12. The High Court Decides

They were back in the bleak hallways of the courthouse. The first time she came here with Gabriel and Daniel, Alice had hardly been aware of her surroundings. She had the idea that the building was cold and oppressive, and seeing it again with a more awake spirit didn't change that at all. It felt more like a prison.

Fair enough, she thought. She was going to meet her want-to-be jailer anyway.

Her heels echoed loudly on the marble steps, and Daniel offered his arm to help her up the stairs. Didn't the building have an elevator? She had put on her most formal suit and shoes in an attempt to look intimidating, but was regretting the heels now.

The courtroom that Gabriel directed them to was different from the last one. It was on a higher floor, and closer to the stairs. Sunlight came through the window at the end of the corridor, but the oppressiveness remained.

Gabriel gently knocked on the door. No suspicious-looking man appeared in front of them this time. A young man with bright eyes opened the door and smiled at them with delight. She looked at Gabriel with curiosity, wondering if they had arrived at the right place.

"Hello there." He grinned at her. "You must be Alice."

"Yes." She wanted to take a step back and hide behind Gabriel. That grin felt very inappropriate somehow.

A rough low voice came from inside. "Let them in, Henryk."

As before, Gabriel took the lead into the room before inviting her in. He was far more suspicious of everything than Bruno had ever been, and it was driving her insane.

When she walked into the room, two men got up from their chairs. The space was smaller than the other courtroom. There were no audience seats, no judge's chair. Only a long table with several stuffed chairs around it. It looked more like an office. Maybe it was an audience chamber for more private affairs?

Henryk closed the door behind them and joined the two other men at the top of the table. She was surprised by how old one of them looked. He had dirty-blond hair strewn with gray, lines around his eyes, and heavy sagging eyebrows. She thought all alphas were young. His thin lips were stretched in a kind smile that made the two heavy lines surrounding his mouth more pronounced.

Next to him was the most intense-looking man she had ever seen. He had small deep-set eyes with almost no eyebrows, and he was gazing at her intently. He was handsome with unusually high cheekbones, but the way his dark eyes followed her made her feel like he was staring into her mind. His upper lip stood out in a perpetual pout. He was not smiling.

He studied her so closely that it was making her uncomfortable, but it was difficult to look away. She grabbed Gabriel's right hand on instinct, for protection, and he squeezed her hand back. The man's eyes dropped to their hands, then snapped back up to hers, the lines around them deepening. He straightened his back, although his posture was already quite stiff.

"Good morning, everyone." The older man welcomed them in and offered his hand to the three of them. "Jerome Taylor. I will be the judge responsible for the final decision today." He had a surprisingly high-pitched voice with a British accent, and a gentle handshake. She was relieved he didn't kiss her hand.

"This young man who opened the door is Henryk." He pointed at the youngest-looking of the three, who waved back at them with that stupid grin. "And this gentleman here is Matts Hansen."

"A pleasure to meet you," Hansen said with an odd accent while he offered his hand for them to shake. He shook hers and Daniel's in a very firm grip that lasted too long to be normal, but Gabriel refused to let go of her left hand again to shake his. Matts slowly dropped the hand he was offering, and both men stared at each other with open animosity.

So this was the man who wanted to spirit her away. His scrutiny of them was not reassuring.

"Now, now, gentlemen, let's keep this civil," the judge chided them. "I would like to speak with Ms. Lopes alone. Please try to keep things amiable while we are not here."

He directed her to a door to the left of them. She was reluctant to leave Gabriel and Daniel, but she followed the judge obediently. Was he using an alpha command? She didn't sense it. Maybe he could make people obey with just his smile.

They entered a small office covered in shelves, each one filled with dossiers smelling of old paper and dust. The only free spaces on the walls were two doors, the one they came in from, and one she assumed went back out to the corridor. There was an old-fashioned wooden desk and two rigid chairs near a small window. The judge invited her to sit in the closest chair, while he dragged the second one in front of her.

The old wooden chair was uncomfortable. The back was solid wood that stretched around to make armrests too high for her to use comfortably. She kept her arms tucked at her sides, but she felt cramped.

Jerome sat at the edge of his chair and regarded her with a polite smile. She didn't break the silence, waiting for him to start.

"Please tell me if the alpha Gabriel Taveira has been behaving in any inappropriate way towards you."

It was the most gentle and polite alpha command she had ever heard. She still ignored it.

"Are you going to tell me you have better alphas available for me, like the other judge did, Your Honor?"

"No, my dear. I already brought the best one with me today. And please, call me Jerome." His smile widened into a grin. "You ignored my command so easily. Omegas really are extraordinary creatures." He laughed softly.

"We aren't creatures, we are people." Alice argued, feeling defensive.

"I know, my dear. My apologies." He relaxed into his chair. "I meant it as a euphemism." He watched her closely. "Omegas really don't obey alpha commands at all, do they?"

It was more of a statement than a question, but she replied anyway. "Not for a lack of trying. From the alphas, I mean, not us. I couldn't care less about obeying commands from men who think they know what's best for me."

"This transition isn't easy for any omega, but we only want what is best for you, I assure you."

"This transition hasn't been easy for any woman, changed or not," she argued. "Lists for men to pick and choose from? Taken to a ‘Claim Court' like we are children?"

"The lists are for your protection." Jerome sat forward in the chair. She could feel the sincerity of his emotion, but just because one believed in something, it didn't make it true.

"How on earth can claim lists be for our protection?"

"If we didn't have the lists, we wouldn't be able to stop alphas from taking any woman they wanted. They could demand obedience from any beta woman, or man." Jerome sighed. "This way we can control their impulses, and ensure women's safety."

"Safety? Do you know how many women had to beg for help from Bruno because some alpha thought that being top on their list meant they owned that woman?"

"That is why we have the court system, my dear, so they can be protected."

"If the court system worked, they wouldn't have to ask for help from another alpha in the first place."

"I'll admit the system isn't perfect. Still, it does prevent further chaos."

"Like an alpha taking a woman from her beta husband?" Alice baited him.

"Yes, of course." Jerome replied too eagerly, clearly thinking he had won the argument.

"Then why did the court take Sophie from her husband and give her to the French First Chair?"

Jerome's smile slowly dropped, and his eyes took on a pained expression. Genuine sadness surrounded him.

"That situation…" He hesitated. "It was an exception, caused by our own ignorance of what an omega truly is. We are still learning so much about you."

"Why don't you correct it, then?" Alice almost begged. "Why do you insist on keeping her chained to a man who's hurting her?"

"Hurting her?" Jerome was obviously taken by surprise at this information. "I can assure you he is not hurting her. If there were any signs of abuse, her doctor would tell me immediately."

"Hurting someone doesn't always leave a mark. A physical one, at least. But we can see it every time we talk with her on our chat. It's not on her skin that you'll find bruises."

Jerome fretted with his shirt, trying to straighten it, and avoided her gaze. "I'll look into it," he conceded as he shuffled in his seat. "This is why I didn't want to accept that network in the first place. It only serves to confuse you."

"The omega chat? Why let it be created, then?"

"Matts insisted. He was convinced it would help the omegas to have others like themselves to talk to, considering you're so rare." Jerome took a deep breath. "For me, it's a security risk. And a source of worry for you all, apparently."

"Matts?" Alice recognized the name. "The alpha you brought today?"

"Yes." Jerome rubbed his chin, perhaps regretting his words. "As you can see, he's not a bad person. I can assure you he's not some villain trying to spirit you away."

"Why not just order me to go with him then, if he's such a nice man? Why bother with this hearing at all?"

"Because, my dear, omegas have a purpose, and that purpose is to create a compassionate and balanced society. And for that, they need to be mated with the new leaders, to keep some humanity in their reasoning. And Matts…" Jerome waved his hands. "He's not meant to lead a country. He has a different purpose."

"Then why try to push me into his lap? Why not just confirm Gabriel as my mate? He's the new Portuguese First Chair now."

"Because, Alice, above all I want your safety, and there are reasons to believe you may not be safe with him." Jerome sighed. "After what happened to your husband, I'm not taking any chances."

"What happened to my husband. You mean the accident?"

Jerome opened his mouth to speak, but stopped himself. Alice could feel his indecision, his judgment wavering between lying and being honest.

"You don't think it was an accident?" she asked hesitantly.

"There is some suspicion around his death, yes. But nothing concrete." Jerome tried to sound casual, but he couldn't fool her.

"You think Gabriel had something to do with it?" she asked outright.

Jerome blushed and sat up straight, but didn't reply.

"That's absurd. Gabriel would never put me in danger. He is a good man." Alice nearly jumped from her chair, offended on behalf of her friend.

Jerome reached out and put a conciliatory hand on her arm. "That, my dear, is for me to decide."

The judge left Alice in the small room, closing the door behind him. It made Gabriel nervous to leave her alone like that.

The man took his seat at the head of the table and the rest of them followed his lead. His smile was gone now. He placed both elbows on the table and rested his chin on the back of his hands.

"I'm not going to pretend this is a simple court hearing over a claim," the judge started. He took his time to look at each man before continuing. "I will hear both sides, but my final decision will be based solely on the omega's security and well-being."

"If you are so concerned with her well-being, why do you want to take her away from her family?" Daniel said what Gabriel was thinking. Gabriel put a hand on his friend's shoulder. There was no point in losing their tempers.

Hansen, the alpha who wanted Alice, traced the gesture with his eyes. The man had followed Gabriel's hands closely since Alice had reached for him. Envious? Gabriel couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more sinister in the way Hansen was watching them.

"Because her security is in question." It was Hansen who replied instead of the judge. "Because the circumstances around her conversion and the death of her husband are fuzzy at best. Because—"

The judge put his hand up and Hansen settled back into his chair with an annoyed huff. Then the judge turned to Daniel. "Could you please recount how you filled in the claiming list for Ms. Lopes?"

Daniel paused. He and Gabriel had agreed to be honest if it came to this; any lies would be easily uncovered. Gabriel nodded to him, and Hansen scoffed at the gesture.

"Matts," the judge said in warning.

Daniel recounted how he'd filled in the claim list with both Bruno's and Gabriel's names on top.

"So you were there?" The judge's expression was calm, but the lines around his mouth deepened.

"Yes, at her husband's request. He wanted me to be the second one on the list."

"And why would Bruno ask his playboy friend to be second to claim his wife?" Hansen asked. The way the other alpha referred to his friend by the first name irritated Gabriel. "I spoke with Bruno many times, and he never mentioned this arrangement."

"He asked me," Daniel said, "because some guy at Alice's workplace scared her. He thought he might try to do something. We didn't expect her to be an omega, much less all that happened after."

"How convenient. I bet Alice doesn't remember the incident at all," Hansen replied, his eyes fixed on Gabriel's.

"How do you know that?" Daniel asked softly.

Hansen ignored him. "And this third claimant on the list. It proved to Bruno he did the right thing in letting you be second for Alice."

"Stop using their first names." The familiarity that he had with using his friends' names was incensing Gabriel.

"But now he's conveniently disappeared."

"What do you mean, he's disappeared?" Gabriel hadn't thought of the second claimant since the last hearing. He had intended to investigate the alpha, but it had slipped his mind. Now that it was mentioned, he did find it odd that the man didn't show up for this hearing too.

"This second claimant who bothered Bruno so much—where is he?" Hansen waved a hand around, as if the man could be hiding somewhere in the room. "His name was erased from the official files. The judge who led that hearing doesn't remember him. None of the other claimants, alpha or beta, remember him at all, or of him even being mentioned. And to top it off, the recording of the hearing was deleted."

"That's not possible." Gabriel searched his memories of that day. He knew the man had been there. His face eluded him—he had been so forgettable, after all—but he was present. "He was the one who stopped the judge from throwing away the first list entirely."

"The judge remembers that very differently. He didn't like your threats." Hansen nearly growled that last part.

The armrest of Gabriel's chair groaned under the strength of his grip. "What are you insinuating? That I planned all of this?"

The judge examined Gabriel. "You were the one responsible for the security fail-safes on the government building that burned down, am I correct?" His voice was calm, but his expression was overpowering.

Gabriel felt his cheeks burn. His failure in securing that building was going to haunt him for the rest of his life.

"Yes. I was the one responsible."

"Just another happy coincidence?" Hansen sneered.

Gabriel took a second to take a deep breath, center himself, and calm down. Alphas were quick to anger, but he did have the ability to control himself in difficult situations. "Are you saying I murdered one of my best friends?"

"Oh, I think you've been doing more than that—"

"But..." Daniel hesitated. All men turned to the doctor. "It was impossible for Gabriel to know Alice would become an omega with conversion. What would be the point of all this plotting if she were a beta?"

The judge looked at Hansen expectantly.

"He doesn't have clearance for that." Hansen nodded towards Daniel.

"He's the doctor to an omega. I can't think of a higher clearance than that," the judge replied.

Hansen took a deep breath and quickly looked around the room before focusing on Daniel. "Do you know what a bookkeeper is?"

Daniel looked perplexed, and Gabriel felt the same way. Bookkeeper?

"An accountant?" Daniel replied slowly. It sounded silly.

Hansen wasn't amused. "Alphas have abilities that allow them to control other people's behavior and reactions, right?"

Daniel nodded. That was nothing new.

"Their voice and scent manipulate the part of the human brain that controls decisions, making any command given by an alpha impossible to disobey."

Gabriel didn't know how the alpha command worked, but judging by Daniel's nods it was nothing new to his friend.

"Some rare alphas—and by rare, I mean almost as rare as omegas—have the ability to manipulate other parts of the human brain by touching the skin of the other person. Including memory."

Daniel looked bewildered. Gabriel didn't believe Hansen at all.

"So now you're claiming that I manipulated their memories?" Gabriel asked. Did the man notice how ridiculous that sounded?

"Not claiming. I know for a fact that Alice's and her doctor's memories were meddled with." Hansen now gave him a fully evil grin. "Because I can do this myself."

Gabriel stood up. This was getting beyond ludicrous.

"Sit down," the judge barked at him. He complied without thinking.

Hansen seemed thoroughly satisfied with himself. "We nicknamed our little variety of alpha, bookkeepers. It's an inside joke," Hansen said with a shrug at Daniel. "And there should be one here in Portugal. One who erased his doctor's mind and cleared all information about himself from our systems."

Gabriel turned to the judge. "You can't possibly believe this."

The judge remained quiet, watching Gabriel.

"Someone erased my memories?" Daniel was taken aback.

"I confirmed that both the doctor's and the omega's minds were meddled with," Hansen said to the judge. "I would need to take a deeper look to see what was erased, or if anything was altered."

"There will be no need for that right now." The judge waved him off.

Gabriel was stunned. Erasing memories? Killing his friend? Were these people serious?

"I believe the accusations you are making do have some merit, Matts." The judge watched Gabriel, keeping him in place with a silent intent. "A deeper investigation will be opened on the death of the alpha Bruno Silva, and into Gabriel's own conversion."

Gabriel wanted to scream at the judge, but he was still pinned to his chair.

The judge took a deep breath before continuing. "And I do agree that the omega Alice Lopes should be placed under the protection of Matts Hansen for the time being. Her doctor will not follow her, as it is clear to me that he has been compromised."

Several things happened at once, and the room became pure chaos.

Hansen got up from his chair before the judge could even finish his sentence, and rushed to the small room.

Daniel started pleading with the judge, which broke his gaze, and Gabriel could get up too.

Gabriel followed Hansen, insisting he was wrong, but the man ignored him. He turned to the judge, and received a clear command from him.

"Do not interfere."

They were going to take her away. The bastard had actually done it.

She had a paperback novel in her hands, but hadn't read a single page since she was left in the stuffy room. The voices of the men next door kept rising and falling in argument, but she couldn't understand anything they were saying. Not for a lack of trying, though. Her ear was pressed to the door, but it was solid wood and it wouldn't allow for their voices to pass through in an intelligible way.

All she clearly heard was someone giving someone else the order to sit down. Then the voices became incensed, and she heard strong steps coming towards the door.

She raced back to her chair and pretended to read her book.

Matts Hansen opened the door, and she saw and heard so much disorder from the other room that she was stunned. He rushed to Alice's side, crouching in front of her. He placed his hands on the armrests, trapping her in the chair.

Alice shrank back into her seat under the strength of his gaze. He was smiling with such triumph that she didn't need to hear Gabriel's protests to understand what had happened.

He had won.

"Don't worry, darling, I'm going to take care of you." He took the book from her hands and put it on the desk. "You are safe now."

"Safe?" She looked around for Gabriel and Daniel, or even for the judge. Hansen's hand on her chin pulled her face forward.

"Don't look at him, and don't touch him." It was an alpha command, but she ignored him.

"Gabriel?" She tried to get up, but Hansen pushed her arms down and blocked her legs with his body. He grabbed her left shoulder, and Alice felt a flare of arousal coming from him that was quickly subdued.

Gabriel entered the small room. The judge followed him but stayed at the door. She could hear Daniel still trying to talk sense into the man.

She wanted to get up, but Hansen wouldn't let her, so she tried to push him off. "Let me go!"

He grimaced and said something in a Nordic language to Henryk, who'd come in behind him. The young man rushed out of the room through the second door, and she could hear his racing footsteps in the corridor.

"Alice, I need you to hold still so I can help you, okay, darling?"

"I'm not your darling!" A tear ran down her cheek. His hand was hurting her shoulder, and she kept trying to push him away.

"Stop manhandling her!" Gabriel yelled, but he didn't come forward to help. His whole body was tense, and he kept closing his fists, but he didn't make any move to rescue her.

Hansen glared at him with pure fury. "I'm not manhandling her. I'm trying to undo your dirty work."

"Jerome, please…" she called for the judge, but despite being distressed, he didn't step in from the doorway.

"I'm sorry, my dear, but this is for the best." He turned to Hansen. "Matts, is this really necessary? Can't we do things in a calmer way?"

"We don't know what command he gave her in case his plan failed. It's too dangerous to let go of her."

She tried to reason with him. "Command? No one commanded me to do anything."

Hansen rubbed one of her arms. "I know it feels that way, darling, but I promise that things will make sense."

The arguments between the four men continued until an impressively tall man entered the room through the door that led to the corridor. Hansen spoke with him in the same Nordic language.

"What are you going to do to her?" Gabriel demanded.

Hansen ignored him and they continued to speak in their foreign language. The newcomer placed a doctor's bag on the table and rummaged through it. He took a small pouch and a vial from inside it.

"No, please, no. Don't do this, please," she begged Hansen, tears now blurring her vision.

"It's okay, darling, we are not going to hurt you." His hand moved to her left forearm and tried to push up the fabric of her sleeve. Her panic started to rise, and she was having trouble breathing.

"No, you don't know what you're doing!" Daniel shouted from the other room. The judge told him to shut up.

The doctor turned around with a syringe in his hand. Alice started shaking; her chest was beating painfully and she was nauseated. The metal tip of the needle reflected the light of the room, and she went into a full panic.

She kicked the doctor's hand, sending the syringe flying and surprising both men, and then she kicked Hansen in the groin. He didn't let go, but his hands lost enough strength that she could push herself free.

"Alice, wait," Gabriel called but seemed frozen in place. She hardly heard him; the only sound in her ears was her own heartbeat. Several hands reached for her, but Alice was faster. She ran to the corridor and towards the stairs.

"Alice, stop!" Hansen tried to command her, but the order just washed through her. She reached the stairs but there were people coming up to check on the noise.

"Stop her!" Hansen commanded them. They blocked the way, so she ran upstairs instead.

The halls and corridors loudly echoed the sound of their running. Alice could feel the alpha right behind, reaching for her. He kept ordering people in the halls to grab her, and the only way she could go was up.

She reached the last floor and looked around.

"Alice, please. You don't have to follow his orders." Hansen raced up the stairs, gaining on her.

She dashed to the end of the corridor to the window. There was a fire escape beside it, going all the way down. She tried to open the window, but it was locked. Hansen was getting closer to her now, and he even slowed down, probably thinking he had cornered her.

"Don't run away from me. I can help you." He lifted his hands and took slow steps towards her.

But Alice didn't want his help. She spotted a metal door next to her, the same color as the wall. She pushed it, throwing her weight against it, and it opened with a creak, leading her to a tight staircase. She closed the door behind her but there was no lock. There was a bucket and a mop on the floor, so she used the mop to try to jam the door. It wouldn't hold him for long.

She climbed the stairs, hoping for an exit. The door at the top was half open, and it led to the roof.

Nowhere to go.

Her heart beat furiously in her chest. She walked to the edge closest to the next building. Too far to jump. She looked around. No other staircase down except where she'd come from. Alice spotted the top of the fire escape and she got closer to the edge.

Noise came from the stairs. She rubbed her chest; it was hurting so much now that she could hardly breathe.

Hansen appeared on the rooftop with his goon right behind him. He ran towards her, and she took a step back, forgetting where she was.

"Alice, please." He slowly offered her his hand. "Step away from the ledge."

His eyes burned into her, making her step back again in fear. Her heel broke, and she fell backwards into the void.

A pair of strong hands grabbed her and pulled her back to safety.

Gabriel…

Matts's heart stopped when Alice fell backwards. He raced to her at full speed but was too far away to catch her. As focused as he was on Alice, he didn't pay attention when Gabriel came up the fire escape. He was relieved when Gabriel stopped her from going over the ledge.

Gabriel was now kneeling on the floor, gently rocking Alice in his arms while she cried her eyes out. He was telling her something softly in Portuguese.

"Matts, he could be erasing something right now," Henryk whispered to him.

Shit.He raced to them and grabbed Alice's wrist. Was this Gabriel's plan? Did he instruct her to run away so he could catch her and erase memories he didn't want them to see? Matts focused on her mind, trying to find a mental connection between them.

But there wasn't one. There was no one but himself touching her mind.

He withdrew from Alice. She held onto Gabriel's shirt with so much strength that the seams on the shoulders were threatening to come apart. He kissed the top of her head and pulled her close. There was trust here. Real trust.

Matts held her arm near Gabriel's hand, and let his skin touch the other alpha. When Gabriel didn't react, he took advantage of his distraction to test his mind.

Memories had been erased, although very poorly. Same as the doctor and Alice. Whoever had done this had no training, and had done a sloppy, hurried job at best.

He got up and yelled in frustration. He'd thought he had him. He was so fucking sure it was Gabriel. All the clues pointed at him, and all the deductions made sense. All fingers were pointing to this fucking alpha.

Henryk looked at him, confused. "You're not stopping him?"

"He's not our guy," he replied, frustrated. "He has no mental barriers at all, and his memory was altered too."

Henryk seemed shocked.

Alice's doctor came out of the stairwell, bright red and out of breath, and went straight to her. He gave Matts a look full of contempt, and kneeled next to the couple. Then he opened her blouse to expose her shoulder.

"Hold her, please, Gabriel."

Gabriel held Alice tightly, and used his chin to hold her head away from what her doctor was doing. He must have worked very fast; Matt didn't even see the needle.

"I gave her a command to stop. I don't understand why she ran away," Matts tried to reason.

"Omegas don't need to obey alpha commands," the doctor replied.

Matts forgot. He was so convinced he was saving her. He rubbed his face and ran his hands through his hair, then he looked down at her. Tears still ran down her cheeks.

Her breathing calmed down eventually, and she stopped crying. After a few seconds, she was asleep. Daniel checked her pulse and nodded to Gabriel, who got up gently, holding her in his arms.

Her doctor looked Matts in the eyes. "She has panic attacks when she sees needles. If the judge hadn't stopped me from speaking, I could have told your doctor that." His eyes were full of animosity towards him.

Matts turned around and saw Jerome checking on Alice before letting Gabriel pass with her down the stairs. He was absolutely livid.

"There had better be a good explanation for this, Matts."

Fuck… The only explanation was his own greed and hubris. He'd been so convinced he was right that he had almost caused the death of an omega.

Jerome ordered them to take Alice into a small room with an old couch and busted chairs. Gabriel laid her on the couch, her doctor's lap serving as a pillow. The judge checked on her gently, and talked with her doctor in a soft voice, so as not to disturb her. Then he placed his wool jacket over her legs.

Satisfied she was comfortable, he turned to them and the gentle expression on his face dropped. The man was beyond enraged. Sometimes it was easy to forget that judges were alphas too.

Jerome herded them to the other side of the room, where he let them feel the full force of his fury. It would have been more effective if he wasn't being careful not to raise his voice and wake Alice.

"This was the most disgraceful display of ill judgment I have ever had the displeasure of seeing. You should be ashamed to call yourselves alphas."

But it was still quite effective.

"Well, Matts?" Jerome's eyes burned into his, waiting for an explanation.

Matt rubbed his face in frustration. "Gabriel's not the one. Turns out he was also a pawn in this."

Gabriel looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "So you're rescinding your accusations because you scared Alice half to death? Fuck you."

"Language!" Jerome warned.

Gabriel took a deep breath and rubbed his left hand on his right one before turning to Matts. "I can control myself better than most, but you are really making it hard."

"I know you're upset, but you must understand all the evidence is pointing to you." Matts turned to the other alpha, and tried to stay calm himself. "The timings on the claiming list, the tampering of the security system of the burned building, the missed memories from everyone at the last hearing. And you even refused to shake my hand."

"What does that got to do with this?" Gabriel almost snarled back.

"Everything. If you were the one erasing memories, I would have known just by grabbing your hand."

Gabriel froze and stared at him. "Would shaking someone's hand give enough time to erase memories?"

"Yes, but it would be a very sloppy job, and it would be easy to check. But it is possible to—" He stopped talking, following Gabriel's lead. "The second claimant?"

"The second claimant," Gabriel confirmed.

Fuck. Whoever that man was, he had played him like a fiddle. The guy had eluded him at every turn, and his manipulation almost led to the loss of an omega.

"Would you let me check your memories for him?" he asked Gabriel.

Gabriel took a step back from him and frowned. "You want to tamper with my brain? After the stunt that you just pulled off?"

Jerome tried to be the voice of reason. "I understand that you are upset, Gabriel. Believe me, so am I," he said quietly. "But if there is any chance to find the man responsible for Bruno's death, we should take it."

Gabriel didn't look pleased, but he nodded at the judge. "All right, I'll play along."

Good. This way, he might be able to see the guy's face.

"Thank you. Please sit. I will need to touch your head, and for you to be perfectly still."

Gabriel raised an eyebrow at him but sat down without further comment, grabbing the chair's armrests.

Matts put his fingers lightly on Gabriel's forehead and closed his eyes. There was some resistance to his probing, but that was to be expected. No one liked to have an intruder in their mind.

"Try to remember the first hearing," Matts said.

The courthouse came into focus. Matts saw Alice leaving the room and several men watching her. He could see some faces without problem, and he recognized some of the men they had talked to. But in the right corner of the room, there was a blur that blocked the faces there.

He saw a blurry mess of a man stand up and talk, but he couldn't see his face or understand his voice. When Gabriel tried to recall their talk with the judge, it was the same thing. The guy had erased himself from every memory.

Matts pulled out of Gabriel's mind and let his arms drop to his side.

"Cannot see his face. He erased everything," he told Jerome. Then he addressed the doctor. "Would you let me try with you?"

The doctor looked at Gabriel for permission. What Matts had first thought was a control tactic by Gabriel was actually a beta seeking agreement from his alpha. Fuck, how could he have been so wrong?

"Okay." The doctor made a move to get up, but hesitated. Alice was resting her head on his legs.

Matts approached the doctor. "No need to get up," he whispered. He gently placed his fingers on his head. Same thing—no discernible face. The claimants had come to him and Alice in the corridor. He saw some of the faces that were blurred before. But the last guy to talk with them was a muddy mess.

He nearly growled in frustration. He looked down at Alice. Would omega memory be different from the rest?

He looked at Jerome for permission, but it was Gabriel who replied. "No. You will not mess with her head while she's knocked out."

Matts turned to Jerome. "I doubt I can get anything with her asleep. But it would be worth a try."

Jerome nodded. "All right."

Gabriel got up from his chair, but Jerome stopped him from interfering just by lifting his hand.

Matts placed his hands on Alice's temples and focused.

Sleeping minds were impossible to navigate, but Alice was only lightly asleep. He couldn't direct her to think of the memory he wanted, and dreams weren't memories, so he couldn't see those. He floated in her mind for a while, skimming whatever memory he could find of the courthouse. To his surprise, her memories were different. They were so full of color and feeling that it overwhelmed him. He could sense not only her, but the emotions of others around her. He saw himself crouching in front of her, and was ashamed of the arousal she had gotten from him. Was this how omegas felt all the time? It was exhausting.

And there was an emptiness, a strange hole, not within her but connected to her. Something in her was looking for something like itself that no longer existed.

He forced himself to look away from that yearning and continue his search for the first hearing. When he found those memories, he was surprised to find them more muted. There was a great sense of grief, and she wasn't as aware of others' emotions.

He caught a memory of the corridor of the courthouse. Several men were leaving through a door, and he felt her recognize some of them. He waited for the memory of the second claimant talking with them in the corridor. It was also a muddy mess, but there was something unexpected. There was an additional awareness of the man, a recognition. She knew who he was. There was familiarity in his movements, in the cadence of his speech.

He pulled gently from her mind and joined the real world. There was an unexpected sense of loss. For a few seconds, the real world seemed… less. It was missing the color and emotion that Alice gathered from it. He steadied himself before turning to the others.

"She knows who he is." He looked at Gabriel. "She recognized him."

"That's not what he told the judge," Gabriel told him. "And I looked into every man at her old job, but there were no alphas there."

"Still, it's better than nothing," Matts argued. "If the guy tries to approach her again, it would be possible for her to recognize him."

"So you think he will come back for her? Why not try one of the other omegas?" Daniel asked.

"Because he's been chasing her for a while now," Matts replied.

"What?" Gabriel's head snapped to Matts.

"The file we received on this potential bookkeeper was erased from our network. One of the most secure networks in the world," Matts explained. "He's taking every effort to erase himself from our view, but he risked exposure by going after Alice. He didn't risk himself for any of the other omegas—only this one."

"He and his group have been all over Europe, attacking networks and stealing information," Henryk continued. "But the attack on the Portuguese government building was their first big attack. They didn't get much out of it, except to clear the way to her."

"But why Alice? Why not one of the others?" Daniel asked.

"That was what I was hoping to find out today. No other omega has had their first list hacked. If I had been faster figuring things out, I could have been here for the first hearing."

"It seems to me that this alpha is going through a lot of trouble to get to Ms. Lopes. Her security should be our top priority right now," Jerome added.

"You still think Alice should be under Hansen's custody after what happened?" her doctor asked gently, a protective hand on her arm.

Matts had caused her so much distress today. If she went with him to Norway, would she be able to cope? He could keep her safe from the mysterious alpha, but at what cost?

The men watched the judge nervously. This was not their decision to make, but there was something he could do to make things right.

"I think it's best if I partially give up on my claim," Matts said.

The other men were surprised. Henryk's mouth fell open, and Gabriel's eyes narrowed. Jerome, however, could probably see where he was going with this. "You would leave Alice with Gabriel for now?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Gabriel crossed his arms, looking between Matts and the judge.

"I understand that taking Alice with me now would not be in her best interest, considering I'm a stranger. I also think she is our best bet for trying to catch this alpha."

"You mean bait," her doctor argued.

"Yes. She's not his only focus right now, but he has shown an interest in her over the other omegas. For those reasons I think it would be better if she stays with you." He nodded at Gabriel. "However…"

"However?" Gabriel's voice was ironically sweet.

Matts addressed Jerome. "I don't want to be a stranger to her. I want to be a part of her life. And if Gabriel fails to bond with her, I want to have a chance at it myself."

"What the fu—what do you mean by ‘fail to bond'?" Gabriel asked, confused.

"It's not just sex, you know." The doctor kept his eyes on Alice. "There has to be more. Not just love, not just sex, but something more. She had that with Bruno. A partnership, a link between them before they were even converted. That's why he showed the biggest promise as First Chair. And I bet that's why the French First Chair is failing."

"I see…" Jerome's arms were crossed, and he tapped his mouth with his index finger. "How long do you think it would take?" he asked the doctor after a few minutes of consideration.

"How long? That's impossible to tell. She's a widow. How long do you expect her to grieve? You can't assume she will get over her husband at all."

Matts could almost see the wheels turning in Jerome's brain. There was a conflict of interest for him here. On one hand, he wanted to keep the omega safe, including safe from herself, and that would mean she should stay with Gabriel.

On the other hand, the Potentia ad Opus, the hands that were reshaping the world, really wanted to see what would happen when a bookkeeper like himself was bonded with an omega. If it was true that omegas somehow made their alphas stronger, it would make him into a formidable tool for them to use.

And there was the French omega situation to consider. That was a perfect example of what happened when you tried to force a bond. It was a disaster.

Jerome turned to Gabriel. "I will have to set a time limit for you to bond with her. I'll try to be reasonable, but I cannot allow for an omega to remain unbonded indefinitely."

Gabriel looked livid. "Are you giving me a time limit to—" He was probably looking for a more polite version of fuck. "A time limit to become intimate with her?"

"Yes," Jerome said without qualm. "That is exactly what I'm saying. I'll give you five years to bond with Alice. I don't expect a bond like the one she had with her husband, but I still want to see a real bond."

Five years?

"That's too long," Matts protested.

"She's a widow. Give the poor woman some time," Gabriel countered.

"Still, five years is too long for an omega to be unbonded. She'll be vulnerable." Matts looked at Jerome, hoping he would understand.

"You may be right." Jerome touched his index finger to his lips again. "Three years. That is my final ruling."

"And what happens if time is up and she is still not bonded to me?" Gabriel asked.

"Then you step aside and let me try," Matts replied, feeling one corner of his mouth raising in a crooked smile. "But by then, I won't be a stranger anymore, so I can assure you I won't fail."

"Please shake hands, gentlemen. The decision is made," Jerome commanded.

Gabriel looked Matts up and down, and offered his hand. They shook hands, each almost crushing the other's fingers. The game was on. Although it was disguised as a court ruling, they both knew what this really was. They were going to fight for her heart and an invitation to her bed. It was a bet.

Jerome sighed. "May the best man win."