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

Chapter Sixty-Three: Part Two

"When we get back, I'm pulling all support until we renegotiate the terms for hemi-lykos." It was a hail mary move and all eyes snapped to me and I could see the denial and several mouths opened up to object. If I pulled support the Council would grind to a halt. They needed all support on all fronts. If I pulled my support I would no longer head judgments or do any Council duties. All of my cases, and there were hundreds, would no longer be resolved. It was a hail mary move because if I wasn't careful I could be removed from the Council due to it.

"I pull my support as well." Katharine accent was smooth over her words and I glanced at her in surprise, even Sasha did. She rarely went against her mate and he had always voted no to pull Menza from Sublatus. "We made a horrible judgment call and an innocent person was at the fury end of it. We can no longer impartially handle each hemi-lykos case. There needs to be reform and the hemi-lykos need written protections within the Personhood Act." She bowed her head at me, her words firm and I bowed mine in return, bolstered by her support.

"Katarina." Sasha sighed it out as he turned to look at her and she refused to even glance at him, her mouth pinched into a thin line.

"Do not Katarina me." She tone was a vicious snap as she turned her head to look at her mate. "That was a poor call. With no protections, her case was closed, from there her Bounty did not ping, and from there she was whipped worse than some Omegas. We are at fault. We can no longer be impartial. They need law to protect them because we cannot be trusted anymore. Not when we have caused that." She pointed to the floating image and Sasha's expression darkened slightly but he fell silent.

Thomasina let out a shuddering breath, wiping at her face rather furiously as she pulled away from me. "I pull my support too. Until they are safe, I will not support anything that is called to the Council's attention." She set her jaw and looked at them all. I let my arms drop from her but patted her shoulder, showing her I stood with her. Three out of the eight Council members pulling all support was a nasty number and I hoped we would get the protections written into law within the next few weeks without dissolving the entire Council.

"As touching as this is. I can't hold the privacy bubble and slide show at the same time." Muffin sounded overly bored, her tone showing it clearly and I turned around to look at her, aware everyone else had as well.

"Could you back up for a second there? We missed some." Thomasina's voice shook slightly but she seemed to try to shake off. I reached over and nudged her arm gently and she gave me a reassuring smile. She was okay, just needing to collect herself a bit. I didn't blame here. I was still pissed off, the anger inside my belly nearly boiled but I also knew when to hold it in and wait it out.

Muffin nodded and the image rolled back and she chuckled. "Oh, this is a treat." There was a sadistic sort of glee to her voice that put me on edge before she started the memory.

Officer Bently shifted in his seat. "I believe you, I'm just seriously concerned because you could have died."

"I did, for a moment." The little hemi-lykos, Menza's, voice was soft and almost hollow as her eyes unfocused. "I met Mene and we made a deal. I wanted to keep my baby and she wanted to take her. So I made a deal."

The words seemed sharp as a crack in the air and I blinked. "She was fucking what?" Pregnant. She was pregnant? Every instinct in me told me to burn the entire territory to the ground and there was little in me that wanted to stop it. This was beyond wrong. To punish any pack member by whipping them that much was on the edge, a female? Beyond the pale. A hemi-lykos female? Unimaginable. A fucking pregnant hemi-lykos female? That was beyond any and all utter comprehension it made my wolf snap and snarl in my head as he pushed at me, surging to get out to administer justice like we shifters used to do.