Chapter 477: Trial
It didn’t take long for everyone to hear about the trial that was set to take place regarding Violet’s actions.
The council chambers filled up the next day with people from all over the pack. Each row of chairs in the tall cylindrical room was filled. There were even pack members standing on the periphery of the circular floor below where Violet would be led out to stand before them all and defend her actions.
Those who couldn’t fit in the chambers were lining the staircase and hallway outside, hoping to receive word of everything as it happened with an elaborate game of telephone. Thankfully lycan hearing was as good as it was.
Graeme sighed heavily from his place next to the elders he had appointed who would lead the trial process. In addition to Sylvia and Charlotte, he had recently appointed Maggie as his third elder. It was a comfort knowing that these three females whom he respected beyond measure would at least be those to lead, but the culmination of all of this with Violet twisted uncomfortably in the pit of his stomach like he was the one about to be put on trial.
This was the burden of an Alpha who deeply empathized with all members of the pack. He shared in their shortcomings and failures. He grieved for them while having to deliver punishment. Graeme knew his parents had gone through this as well, but it was not something he was used to, and the thread that he and August had woven through all of them by their partnership—the unity the whole pack now all felt—made this even more difficult.
Violet deserved this—it had been coming, of course. The last defiant act she pulled in front of Beta Ranier the previous day was the tipping point in Graeme’s mind even if others believed she had deserved this much sooner. But he desperately wished she had chosen a different course for her behavior.
Graeme didn’t want her to have to go through this. It was going to be rough on her—facing the scrutiny of the whole pack. It was like the weight of all of those who were meant to protect you and provide you with the cloak of love and belonging bearing down heavily on your heart and condemning you. There was no one else in the world that Violet had other than those who were going to be judging her today.
In truth, he also felt an undeniable guilt. He had helped set off this series of events years ago when he took Violet as a temporary partner whilst knowing that she wasn’t his mate. Had he not mated with her and produced an heir, had he not given her the hope that she could indeed be by his side to lead the pack one day as their Luna, then they would not be here right now.
In his heart, it was impossible to untangle his own responsibility in this from hers. He had been emotionally weak at an age when he was meant to be strong and clear-headed, preparing to take the reins of the pack’s leadership and rise as Alpha. The standards for his behavior were higher than those for everyone else. There should not have been a time when he was so desperate to find comfort and love in someone else’s arms that he set aside his greater responsibility to the future of the pack.
It was simply inexcusable. And this was the result. This was on him just as much as it was on Violet.
The process for trials of this kind consisted of the charges and evidence being presented by the elders. If there were witnesses to hear from, they were given the floor. But it was not nearly as organized as one would find in the human justice system of the country just outside their pack’s borders. There was not a jury of peers. There was not an attorney representing the defendant. The individual on trial spoke on their own behalf and called for their own witnesses—sometimes even at the last minute. If a pack member did not show up who could theoretically support their case, they were sought out when the moment arose.
Truth was also easier to discern for lycans and alyko alike. Alyko were rarely given positions of influence—very, very rarely in fact—but their ability to see the Veiled allowed them a unique perspective on these kinds of situations. Lies had a signature just as emotions did, and oftentimes they were entangled with emotion. People lie for different emotional reasons—fear, guilt, hatred, jealousy, but also love, care, and protection—and alyko could witness all of it if they opened themselves to it.
While lycans did not have sight of the Veiled, they had potential for heightened awareness of emotional states when tapping in to their other senses, particularly their sense of smell. Thanks to the wolf dominant part of their DNA, lycans had a superior olfactory system that allowed them to scent a great deal more than what they would otherwise be able to.
The trouble was distinguishing those scents from all of the others that were present in a given environment, particularly if many people were gathered as was the case now. Many lycans learned to shut that scent part of their awareness off if only to maintain their own sanity, only using it when they were closely scrutinizing someone or something. It was a gift as much as it was a curse.
The fact that Graeme had an alyko as one of his elders was quite extraordinary—almost as extraordinary as an alyko Luna—and it would have an interesting bearing on the way the trial progressed. It was possible that Maggie would know when to steer questions in a different direction or when to press Violet for more information.
Maggie had never truly flexed her abilities in the pack—not that she ever would ’flex’ in the sense of showing off or lifting herself above others. But she had never revealed the true extent of what she was capable of just as no other alyko had.
For one, alyko were often modest with what they were capable of doing, not wanting to draw attention to themselves or to the unique insights that they were gifted with. Their lycan family members were typically not even aware of the Veiled as a term that was used amongst alyko. The particularities of the alyko experience were also generally not well known or understood. The secretive nature of the alyko was a way of guarding and protecting themselves from the distrust and persecution they had been victims of for centuries.
It was also true that Maggie, along with all the other alyko, never really had the opportunity to use what she was given on a large scale where the whole pack was concerned. This trial would be a first for the alyko in many ways.
Morning light shone in from the wide sky light ceiling above the chambers, illuminating the floor below. It was going to be a long day. Graeme could already sense the anxiety, dread, and eager anticipation of those who were present.
This last minute trial had everyone on edge. While it was not surprising that Violet was being judged after her outburst the morning after Samhain when she accused their Luna of being an imposter and of Graeme for sharing her bed, there had not been a trial like this—of this magnitude—in many, many years. Any trials that had been held were mostly for small offenses that were easily settled. No one had been sentenced to death or cast out as a stray in quite some time.
And this trial with Violet was so sudden. It spoke of an urgent need to eliminate a significant threat. The outcome of this trial, while it had not yet been decided, was clear before it had even begun.
"Thank you all for coming on such short notice," Graeme stood from where his seat was centered on one side of the mezzanine. "We will proceed with the trial against our accused sister, Violet Wingrove. The elders Charlotte, Sylvia, and Magnolia are presiding. I ask that you maintain order until we break."
The door opened below, and Violet walked in with Lucas and Neoma behind her. All murmurs and whispers hushed fully when she entered, and when she raised her eyes to those who were present, taking in the audience who she was called to relay her message to on this day, there was almost a collective gasp. Her eyes were the same gold as their Alpha and Luna’s. They were the same gold that Violet herself had referred to as evidence of their unnatural, imposter Luna August and her wrongful sway over Graeme.
"Are you even lycan anymore?" Violet’s accusation against Graeme from the morning after Samhain seemed to whisper on the air around them in a collective memory.
Why would Violet’s eyes also be this color now? It was difficult to understand how it was possible. August and Graeme’s eyes were one thing... August’s had always been that way, and Graeme was her mate. Their spiritual and physical states were entangled. But what was the reason for the change in Violet?
Violet raised her chin proudly against the suspicion aimed her way. They would learn of her truth soon enough. Today, she was going to show them the greatness that she was capable of.
