The Trial She Faces

Chapter 26

Eve and Curtis meet up with Alpha Ian, his mate, and a few of his pack members in the town outside of the Emerald Eye pack territory. Together they approached the pack territory down the main road that led to the centre of the pack's township.

In the distance she could see a group of people ready to greet them. She tensed up, nervous about the confrontation that was about to occur. Curtis noticed her uneasiness and reached down to squeeze her hand hoping to give her some comfort.

Alpha Ian also glanced back, he was worried about the danger the Eve faced and the repercussions he could possibly face – despite the reassurances the Curtis had given him about the Council's protection.

The group came to a stop a few meters before the welcoming party. Alpha Blake stepped forward from the group – Eve could see Adrian standing behind him as well.

'Alpha Ian, welcome to Emerald Eye, my condolences for your loss... Although I must say I did not expect your entourage to be so... large,' Blake said looking directly at Eve. Alpha Ian glanced back at Eve before shrugging at Alpha Blake.

'Unfortunately Evie, I can not allow you entry to my pack. Who knows what kind of danger you pose to us considering how you left. I can't take that risk,' Blake spoke with a malicious glint in his eyes.

'Alpha Blake, my name is Curtis Richards – representative from the Council. I am here to escort Miss Harmonns to the funeral of Marie Harmonns. It is my responsibility to make sure she afforded the right to farewell her mother whilst she and your pack remains safe,' Curtis interrupted.

'Mr Richards, that is all and well but I still can not let Evie into my pack with good conscious,' Blake said.

'Here is the thing Alpha – there a regulations in place that outline Miss Harmonns rights to attend this funeral considering the poor treatment that you have subjected her to. But what you should really concern yourself with is the legitimacy of your position as alpha of Emerald Eye,' Curtis said with a straight face.

'You can not be serious,' Blake barked out with a harsh laugh.

'Unfortunately I am. Miss Harmonns is the true firstborn of the previous alpha – meaning that it is her right to take over the leadership of this pack if she so choose,' Curtis stated simply.

'Wha-' Blake began to speak.

'But we are willing to make a bargain with you. Should Miss Harmonns be allowed entry to the pack grounds in order to attend the funeral of her mother, she is willing to renounce her claim to the position,' Curtis said cutting off Blake.

'She would never be able to take the lead of my pack!' Blake said furiously, only being held back by Luna Ariel putting a hand on his shoulder. She leaned up and spoke softly into his ear. After a heated whispered argument, Blake turned back around to face Curtis and Eve again.

'Fine. You will be escorted to the residence of Marie Harmonns and stay there under supervision until the funeral. Immediately afterwards you will leave and not return,' Alpha Blake said seething before turning and storming off.

Curtis gave Eve a brief smile before they continued forward in the direction of Eve's old home. Curtis stayed close to her side making sure that she knew he would keep her safe.

Alpha Ian and his pack members headed towards the main pack house as Eve and Curtis split off and headed towards the small cabin on the edge of the pack territory.

As they got close to the small home, the front door swung open to reveal Joanne. Seeing Eve approach, she let out a strangled cry before running forward almost falling over.

Eve ran forward to fall into Joanne's embrace. The pair sank to the ground, crying unable to get any words out through their tears. Curtis stood back to let the women reunite and comfort each other.

When the two pulled apart and stood up, Eve turned to introduce Joanne to Curtis.

'Joanne, this is Curtis. He has... he has been helping me out over the last few months. He has been a great friend to me,' Eve said still hugging Joanne from the side.

'Come here sweetie, I'm so happy to meet you' Joanne said stepping forward and pulling Curtis down to her height to give him a squeezing hug and a kiss on each of his cheeks.

'Nice to meet you too,' Curtis said returning the hug.

'Come inside you two. I'll get you a drink and something to eat,' Joanne said grabbing both of their hands and leading them to the front door.

Once they were settled at the kitchen bench, hot cups of tea in hand, Eve finally managed to ask the question that had been weighing her down.

'Joanne... please, I have to know what happened,' she said her voice cracking.

Joanne paused, her hands hovering over the mug in front of her – it seemed as though she had stopped breathing for a moment. She closed her eyes, took in a deep breathe before speaking.

'Pumpkin... you know that your mum struggled for a long time after the rejection. I think it all just became too much for her in the end. I came to see her that morning and I found her still in bed. I-I thought she was just asleep,' Joanne finished with a small cry.

'I'm glad she went in her sleep at least,' Eve said wiping a lonely tear away from her cheek.

'Yeah... I don't know what I'm going to do without her,' Joanne whispered in a broken voice.

'Do you want to stay here?' Curtis quietly spoke up.

'How could I stay here? With everything they have made my family suffer – no, no I do not want to stay... But I will never be given permission to leave,' Joanne said.

'I can help if you want me to. You will have the support of the Council considering the mistreatment of your family at the hands of the leaders of this pack. You can be happy somewhere else,' Curtis said reaching over to grab Joanne's hand in his own.

'Oh my god. Thank you, Curtis, thank you so much,' Joanne said jumping out her chair and pulling Curtis into a tight hug.

As they pulled apart, Curtis gave her a comforting smile and a small nod of his head.

Over the next few hours, the three slowly made their way around the house packing up some of Marie's most precious items including some of her paintings and an album full of photos of Eve as a child.

Eve stood in the studio gazing at her mum's latest painting – a large portrait of Eve. Her mum's masterpiece it seemed. A small knock on the door pulled her out of her amazement.

'She was very talented,' Curtis said.

'Yeah, she was,' Eve smiled in agreement.

'Its time to go, the funeral will be starting soon,' he said gently.

'Okay,' she nodded.

Together with Joanne, thethree left behind the small cabin with a pile of brown boxes in the livingroom. It seemed almost lifeless.