spanng="EN"Ana’s POV

    spanng="EN"Rodney and I knew that, despite the jury being warned, we were certain that a few members of the jury would believe the lies that had been told. We expected it. As the opening statements were made, I heard a slight movement behind me. I turned to see Charlie passing Roger’s cell phone back to him. That’s odd. I guess Roger needed to say something. I know that he didn’t have Charlie’s number.

    spanng="EN"We were starting with Regina, as her trial was cut and dried. It would be the easiest of the three. Christine Arnold took the stand, and Rodney started off by showing a copy of the actual deed to the home. She testified that she had sold me both my apartment and the vi in question. She also testified that she had sold them both for me, at my request, before I bought mytest home.

    spanng="EN"The proof was all there. Bank statements, the electronic transfer to pay off the home in full. Everything was in order, proving that I had purchased the home, with no funds from Roger. No funds had been provided to me by Roger. Everything inside, and concerning that home, had been purchased by me. I wanted to ensure they had nothing toe back on me with after the trial. I’m not doing this again. This was a warning for them to stop.

    spanng="EN"I have gone through 5 already and they all are a long list of dates and times of intercourse and some even have explicit s*x scenes written out. I sigh and put down thetest folder that is describing how Hadley had been a dom to my warrior.

    spanng="EN"Looking over at Evan, I smile. Her brows are drawn and her dark hair is up in a messy bun, revealing her neck. The shirt that she changed into is a nice floral blouse that hangs off her shoulders. The shirt reveals therge scar at the base of her neck, and a few more small ones that I didn’t notice before. Before I even realize what I am doing, I reach out and touch the biggest one. She jumps and turns to smack my hand away, ring at me.

    spanng="EN"“What happened?” I ask gently and she narrows her eyes.

    spanng="EN"“If you must know. The big one was an ident from my torture training and the rest are from my fun time with Frankf*ck.” She answers and turns her attention back to the file in front of her.

    spanng="EN"“Torture training? You shouldn’t have gotten scarred from that.” I ask in confusion.

    spanng="EN"“Yes. Torture training. Once Alpha Gerold saw that I was ‘special‘ he enrolled me in all of his special sses. Including Luna duties,bat, and torture training.” She answers with the wave of her hand as if this conversation is no big deal.

    spanng="EN"“How did it happen?” I ask.

    spanng="EN"“I was injected with a little too much wolvespain. They grabbed the dull silver knife, to inflict more pain. Once they stabbed the base of my neck they were startled and identally dragged the de across my back. Mother was horrified when I was taken to the hospital. They had to restrain her from rushing to Alpha Gerold and attacking him.” She says with a slight smile on her lips.

    spanng="EN"“How old were you?” I all but growl out and she shrugs.

    spanng="EN"“Shortly after I shifted, so 12.” She answers and I can’t help the growl thates out of my mouth, startling her. Her face turns to me with wide eyes as Viggo pushes me.

    spanng="EN"“YOU WERE A CHILD?” He roars and I begin huffing, trying to control him. I don’t register anything until Evan climbs on myp and grips my face with her hands, forcing me to look into her beautiful crystal gray eyes. “It is a part of what made me who am today. Was it the right thing to do? No. BUT I don’t think I would have survived Franklin if I hadn’t of had the training. That training, as f*cked up as it sounds, saved me. More times than one.” She says, giving me a pointed look and I realize that she is talking about the first

    spanng="EN"Added to the library her. When she was being tortured here by disappointment.

    spanng="EN"“I’m sorry.” I apologize and she forces my head back up to meet her gaze.

    spanng="EN"“I wasn’t saying that as a dig. I was saying it to try to get you to calm down. I understand why you did it, even though it hurt like a b*tch.” Sheughs out and I pull her tight against me, surprising her. I ce me the crook of her neck taking a deep inhale of her choctevender scent. She cradles my head, holding me close to her as well. This makes me and Viggo content, but also almost feel worse.

    spanng="EN"“I don’t deserve you.” I mutter.

    spanng="EN"“Don’t ever say that. We are second chances for a reason.” She scolds, and I shake my head, but don’t argue She is right, but of course I still don’t feel that way. She is a much better person than me. I can only hope that I can be half the person she is.

    spanng="EN"“Tell me about your parents.” I mumble into her neck and she pulls away, looking at me questioningly and i shrug. “You mentioned your mother. I would like to know about her.” I say and she smiles sadly.

    spanng="EN"“Mother was a gothic hippy.” She chuckles. “At least that is what some people in the pack called her. She was a pack doctor and had some more holistic approaches to things. Either way, they worked. She loved to bake and would experiment with different vors. My favorites that she would make are the breakfast items, especially muffins because it was like eating a cake for breakfast. She was carefree, loving, and helped as many people as she could. My father on the other hand was more strict, not very, but he is the one who instilled in me the discipline for school and training. He was a–head warrior and although he could be a little rough around the edges, he loved me and mom with his whole heart. He is actually the person who taught me how to fight in the first ce. A Lot of his and my mom’s beliefs are a part of me. My caring and nurturing I learned from mom and my discipline and tough love, I learned from dad.” She tells me with a sad smile on her face. I hugged her again.

    spanng="EN"“Not a day has gone by that I don’t miss them.” She sniffles and I nod.

    spanng="EN"“I understand.” I say as she pulls back to look me in the eye.

    spanng="EN"“What about your dad?” She asks and now it is my turn to smile sadly.

    spanng="EN"“He was the best. He came off as gruff to people on the outside, but was weing and cared for his people. Even though he was strong and stern, he was also loving. He was always one for jokes and a good time with family. He tried to put us first, and in most ways he did, but he still had a kingdom to run. Everybody loved him and when the time came to start training me, he was patient and took the time to actually teach me. I was lost without him when I took over.” I exin and she nods.

    spanng="EN"“He sounds like a good man. I wish I would have gotten to meet him.” She says and I smile and grab the back of her neck, bringing her lips to mine for a brief kiss.

    spanng="EN"“He would have loved you.” I say, pulling back and she smiles.

    spanng="EN"“My parents would, well they would love this you, but hated the before you.” She says and Iugh as she climbs off myp..

    spanng="EN"“I hated the before me.” I say and she shakes her head as she reaches back to the file. I huff and grab the one

    spanng="EN"I was working on. After another 20 minutes Evan interrupts my reading.

    spanng="EN"“I think I might have found something.” She says as she turns the file open and begins reading and looks back up to me. “This one was Ingrid’s note. She saw that the head of pack support, Chadwick, we deleting pack requests on hisputer/right before Hadley came in and, well you know.” She says, pulling a slight face. Honestly at this point I am almost numb to the fact Hadley was a wh*re.

    spanng="EN"“So Chadwick is the one deleting the requests from packs. Why?” I ask and she shrugs her shoulders.

    spanng="EN"“I don’t know, but you have to know it isn’t just one guy. There is no way that one guy can cover up the fact that pack’s are not getting the support they need. Especially when they do, it is little to none. Not to mention the cover ups on packs disappearing.” She says and I sigh, running a hand through my hair, and look towards the coffee table holding the rest of the reports. We are only a quarter of the way through this. “Looks like it’s going to be a long night.” I say gesturing to the files and she smiles slyly. I look at her in confusion, when there is a knock on my office door and it opens without me telling the person to enter. I look over to see Jax strutting in and I grumble about him not waiting for me to tell him to enter. Then a few secondster Linc, Henry, and Marie enter. I look at them all in confusion and Evan grabs some folders and hands them out.

    spanng="EN"“I know most of you did the interrogations, but we need to go through the transcripts and notes on anything that may be useful with the war, who helped Hadley, and any corruption there may be in the pack system.” She says and they nod. Jax puts his hand to his forehead and says ‘yes ma’am‘ before turning to the first page of the file. Shees back and sits down and smiles at me.

    spanng="EN"“I figured it would be easier with more eyes.” She says as she turns back to her folder. I lean down to whisper in her ear.

    “Thank you.” I say and she just shrugs in response. Hopefully the rest of these won’t take as long.

    spanng="EN"“YOU WERE A CHILD?” He roars and I begin huffing, trying to control him. I don’t register anything until Evan climbs on myp and grips my face with her hands, forcing me to look into her beautiful crystal gray eyes. “It is a part of what made me who am today. Was it the right thing to do? No. BUT I don’t think I would have survived Franklin if I hadn’t of had the training. That training, as f*cked up as it sounds, saved me. More times than one.” She says, giving me a pointed look and I realize that she is talking about the first

    spanng="EN"Added to the library her. When she was being tortured here by disappointment.

    spanng="EN"“I’m sorry.” I apologize and she forces my head back up to meet her gaze.

    spanng="EN"“I wasn’t saying that as a dig. I was saying it to try to get you to calm down. I understand why you did it, even though it hurt like a b*tch.” Sheughs out and I pull her tight against me, surprising her. I ce me the crook of her neck taking a deep inhale of her choctevender scent. She cradles my head, holding me close to her as well. This makes me and Viggo content, but also almost feel worse.

    spanng="EN"“I don’t deserve you.” I mutter.