Alpha Nocturne’s Contracted Mate by A E Randell
Chapter 136 The Dungeons
Adam knew he didn’t have a particularly great chance at reaching Narcissa as her prison was flanked on either side by golems, but he simply couldn’t contain the fury of his wolf, Baldur, any longer.
Narcissa’s face morphed into a look of incredulity as she witnessed Adam transform before quickly turning to one of terror as Adam’s huge black beast flew through the air toward her. She scrabbled backward on the floor in terror, pressing herself against the far wall as if expecting him to shatter through the glass.
But that simply was not possible.
In the blink of an eye, an enormous stone arm shot out in front of him, its stubby fingers outstretched as Adam collided with what would have been the palm of its malformed hand.
Baldur howled his outrage and clawed at the hand, desperately trying to free himself as the stubby fingers wrapped around his body and the golem moved its hand towards its face, peering closely at the noisy, enraged ball of fur that it had caught in its hand.
As Leopold tried every command he knew to make the golem drop Adam, whilst Narcissa cackled triumphantly in the background, the doors to the chamber above grated open, and the Elders began to file in.
“What in the Goddess…” An irritated female voice came from above.
“Explain yourselves at once!” demanded the raspy ancient voice.
Ann was terrified that the Elders would find out that Adam’s parents were k*il*led at his own hands. If they weren’t already aware then Adam would undoubtedly be placed on trial for their murder. Whether he was under the influence of magic or not, in the eyes of the law, murder was still murder and consequences still remained for those who had committed heinous acts while under the dark influence.
She opened her mouth to reply to them but her father beat her to it.
“Narcissa admitted to murdering his parents when he was a boy and…” Leopold paused as he threw a quick sideways glance at Ann, “Coercing and controlling Adam Nocturne through her magic when he was but a child. She has also admitted to being responsible for the curse that was placed on Adam to not only suppress his wolf but to conceal his fated mate from him so that he would be f*orc*ed to marry Ada.”
A low murmur rippled from above as they quietly discussed what Leopold had said.
“It wouldn’t have ended there either!” She continued viciously, “If it weren’t for my pathetic excuse of a daughter’s continuous f’*k ups then I would have succeeded in every aspect of my plans! Once the alliances were made, then the final stage of our Coven’s plan could begin. Your pathetic packs would be given a choice…either support my brothers and sisters in their resurgence as well as our Lord’s or, be exterminated.”
“You would have failed miserably. I wouldn’t have stood for that.” Ann answered with passion in her voice, sure of herself and her words.
Narcissa laughed as she turned her head slowly toward her.
“You wouldn’t have stood for anything Ann because you would have already been murdered and Brad coerced into doing every little thing that I commanded of him. Tell me… which pack in existence can stand against not only the King’s army but also the Dark Moon’s and the Crystal Pack’s, hmm? We would have been unstoppable…”
Ann narrowed her eyes dangerously as Maeve roared her fury, promising a myriad of painful ways that she would die.
“Sucks to be you then,” Lexi snorted with a smirk,” Considering your plan failed miserably..just face it Narcissa, you’re nothing but a loser. You’ll go down in history as the woman who single-handedly f“*‘d up your coven’s plans for world domination.” she continued, sniggering.
“Shut up! That’s not true! No one else has EVER gotten as far as I did…” Narcissa hissed in outrage before she began yelling incoherently at Lexi.
In a matter of seconds, the courtroom had descended into chaos.
Narcissa screamed obscenities towards Lexi who stood smirking smugly, with her arms folded in front of her and her eyebrow c“‘*d. Allen was glaring furiously at her whilst Ann threw murderous glares toward Narcissa.
Ada sobbed deliriously in her prison cage whilst Leopold shouted frantically at the Golem and Adam snarled and clawed viciously at the golem’s giant hand.
Without any warning, a blinding white light filled the room as if something had exploded, which stunned everyone to silence. In a matter of seconds, the light dissipated and a furious voice rang out from above.
“I will have order in the Enclave! Oh, my goddess…never have I ever seen…will someone please get that golem to let go of Alpha Nocturne…”
Silence descended on the room as Adam shifted back to his human form and was escorted back to where he had previously been seated with a murderous look still imprinted on his features.
Leopold had only just retaken his seat as the ancient voice from above rang out clearly.
“We will choose to let this insolence slide, taking into account the provocation and the gravity of the confession, however, any further outbursts such as that will result in a short stay in a less than comfortable ‘visitors suite’ in the halls below,” it warned gravely.
“He means the dungeons…” Allen muttered as he looked pointedly at Lexi, who rolled her eyes in response and stuck her middle finger up in front of his face, accompanying it with a sweet smile.
“A decision has been reached, however..” The ancient voice continued as Ada’s head whipped up to stare into the darkness above.
“Considering the gravity of the crimes we can recommend nothing less than the death penalty for both Narcissa and Ada.”
Narcissa snorted in contempt as Ada wailed uncontrollably.
“However,” the voice continued, “Due to Ada’s pregnancy, we cannot let the unborn child suffer as a result of the mother’s actions. We will not condemn an innocent soul to answer for its mother’s crimes, so we recommend that until the birth of the child, both mother and daughter are held in the containment facility for dangerous individuals in the north of the Kingdom.”
The faint light of hope that had lit up in Ada’s eyes was quickly doused as she realized that her sentence wasn’t the act of mercy that she had hoped it would be.
Leopold nodded thoughtfully as the Elders announced their recommendations.
Ann held her breath as she waited for her father to speak. He had the final say in these matters and if he chose instead to let them walk free, then there was nothing they could do to stop it. He was still the Alpha King.
In her heart, Ann swore that if that was the decision her father made, as soon as she was made Alpha Queen, then she would spare no effort in hunting down and recapturing both Ada and her mother. She would not let them go unpunished for the lifetime of crimes that they had committed.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Leopold spoke.
“Ada will spend her time in protective custody in solitary confinement to ensure a safe delivery, whereas Narcissa will wait until her date of execution among the general population. This is my final judgment.” Leopold said as the golems moved forward and took hold of the prison carts.
“No… father! Please!” Ada begged hopelessly as her cart was pulled from the room.
Leopold watched in silence as the sound of her cries for mercy echoed along the corridor. He didn’t say anything until the doors had closed behind them and as he looked to the floor, the sadness and misery in his eyes were caught by Ann, and so too were the murmured words that he spoke to himself.
“Forgive me Ada… but you were never my daughter to begin with.”