After My Mate Rigged the Tribunal, I Walked Away

I didn’t knock. I shoved the heavy mahogany door to Matthew’s office open so hard it cracked against the wall.

Matthew sat behind his massive desk, bathed in the dim light of his brass desk lamp. The room smelled of expensive sandalwood and the sharp, metallic tang of his Beta authority. He didn't even flinch at the sudden intrusion. He just slowly looked up from his patrol logs, a mild, patronizing frown creasing his handsome face.

"Evie. You know better than to barge in without knocking."

I marched across the plush rug and slapped the crumpled yellow notepad paper onto the center of his immaculate desk. My hand was trembling, but my voice was dead silent. "Explain this."

Matthew glanced down at the paper. He didn't pale. His heart rate, steady and rhythmic in my heightened werewolf hearing, didn't spike by a single beat. He simply sighed, leaning back in his leather chair and steepling his fingers.

"I was wondering where Bella left that," he murmured.

The casual admission hit me harder than a physical blow. Sia, my inner wolf, snarled viciously in my mind, her claws scraping against the walls of my consciousness. *Traitor,* she hissed.

"You admit it?" My voice finally broke, rising in pitch. "You rigged the tribunal? You gave her the exact loophole to destroy my case?"

"Evie, be reasonable," Matthew said, his tone smooth, like he was talking to a temperamental child. He picked up the yellow paper and folded it perfectly in half. "Silverveil is halfway across the world. Did you honestly believe I would let my future mate move to another territory for a glorified study abroad program?"

"It was a cross-territory placement!" I shouted, the agonizing betrayal burning the back of my throat. "I earned it! I bled for it! It wasn't your choice to make!"

His eyes darkened. The air in the room suddenly grew heavy, thick with the suffocating, crushing weight of his aura.

*"Enough,"* he commanded.

He used his Beta tone. The supernatural frequency vibrated through my bones, a heavy pressure designed to force lower-ranking wolves to their knees. My knees buckled for a fraction of a second, but I gripped the edge of his desk, my knuckles turning white. I refused to bow. Not to him. Not anymore.

Seeing me stand my ground, Matthew’s jaw tightened, but he quickly masked his irritation with a condescending smile. "This pack law obsession of yours was a cute hobby, Evie. It kept you busy. But our mate ceremony is approaching. You are going to be a Beta's mate. My Luna-in-waiting. It’s time to abandon these silly distractions and focus on your real duties to me, and to this pack. Know your place."

He reached across the desk to stroke my cheek. I yanked my face away as if his skin was made of acid. I didn't say another word. I turned on my heel and walked out, the illusion of the man I had loved for seven years shattering into dust behind me.

Later that week, the neon lights of the Howling Moon Bar buzzed aggressively overhead. The local pack hangout was packed, the air thick with the smell of spilled beer, fried food, and the heavy, arrogant scent of artificial vanilla.

I sat in a corner booth, nursing a glass of ice water. I only came because avoiding the post-tribunal gathering would look like a surrender. I was trying to remain invisible, but Bella Jackson had other plans.

She sauntered over to my table, flanked by half the Delta squad and a few giggling Omegas. She wore a tight red dress, her chest puffed out with unearned pride.

"Evie," Bella practically yelled, ensuring the music seemed to dip just for her voice. Heads turned in our direction. "I'm so surprised you showed your face tonight! Honestly, I felt a little bad for you at the tribunal. If you had just prepared a little more, maybe you wouldn't have embarrassed yourself so badly in front of Judge Hayes."

Cruel snickers rippled through the gathered crowd. My packmates were watching me, waiting to see if the defeated little she-wolf would run out crying.

Sia growled low in my chest. *Tear her throat out.*

I didn't bare my fangs. I didn't cry. I took a slow sip of my water, set the glass down, and stood up. I smoothed the front of my casual sweater, meeting Bella's gloating eyes with a dead, absolute calm that made her smile falter.

"Lack of preparation?" I asked, my voice carrying crystal clear over the sudden hush of the bar. "That's an interesting assessment, Bella. Because if you had actually read the 1892 Moon Treaty addendum instead of just memorizing a stolen summary, you would know it only applies to non-navigable waterways."

Bella blinked, her smug expression freezing. "What are you talking about?"

"The Blackwood Ridge river," I stated, stepping directly into her space, forcing her to look up at me, "is classified as a Class III navigable waterway under the 1904 Inter-Pack Commerce Act. Which means the 1892 addendum is completely void in this jurisdiction."

The bar went dead silent. The Deltas behind Bella exchanged confused, wide-eyed glances.

"If Judge Hayes hadn't been so charmed by your sudden, miraculous discovery," I continued, my voice sharp and relentless, "or if I had been granted exactly five minutes for a standard rebuttal, I would have had your entire argument thrown out on a basic jurisdictional technicality."

Bella flushed a deep, ugly red. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. She looked like a fish gasping for air.

I leaned in slightly, my voice dropping to a dangerous, soft whisper that only she and the front row of onlookers could hear. "You didn't win because you knew the law, Bella. You won because you knew how to read someone else's handwriting. Enjoy the placement. We both know you don't have the brains to survive it."

I didn't wait for her response. I grabbed my jacket and walked through the parted crowd, my spine straight, leaving Bella drowning in the silence of her own exposed incompetence.