Blacken Alandra Rankin (the alpha prince and his bride full story free TXT) 📖

absolutely feral in that moment. I managed to kick her back, but I tripped and fell. She got back up, lunged towards me again with a blunt statue that she grasped from her bookcase, I reached for the gun tucked into my belt and I shot at her, only once. I don’t remember anything else after that, I blacked out until I was being interviewed.”

“You felt no choice but to fire a gun to try and stop her?”

“There was none, she would have killed me in that state, there’s no doubt about it. Her sanity was gone, I panicked.”

“You are quite tall in comparison, six foot two on record. You could not keep a small five foot three woman from attacking you, the only way you saw fit was to shoot them?”

“Like I said, she persisted with animal-like strength in her drunken haze, I didn’t think she would be able to stop, it took all the strength I had just to push her away from me. I only shot in self-defence.”

“You said that she attacked you, where exactly did she manage to land her blows?”

“Mostly on the chest and stomach, she tried to aim for my face, but I kept her far enough away. She managed to get a few kicks onto both of my shins.”

“Thank you, that’s all the questions I have for you.”

The opposing woman stepped up for her interrogation on matters. The tip of her tongue pressed into her cheek, eyeing him before she spoke.

“Mr. Zagorski, the victim had stated that when she arrived, you shot at her without a struggle happening. And here you explain that the events differed dramatically. Even in the event that she attacked you, why not just flee or run out of the building?”

Owen bit the bottom of his lip in hesitation. “I was terrified, frozen in fear. There was no way I could stand properly, let alone move fast enough in that moment. All I thought about was how she could be stopped.”

“But you stated that you loved this woman.”

Fuck.

“Well, I-I mean I, yes I did,” he sputtered.

“You thought the best scenario was to shoot her? How is that, in any way, an act out of love?”

“I couldn’t think clearly, the situation was out of control,” his voice came out quiet.

“I don’t know about you, but shooting usually isn’t on someone’s mind unless there were other underlying motives.” Owen frowned, painted into a corner, unsure where to go from that statement. Luckily, she continued, “And after firing the weapon, did you call emergency services?”

He cursed internally. “I don’t know, it’s all blank after that. My last memory was the sound of the revolver, and then talking to Det. Arcand a few hours later.”

“Thank you for your time, that’s all I needed.”

The side of his face pulled into frustration as he stepped down, returning to his table, observing the tart lawyer in front of him as they continued on. Frustrated features held in a moment while he sat, before his face held neutral once more.

It was all a blur of hours, stretching into days.

The Crown prosecutor and defence lawyer argued their points, bringing out ever-increasing forensic evidence and passionate speeches to further prove their side. It was exhausting to keep up with, having to relive the night over and over as they went through every little detail. Avie was able to sit at the bar finally, allowing her to watch the rest of the court proceedings as witnesses to the initial crime had done their piece.

For three days, the court proceedings dragged on.

The woman was nervous. The defence attorney really painted a picture that she had been slipping in reasonable behaviour, drinking away troubles and taking out frustrations onto Owen. Of course, she knew the truth, even Owen did, yet how the information appeared to the jury was very compelling to his side of the case.

The Crown counsel argued fantastically with points about what really had gone on. The redhead figured it was the only reason that the trial had taken so long—there was always some argumentative point to be made by the other party.

Each night, Avie would return to Rhulle, sick to her stomach with worry. Not knowing how the court favour would work, she feared that he would be released, or that she would be the one in trouble instead. And each night, he held her while comforting her mind.

“No matter what happens, no matter where you go, I will always be with you. I will wait forever if I have to.”

Both parties gave out compelling arguments for their side, but the counsel woman stated something that was odd on the fourth day, bringing up the initial statement of Owen’s mention of a creature in the woods.

“Does that sound like a man who one hundred percent can be trusted with recounting events? Exhaustion mingled with stress could verify a hallucination of the creature the defendant had claims to see, however—”

“Ask the victim about it, she’s the one fucking him!”

Her head never turned so fast, pivoting to her left to see the blond standing, palms on the table with an ugly sneer plastering his face. She couldn’t believe it. Avie truly thought Rhulle wouldn’t be brought up in that sense at all, he remained quiet about it in her mention of a relationship, but now as soon as he was detailed as a creature, Owen spoke up.

People murmured all around them.

She fought to keep herself ignorant, knowing he wanted a reaction from her.

“Order in the court! Mr. Gabriele, please control your client,” the judge’s gavel boomed, final as his words.

With a quick apology, he got Owen to sit down with him after a second of resistance. Clearly wanting to say more, a conflict fought itself out over his face, turning to look back at her. Avie met his eyes in return with only a questioning brow to his pouting grimace. This certainly did not look good for him.

The case continued, finally finishing through all evidence, pictures, forensics, character studies,