He breathed deeply, forcing down the urge to break free of Wanda’s iron grip and bust Mara out. Nothing was more important than the kids, but Mara had taken a spot right alongside them. “Okay.” He cleared his throat, and his murderous thoughts. Turning to Keegan, he asked, “So what happens next? Tell me what we do?”
Keegan ran a hand through his dark hair, his eyes finding Harry’s. “She goes to trial in front of a jury of her peers. It goes the same way it does with humans.”
“How can she go to jail for an accident? This was a goddamn accident!” How the fuck was this happening?
Keegan’s head shook, slow and weary. “We have no precedent for this, Harry. It doesn’t matter that you don’t want to see her punished. The problem is she has, in that mighty brain of hers, the wherewithal to create a formula that makes werewolves. That’s dangerous to the pack. It’s dangerous to everyone concerned. She created you. If she can do it, and she gets away with it, who’s to say someone else won’t do it and think they can get away with it?”
Harry’s jaw grew tight. “So they think if they lock her up it’ll keep some other lunatic from creating a serum just like it? Did it stop serial killers when they jailed Jeffrey Dahmer? That’s ludicrous!”
Keegan pulled off his knit cap, pinching the space between his eyebrows. “It sends a message, Harry. It’s a deterrent of sorts. Just like prosecuting anyone who’s broken a law. Mara knew what she was doing was an iffy proposition. She knew it could lead to trouble if she got caught.” Keegan held up a hand to keep Harry from protesting. “But don’t think I don’t understand your point. I do. I made it myself to the council. Still, they’ve decided to allow Mara’s peers to vote whether she can be trusted to never reveal the ingredients of that serum. She has a solid reputation in the community, mad scientist that she is. That’ll go a long way in keeping the council from believing she would sell this serum to someone.” He shook his head, sorrow streaking his eyes. “If she could have just waited, I would have found a way—something,” he murmured, worry lining his face.
Harry looked down at the floor, his gut in a knot. No way was he going to sit around while Mara was in jail. “She hated the lying. She knew it was only a matter of time before her scent on me wouldn’t fly anymore. She also knew she had to keep your alpha position safe. She didn’t want you to be accused of favoritism.”
Keegan approached him with clear hesitation. “In all this, I’ve forgotten to ask how you are. Marty tells me you want out no matter how you find it.”
“What if I find a way to do that? Will this council arrest me, too?” He was provoking unnecessarily, and while it was rude, Harry couldn’t stop himself.
“He’s not the fucking enemy, dude. Step off,” Nina said with a warning.
“What can the pack do to help you adjust, Harry? At least until you figure this out.” Keegan persisted, obviously not put off by his angry words.
Harry took in another deep breath. “My apologies. I’m taking this out on you when it’s not your fault. Just tell me what this proceeding is like. Can I be there?”
Keegan nodded. “You have no choice. They’ll call you as a witness. You just tell the truth and relay what happened the night you were turned.”
Harry scoffed without even realizing it. “Will it even matter? Will they take into account my testimony? They don’t seem to care much that I, the alleged victim, am just damn fine with the idea of being a werewolf. If I don’t want to press charges, there shouldn’t damn well be any.” It was all he could do not to break something, hit someone.
And he’d just admitted, out loud, he’d come to terms with being a werewolf.
It meant he could be with Mara. For as long as she’d have him. If she’d have him. He’d decided last night when she’d given him the speech about her age and all the kooky bits of information about werewolf-ing. He wanted Mara. Period. If that meant baying at the moon and living forever, he’d find a way to figure it out where the kids were concerned.
In this precarious situation, one he was told he could never change, he’d rather have Mara and the kids together than have them without her. He didn’t ever want to think about a time when the kids weren’t a part of his world. However, the cards he’d been dealt left him little choice but to accept what fate had handed him.
But he had to make one thing clear to Mara. If there ever came a time when he could reverse this, he would. Not because he hated the idea, but because Mimi and Fletcher were the most important things in his life, and to watch them leave this earth before him was unthinkable.