Keller’s POV “Keller, this is the literal silver bullet. Is your girl going to be able to sit in front of the pack now?” Mike is more excited about the information Zara and me sent than I thought he would be. “Mike, you should have seen the look on her face. The harassment by these assholes has taken a serious toll on her.” I think back to Zara scrolling through her phone with a frown on her face. “It’s more than just isolated incidents, Keller. They are bullying her. Alpha Williams probably doesn’t give a shit, but the Regents will. They have to.” He says with an air of confidence. “I’ll try to-” Before he can finish, a loud crashing sound shakes the penthouse, making me jump. “What the…?” “Hold on, Mike. Something just happened.” I take the phone off of speaker mode and run out of the room. When I leave the office, I see the door to the dining room open. I can smell Zara’s scent coming from inside. “Oh shit, no

I head back to Zara’s room after Estelle leaves and sits on the edge bed with a sigh.“I’m sorry, Keller. I didn’t mean to cause more trouble.” Zara looks at me with a pout. She reaches out her hand and pulls on my fingers. I take her hand in mine and give it a gentle kiss, then hold it up to my cheek. The sparks of our mate bond feel so good. I never want to let her go. “It’s okay, Pocket. I know it wasn’t on purpose.” I give her hand back and lay down next to her, propping myself up by the elbow. She smiles and kisses my forehead, caressing the scruff on my chin with her good hand. “Estelle is going to stop by Tuesday evening. She wants to talk with you about some things.”“Mmm... okay? Keller, wow come you never said you had a dining room? And what is in those other rooms?” She brushes my hair out of my face, watching me with curious blue eyes. “I’m not mad or anything. I just always thought it was a storage

In the living room, Zara is standing at the whiteboard, already in deep concentration. She has her laptop in one hand and a dry erase marker in the other. “Hey, Pocket.” I stand beside her and look over her shoulder as if I have any clue what she’s doing. “Hi,” she says in a distracted tone. Her brow is knit, and she is muttering something under her breath at the laptop screen. It’s obvious she barely recognizes that I’m standing here. “Want me to order dinner? Then we can go to the other side of the penthouse, so you can look around.” I resist the temptation to wrap my arms around her waist.  She looks at another line on a spreadsheet and counts on her fingers. “Dinner? Uh, yeah. Can I get a cheeseburger?” “A cheeseburger? Of course. Whatever you want, Pocket.” I can’t take it anymore. I pull her hair away from her shoulder and kiss the crook of her neck, making her lean into my face and giggle. “Sorry. I got distracted.” She clo

“Come on, Lavender. It’s time to get out of the car. Look, Mom is here, so is Dad. Zara will sit next to them until it’s time for her to go up front for questioning. Okay? Plus, the Alpha and Luna Regents are here. Their guards are all here and on high alert. No one is going to hurt you. No one is even going to try. They would be crazy if they did.” I hold my hand out to my scared little mate, while she shivers in the passenger’s seat of my Range Rover. We have been trying for twenty minutes to convince her to get out of the car and go into the packhouse for Rocky’s trial. “Zara… er… Lavender, it’s Amy. Keller’s mom. Listen, sweetheart. I can’t even imagine how scared you are, but Phil and I will not let anything happen to you. Trust me, there are plenty of wolves in there that don’t like us either. We know how to handle them. You’re safe with us. I promise.” Mom stands next to me and strokes Zara’s hair. “I’ll hold your hand the entire time until you have to testify. Okay?

Mom makes Zara and me eat a few more bites of our food, and we head back to our seats. As we make our way down the aisle, more pack members growl or snarl at us. Guards promptly remove them and help us keep moving. For the afternoon session, the Luna Regent leads the proceedings. Her voice is beautiful, but doesn’t give me the odd sensation it had before. She calls Alpha Williams to the stand and the lawyers question him for over an hour. He has nothing productive to say, but I am acutely aware that he keeps looking over my shoulder at Zara. Before they dismiss him, the Luna a question that he seems prepared for. “Alpha Williams, why do you believe these seven guard trainees tried to attack Rocky?” “Hanlon’s Razor.” He says with confidence. The Alpha Regent sits forward. “Forgive my ignorance, Alpha Williams. What the Hell is Hanlon’s Razor?” “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” Alpha Williams no