Secrets Of The Woods: Werewolf Story

Chapter 43: Court Drama Part 2

Elizabeth Miller's PoV

My father gets called up to the stand. After taking the pledge he sits down and his lawyer starts asking questions. He asks "Tell me what you were doing the night of the murder."
"I went to the private property. Got the bad news I couldn't go into there property if I thought I saw a dead wolf there because they built a fence around it. Also learned wolves were added to endangered species. So I left and went home. I was home all night long with my loving wife. She can testify I was home."
"Why do you hunt wolves?"
"They are dangerous and vicious animals. They take up the forest which we could use to expand our small town into a bigger town or city. I travel to different towns, kill the wolves, then leave. I save small towns from there wolf problems and I make it easier to chop down trees and expand."
"Why do you like hunting?"
"It pays me money and I enjoy it. It's sad killing animals but it saves people. People are better then wolves. We deserve to live and not worry about walking around in the woods and possibly getting attacked or killed by a wolf."
"What about people? You could easily end up shooting them if they are on a walk in the woods."
"That's why all of us hunters signed the paperwork. We knew the risk. We also spend time scouting the area do no one gets hurt."
After a couple more questions the lawyers switch. He says "You said you went home. Your wife does not agree you were home the whole time. You were gone most of the night."
"I was out of town most the week then I came back and went to the private property with the other hunters, police officers, and the mayor."
"So you were gone most the week but you didn't go home right away to see your wife?"
"She knows I was gone for my job and would come back after my job is done."
"Your job is done? So that includes murdering Elaine Knight."
"No! I never murdered anyone!"
My dad keeps getting asked questions until they let him step off the stand. Next up is my mom. I'm surprised they haven't called Matthew up yet. After my mom does the truth pledge she sits down and my dad's lawyer asks her "Has your husband been providing for you and your daughter?"
"Yes he has."
"Then why do you make false accusations that he hurts you?"
"He does. He's been abusive ever since we got married. I was just too scared to say anything."
"Where's your proof? Everyone makes mistakes with verbal abuse or occasionally physical."
"Can I get my purse?"
One of the officers checks it then takes it to my mom. She grabs something out of it and wipes her makeup off. Her face has bruises on it. She rolls up her dresses long sleeves and there's more bruises and all her scars from previous times. Both lawyers go and look. The judge is quiet too. You can tell my mom is telling the truth. The judge asks "How long has this been going on for?"
My mom with tears in her eyes "ever since we got married. He's threatened to kill me if I told anyone. I didn't to protect my daughter. But now...I can't lie anymore."
I lay my head on Matthew's shoulder. I'm trying not to cry. He wraps his arm around me and holds my hand with his free hand. It feels so good being in his arms. I know they are still talking with my mom but I'm not listening anymore. It takes a couple times but the judge is calling my name. I get out of Matthew's comfortable arms and go up to the judge. He asks me "Is it true that there's abuse going on in your home?"
I tell him "It is true. It mostly happens to my mom, occasionally to me. My dad mainly verbally abuses me. He doesn't want me to make any friends. He puts me on house arrest a lot."
"What's house arrest?"
"If I'm not at school I have to be home. I can't leave the house without one of my parents."
My dad tells the judge "That's not true. I've never hurt them."
I look at my dad and tell him "I have videos of you hurting us or audios of your threats."
"Where would those be?"
"It's not on my phone. You go through my phone all the time. It's on my camera."
My dad gives me a death glare after I told him it's on my camera. He mutters "I knew I should've checked your camera or destroyed it."
The judge asks "Where's your camera now?"
Zoe walks into the courtroom and says "Sorry to interrupt but I have her camera."
She hands it to a police officer then sits down by Matthew and Mason. The officer hands it to me. I go through my camera until I find the pics and vids hidden on my secret album. It's labeled double pics so he wouldn't check it if he did go through my camera. I hand the camera to the judge and he starts looking through those pics and vids. He says "You are for sure going to jail for abusing your wife and daughter. Also for lying to me, your judge."
The Knight's lawyer asks "What about trespassing?"
The judge says "I will agree for that charge as well. About the murder...we must continue to prove his guilt or innocence. As to hunting wolves are he knew they were endangered...that is going on his charge as well."
I go sit back down after getting my camera back. Matthew puts his arm around me and I move closer to him. It's hard seeing my mom's face with bruises and her arms. She always hides them so I can't see how bad it is. I want to stay in the comfort of Matthew's arms but once everyone's calmed down and are seated again the judge says "Matthew Knight."
Matthew looks at me and I smile. I'm trying to show him I'm ok. His eyes flash gold for a moment when he's standing up but Mason wraps a comforting arm around me, showing Matthew that he'll watch over me. Matthew heads up to the stand, does the truth pledge, then sits down. My dad's lawyer goes up and asks "What exactly happened on the phone?"
"My mom called me telling me she's home from work. I didn't have to come home. She knows on the weekends I'm usually busy and out with friends. I told her I would come home. She became a workaholic...she'd be gone all the time. She was finally getting better and then I heard her talking to someone else. Then the gunshots. Mason and I weren't too far from my house so we ran over and I tried to save her but I was too late. After that Mason called the police and they came."
"Did your mom say anything before she died?"
"She said she loves me and she's so sorry she had to go. She also told me not to trust Mr Miller because he's the one who shot her."
"Are you sure there aren't any other Mr Miller's she could be talking about?"
"This is a small town. The Miller's are the only Miller's living here."
My dad's lawyer keeps trying to ask questions because he knows he's losing but it doesn't work. Knight's lawyer asks him questions and then plays the audio from the phone call. You hear exactly what Matthew and his mom were telling each other. Then the voice in the background happens. You can clearly tell it's my dad. It's hard at first but then they change the audio to hear it better. My dad clearly knew Matthew's mom to kill her. The judge says "Matthew Knight you can go sit down now."
Matthew gets up and heads back to our row. He sits down and Mason removes his arm from around me. After Mason's arm is away Matthew puts his arm around me. I look and see Zoe has her arm around Mason probably to help keep him calm. I guess I was helping with letting Mason put his arm around me for a while and now Zoe's helping. I'm helping Matthew more because he is my mate. It's still weird to think of it as my mate. The judge steps out of the room with the lawyers to talk. My dad is sitting there with officers nearby. He turns around and looks at our row. He glares at me and my mom then turns back to facing forward. I feel Matthew tense then relax when my dad stops looking at me. My mom asks "How are we going to pay for our house now? I don't have a job."
I tell her "We'll figure it out. He's finally going to be put away."
My mom tells us "my husband knew Matthew's mom. He was a patient for her years ago when she first started as a doctor. He accidentally shoot himself. They dated for a while but then stopped. That's because he saw me and started dating me instead."
Matthew tells us "I hope you don't mean he's my biological dad."
My mom laughs and tells us "Your mom never messed around with him. She was a newbie doctor and she didn't believe in doing too much with a patient she had. Why? Are you looking for your biological dad?"
"Sort of...I had someone who occasionally came around but he wasn't my real father. My mom never told me who my biological father is."
"What happened to that man?"
"He died."
"Sorry to hear that."
"He wasn't much of a dad to me so it doesn't bother me."
Before we can ask more questions the judge and lawyers walk back into the room. The judge tells us "The lawyers have talked and we have found Robert Miller to be guilty. He is guilty of trespassing and harassing, abusing his wife and daughter, hunting an endangered species, and for the murder of Dr Elaine Knight. He will spend life in prison with no chance of bail or parol. He will not be held in our prison here. He will have twenty four hours left of freedom then he will be taken into custody and transferred to a more secure prison. Officers will be posted on ways to escape so do not try and run away. Court dismissed."
Officers escort my dad out of the room while the rest of us stand up. My mom says "I'm not going home. I'm gonna go visit my family. I hope they'll be happy to see me. You can come with me or stay here."
I tell her "I'm going to stay here if it's ok with you. I'll stay at my friends house for safety."
My mom smiles then hugs me. She tells me "Stay safe. You have my number and I have yours. I'll call you when I get there."
She leaves the court room and heads out. I can't believe she's just...leaving me...I don't understand why. I know she misses her family and friends but she could have them come here instead of trying to go to them. We walk out of the court room and I see my dad standing in the lobby area. He sees me then walks over to us. Everyone stands in front of me to stop him but he smiles and tells them "I just want a moment alone with my daughter then she's all yours."
Matthew is holding my hand and he looks at me. I tell them "I'll talk with him alone. He can't hurt me. He's going to jail soon anyways."
Matthew squeezes my hand then let's go. Mason and Zoe move out of the way and I walk over to my dad. I walk away with him but I make sure I can still see my friends and they can see me. I ask my dad "What do you want?"
He smiles and tells me "You should know...I'll escape. No jail can stop me. It never has, and never will."
I ask him "What do you mean?"
"I've escaped before. You know...changed identities and blended in. Why else would I take the job of a hunter and move us all over the place? Your mom knew who I was. That's why I abused her. She thought I would kill you if she told anyone so she kept quiet and endured all of it. That's why she's leaving you. She's never truly loved you. I forced her to marry me and have a child. If I had a wife and child it would make it less likely for the police to find out who I really am. I'm smart. I always have been and always will be. Don't worry about your mom... she'll be gone soon enough."
He smiles at me but I don't smile back. I'm scared. I ask him "Who are you?"
He smiles and tells me "If I tell you then I'll have to kill you. Oh wait....I sort of did tell you who I am...I am sorry about this. I really did love having a daughter."
I turn and try to run away but he grabs me. My friends and police officers quickly turn and head closer. My dad holds a knife at my throat. He tells them "Come any closer and she's dead."
I can see Matthew's inner wolf is trying to come out. He's trying to fight it but I know he's going to change. I can't let that happen. There secret will come out. I decide to pretend and be sick. I start coughing and my dad tells me "I'm not falling for this."
I up my game by gasping for breathe too then I close my eyes and make my body feels limp. Now he's holding my body up and trying not to stab me with a knife. Then he gives up. He drops me the starts running. I can hear footsteps running to chase after him. I open my eyes and see Matthew sitting next to me. I sit up slowly and he asks "Are you ok?"
His eyes are completely gold. I tell him "I am now."
His eyes won't change back. I look over to Mason and he tells Matthew "She's fine. She's safe now."
Matthew tells him "She isn't."
Zoe asks "What's going on? I thought your inner wolf can't speak?"
Mason tells us "I thought they couldn't either."
I look at Matthew and I tell him "I'm ok...I promise. I'm just...shook up by wait my dad told me."
Matthew's eyes still won't change back. I crawl over to him and hug him. His arms wrap around me. Mason says "It's working. His eyes are going back and forth."
A officer asks me "Are you ok?"
I tell him "Yeah."
He leaves us alone after hearing I'm ok. Matthew pulls back from hugging me so I pull back to. He asks "What just happened?"
Mason asks "What do you remember?"
"Elizabeth going to speak to her dad then...nothing."
"Her dad tried to use her as a hostage but she saved herself by playing sick. Your inner wolf took over. You're lucky you didn't change and reveal our secret."
I tell them "I saw Matthew fighting his wolf so I decided to play sick and then faint to force my dad to let me go. He can't try to escape while dragging my unconscious body with him."
Mason tells me "That was really smart. It would've taken too long for officers to figure out a deal with him to let you go. By then...he definitely would've changed."
After Mason says that he clenches his fists and teeth. He's fighting his inner wolf too. Zoe says "Let's get all you love birds home."
I tell them "Wait! He said something would happen to my mom. We have to wa-"
I'm cut off when we all hear a loud explosion. Matthew and I quickly get up and we all go outside. We can see in the distance a fire and a lot of smoke. They try to stop me but I starting running. Matthew chases after me calling my name. I stop when I see my mom's car. It's...gone...she's dead..I lost my mom. My dad's a phyco and my mom's...gone... Matthew catches up to me and sees the car. He says "Elizabeth I'm so sorry."
I turn around, hug him, and start crying. I keep crying and I know eventually I end up in a car and at the pack house but it's all pretty blurry. Eventually I get exhausted from crying that I fall asleep.