The next evening, we sat in the court waiting for the judges to come out and begin the session.

Something was delaying them. It was already nine pm and the courtroom was filled with the chattering sounds of all of the attorneys, witnesses, and spectators.

The judges’ chamber door opened, and everyone stood as the five judges made their way to their seats and the head judge banged her gavel and simply said, “Court is in session. Defense, your witness.”

Jackson stood and said in a loud clear voice, “The defense calls Gabriel Michael Francisco to the stand.”

My eyes shot up to him in a state of shock. Gabriel wasn’t here and no one had even mentioned to Tristan and me that this might be part of any strategy.

The doors at the rear of the courtroom swung open and the most wonderful sight I had ever seen in my life filled my eyes with tears.

My vampire grandfather, Gabriel, was walking down the aisle towards the stand. He shot me a smile and a wink as he passed our table and sat gracefully down in the witness chair.

Jackson bowed his head respectfully towards Gabriel and began his questioning, “Mr. Francisco are you alive?”

Gabriel grinned, “That is quite the philosophical question, Mr. Wilder. There is a school of thought that generally states that vampires are not living creatures at all but a member of the classification ‘undead’.”

Jackson smiled, “Are you dead, Mr. Francisco?”

“No,” Gabriel answered.

Nevil was fuming in his seat.

“Is Luna Jane Martin your blood relative?”

“Yes,” Gabriel answered.

“Is that the reason you gave your Montana ranch and corresponding bank accounts to her and her mate?”

“No, it is not,” he answered.

“Why did you give them such valuable property and so much money?”

“Luna Jane Martin and I formed a feeder contract before I even knew she was a blood relative,” Gabriel answered.

The vampires in the room gasped. This was a little piece of information everyone had kept up their sleeves and until now, no one on the Royal Vampire Council nor any member of the court knew this.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Jackson pulled a few pieces of paper out of his folder on the table and stepped forward towards the witness stand. He handed the papers to Gabriel and asked, “Is this an original copy of your contract with Luna Jane Martin?”

Gabriel looked over the papers and nodded, “Yes, it is.”

“The defense submits the feeder contract as defense exhibit A,” Jackson said as he handed the paper to the court guard who handed it to the judge.

She took a moment to review the contract then nodded at Jackson to continue.

“What is the reason you made Alpha Tristan Martin and Luna Jane Martin beneficiaries of your entire estate in your will?”

“Because they are family and I want them to have it should anything happen to me,” Gabriel answered.

“Thank you, Mr. Francisco,” Jackson concluded.

The judge looked over at Nevil, “Care to cross examine the witness?”

The council’s attorney shook his head, admitting defeat. Even so, Nevil sat in his seat fuming in rage.

The judge continued, “All charges against Alpha Tristan Martin and Luna Jane Martin are dropped. Court adjourned.”

She banged her gavel, and the five judges exited the court room in a hurry.

Nevil was pulled out of the courtroom by the other two council members who were tired of the entire ordeal and a bit perturbed at wasting so much time.

I ran to Gabriel, and he picked me up crushing me against him in a hug, kissing the top of my head.

“Gabriel,” I sobbed with relief.

He rubbed my hair then patted my back, “Now, now sweet girl. Everything is alright. I woke up before the birth just like I promised.”

Emma approached and wrapped her arms around both of us, also kissing the top of my head.

I sobbed for a little while longer, letting go of the stress and exhaustion of this awful experience.

I wanted nothing more than I wanted to go home with my family, but we still had the wolf trial to go.

This turned out to be a much simpler and faster affair. Eager to redeem themselves, the Wolf Council of the Americas had identified the five out of twelve corrupt members. They presented the members to the royal wolf court with more evidence on top of what we provided.

They were quickly found guilty of many charges including conspiracy, bribery, murder, crimes against sacred pack laws regarding true mates, etc.

They were sentenced to death due to the many crimes they had committed of a serious nature.

The court also sentenced Alpha MacKenzie to death even though he did not show himself despite his court summons. Still, none of us knew where to find him and no witch, vampire or wolf had been able to locate him either. It was as if he vanished from the earth completely.

There was an announcement made by the Royal Wolf Council that they would nominate several candidates to replace the corrupt former members of the American council. It was up to the American packs to vote on who they would accept into the recently vacated positions.

At long last we were free to go home to our pack and family and I was full of excitement at the prospect.

King Avalore, Queen Alexandra, and all of the cousins came to see us off under the portico in front of the palace. We said our goodbyes amongst promises to see one another again soon and finally climbed into the royal SUVs that would take us back to the royal airfield.

The two-day journey home was peaceful as Tristan, and I caught up with Gabriel and Emma. Emma beamed as we discussed her upcoming wedding and my pregnancy. We had so much to look forward to and I was glad that most of the turmoil was in the past. I prayed to the goddess that it would stay that way.