Chapter 29
Nik
I tug at the hem of my suit jacket as I wait for Mags to finish giving her testimony.
Agent Elgin, who’s been heading our case since day one, assured us that the judge’s office is safe, and she promised that none of us have to testify in person against the cartel that was behind the pack trafficking, but I still worry.
I don’t like that they’re not letting us in the room with Mags while she recounts the events at the Langley house.
Shouldn’t we at least be able to stand behind her for moral support?
Kip and Kaden appear equally distressed. The pack bond practically vibrates with concern, but even without that, I can tell. They’re about to wear twin tracks in the federal courthouse carpet with their pacing, and I think their hands will develop calluses from all that wringing.
“Sit still, guys. She’s only been in there for, like, twenty minutes. It’s going to take at least that long for her to explain what we were doing there in the first place.”
“They’re going to tear her apart on cross-examination,” Kip says. He chews on a fingernail as he sits on a bench in the hallway and stares at the judge’s door. “Agent Elgin said we’d have to tell the truth. All of it. Poor Mags.”
Kaden snorts and leans against the wall. “Does Mags even know what the truth is?”
I smack Kaden upside the head and glare at him. “Look, she knows what’s at stake. Besides, we’ve got immunity for the stuff that we did before DeltaCorp. She has no reason to lie.”
“She’s nervous,” Kip whispers. “I can feel it.”
“We all can, Kip. But she’s not scared, and that’s the important thing. There’s nothing in there that’s threatening to her, so we just have to trust the system. I know that’s a new concept to all of us, but that’s where we’re at.”
“Does that mean if she gets frightened, we can bust in there to protect her?”
“No, Kaden. We tell the bailiffs and let them handle it.”
After I’ve calmed the twins down as much as I possibly can, I go back to monitoring the door.
I really don’t have anything else to do until it’s my turn to testify.
Next are the twins—one at a time—then me, then, hopefully, that’s it.
All of our testimony given remotely, and from a location completely separate from our new home.
We’re as safe as the feds can make us, so now it’s a matter of convincing the judge that we’re reliable witnesses and that our evidence is legit.
I can’t wait for this to be over with. Witness Protection set us up in a nice, small town, where there are plenty of jobs the twins and I can do while still making sure Mags isn’t left alone in the first few months with the baby.
We’ve got a nice house, small, but it suits our needs.
Sizeable nesting room, a couple of small guest rooms, a nursery, and, as Mags requested, both a large shower and an even larger bathtub.
She’s still uncertain about motherhood, but I think she’ll make a great mom. Always takes such good care of the three of us, and Lord knows the twins need extra attention some days. Mags practically raised them already, so if she can handle them, she can handle anything.
Mags’s testimony drags on for what feels like forever.
Her nerves rise and fall, sometimes spiking so high that I want to storm into the room to make sure she’s okay.
Each time that I brace myself for the worst, though, she sends reassurance through the bond.
Defiance. Confidence. She wants to do this, to do the right thing for probably the first time in her life.
When she emerges from the judge’s office, her skin is pale, and she trembles a little. Kip kisses her cheek on his way in, and Kaden and I take seats on either side of her on the bench.
“How was it?” Kaden asks.
“It was … nerve-wracking. Humiliating. The defense really dug into me. They knew a lot about our past, about the heat helper grifting. The judge kept telling them to stop bringing it up because it’s ‘not relevant to the case,’ but then they started throwing legal terms around, and …
” She sighs. “It’s not going to be easy.
The defense is going after our credibility, but I think that we’ll be okay.
We just have to stick to the truth and hope for the best.”
“Did you just say, ‘stick to the truth’?” Kaden casts a dubious glance at Mags. “Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”
She sticks her tongue out at him. “I’m fine. This honesty thing might not be so bad.”
I press the back of my hand to her forehead. “No fever. Alien abduction, maybe?”
Kaden nods sagely. “Pod person. Of course.”
“Very funny, you two.” Mags sighs. “I mean, it’s not like we have a choice. We have to be on the straight and narrow now. If we slip up, we’ll break our deal with the feds and wind up in prison.”
“Do you think you’ll miss playing beta?” I ask, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “I know that taking it easy once the pregnancy progresses is a foreign concept for you, but after that. Will you try to find a job as an omega?”
She blinks. “Doing what?”
“Hon, omegas can have jobs, too. Eventually, that baby will be in school, and you’ll have more free time, or maybe one of us can take care of our kid while you’re at work. Have you thought about what you might want to do?”
Mags rubs her growing bump, her gaze distant.
“I never thought about it. I mean, I figured if I was ever found out, that would be it for me. I’d just be a breeding factory.
Breed and birth, breed and birth. That’s what omegas do, isn’t it?
That’s what all the ones we’ve come across in our former line of work did.
I don’t think I’ve ever met an omega who was gainfully employed, except for unbonded ones. ”
“You can do whatever you want, Mags. I know you didn’t originally want to have kids, and we probably have Dave Donnelly to thank for this little miracle, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to make you have more. Your life is yours. We’re just here to love and support you through it.”
“I can do whatever I want?”
Her voice is barely a whisper, and her eyes widen with wonder.
It never occurred to her that we’d be okay with her working.
Our poor girl thought she’d just have to spit out babies at our leisure.
Before the mate bond joined us, I didn’t know that it was her own mother that poisoned Mags against omegas—against her true self.
I’d hate the woman, but she gave the world Mags, so she couldn’t have been all bad.
“Take your time. Think about it.” I rub her back gently, and I notice a tear in Kaden’s eye. “What’s wrong, Kaden?”
He swallows hard and points at the judge’s door. “Kip. They’re asking him some really private stuff, stuff about Mags and … It’s just hard for him. I wish they had let us testify together.”
“They can’t do that. We could easily corroborate each other’s stories if we were in the same room. This is better for the defense—more likelihood that one of us will fuck up—but it makes sense.”
“I know, Mags, but it doesn’t make it any easier to feel his pain.”
I frown at Kaden. “Is he hiding it from the pack bond? I don’t feel anything off.”
“Yeah.” He nods as his eyes lose their focus. “I think what he’s feeling is too strong to block it from both bonds, so he had to pick one. No offense to the two of you, but he’s probably just more comfortable with me knowing this. Feeling it.”
“Do you think you’ll be okay in there?” Mags asks. “You won’t need to shut us out, will you?”
Kaden shrugs. “I don’t think I will. It all depends on what they ask. I don’t think I had as many strong, private thoughts and feelings around you that he had growing up, so I probably won’t take the cross-examination as personally. To him, though, each question about Mags is like a gut punch.”
Hours pass. Kip emerges, shaky and pale like Mags was, and Kaden goes in.
Kaden’s determination shines through the bond the entire time he’s being questioned.
He doesn’t falter or stutter, doesn’t back down.
He leaves the bond wide open, and now I can hear the questions as they’re asked.
It’s pretty standard stuff, questions about working for the Langleys, about discovering the altered contracts, and, of course, about our previous grifts.
Kaden takes it all with grace and aplomb, though, and the next thing I know, it’s my turn.
The judge’s office is lined with bookshelves filled with legal volumes.
There’s a leather armchair across from his desk, so at least I’ll be comfortable, and they’ve set up cameras and monitors for the attorneys’ questioning.
Harsh lights glare into my eyes as I sit down, and the judge makes introductions for myself and the lawyers.
I expected a man in a long black robe, but he wears a suit much like mine.
The judge is an omega, which surprises me at first, but after a while it makes sense.
He’s not gruff or aggressive, and any time one of the opposing counsel pokes too hard, he quietly redirects them to keep their questions relevant to the case at hand.
With my hands in my lap and my eyes focused on the main camera lens, I answer each question with complete honesty and transparency. There’s a heavy feeling in the air, like our testimony matters more than the other servants that Kaden saved with his quiet heroics.
We were the first to discover the scam. The first to report it.
The first to beat the cartel behind DeltaCorp at their own game.
Sure, there were personal questions thrown in by an alpha defense attorney, but I think he overestimated his intimidation ability when it comes to me.
I’m an alpha, too, so the aggression and posturing don’t bother me.
Water off a duck’s back. He could be as gruff and pushy as he wants; it’s not going to affect me.
I don’t track the time while I’m in that room. I don’t dare look away from the camera to check the clock. Looking away is a sure sign of guilt, and I’m not about to give the defense any ammunition in this case.
Maintain eye contact—or lens contact, in this case. Be direct. Only give details when asked. Do not offer any extra information.
Mags trained us well. By the time my testimony is over, I can almost feel the frustration radiating off the opposing counsel through the monitors. Clenched fists, red faces, the whole works.
They’re pissed, which means we did it.
We fought, and we won.