Hunted (Pack of Dawn and Destiny, #1)(46)

Greyson prowled past us, finding a chair on the wall that was positioned so he could see the whole room and had his back protected.

Arbiter Tanaka only glanced at him before he motioned at the wizard Greyson had frightened to close the door. He rubbed the joints of his left hand, massaging his golden skin, and peered at his computer screens.

“Shall we begin?” He didn’t wait before launching into his speech. “Hunter Phillipa Sabre, you’ve been called to the Curia Cloisters due to your violent attack of Hunter Amos Fletching on the date of…” he read the official claim off his computer screen, including details of the incident that were relatively accurate.

(The Curia Cloisters had compiled testimonies from the Fletching hunters as well as the humans and wolves from the Northern Lakes Pack, so it was pretty balanced.)

He droned through the incident report—which I’d read ahead of time—plunging into the case with no hesitation.

Supernaturals handled their crimes in what most humans considered a frightfully casual method, given we didn’t have things like courts and juries.

In reality, arbiters were remarkably genteel considering we used to settle all arguments by duels, fights to the death, and lots of other “fun” and violent methods.

“…breaking Hunter Amos Fletching’s nose. Do you agree to these accounts, Hunter Amos Fletching and Hunter Phillipa Sabre?”

“Yes,” I said.

“Yes.” Amos smirked—not at me, but Greyson, weirdly.

Does he think he’s somehow getting at Greyson through me? Wow. He is a really bad investigator. Like, he isn’t barking up the wrong tree; he’s in the wrong forest! And this is who the Regional Committee of Magic sent as their A team?

Arbiter Tanaka removed his glasses as he focused on me. “Although Amos Fletching requested this be tried as a larger crime, the Curia Cloisters has found it to be appropriate as a small claims,” he dryly said. “And if Hunter Sabre had anyone to her family besides herself, it wouldn’t have even come this far and wasted valuable Cloister resources.” He gave Amos a narrowed look as he drummed his fingers on his desk. “But while the testimonies make it obvious Hunter Fletching was acting in an insulting manner, he has a legitimate complaint, given his injury,” he concluded. “Hunter Sabre, do you have anything to say in your defense?”

I glanced at Gigi, who folded her hands on her lap and smiled beautifully. “Speaking on behalf of Hunter Sabre, I do.”

I knew Gigi well enough to know her calm fa?ade usually was good for me, but I didn’t see any way she could possibly spin this to get me off.

There are over a dozen witnesses. What can she do?

Gigi sat straight and perfect in her chair as she flipped through the official testimony. “All parties can agree that Hunter Fletching verbally attacked the Northern Lakes Pack, and spoke in a provoking manner?”

“The testimony says as much,” Arbiter Tanaka said. “But that does not excuse Hunter Sabre’s response.”

“But it does.” Gigi dropped the packet of papers, her shark smile in place. “Due to Hunter Fletching’s conduct, I request a total exemption for Hunter Phillipa, using the citation of Hunter Code Section F, subsection 4a, in which it states it is allowed for hunters to defend their family’s honor and reputation from other hunters, including cases of minor physical assault, without consequence as long as both hunters acknowledge the provocation.”

I barely kept a straight face as I listened to Gigi’s gutsy defense. I have no idea where she’s going with this…

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one.

“What are you saying?” Amos squinted at Gigi.

She didn’t acknowledge him, and kept her face pointed to Arbiter Tanaka.

Greyson was as still as a statue, but I thought a tiny bit of his stiffness was gone.

“Get on with your point, Hunter Quillon,” Arbiter Tanaka ordered.

Gigi flicked her eyes at Amos, every sign of the kind and bubbly person she usually was snuffed out as she looked at him with an expression a lot closer to a wolf’s. “Hunter Fletching verbally attacked the Northern Lakes Pack in front of Hunter Sabre—who was adopted into the Pack as a child. They’re her family. She was raised by two members of the Pack, but continues to live among the Pack, trains with them, and is employed by them. It was her right to defend them from Hunter Fletching’s insults.”





Chapter 13





Pip





Amos rocketed out of his chair. “That’s insane,” he said. “There’s no way a bunch of wolves could be family to a hunter!”

Arbiter Tanaka leaned back in his chair and flicked a finger at Amos, silencing him.

Gigi’s smile grew as she closed in on her argument. “Hunter Sabre has no living hunter relatives, and is the last of her father’s and her mother’s lines. After the tragedy of her parents’ deaths, she was an orphan. None of the hunter families took her in, but the wolves did, and they continue to care for her.” Gigi motioned to Greyson—a convenient prop for her case.

No wonder she looked gleeful when she saw him.

“You can also witness this connection in the verbiage of the testimonies.” Gigi danced her fingers across her paper packet. “The Northern Lakes Pack refers to Hunter Sabre as ‘our hunter’. The werewolves believe she is a part of their Pack—why else would Alpha Greyson be here?”