~Bella~
I slipped into the courtroom as the judge was coming in through his side door.Everyone was standing to recieve him. Good! I used that opportunity to slither down to the front and take my place without him noticing.I made it to my seat safely. My co-counsel raised his brow at me.I smiled apologetically and shook my head. He gave me a look that said we'd talk about it later.The judge sat. The whole room bowed and sat too then the judge began the proceedings.As customary, we were asked to introduce ourselves.When it came to my side's turn, my partner stood first, "Parker Smith, counsel for the prosecution," he announced in a clear, bold voice.His voice alone sent a tingle down my spine. I blushed. When would I ever get used to this?It was my turn so I stood too. "Bella Smith, co-counsel for the prosecution."After a few words from the judge, the opposing team stood and gave their opinion statement.Next, Parker stepped out to the front of the courtroom, cleared his throat and began his speech;"My lord, honorable jury, if I may plead the indulgence of the court for a small experiment before I begin?"The room tittered excitedly. This is what they'd been waiting for. The judge nodded after giving it a thought."Thank you my Lord," he said. He briefly fiddled with his wristwatch then folded his hands and stood silently.Seconds ticked by. Then minutes. Five minutes...ten minutes... People began to shift restlessly."Mr Smith, is there a purpose to this?" The judge asked impatiently, finally breaking the silence.Parker Smith hit a button on his watch and peered at the screen. "11 minutes and two seconds," he announced."What does that mean?" The judge asked, just as intruged as the rest of the audience."That's how long this honorable court could sit in silence before becoming bored and impatient," he supplied."Yet that was barely half the time that my client, Mr Benedict Darll, spent trapped in a ditch, under a truck due to the lack of diligence of the defendant company!"There were gasps all around the court room. People began to whisper."Order!" The judge shouted and banged his gravel. The whispers died away.Parker's voice rose. "Underneath the truck, it was pitch black. Mr Benedict couldn't see or ear anything for THIRTY WHOLE MINUTES before someone came looking for him and found him there."He paused and looked into the faces of the jury one after the other."And all that happened because someone high up didn't think it was important to follow protocol for the sake of ensuring their worker's safety!"My heart swelled with pride as I watched my husband deliver his rousing speech. I could feel my cheeks heating up.He was so good; definitely one of the best lawyers in the Decacities!The best part was that he had only been in practice for ten years now so he was literally a genuis. I'd never meet anybody as smart as him.I remembered the first time I saw him. At that time, I was still a final year law school student. I'd come with some friends on an excursion to the court.Parker had been the assistant counsel on the case that day.He'd come up to deliver the opening statement and had done such a wonderful job that he'd left the entire room stunned, much like today.That was the day I fell in love with him, even if he didn't know it yet. After that day, his fame had grown and grown.Eventually when I graduated, I made sure to apply to his firm. Four years later, we tied the knot and I became Mrs Smith.With each passing day and case, he was only getting better and better.Parker completed his heartfelt speech and returned to his seat to deafening applause.The judge struggled to regain order to the court. I caught Parker's eye."I love you," I mouthed, making sure to pour all the intensity of the feeling into my eyes for him to see.He smiled and mouthed back, "I love you too."'I don't deserve him,' I think. I didn't deserve this amazing man. I couldn't believe it when he'd returned my feelings and asked me out!I could only hope that one day I would become as good a lawyer as him! As for now, I was no where close.I mean, I even forgot all the questions I drew up for the witness at home this morning!Soon, it was my turn to examine the witness. I stood slowly, reluctantly.'Clumsy oaf!' I chastised myself.I'd had to hastily rewrite out as many of the questions as I could remember... which wasn't much. This was going to be a disaster!I briefly paused to send up a prayer to whatever gods might be out there listening."Please help me this once. If you do, I promise to pray every day!" I rethought it. "Okay... maybe not every single day... but like very often! I promise. Helllppp!"I stepped out to the front and bowed first to the judge and then to the jury. Then, I turned to bow to the spectators.I turned to the witness and cleared my throat."Mrs Hill, do you remember the events that took place on the 13th day of August, 2007?"The elderly woman nodded, her white hair bouncing. "Yes, I do.""Can you recount the events as you remember them?" I asked."That day, I was at the office when Mr Benedict came in after working in the field. He complained about the truck, saying that it was acting up the entire day.""And what did you do?""I filed it in the report for the day," she answered."And is this something you usually do?""Yes," she answered."And usually what is the protocol when you do that?""The higher ups get someone out to check the truck and make any repairs necessary," she answered."And was that done this time?"She shook her head. "Not that I'm aware of.""Good," I said! I quickly scanned through the paper in my hand. 'What do I ask next!?'That was where my hurriedly scribbled questions ended. Shit! 'What do I do now?' I started panicking."Mrs Smith, are you planning to run the same experiment as your husband? Because I think we already get the point," the judge said sarcastically.There was tittering laughter across the room.I blushed. "No, I'm sorry. I'll continue now, your honor."My eyes colored with embarrassment. Tears gathered in my eyes. I should be doing so much more, asking smarter questions!I was so embarassed, being like this in front of Parker!"My Lord, I--" I started to say but the hair at the back of my neck suddenly prickled.I looked up and scanned the rows for the source of my discomfort only to see a unfamiliar face in the crowd, piercing me with glittering eyes.The stranger's eyes were so dark, they were practically black.'Who the hell is that and why is he staring at me like that?'I swallowed apprehensively.~Bella~The stranger continued to stare at me. It was the most disconcerting thing ever!He held my gaze squarely even when I caught him staring. He didn't seem to care!His eyes were like bottomless pits, black as Ravens. It sucked me in. It trapped me. It consumed me.I stared blankly like a prey hypnotized by the predator!That was it! That was exactly it! I was trapped in his eyes.I could almost swear I saw his eyes suddenly glow. But I blinked and it was gone. I must have imagined it.I shifted uncomfortably but somehow, for some reason, I felt a delicious shiver of fear and anticipation.My body actually shivered in response. What was happening to me! There was another man next to him watching me just as intently but I didn't get the same feeling from him looking at me.I looked back to the first man. He tilted his head slightly towards me and I heard him clearly say, "Carry on."I jumped. It felt like the words had been spoken directly into my ears, clear and audible. How wa
~Bella~He left? Just like that!The stranger who was staring at me as if he would consume was just gone like that!I felt a sharp feeling of pain as if a part of me had been cut off. It was a feeling of disappointment.I shook my head. 'Silly girl! Why is it any of your business that he left!'Of course, he would leave. He had no reason to stay. What would Parker think if he knew I was thinking such useless thoughts.It was good that the man was gone. Our encounter was too unnerving. Hopefully, we'd never see each other again."What's wrong? What are you staring so intently at?" Parker asked, following my gaze to the empty spot where my mystery man had been sitting. "There's nothing there."I jolted out of my reverie. "Oh, no. Sorry, it's nothing. I just... I remembered something, that's all. Let's go?" He nodded, giving me a worried look. I gave him a reassuring smile and tugged on his hand. "Come on. Let's go." I pulled him away but just before we went out the door, I couldn't h
~Nikolai~I was silent the entire ride home. Fuming...I was fuming!I finally found my mate but she was a married woman! A married woman! Of all the...! Blast that moon goddess! Her sense of humor was truly horrible. It wasn't enough that she kept me from finding my mate for so many years! Now my mate was married to another man.The thought made my jaw clenched tightly. My wolf surged to the surface, making my eyes glow. I needed to calm down. If I lost control, my wolf, Karl, would tear the car apart, race off to find her, snatch her and carry her away with me.I closed my eyes and tilted my head back, taking a deep breath. The heat dissipated from my eyes. My breathing became normal again.We pulled up to the giant gate that marked the start of my estate. An iron raven with glittering red rubies for eyes sat on top of it, the symbol of my park. At the sound of my car, several children came rushing out of the different homes to wave excitedly at my car.I rolled down the window
~Bella~Grrrr!The sound of my alarm pierced through my skull. I shot up out of bed, alarmed.I dragged myself out of bed and waddled off to the bathroom.I didn't bother looking for Parker. I knew he was most likely already gone. He was an early riser, unlike me.He was probably at the office, going over files or something already. The man's work ethics were truly amazing.I stood numbly under the shower, letting the water run over my body and hopefully wash the rest of the sleep from my eyes.By the time I came out and got dressed, I only had time to grab a slice of bread from the pantry before rushing out. When I walked into the office, my secretary, Maggie stood and followed me in."You're late," she said, pushing me into my chair and pulling my semi-wer hair up into a ponytail. "I think I dozed off in the shower," I confessed."You're the only person I know who can sleep under running water," she said, shaking her head."Well, it's very soothing," I said.'Maggie' or Margarita
~Bella~I stood in the doorway, gaping like an idiot at the man from the court.'Oh my God, what the hell is he doing here?!'I was going into real panic mode now. Did he come looking for me? Why? And how did he manage to track me down?"Bella? Why are you just standing there? Come in," Parker called to me pulling me out of my reverie.I smiled painfully and walked into the room slowly, going to stand beside Parker.This put me opposite the strange man. His eyes followed my every step, his face unsmiling. The look was so intense, I almost tripped over my feet self consciously.It didn't help that the one beside him who was also with him at the court was also watching me just as intently."Did you hear what I said, honey?" Parker asked again, turning to look at me. "I said he is going to be our new client.""Oh," I muttered. "That's nice."Maybe that was actually nice! Maybe he wasn't here for me after all! He'd been at court and seen Parker's performance. Maybe he'd just been so im
~Bella~I found myself sitting in my chair at his one-word command.'Wait a second! This was my office! Why was he telling me what to do?'Sit? Really? What does he take me for; a dog? And why did I just obey like that?I jumped to my feet, fuming slightly. "Mr Nikolai," I said politely, slowly, "Please sit so we can begin our discussion."He eyed me coldly for a second then slowly sat down, pushing the chair back to make room for his long legs.He casually crossed his feet over each other and folded his arms, careful not to ruffle his designer suit.He raised a brow at me silently.I sat down too, stiffly, at the edge of my seat. I cleared my throat and started talking even though I couldn't meet his gaze."First of all, I want to thank you for considering me for this job. It is a great honor to represent the great Reece Nikolai."I paused, waiting for him to acknowledge my thanks. He simply inclined his head an inch to the side.I boldly continued. "I'm not sure why you chose me bec
~Nikolai~Ahmad held open the door for me and I climbed into the car, fuming.I was angry! Angry at Bella Smith! Angry at her husband! But most importantly, angry at myself!I'd gone into this with every intention to finesse my mate, slowly win her over. But seeing her standing beside that man! Exchanging looks with him! It just ignited a fire in me.I knew the anger wasn't entirely my fault. 'It's your fault, you jealous wolf!' I snapped at Karl. He completely ignored me.'If you keep this up, we're never going to win her over. Might as well just grab her and claim her now. Get it over with.''Winning her over slowly was your idea, not mine! I voted for grabbing her,' he snapped back. I gritted my teeth and ignored him. "So how did it go?" Ahmad asked, pulling me out of my mind."Not the time for questions," I snapped at him."Didn't go so well then," he said casually."Shut up," I said. "I need you to do something for me.""Shoot boss," he said."Make a call to Shirley at the Ti
~Bella~Parker and I ducked back into the building. "Oh my gosh! What is going on?" I exclaimed. I knew Parker was popular and getting more and more popular with time.But still, we'd never had reporters gathered in front of our office like that before."Why are they here, Parker? Did something happen with you?""Me?" he asked. "Didn't you hear what they were saying?"I shook my head. "Everyone was talking at once. I couldn't make anything out."He smiled. "They're not here for me, love. They are here for you. They were asking if it's true that you're the new lawyer of the most powerful alpha in the Decacities."I gasped. "Are you kidding me? You have to be joking!""Bella! Bella!" I heard my name being called insistently. I turned around to see Maggie rushing towards me."Oh my gosh, girl, I wasn't sure if I'd catch you before you left. The telephone is ringing off the hook! Everyone wants to know if it's true that you're Reese Nikolai's new lawyer."I stumbled backwards. "I think