Into the silence, Pearl asked, “Why do you believe this?”
Mrs. Jonas sputtered, “He was drinking from Rebecca and Viper at the same time, working back and forth between their necks. A witness came upon the act, and said that after Mr. Zeller was through with his mind hold, Rebecca started screaming for help.” She paused. “Viper says she, herself, was willing, but doesn’t remember,” she scowled at Viper, “what happened because she was too light-headed afterward.”
My lips thinned.
I wasn’t stupid enough to not understand this, nor had I missed the covert glances Ezra had been aiming at my throat for the past two weeks. The one, and only, time he had drank off me he had called my blood unique. Ezra never drank off Shifters if he could help it, always Vampires, but what did mixing a Shifter and Vampire’s blood make? Me. He hadn’t wanted to ask me for some reason, and had gone and bit a damn Shifter who was all about appearances.
My wolf growling low, I stalked forward, peering at King Kincaid. “Mind if I handle this?” With him here, he had precedence, but I wanted to show Rebecca what she had to look forward to if she lied again under my rule.
King Kincaid placed his hands in the pockets of his dress slacks, rocking back on his heels. “Go right ahead. I’d like to see how you would handle this.”
I muttered, “A simple tactic really, for what she’s accusing a future King of.” I stood directly in front of her, glaring down to her eyes where she sat. “Get up.”
She was a wolf Shifter. Strong. It ticked me off even more that Ezra had picked her. Hell, her hair was even auburn. Glaring, her wolf growled, but she stood, towering over me.
Focusing, I let her have it, my power hitting her brutally. Probably, too violently, really. I didn’t hold much back, I was so furious.
She choked, immediately falling to the ground at my feet. Hard.
The room’s occupants jerked and then stilled, feeling the aftershocks.
Quickly tamping my power down to a simmer, I squatted. I knew my eyes were glowing fierce blue as I lay my hand on her auburn head of hair. When I spoke, my wolf vibrated through my voice, demanding quietly, “The truth.” None too gently, I thrust the command directly into my palm on her head, and she jerked. “Now.”
Instantly, she started rambling, “I consented. I lied to Mrs. Jonas. I saw my friends coming and didn’t want them to know.” Truth.
Debating my choices, it wasn’t too hard to pick.
I slammed her face against the ground.
Shifters are different than any of the other Mys groups in our forms of punishment since we’re animalistic in nature. I could have turned the charges around on her and sent her lying butt to prison, which would do me no good since I wanted her to tell the tale of how powerful I was, a little fear never hurting anyone. Or, I had the option to physically punish her, which relieved a bit of my tension. Only a bit.
The force of the blow busted her nose and her lying mouth. Decent trade, I thought.
Ignoring how Mrs. Jonas and Viper jumped at the crunch of bone, I grabbed a handful of auburn hair and yanked her face up, letting the violence of my power cut off, but kept my eyes glowing as I growled in her bloody face, “You lie to harm a King or Queen again, or our Mys community as a whole, and I’ll personally rip out your throat. Do you understand me?”
That, I was allowed to do, too. I would do it if she tried to harm my friends again. The death penalty was an option as a punishment for lying to damage a King or a Queen. She was really getting off easy, but she was still young, and I really wanted her out there shaking in fear as she spoke of me. Plus, the fact that I had offered her kindness. She was still breathing, after all, and not behind bars.
She whimpered, and nodded as much as she could with the grip I had on her hair.
I dropped her head in disgust, standing and wiping my hands off. She really was a sniveling, materialistic idiot who would probably only cause more problems. Maybe I should just put her behind bars for the Shifters’ sake. I cocked my head, rolling my shoulders, but after a few seconds of thought, I realized even if I wanted to, I couldn’t, since I had already given my ruling.
“Shit,” I muttered. Live and learn, I guess. I seriously hoped I didn’t regret letting her walk out of here free and clear. “I’m done.”
Everyone was left blinking, except for King Kincaid. He had seen me use my powers before, since he felt I needed to learn to control them, making me practice on any boarders who volunteered to help with my training. None of my friends had seen me use it, much less felt it, like they had today.