Chapter Twenty Nine
Dominic kissed the top of my head when we entered the dining room that had momentarily been converted into the meeting room in which we would discuss what happened with Scott.
The alpha at my side could sense my unease and was trying his best to comfort me while looking like he was in business mode. "Everything will be alright," he assured me quietly. "Just ignore them."
He was referring to the hordes of people that had gone silent and were staring at the two of us. There was a mixture of anger and disgust, with a little bit of pity too. I got the feeling most people here would be on Scott's side, not even because they thought he was right, but just to show their disdain for me.
The dining table had been split in half, on each side were the people who would speak and give their side of the story and their arguments. Surprisingly, Nina and the Beta were on our side and the Beta was glaring down a few members of the pack that had just taken their seat next to Scott. Scott caught my gaze and his eyes narrowed, a subtle arrogant smirk growing on his face. He thought he would win this. And once I realized who he had on his side, I wasn't surprised. The same people at the party who had told Dominic what happened were sitting with Scott now.
"Dom-"
"I know," he growled. "The little bastard paid them off."
I swallowed thickly while clutching his hand tightly, suddenly very nervous. "We don't have a chance now, do we?"
Dominic shook his head. "We always have a chance, Cara. Myself and my advisor have a plan and if you follow along, we will be just fine."
"A plan? Why wasn't I involved in this plan?" I quizzed. "He attacked me-"
"Cara, when someone attacks my mate, I am under attacked as well. We are not as separate as we used to be, especially when it comes to interactions within the pack. In situations like these, you and I are a team."
Dominic guided me to my seat and told me to sit. "I'll be right back, love. Sit tight." Too on edge to disobey, I nodded and watched him walk over to his new beta and Nina. Guilt filled my stomach at the sight of the three of them and before Dominic spoke, I noticed Nina tense up, expecting him to be on the attack. When he shook their hands and delved into a conversation, her gaze slipped over to me.
And then she was approaching. "You haven't told him yet?" she tested in confusion, slipping into the vacant seat on the other side of me.
I shook my head. "It seemed like a bad time. You're on our side?"
Nina snorted, glaring darkly in Scott's direction. "I may be vying for your position in the pack, but there is no way I would not support the alpha. Plus that greasy burrito deserves whatever punishment he gets."
"It doesn't seem he'll get one. All the witnesses have changed their story and are on his side," I grumbled.
Nina examined the group again and then looked on our side. "No. He doesn't stand a chance. Dominic and his advisor will be able to dismiss more than half of those witnesses as being biased. The few people on our side are strong and the likelihood that any of them will be removed is small. Just you wait and see." She leaned back leisurely in her seat and glanced sideways at me. "So when are you going to tell Dominic?"
With a heavy sigh, I leaned forward and folded my arms on the table. "When this is over. I want him to focus on this."
"Unless you just create another problem. But that is probably a good idea. Only one drama at a time with you."
~ ~ ~
Just as Dominic asked me to, I remained silent for almost all of the intense discussion. Almost. As Nina claimed, many of the witnesses against us dropped their counterclaim and were guided out of the room. As more and more of the pack members were escorted out, Scott became more and more angry.
Then he snapped. "What the hell are we doing here, people?" Scott hissed, slamming his fists on the table.
Dominic clutched my hand in his lap, smirking lightly. "We are here to find a suitable punish-"
"Punishment for what? Don't you realize that girl betrayed you as well? I might have tried to get with her, but I made my advances obvious. A girl like that cannot walk into one of my parties and not be asking for it," Scott stated. "Your chosen is a human, Alpha. They have been known to whore around and then play the victim. The girl is a foreigner to all of us, how are we to know that she isn't just parading around and flashing herself to all of the men in the pack? Maybe I was the first one she was caught with. Why should I get in trouble for that?"
Dominic was now shaking. Furious. And I was just plain fed up. Dominic's advisor stood to put his word in, but I jumped up from my seat. "No. Sit back down. I am not going to sit aside and let you guys fight this for me," I snapped. The advisor, who had yet to introduce himself to me and so had to remain nameless, nodded meekly and plopped down in his seat.
"Caroline..." Dom warned me.
"No, Dominic. I'm doing this." I took a deep breath, trying to ignore the number of eyes on me. "I was invited to the party shortly after Dominic advised me to start meeting members of the pack. Was it my wisest idea? Obviously not. I will admit my fault there because unlike a certain pompous, rich asshole on the other side of this table, I am not afraid of accepting responsibility. If you want to start blaming the victim, let me quickly dispel all of the arguments. I wasn't in revealing clothing. I stayed away from the room of drugs. I only drank water. I moved outside because there was questionable activity going on inside. And besides, Dominic had already presented me as his mate to you in that ceremony. It didn't occur to me that people thought I was a random human teenager strolling into that party."
I heard someone giggle behind me and felt myself waver in the little confidence I had in this environment. "Regardless of all that, when Scott came onto me, he said something that made me curiously. I may have spent many years living in a pack, but I wasn't taught much. Scott said there was a way to reverse a mark. I didn't know that was possible. So I became curious. I asked about it." I felt Dominic touch the palm of my hand, silently asking for me to shut up. "Scott. I apologize if I lead you on for a fraction of a second. But what matters here is that when you made a physical advance on me, I said no and told you to stop, and pushed you away. And you didn't.
"I am a human being. Not that much different from any of you. We have the same rights as each other and we all have the right to say no when we do not want something sexual. I made it very clear that I didn't like what you were doing and you told me, 'no one can touch me. I couldn't care less who your little boyfriend is'. I have made my mistakes in this situation, but I will not stand to see your involvement be ignored. Not for my sake, but for the girls that you could harm in the future and the girls you have most likely assaulted in the past. I know guys like you too well to think I am an isolated event. And so should everyone else here. This isn't about me. This is about the girls in the pack getting hurt and the young males being taught that it is okay to treat women that way."
With that, I lowered myself back to my seat and covered my blistering cheeks sheepishly. Dominic stared at me with wide eyes for a long moment before leaning in and kissing the skin by my ear affectionately. "My girl," he hummed.
The elder presiding over the meeting clapped his hands several times and cleared his throat. "I have made my decision. Everyone please take their seats."
Dominic scooted my chair closer and captured my hands in his. "I messed it up, didn't I?" I whispered. "I rambled on. I should have kept my mouth shut."
"I am so proud of you, sugar. That was so brave." He kissed the apple of my cheek and then my temple. "You did it."
"Did what? There's no chance-"
The Elder turned to me then and inclined his head. "His punishment will be decided by you and your mate, Miss Cara."
I felt my eyes widen. "W-wait, what?" I sputtered.
"Thank you, Elder. We will take it from here," Jeff announced. "Alpha, I will escort Scott to your private study. Everyone else, exit and return to your duties."
Dominic beamed at me, looking more proud than I had ever seen him. "You are the Luna, Caroline. You were made for this, that much I know. That was incredible."
"I called him pompous and the Elder still sided with me? That was sheer luck," I claimed, trying to hide the blush that was creeping up my neck at his praises.
He pulled me to sit on his lap and crushed me to his chest. "Scott is pompous. Girls have been gossiping about his attacks for years, but no one would come forward. You saved them and future girls, Cara."
I laughed lightly, pushing myself as far away as possible. "You told me to be quiet and I didn't. Aren't I supposed to be in trouble for being disobedient?"
Dominic snickered, cupping my face tenderly before pulling me in for a chaste kiss. But the small kiss was just to hide his next statement. "I'll save that punishment for the bedroom, sugar," he hummed.
The mark on my neck throbbed at the thought, but I found myself giggling at it. The two of us laughed softly at the moment, and I momentarily let myself go and wrapped my arms around his neck to hug him. "I am proud of you. Thank you for not listening to me today," Dominic told me sincerely. "You are everything I want in a mate and more, and I am so lucky to have you."
"Even though I am more trouble than I'm worth?" I asked.
Dominic shook his head, a slight frown on his face. "That isn't true at all. Where did that come from?"
I gave him a small, sad smile. "Look at all the drama I have caused since being here. Everything with Andrew and Alf, this and now the Beta and Nina-"
He sat up straight, hands clasping my hips securely. "What? What about Jeff and Nina?"
Oh damn. My cheeks heated up as I struggled to think up a quick lie. But I couldn't. "I... We can't talk about it now. Now isn't a good time, but tonight. Once we decide what to do with Scott and we cool off from that, I promise to explain it to you."
Dominic examined my face intensely, searching for any sign of me lying or being insincere. Then he gave a single nod. "Alright. But neither of them hurt you, did they?"
"No, no. Of course not. Nothing like that. Just their plans for the future."
His hands relaxed and then he slipped them down to my thighs before leaning in to press our lips together softly. "I will wait then. Let's go make this pretty boy cry."
~ ~ ~
"I don't think castration is going to do anything," I told Dominic, who looked at me like I just killed his dreams.
"But-"
Scott breathed out a sigh of relief, to which I shot him a glare. "You aren't out of the woods yet. I want you out of the pack so I don't have to look at your face again, and neither do the other girls here you've hurt. But before I leave, you are going to write down a list of every girl you have taken advantage of and then I want your file to be marked down as a possibly dangerous man. No exilement, just from this pack. You can join others, but not before we know that they know what suspicious activities have gone on with you here," I explained.
Dominic huffed. "Come on. Can't we just do a partial castration?"
"No."
Scott crossed his arms. "You're just letting me leave? She's soft, man, you can't have women making decisions like this for a pack," he scoffed.
"The more he talks, the more I like the idea of castration," I muttered, turning to look at Dominic. "We'll give him forty eight hours to be off of the land. Fair?"
The Alpha shook his head. "No. I will never be satisfied for him harming you."
"Alphas," I said under my breath as I rolled my eyes. "We are adding sex offender to your file. By this time in two days, if you are still on Dominic's land, then he can do whatever he sees fit as punishment."