Words of Power (Alice Gray Book 3)

49

Several things happened at once before the shocked courtroom could respond to the accusation in Red's statement.

Becca launched herself over the judge's bench, hands shifting into paws with lethal long claws that swiped out at Red's face. Before they connected, a blur of movement from the spectator benches signalled someone's interference.

Becca was thrown back from the magistrates, her body soaring down the central aisle before skidding several more feet. She sprung back up to a fighting crouch, her pronounced cheekbones heightening, her brow broadening and those eyes, far more feline than human.

She rushed forward again using all four limbs in an amalgamation of human and beast movements that should have been awkward, but were still both graceful and savage. A picture of magnificent fury, it was hard to tear my eyes away.

But I really wanted to see who was stupid enough to risk the massive panther's wrath to protect that red-headed bitch.

I immediately wished that I hadn't bothered.

Thomas stood tall in front of the Magistrate's bench. He looked even broader than usual with his muscled chest and arms tensed and ready to catch the furious whirlwind of snarls and teeth that was hurtling towards him.

I should have guessed. Of course he would protect his lover.

The pit of emptiness in my belly opened just a little bit wider at this sign of his affection for the red-haired magistrate. He loved her so much that he would fight Becca for her safety.

Now that it was stripped away from me, I realised that I'd taken his care for granted. All those times that Thomas had stood against the coven for me, I'd accepted it as another token of his affection without taking the time to appreciate that he was putting his life on the line for me.

Now that I knew it had all been false, that I'd been yet another 'assignment' and he nothing more than my bodyguard, it felt worse than if he'd never stood up for me at all.

I'd accepted his devotion like a fool and now the insecurities of my past came creeping over me like a new batch of freshly hatched spiders straight from a nest of deception. Nobody had ever loved me that much, and now everybody knew it. He couldn't have made a more public statement of his true feelings if he'd taken out a full page advertisement.

All the time that this realisation crawled all over me and hollowed me out like the tasty snack left by the mother spider for her babies, Thomas's dark eyes were trained on me.

The furious panther shifter mid-change that descended on him didn't pull his gaze, neither did the sexy red-headed temptress behind him, who was huffing and puffing out her cleavage in a show of indignation at the outrage done to her authority.

No, those deep pools of chocolaty-brown stayed glued to my face. My face, where the horror of his betrayal was playing out for him to drink in and taste how well he played the game. Features impassive, the bastard didn't even have the grace to look ashamed.

Pulling my eyes away before I let myself down even further and gave him the satisfaction of seeing me cry, I realised why Becca never reached her target.

Lucas had caught her from behind, and when she whipped round to turn on him, all it took was a whispered word in her ear to subdue her anger.

Becca tilted her head, exposing her neck to him. Satisfied, Lucas moved from his position blocking her from harming the magistrates.

She might have submitted to Lucas's wolf, and have shifted back to fully human, but Becca was still pissed, and when she stalked back up to address the bench, I didn't envy them in the slightest.