CAYDEN
“What? No!”
“Are they fucking kidding?”
“This can’t be real!”
“I’m going to fucking get their heads!”
The outraged voices of my brothers mix with the cracking of my heart as it drops the broken pieces into my stomach.
Aiden growls in my head, making it hard for me to think straight.
This can’t be real.
They can’t be winning.
They can’t take her away from us.
‘That’s right,’ Aiden growls. ‘Mate is only ours.’
I clench my teeth, wanting to subdue the pain streaming from my heart as Hendrick blocks me from storming forward to go on the rampage, Aiden wants me to go on.
“Stop being reasonable for once and let me through,” I growl, but he shifts on his feet, reinforcing his stand against me. “How can you be calm in such a moment? Do you even love her?”
“Please, Cayden! We have to remain calm! Or we will lose her and the pups,” he says calmly, wanting to get reason to take over in my mind.
My gaze moves to my mate, and I panic as I suddenly cannot seem to feel her anymore, making me fear that they already severed the bond.
But that’s impossible.
I know that they are strong and that it takes them nothing to remove a bond even between fated mates, but even in our situation it would imply a little bit of effort to separate our souls.
Just as I’m about to catapult Hendrick into the wall at seeing a guard nearing Artemisia and grabbing her arm, I halt.
Artemisia turns towards me slightly before looking at the guard defiantly.
Her gaze is completely different, her face distorted by disgust.
An expression that I never saw on her gentle face.
I want to go to her, snatch her away and deal with the consequences later, but something holds me back, glueing me to the ground.
“No!” She says loudly, fighting against the second guard who steps up to escort her out of the courtroom. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I want to go home.”
I shield my eyes automatically as a lilac light explodes from where she is standing. At first, I worry about it hurting her but in the next moment, the guards standing around her as well as her brother, who was running towards her from the stand he was in, get knocked off their feet by a shockwave that Artemisia seems to have generated.
“You have to redo it!” She screams up at the judges, who look at her shocked. “Make it right this time!”
The judge in the middle regains his composure fast, summoning more guards, but she keeps them from getting to her by erecting a protective shield around her.
“Leave me alone!” She shrieks while we watch her paralysed.
Finnegan is the first to move, tackling one of the guards who are trying to get to her by stabbing the shield with their weapons.
“Stop! You will hurt her!” Matthew is the next to charge against them, Logan following close.
I still can’t believe my eyes as I see the fight unfold in front of me while Artemisia continues to protest against the verdict.
Taking a moment to concentrate on her voice, I recognize it to be hers clearly, but still, the tone is very different, making me think that it isn’t her who is speaking.
“Is it her wolf controlling her?” Hendrick asks as if he is taking the words off my tongue as we stare incredulously. “What is she doing? Have you ever seen anything like this?”
I shake my head, my gaze still fixed on her. “Not seen. I just read about it.”
“What the f-” he is about to counter as the judge on the right, who hadn’t reacted to anything until now, skyrockets out of his seat.
“ENOUGH!” His voice booms through the court, making everyone halt in their movements to look up at him. “Luna Blackwood, we will discuss the verdict but you must return to your stand and lower the protective shield.”
Artemisia glares up at him, balling her fists as she keeps her shield up, ignoring his orders.
“Luna Blackwood, lower the shield,” he repeats a tad louder, making me take a step forward.
‘Lower the shield, babe.’ I try to reach her through the mind-link but she doesn’t seem to react to it. ‘Please, everything will be alright.’
Everyone stares at her expectantly as she continues the stare-off with the judge.
I see Finnegan crouch down, and as he starts talking to her in a hushed tone, she suddenly deviates her gaze to look at him. He smiles up at her and after something else he says to her, she finally lets her shield disappear.
Artemisia has already turned around and is walking back to her stand when Finnegan moves to reach her before she can topple to the ground as she faints practically in his arms.
A gasp resounds in the courtroom and the judge moves his gaze onto Artemisia’s brother who just managed to get back on his feet. He is already storming towards Finnegan, screaming like a madman. “Get your hands off my sister. Did you hear what he said? She is not your mate anymore.”
I blend out his words easily as my gaze is set on the judge who is still standing, assessing the situation around him. “This is everything we wanted to see,” he finally says, making Giorgio look up at him in shock.
“What? But, Your Honor…”
The judge shakes his head slowly, putting a finger on his lips. “We were sure that there must have been something more behind this mess, and from the surprised expressions on her mate’s face, but only grins and annoyance on yours…” He moves his hand to point towards Ricky-boy, “… and Alpha Saviano’s face, we are now convinced that your fight for your sister is just a farce to get her strength back to your pack and exploit her. And eventually also her offspring.”
A murmuring goes through the crowd as Giorgio stutters, wanting to explain himself. My chest heaves as my heartbeat increases its pace as I watch him struggle to get a coherent justification out.
The judge stares at him for a moment before turning to me. A faint smile spreads on his lips as he nods. “Alpha Blackwood, you may take your mate back home.”