The Porch Wolf
Closing Arguments

Alpha Anthony McInnis’ POV

I squeezed Pamela’s hand as the defense rested. “That went better than I could have hoped,” I told her.

“Lawrence kicked ass,” she replied. We stood as the Council Chairmen, and the jury members walked out. It was frustrating not being able to talk to Mom, but the silver collars were in place. No mental communications could get past silver on your body. We were in the front row of the audience, just to the right of the defense table. “Let’s give her some encouragement as they leave.”

We moved over towards the table. Mom was standing behind the chair as a guard got ready to put the shackles back on the prisoners. A dozen or so people were moving to the front; they were close enough to the audience that you could touch them if you leaned forward over the rope. The guards had done nothing to stop it during the first break, so more came forward now. “What is Mark Conway doing up here,” I asked her as we waited our turn.

“I don’t know, but he’s heading for Leo.”

“I’m going to find out, get the attention of a security guard. Conway sent wolves to kidnap Vicki. There’s no way in hell Leo wants him around.” She let my hand go, and moved off to the side. I pushed my way around the back of the crowd by Mom and over towards the group by Leo. I watched as Mark pushed his way between two other Alphas, his left hand reaching out towards Leo.

As his hand came down towards his neck, Beta Lawrence’s arm went around Leo’s back. Instead of slapping Leo, his hand came down on the lawyers. “Ow,” Lawrence said as he pulled his hand back.

Mark pulled his arm back and turned to walk away. I heard Lawrence say someone’s ring cut his finger as I followed the Stillwater Alpha out of the room. He pulled a ring off his finger and dropped it in a trash can by the door. “Pamela, I think Mark tried to poison Leo. He tossed the ring into the garbage can on the left side of the entrance. Have Security take custody of it, and for Luna’s sake, make sure the security guys don’t let him leave!”

“That bastard! I’m on it,” she said.

Mark went out of the Pack House and across the compound to his quarters for the Summit. He ran inside; I found his car and hid nearby to wait. “Love, it looks like Mark and his Beta are packing to leave. What’s going on with Security?”

“The Guard Captain and Chairman Sanders are on their way to you now,” she said. “They found the ring. It had a needle on it and residual poison and blood. They need to find out what it is, and if there is an antidote.”

That sad excuse for an Alpha HAD tried to kill Leo but screwed up big time. Killing what some considered a rogue Alpha might be swept aside, but not a respected and innocent Pack Beta. “How is Lawrence?”

“He’s at the clinic; whatever it was has already paralyzed his hand. The ring was a miniature autoinjector; when he slapped his hand down, the needle injected its contents.”

I was joined behind the adjoining house by the Guard Captain and Chairman Sanders. “He’s still in there?”

“Yes, sir. He and his mate and Beta.”

“We don’t have much time. We need to know what poison Mark used, while there is still time to save Mr. Fenwick’s life. Are your men in place?”

“Yes, sir. Twenty men have surrounded his building, and two cars are ready.”

The Chairman nodded. “Take him down and keep him alive.”

He nodded and went off; we watched as his men moved forward. They stormed the house from all sides, and thirty seconds later, a man waved us in.

The Beta was in the living room by the luggage, hog-tied, gagged, and silvered. We went up the stairway to where a dozen men were standing around Alpha Mark and Luna Belinda Conway. She was gagged and struggling, and he was defiant as we walked into the room. I moved over to the wall and watched.

“Why the FUCK am I under ARREST,” Mark snarled.

“Assault and Attempted murder,” Chairman Sanders said. “People witnessed you using that poison ring, but you hit Lawrence Fenwick instead of Leo Volkov. Lawrence is a Beta, engaged in official Council business. You’re not walking away from this one.”

“I’m not saying anything.”

“If you care for your mate or your Pack, you should talk now. We have your ring. Lawrence is being checked out by our doctors, and he wasn’t your target. You have a few minutes here to change the narrative before it’s too late to save him, Mark. If it is murder, your fate is cast, and nothing will change it.”

He looked over at his mate; she was pleading with her eyes for him to say something. The guard removed the gag. “You can’t let an innocent man die, Mark!”

His shoulders sagged. “It was all Brenda Petersen’s idea. She offered me fifty thousand to kill Leo.”

“What did you use, Mark?”

“Botulism toxin, a high dose. The paralysis will spread through Lawrence’s tissue until it affects his respiratory system, and he stops breathing.”

The Chairman looked at the Guard Captain, who nodded. “I’ve passed the information to the doctors at the clinic,” the Captain said.

Sanders nodded. “Good. The next question is WHY.”

“Why do I do anything? Revenge and money. Leo killed two of my Pack members, and Brenda Petersen offered me fifty grand to kill him. The best part was that he’d die before you clear him, so even if I got caught, all I did was kill a rogue.”

The Chairman shook his head. “Is there any proof that Luna Brenda paid for the hit?”

Mark shook his head, no. “It happened on the first break. I had to run back here and get the ring, then get back to the trial. Payment would have been after Leo was dead.”

Crap. I wanted that bitch’s head on a pike, and it would be his word against hers. “Fake Leo’s death,” I said.

“What?” The Chairman turned around. “How?”

“Let closing arguments finish up. After you and the jury leave, Leo collapses, holding his chest. Rush Leo to the clinic with medics, gurney, mask, the whole bit. Spread rumors that he’s had a heart attack, and it doesn’t look good. When you finally return to the trial, announce that Leo Volkov died of a massive heart attack. Suspend the trial until the morning. Then you have the Captain here wire up Mark for sound as he goes to collect.”

Chairman Sanders looked down at Mark. “You have ten seconds to agree to this plan, or you go to the cells.”

“I’ll do it,” he said. “I’m not dying for that bitch’s problems.”

The Chairman looked at the guard captain. “Make it happen. We’re going back to the Pack House before we attract suspicion. And NO ONE says a thing about this, do it all over the link.” The Chairman grabbed me and pulled me out of the room with him. “That was good work,” he said. “You’ve become a fine Alpha.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“The doctors know what to do now, they’ve given him the anti-toxin. He’s heading back to the courtroom now.” I breathed a sigh of relief.

I’d saved his life.

I waited until he had left and returned to the Pack House before I exited the home. “Where are you, my love?”

“At the clinic,” she said.

“Meet me by the fountain,” I said. I moved over to the formal garden, sitting on a bench. A minute later, Pamela sat in my lap. “Things are going to happen soon. We need to react as people would expect, but know that everything is all right,” I told her.

“What’s going on?”

“Trust me, love. I can’t say.” I set her on her feet. “We need to get back inside.”

We got in just before the bailiff called everyone to their feet. Chairman Sanders called the hearing to order, and Counselor Albertson walked to the jury. “This is a simple matter for us,” he said. “Banishment is permanent and total. Once banished, no Pack can take them in. They are permanently outside our society, doomed to die alone. The defense would have you believe that this isn’t the case. Why, all you have to do is gather five people, declare yourself Alpha, and we have to welcome you back with open arms! Does this make ANY sense at all? Can you imagine the problems it will create if Rogue Alphas hear about this?” He paused for effect. “Put an end to this madness. Leo and Adrienne are rogues on Pack land. Uphold the decision.”

He sat down, and Lawrence practically jumped to his feet. “This is a simple decision,” he said. “Leo Volkov committed no crimes. Alpha Leo voluntarily accepted banishment as part of a peaceful power transfer, for the good of his Pack. He isolated himself for five years before he found a reason to be an Alpha again. He gathered members, declared himself and his intentions to the surrounding Alphas, and rescued the jobs and the Pack of the same ones who had to ignore him.” He turned and pointed at Leo. “The Council Chairman himself recognized his Alpha position when he showed at his home with a Mediator. The Council invited him here, with him arranging for his bonding ceremony with Luna Adrienne to happen in front of you all. If these are the acts of a rogue, I pray to Luna that ALL our Alphas be rogues like him,” he said.

Turning back to the jury, he finished up. “It is the Council that has wronged Alpha Leo, welcoming him here as Alpha before arresting him for trespassing. Overturn the order, and welcome Leo and Adrienne as the Alpha and Luna of the Miesville Pack.”

He sat down, and the Chairman finished up with jury instructions. “The trial is in recess until the jury returns with its verdict,” he said as he banged his gavel.

“All RISE,” the bailiff said. We waited until both the jury and the Council filed out before we were allowed to move.

“Nice job, Counselor,” I said as I went over to thank him. “Leo?” Leo was grabbing his left shoulder. “Leo, are you all right?”

His eyes rolled back, and he fell to the floor. His guards rolled him onto his back, one of them checking him out. “He’s not breathing,” he said.

Adrienne was freaking out as her guards hauled her out of the way. One of the guards tore off Leo’s shirt, while another guard knelt next to him and began CPR.

“MEDIC!! MEDIC!!” One of the guards ran outside, heading for the Clinic.

“MAKE A HOLE,” a man yelled. He ran up and handed a guard the portable defibrillator kept in the Pack offices.

The Clinic wasn’t far away, and the EMT’s arrived in minutes. The AED was not connected yet, and they quickly transferred him from the floor to the gurney and strapped him in while the pads were connected. The guard straddled him to continue CPR while they moved out. They pushed Leo out the door as the rest of us watched in shock.

“Oh, Luna! MOM,” I said. She was off to the side, the guards holding her up as she was crying and begging Leo to wake up. “MOM, STAY STRONG, HE’LL SURVIVE THIS,” I yelled to her.

Chairman Sanders came back into the room. “Release her, she needs to be with her mate,” he said. “Guard her and leave the collar.”

“Yes, sir,” the guards said.

A minute later, I had an arm around Mom as I helped her over to the clinic. Pamela ran ahead and got the door for us. The nurse led the three of us to a conference room, where Leo was sitting in a chair. He was laughing and drinking a Coke with the doctors and the guards. “You’re all right,” Pamela said in shock.

“You can’t say anything,” I told her. “Someone paid to get Leo killed, and we’re going to let them think it worked.

“I’m good,” she said as she hugged Adrienne tight. “You knew about it too?”

“We had to make it public and convincing,” Mom said.

Pamela laughed as they both sat down. “You had me convinced. I’d have lost my shit out there if Anthony hadn’t told me everything would be all right.”

We talked for about ten minutes before the guard got a mental message. “Time for Phase two,” he said. “Luna Adrienne, you’ll have to scream loud enough for them to hear you in the Pack House. We’ll simulate sedating you. Alpha Anthony, Luna Pamela, you’ll return to the Alphas and pass on the news. Massive heart attack, doctors did everything they could, you know.”

“I do,” I said. “Mom and Leo will stay here tonight?”

“Yes, we’ll guard them in a room. Everyone involved in this is under Alpha orders not to say anything.” He opened the door. “Whenever you’re ready, Luna.”

The scream Mom let out nearly broke my eardrums. “NO!! LEO!” She broke out in sobs, then stopped when the door closed.

We waited a few more minutes before we put on our sad panda faces and walked out. Most of the people present at the Summit had gathered outside the clinic, waiting for word. I gripped Pamela’s hand as I stopped at looked at them. “At nine twenty-nine, Alpha Leo Volkov was pronounced dead. The doctors did all they could, but the heart damage was too extensive. We would ask that you keep his family in your prayers.”

I led Pamela through the group, many expressing their sympathies as we went by. I took my mate to our room and locked the door.

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