Ava was busy arguing with the nurse that she was fine. A good night’s sleep was all she needed to heal her ankle. She was a werewolf damn it, she refuse to be confined to the hospital bed when she was perfectly fit.
“Ava!” Ava looked away from the nurse to see her sister running towards her bedside.
“Gabby?” Gabrielle hugged her tightly and the nurse excused herself to give the sisters alone time.
“Gabby, what are you doing here?” Ava was very confused. When Adrian said he would find a solution to the matter, she hadn’t thought he meant telling Gabrielle.
“Adrian told me everything. How are you feeling now?”
“Better. I want to start going home already. It will heal before tomorrow morning so I don’t want to stay here any longer than I need to. Where are Mom and Dad? Do they know?” Ava asked carefully. She wanted to know how much Gabrielle knew without directly asking her. Why didn’t Adrian tell her his plan?
“No. They are at the pack house currently according to Adrian. They are deciding on Cynthia’s punishment with the Alpha. They’ll be here soon. Don’t worry. You should continue to rest you must have been quite shocked.”
“Cynthia? They’ve caught her already? I assumed she’d have run off already not hung around to be apprehended.” So Adrian had told her about Cynthia.
“Oh no, she wanted to see me first.” Gabrielle watched her face a little too intently like she was looking for something.
Ava pulled on her best expression of confusion while her pulse hammered away. “Why would she do that? Did she go to ask you to pardon her?”
“No, she wanted to tell me about you and Adrian.”
Ava raised an eyebrow as if to ask why.
She knew Gabrielle was watching her for any tell. A slip-up and she would be done for. “She shelved her escape plans to run and tell you about Adrian rescuing me? That was incredibly stupid of her. I know we don’t really get along but is it so shocking that Adrian might want to help his future Luna’s sister?”
Gabrielle laughed. Then she smiled and that look of suspicion was gone replaced by a jovial one. “That’s what I thought too. Our gain, her loss. I guess.”
“I guess.”
********
Adrian wanted to sleep for an extended period of time.
“We should interrogate her properly to ascertain her motive for doing this.” His father said his voice was low and contemplative.
“What is there to ascertain? She attacked my daughter. The evidence is right here in front of us. If she is pardoned, what if she comes after Ava again and this time no one is there to help her?” Marie Blackwas in rare form today and looked like she was out for blood.
Adrian didn’t think he’d ever seen her so angry. So angry that when he’d called to inform them about the situation, she’d refused to go to see Ava until she had seen her attacker punished.
“Marie.” Arthur patted her hand trying to calm her down but she just shrugged off his hand.
“Marie. This is the procedure. We need to ensure she is guilty before–” Alpha Sean tried placating Marie.
Adrian knew if it had been Arthur who had raised his voice like that to the Alpha, he would have been cautioned but his dad seemed to have a softer spot for Ava’s mother.
Maybe because she had been good friends with his mother before her passing or maybe it was because of all the food she fed him during the dinners they had and the ones she sent to their house every time she could.
“Alpha. I know you are trying to be unbiased because you know us but this is unfair. As the Beta female of this pack, I won’t stand for it. I request an immediate sentencing.”
“I second her opinion, Father.” Adrian couldn’t take the chance of Cynthia opening her mouth while she was being interrogated. It was selfish to push for a sentencing this quickly but for attacking Ava, she would get exactly what she deserved and Adrian didn’t feel even a modicum of guilt for doing this.
The Blacks looked surprised by his steel tone, even his dad looked at him. Right. They thought he still hated Ava.
So you don’t hate her anymore. Ryan said.
Adrian ignored him.
“We need to set a precedent so this doesn’t happen again but we should still be lenient as she is a first-time offender. A child really.”
Alpha Sean’s eyebrow rose but he looked intrigued. “So what would you suggest we do, Adrian?”
“The standard punishment is an exile from the pack. That is for her to be turned into a rogue. Instead of doing that, we can send her to our furthermore allies, the Wolverine pack in Antarctica, the south pole. There she can atone for her crimes and return to the pack after the Alpha has deemed her repentant enough.”
The Alpha at that point would be Adrian and he would never deem her repentant enough. She would live out her days in that cold unforgiving terrain.
Marie seemed mollified. It wasn’t the rogue sentence she had been pushing for but it was still pretty good. Alpha Sean looked contemplative too. He didn’t want to give her the maximum sentence simply because it was Ava she attacked so this solution was probably the best one he could find.
Adrian knew they would go for it even before he had spoken. He had thought it all out, said just the right words when informing her parents about the situation, and nudged the conversation in the right direction carefully.
When his father agreed, he kept a straight face, bowing all the while he could feel Arthur Black looking at him. The man had always been too smart for his own good but he wouldn’t be able to find out the whole truth or do anything about it either.
He had protected Ava from Cynthia but how could he protect himself from her?
The last person Adrian thought he would see first thing in the following morning was Ava.
“Sorry, I needed to see you. Can I come in?” She sounded a little bit nervous.