Chapter 177 He was shot
_Author’s POV_
The appointment of a new Beta wasn’t something Alaric announced with any ceremony. He just called Gabriel into his office that morning, told him to sit down, and said it plainly. Gabriel was being appointed Beta.
Not with every privilege Reid had carried, those would be earned over time, that is if they were earned at all, but the position was his.
He chose Gabriel because there was no one close to him enough and the pack needed a beta.
Gabriel sat straight and nodded without a word. He understood everything and he was excited.
Alaric looked at him for a moment, Gabriel was younger than Reid had been when he took the role, more eager. That eagerness could be useful or it could be a problem depending on how it was managed. Alaric pushed that away for now and told him he could go.
After Gabriel left, Alaric sat alone in his office for a while.
He didn’t think about Reid directly, he had done that enough already and it didn’t produce anything useful anymore.
Gabriel, to his credit, tried very hard in the days that followed.
He arrived to the company early, stayed late, asked questions, made very few mistakes, and the ones he made he corrected quickly without needing to be told twice.
Alaric watched him without commenting much, which Gabriel seemed to understand was the version of approval he was going to get for now. It was sufficient though, Reid Malcom has already traumatized the Alpha King with his actions.
It would take a while to fix things.
.........
The court hearing for Virella and the other’s verdict was scheduled for Thursday.
Alaric arrived at the courthouse with Kasper and two others, dressed casually. He didn’t need to dress like it was a big ceremony when it was merely a day to judge his ex-bestfriend.
The courthouse was filled because people wanted to witness everything.
Virella was brought in first, she looked composed, which no one except Alaric had expected.
She always faked it but deep down she was dying.
She sat at the defendant’s table and arranged herself.
Theodore came in next, he looked the way he had looked since he turned himself in, tired and probably depressed. He sat without looking at the gallery, that was someone who didn’t fake his calmness.
Reid came in last and kept his eyes on the floor from the moment he entered to the moment he sat down. He maintained that posture for most of the session.
The proceedings then began, the judge handling the primary case was thorough.
The documentation Celeste had compiled was presented systematically and it was as she had promised, airtight. Every transfer, every record, every connection between the facility and its funding and the people responsible for it laid out in a row.
Then the defense counsel stood up, Alaric gave him credits cause he was skilled.
He argued, refrained, redirected, introduced doubt where he could find space for it, and did all of it smoothly enough that the gallery changed direction slightly with each point he made.
He turned his attention to Alaric at one point, which was his right within the proceedings.
He asked his questions respectfully, he had to respect theAlpha King questions, he made sure his tone was correct, but his questions themselves were not.
He suggested that Alaric’s personal involvement with Rowena Ashthorne created a conflict of interest in how the investigation had been conducted. That decisions made in the field had been influenced by emotion rather than procedure, and that the evidence chain had gaps that could be explained by the fact that the man overseeing the operation had personal stakes in the outcome.
He said all of this carefully, without accusation, and with a great deal of respectful phrasing around it.
Alaric answered each question calmly without stuttering.
He was direct, calm and he did not give the defense counsel the reaction he was angling for, which was the most important thing.
He walked through the evidence chain point by point and explained exactly how each piece had been obtained by whom and under what circumstances.
He acknowledged his personal connection to Rowena Ashthorne without apology and explained precisely why that connection had no relevancyon the documented facts in front of the court.
He was not the Alpha King for nothing, and the defense counsel seemed to understand by the third question that he had chosen a difficult wall to push against.
The gallery were impressed by their Alpha king, honestly.
By early afternoon the primary arguments had been concluded and the judge called for a brief recess before the verdict. Alaric sat with Kasper during the recess and said very little. Kasper didn’t say much either, he only asked Alaric if he was hungry. There was a nice restaurant close to the court.
“Go ahead and get yourself food, I’m okay.” Alaric replied calmly. He wasn’t hungry yet, he only wanted justice.
Rowena had suggested taking Virella to court, he couldn’t understand why she chose that part when she said she wanted to hurt Virella back.
Thiswas a legal proceeding, it wouldn’t hurt Virella much, although her reputation was a mess.
Soon, they reconvened and the gallery filled back up quickly.
The judge went through the findings methodically again, heworked through each charge against each defendant, stating the finding clearly, and the basis for it.
Virella’s face remained composed through most of it, Theodore looked at the table and Reid still kept his eyes down.
The judge reached his final verdict, which was guilty for all three..
Alaric sat still and sighed on relief. He knew Rowena was watching and it finally happene, Virella would be jailed.
But just as everything settled, the doors at the back of the courthouse suddenly opened. It opened hard fast and wide, and men trooped in armed and before anyone in the room had fully processed what was happening, they opened fire.
The sound of the first shot was shockingly loud, and the judge dropped down.
It happened so fast that it took even Alaric a few seconds to catch himself. Soon, Alaric felt the second shot before he heard it, they shot his left arm.
They shot high up near the shoulder and a burning that spread fastmade his hand go briefly numb.
Kasper rushed to his side before Alaric had taken two steps, one hand on his back as he guided him toward the side door that the security team had identified when they arrived that morning
Truth was, Kasper had been observing the area, so he knew a few sneaky corners to run from if things went south. He had been having a bad feeling since he woke up this morning.
“I’m fine,” Alaric said as they rushed out. He didn’t want to be treated like a salt just because of one shot.
“You’ve been shot,” Kasper said flatly.
“I’m aware,” Alaric replied calmly. “Just keep moving.”
Kasper kept moving as instructed, but he kept his hand on Alaric’s back as they went through the side door and into the corridor.