[[OLD]] A Handful of Daffodils (Forgotten Series, #7)

Chapter Sixty-Three

I rolled my sleeves up to my elbows and my frown deepened as I thought about the report we had received from Officer Bently. I had always known that having a hemi-lykos put with an Old Way pack wasn't necessary, regardless of what the others said. There was always another way to gather information and now it seemed as though the poor female had been substantially injured and my heart hurt for the poor thing, for what she had to endure at their hands. I wanted to get this business dealt with and to get her and the other Omegas out as fast as we could. At least that way she could begin to heal.

"Jovan." Jay nodded at me as he walked into the waiting room, Cassandra close on his heels. I nodded at them both, this was not going to be pretty and I knew that the enforcers had already been mobilized and were more than likely already on the ground in Sublatus territory. We had evidence of Omegas and other wrongdoings, I knew this was going to be a full scale investigation and trial.

"Councillors." Harvey bowed his head as he came in and I returned the gesture, aware that Jay and Cassandra had as well. I wondered how much longer we would have to wait for the rest of the Council. It wasn't often we all gathered, only for those on-the-ground trials that always seemed to be centered around Old Way packs. I fought to keep my face from twitching in distaste at the thought of them. I was a Councillor, I needed to remain unbiased but it was hard when so many of the Old Ways had hurt so many different people. Even now, years after we enacted the Omega Amendment, we were still pulling Omegas out of Old Way packs. Each case was different but the fact they continued despite being repeatedly informed they were legally obligated to stop, was enough to turn my stomach. It was like they didn't care.

"This is certainly going to prove interesting." Thomasina voice was sharp and her expression was dark as she nearly stalked into the room. "I fucking told you guys!" She hissed the words out as she moved to stand beside me. She had been with me when I had tried to pull the hemi-lykos, Menza Aristotle, from Sublatus over the past few years. We had always been outvoted. It had been a thorn in both our sides for years. Thomasina was most like me in her support of the way things needed to change and how we needed to protect them but there were still some old style thinkers on the Council.

Speaking of one, Dorothy cleared her throat as she came into the room. "Thomasina, now is not the time to blame and shame." She threw Thomasina a rather reproachful look. She was one of the one who was more of an old style thinker, let the packs work things out for themselves and use resources available to get a back door into them to watch for wrong doing. We simply disagreed on the fact of using people as tools. I disagreed, she and quite a few of the others, believed they could be, in the right circumstances. "We need to assess what has happened to ensure that it's not being blown out of proportion." She waved her hand in a gesture that set my teeth on edge, my wolf giving his own grumble of dislike to the flippancy. I hated that she was like that, always giving the benefit of the doubt, especially in the cases that included Omegas. There was no doubt when it came to that, having them was illegal. End of story.

"Out of proportion? The report said she had been whipped, to death!" Thomasina growled it out, her chest rattling and I reached out and grabbed her shoulder, grounding her so she didn't lose control. I agreed with her, I did, but I hadn't spent my life learning how to fight these battles to just let myself be as vocally upset as her. She was just starting out and I was doing my best to teach her so I would forgive her, her moments of anger.

"And sometimes the reports can be exaggerated." Jay gave her a rather condescending look and I shot him a dark glare. He held up his hands as if to calm us down. Always the placater that one. I didn't mind my fellow Councillors but sometimes I just wanted to slap them upside the head. Especially in cases that included the report we had received. "I am not saying it didn't happen and that she needs to stay there. The bare minimum is a removal, she won't stay, but the severity could be over exaggerated." I had to focus my attention on my grip on Thomasina because I felt as sudden urge to throw a punch at the male. I might have had nearly fifty years on him but when it came to these types of wrongs, me and my wolf felt the familiar fire of youth rising up again. The witch on sight had verified the claim of Menza being whipped beyond the point of death. There was really no need to double check.