her eyes empty and the blood still dripping from her left nostril.

Everyone looked at her true, evil face with disgust. The King dismissed her and nodded at a guard to escort her out. I didn’t care whether she got medical assistance or not.

The next witness was an Omega whose name I learned was Marla. She testified about the filth I was forced to live in in the dungeon, how Liam and Lucy brought her in to clean up, how she tended to my wounds, and how horrific they were. She also testified that, at some point, I had stopped eating, and she was tasked with force-feeding me mashed food. I honestly didn’t even remember that, nor did I recognize her.

Then they called Jessie to the stand, and she described what it was like when Henry brought me home, the house arrest, his behaving like we were a loving couple while I was scared out of my mind. She told the Court about how I threw myself out of the window and how Henry commanded me not to hurt myself. Everyone gasped at the fact that he had, once more, commanded me, but I was numb at this point.

Before leaving the stand, Jessie added that she had heard Henry telling me something about his other command, but explained that she didn’t know what that had been about. She just couldn't stop thinking about it, since it proved to her that he had commanded me before.

When we adjourned for the day, I felt utterly drained. I just wanted to go to bed and not mull over everything I'd heard today. I also didn’t want to think about the fact that tomorrow would be the last day of the trial, the day on which I would probably be called up to testify, after which the gathered pack leaders would decide my fate.