His Wolf (Wolf of My Heart) (21 page)

Counselor Ainsworth frowned and tapped his fingers on the table. "May I remind you that we've heard her recorded confession?"

"If you've heard it, then you know she was unaware of the Codex at the time she bit Mr. Thorne. She is pleading not guilty to
'knowingly'
breaking the aforementioned rule."

"Very well.
Her plea is noted. Please describe the details of the event."

"In order to properly do that, I'll have to go back to the night of Miss
Hannigan's
abduction, just over eighteen months ago." Referring to his notes, Norris told the judges about not only my capture and release, but what had happened when the three
Weres
broke into Erik's cabin. Since he knew every detail of my kidnapping and The Bite, I knew
DeLuca
and Crane had done a great job of filling him in.

"In conclusion, Miss
Hannigan
had no mentor at the time of her own brutal turning and was therefore oblivious to the consequences of deliberately creating a werewolf. She acted out of desperation and a need for self-preservation when she bit and turned Mr. Thorne."

Counselor
Zhong
Kang
took the floor. "As you well know, Representative Norris, it is the responsibility of every supernatural being to familiarize themselves with the laws of the preternatural world. Therefore, ignorance of them is not an acceptable excuse for breaking a rule, especially one as critical as this one."

Though Norris clearly didn't like that answer, Erik jumped to his feet before any objections were voiced.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa."

DeLuca
frantically waved his hands to get my guy's attention and then tried motioning for him to sit down and shut up.

Didn't work.

"Are you implying that all victims of preternatural crimes that result in supernatural changes automatically get a how-to-act book in the mail?" Erik asked.
"Because Bronte didn't get hers."

"No such document exists," said Counselor
Vladislav
, speaking with a thick Russian accent.

"Then maybe you need to print one up. Because without it, innocent victims like Bronte don't have a clue what they're supposed to do."

"Mr. Thorne, please let me handle this," said Norris.

I grabbed Erik's hand and yanked on it, making him sit even though I appreciated his coming to my defense.

"This is bullshit," he said, loud enough to everyone to hear.

Crane quickly shushed him.

Norris cleared his throat. "Excuse Mr. Thorne for speaking out of turn, but he does have a point. Steven Yarbrough bit Miss
Hannigan
in anger and then left her to work through the trauma that resulted. She was neither the first nor the last he abandoned in this way."

"We're well aware of Yarbrough's crimes," said Counselor
Martínez
Botella
. He sounded a little bored. "That's why he's now in prison."

Norris nodded.
"Exactly.
It is our opinion that Miss
Hannigan's
unwittingly breaking a rule of the Codex is a direct result of Yarbrough's reckless behavior. It is also our opinion that the right person is already paying for the crime, which means she should be absolved of it."

"No!" Counselor
Theudebald
yelled, slapping his hand on the table. "This is outrageous. Werewolves are a dangerous species with no regard for human or
preter
life. We cannot allow their creation under any circumstances. Miss
Hannigan
must be punished for her sins."

So much for fair judges.
Clearly this dude had prejudices that went way
way
back.

Lucas Norris's face turned a bright shade of red. He opened his mouth to retort, but was cut off by Counselor Ainsworth. "That will be enough, Counselor
Theudebald
." Ainsworth directed his gaze toward us. "Excuse that outburst. The Counselor doesn't speak for all of us. For the most part, we are aware of past fallacies regarding werewolves as a species."

Sounding better.

"However, having said that, I must agree that Miss
Hannigan
should face the consequences of her actions, whether they were done in innocence or not. That's true in the human legal system, isn't it? Aren't drivers still ticketed for speeding even if they're unaware of the legal limit?"

"You're comparing this to a speeding ticket?" Erik blurted.

"By no means.
I'm simply saying that if we allow this incident to slip by without taking a stand, we'll be setting a dangerous precedent. Where will it end? As for you, Mr. Thorne, your crudity and disrespect for these proceedings
leads
me to believe that you've already assumed all the negative traits of the werewolf species and would, therefore, benefit from the cure."

I gasped. Erik jumped to his feet again.

The conference room door burst open, slamming loudly against the wall.

Chapter Fifteen

A ravishing woman with flame-colored curls and flashing green eyes joined us. All the males at the table instantly riveted their gazes to her. I didn't blame them. I was just as stunned.

Dressed in a forest green jacket with satin trim and a short tight skirt split to the hip, she sashayed to the front of the room on five-inch heels and flashed a smile that could easily have brought a world of men to their knees, much less the ones in the room. I realized her eyes exactly matched her outfit, and glanced at Erik to see if he was drooling yet. He wasn't drooling. Actually…he wasn't even breathing.

"Excuse me, ma'am," said
DeLuca
, half rising from his chair. "This room is reserved."

"I know." She smiled a little wider. Her porcelain skin almost had a glow to it. As for those crimson lips--I'd never have believed someone with that color hair would look that good in any shade of red.

Walking straight to the camera filming our table, she pivoted to face it.
"Hello, boys.
Look who's here."

The five judges each responded differently, but all reactions were violent and startling. To the one, they began sputtering. It was Counselor Ainsworth who found his tongue first.
"Goddess Danu.
We are honored by your visit."

I nearly fainted. Oh. My.
God.
He had to be mistaken.
Just had to.

Erik grabbed my hand so tightly my fingers instantly went numb.
DeLuca
and Crane exchanged shocked glances. Norris simply looked baffled.

"Cut the crap, Broderick. Do I understand correctly that's you've charged a
Tuatha
de
Dannan
with a crime of some sort?"

"Well, she, um, broke one of our, um, laws. Rule 871 of the 1792 Codex to Eliminate the Propagation of Dangerous Species, to be exact."

"That old thing is still around? Get with the times, guys. You should've shredded that tome centuries ago." She sighed.  "But that's just me. Now why wasn't I informed of this proceeding…?"

The Counselors exchanged uneasy looks. "We know how busy you are
and
--"

Danu's raised hand stopped them. "I'm always available when it comes to my children. As for Rule 871, I hope you're not still harping about Bronte's wolf status. It's not her fault she was bitten."

She knew my name!

"I think you're all aware that my descendants are often shifters," Danu continued. "And though
Sidhe
is the usual form they take, they certainly aren't limited to that. She was able to shift without the bite. She simply didn't know it yet."

"But we're not talking about abilities Miss
Hannigan
inherited from you," ventured Counselor
Theudebald
.

I decided he was either brave or stupid. I was going with stupid.

"Her shifting is still acceptable,
Merov
. I assume three forms, myself. And since when have my descendants been under your jurisdiction, anyway? I'm quite sure the Olympian Assembly will be interested to learn you've put a
Tuatha
on trial and without so much as an e-mail to tell us. Why, if Bronte hadn't summoned me last night, I might not have found out what was going down."

Holy
freakin
' crap! She'd heard me begging for help. I looked at Erik in astonishment. He was obviously just as surprised.

"She's not on trial for shifting. She's on trial because she created a werewolf. Since he isn't under your protection, we believed we had just cause to--"

Danu waved her hand once through the air to shut him up and glance over at us.
"This young man?"
She pointed to Erik.

"Yes," said Counselor
Theudebald
.

"Hm.
Do what you have to do with the wolf and leave my child out of it."

I gasped and leapt to my feet. "But he's my life mate!"

Danu arched an eyebrow at me.
"Really?"
Her gaze shifted to Erik, who'd flushed as red as her lipstick. "Is this true?"

Keeping my back to her, I mouthed the word "lie."

Erik got it.
"Yeah.
I mean, yes, ma'am." He watched me drop into my seat again. "Well, we've talked about the possibility, anyway. Neither of us
were
sure there could be such a thing."

I glared at him.
Of all times to be honest…

One of the Counselors
snorted,
a rather undignified sound.
"A lie of convenience.
He obviously doesn’t know what he's talking about."

Danu walked over to us and touched my cheek, which suddenly tingled where her skin brushed mine. Then she touched Erik's. I saw it glow briefly and wondered if mine had, too. "Actually, he does."

Huh?

"They're mates, though not in the strictest sense. They haven't consummated."

Had she really just told the room that we hadn't had sex yet? And who cared anyway? Our connection was real! I'm sure my smile lit up the place. As for Erik, he seemed a little dazed. Did that mean he'd only been okay with the idea when it was nothing more than a fairy tale?

"You're interfering, Goddess, and you know it," snarled Counselor
Vladislav
.

"Oh, get over yourself,
Razvan
."

"He has a point," said the unflappable Counselor
Martínez-Botella
. "We have authority over beings who possibly threaten our existence. Erik Thorne falls into that category, life mate or not."

Danu got very still and then turned on her heel and strode back to the camera. "Are you saying that I now have a say in the sentencing of beings that are a threat to
Tuatha
?"