Chapter 98

Dominic

Tyler’s head snapped around so fast I thought his neck might crack. Vivian shifted in her seat. Then, the door opened. A faceless woman came in, the sign of a cloaking spell, flanked by two ushers. She looked tiny, petite. She walked slowly toward the front, her flats soft on the polished floor, and swore her oath without hesitation.

The judge looked to Arielle. “Proceed.”

There was something about her. TM sat like she was trying to disappear into the witness stand, delicate fingers clutched in her lap, and she was trembling. Her voice, when she gave her name, was barely above a whisper, blotted out per the cloaking spell, and yet, something about her struck me as familiar.

I couldn’t place it. I kept scanning her, searching for the pattern. Arielle rose slowly from her seat, posture regal, heels clicking like a clock ticking toward someone’s undoing.

“TM,” she said with deceptive calm. “How long have you known Tyler?”

“About a year,” TM said quietly.

“And in that time, how would you describe your relationship?”

TM hesitated, then glanced toward the judge. “Romantic. We were… dating.”

Whispers spread across the courtroom like wildfire.

“And what were you told about his relationship with Vivian?”

TM’s voice caught, she wiped her eyes. “Not much. They were friends, she was the alpha's daughter.”

Arielle gave her a moment. Let the silence stretch.

“And Ms. Mountainhowl?"

She shook her head. "I didn't know."

"You don't watch the news?"

"I'm not from Brighthowl, and not much," she sniffled. "And… Ms. Mountainhowl, I'm so sorry."

I glanced at Renee. Her eyes softened, shaking her head with a little smile.

"How did you react, how did you feel, when you found out about Tyler's relationship with Ms. Mountainhowl and Vivian?"

“I was… angry,” she said, her voice choking on the words. “He told me Vivian arranged the whole thing. That Ms. Mountainhowl didn't mean anything, that he didn’t want to do it, but it was for his family, for us.”

"What did he tell you he meant by that?"

"He said… that he wanted to make sure he could make a way for our future. Money… He-- He was always worried about the future. He said he knew that he wasn't getting anything from his family, his job didn't exactly lead to a better life, per se, and he wanted better for us… for me." She looked over at Tyler. "He said that he was going to use them both to that end. That he was going along with Vivian's plan for that end."

Arielle nodded. “So he admitted Vivian ordered the engagement.”

“Yes.”

“But he agreed to go through with it.”

Another pause. Then a small nod.

Arielle turned toward the projection screen as it lit up behind her. Images filled the display—transcripts, screenshots, call logs. Some between Tyler and Vivian. Others between Tyler and his father. A few from a man named Philip Grey—Brightclaw’s former PR director.

They all told the same story.

It was a full on smear campaign against Renee. A manipulation of social narratives. Pressure on internal departments to de-prioritize Renee’s opportunities. Deliberate leaks to fuel gossip. A coordinated attempt to break down her options until she was forced back to Frostborn, back to Tyler.

My hands curled into fists.

My jaw clenched so tightly my molars ached.

I hadn’t just failed Renee. I’d helped build the systems that tried to destroy her.

“I’d like to submit this as evidence of collusion between Brightclaw administration and Tyler's family to coerce Ms Mountainhowl into an engagement under false pretenses,” Arielle said, her voice calm and deadly. “Further, I’d like to point out that even if Tyler’s initial pursuit of Ms. Mountainhowl was directed by Vivian, there is substantial evidence suggesting he continued that pursuit of his own volition. That makes him complicit, if not fully invested, in the deception.”

Tyler flinched from his seat, but his eyes never moved away from TM. Vivian looked like she’d swallowed a lemon dipped in arsenic. The court murmured behind us as the presiding judge banged his gavel.

By the time TM was dismissed, she was sobbing. She left the stand without looking back, and I still couldn’t place what exactly felt familiar.

Tyler's eyes followed her, as did Renee's. She leaned over to Arielle.

Before I knew it, the rulings were declared.

Brightclaw was formally charged with accessory to harassment among other things. Hostile work environment and permitting internal targeting of Renee. The fine was substantial, but Vivian and Tyler were each charged with conspiracy, emotional harassment, and intentional sabotage of a contract of engagement—that last one added by Arielle with near poetic flourish.

And then came the bombshell.

“Vivian Brightclaw,” the judge intoned, “you are further charged with sexual coercion of Mr. Tyler Blake, as evidenced by his own testimony and the dated documentation of threats tied to your financial influence over him."

Vivian’s gasp could have shattered the stained glass behind the judge’s bench.

She turned to Tyler, mouth open in disbelief.

“You bastard,” she shrieked.

He didn’t even look at her. The reparations were extensive. Between legal penalties and damages awarded to Renee, the numbers climbed into seven figures. Tyler’s family would pay, but not nearly as much as Vivian. By the counts, all of the charges specifically against Tyler were pretty much covered by all the things owed from Vivian to Tyler.

I was grateful that they didn't want to drag this out. After the ruling, I approached Renee as the crowd began to disperse. She was surrounded by Arielle, a few reporters, and one of the Mountainhowl attorneys. But her eyes found mine.

She looked radiant, even exhausted.

I leaned in slightly. “You did good,” I said. “You held your ground.”

“I was terrified,” she admitted.

“And still. You held it.”

She looked down at the paperwork in her hand—the final damage awards and order of restitution. “It’s… a lot of money.”

“It’s what you’re owed.”

She hesitated. “The portion from Brightclaw—”

“No.” I cut her off, more sharply than I meant to. “Don’t even finish that sentence.”

“But—”

“It’s not enough to cover how badly I failed you,” I said. “But it’s a start. Let it be that.”

She didn’t argue again. Just gave me the faintest nod.

I squeezed her shoulder once, gently, then excused myself.

There was one final matter I had to attend to.

Vivian was waiting outside the courtroom when I returned. She was pacing, biting her nails, eyes rimmed red and wild. She looked unhinged.

“You’re going to fix this, right?” she said the moment she saw me. “You’re going to appeal. Pay the fine. Clear my record.”

“No,” I said simply.

She stared at me. “What?”

"Have they removed your ankle bracelet yet?"

"Yes, but--"

"Let's go."

I led her out to my car, knowing this was likely the last time that she'll want to be anywhere near me. I got in, waited until she buckled up and pulled away from the curb.

I took a deep breath and started breathing.

“Most of your assets were liquidated already. The rest of the fines are being paid from what's left of your personal trust.”

“You can’t be serious!”

“Vivian—”

“You’re going to let them take everything from me? Because I made a mistake?”

“You didn’t make a mistake,” I said, voice calm. “You made a series of decisions. Calculated. Repeated. You targeted Renee. You used your position against Tyler and manipulated Renee.”

“I was just trying to put her in her place! She had no business--”

“No,” I said. “You were being a vindictive little witch. You were enjoying her pain, Vivian, and now it's done."

She stared at me like she didn’t recognize me. “You said you’d always protect me.”

“And I am,” I said quietly. “You’re not being exiled. You’re not being imprisoned. You’re not being publicly denounced by name. But you will not be in my pack. You are no longer Brightclaw, you'll be a Morland.”

Her mouth trembled. “You can’t…”

“I can. And I have.” Morland was Hazel's last name. "You'll be getting your new ID by tomorrow."

She broke down crying, rage and grief all tangled up into one suffocating mess. She clawed at her own sleeves, sobbing that I didn’t love her, that I never had.

I stared out the window the whole drive.

Because I did love her.

But she had made herself unworthy of the name I gave her.

When we arrived at the Brightclaw shelter, I took another breath, looking up at he building, wondering how exactly we got here, and waiting.

"Daddy, you can't--" she sobbed. "You can't! You're my Dad!"

“I will always be your father,” I said. “But I cannot be your Alpha.”

The moving van comes up behind us.

“Take this chance,” I told her. “Do better, Vivian, alright?”

I turned and the look on her face sent a bolt of cold through me.

An empty eyed fury I hadn't ever thought her capable of.