Wednesday, October 10th Pt. 6

“As soon as he was well enough to travel I would have helped him get in contact with the alpha he wants to be with and I would have moved him to a location that the alpha would be able to retrieve him from.”
“Why would you do that? Why would you prevent him from receiving the justice he deserves?” Dallas is livid with the idea.
“Unfortunately your idea of the justice Cole deserves and mine are polar opposites. Even if he was doing what he is simply rumored to be doing, he doesn’t deserve to be brutally tortured.”
My comment has all three of the council members looking at me intently.
“You believe the individual that was attacked this morning is being tortured?” Marie is the first to speak.
“In front of those who hate him, who believe he deserves what he’s getting is not the time to discuss why Cole is trying to run.”
“I understand but we do need to know if you supported his efforts.”
“Jamie is an avid explorer. When he expressed concern over getting lost in our territory I supplied him a map. The cabin that Dallas is speaking of is on the map along with all the other homes and facilities located both inside and outside the territory.” I explain calmly.
“You mean to tell me that he stumbled upon an abandoned cabin on his own?” Dallas exclaimed.
“I just explained that I supplied Jamie a map of the territory. The cabin is clearly marked on the map. We have dozens of such cabins scattered at varying distances in the woods. The closest the cabins get to our border is about a mile.”
The ensuing silence is broken by the ring of my second phone. A low growl emanates from Winston as I pull it from my pocket and switch it to speaker.
“Jamison, have you spoken with the doctor there?” I ask, immediately recognizing the phone number as coming from a room at Ridge General.
“Dr. Pinnock wasn’t able to stay long after they got Cole settled into the room but he was able to go over what’s going on with him.” Jamie speaks with a wave to his voice.
“Deep breaths, Jamie. We need to hear you clearly as this is being recorded.”
We can hear him following those instructions, taking several deep breaths and blowing them out slowly.
“The CAT scan came back with significant bleeding and swelling in his brain due to blunt force trauma.”
“You weren’t there. How do you know anything?”
Dallas suddenly can’t seem to keep his mouth shut as the security officer keeping him in line places his hand over his mouth before speaking directly in his ear.
“No Dallas, I don’t know what happened. The only information I was able to supply the doctors here was that he was jumped five on one. Dr. Pinnock made his conclusion based on the injuries to Cole’s face and the results of the scan. Cole woke up in the middle of the scan and his fear was so overwhelming that they sedated him. The bleeding and swelling in his brain has resulted in Dr. Pinnock putting him in the ICU in a medicated coma. He’s scheduled to have another CAT scan Friday morning and if the scan shows improvement they will start waking him up Saturday.”
The sadness in Jamie’s voice is palatable as he struggles to keep it from cracking.
“Thank you. I can’t imagine what it’s like to have such a close and loyal friend in this situation again.”
I speak gently as I invite others to question what’s been said. When no one volunteers any additional questions I take the phone off speaker and give Jamie some brief instructions before hanging up the phone.
“How many times did you hit him?” Andre asks.
“I didn’t hit him.” Dallas snipes. “I kicked him as hard as I could as many times as I could get in until your ass hat delta pushed me away from him.”
“At this point I feel we have all the information we need for a proper sentencing. Does anyone disagree?” Arthur brings everyone back to the task at hand.
“The standard protocol for punishing assault on another alpha’s land is ten hits to your bare backside. Taking into consideration the severity of Alpha Cole’s injuries and the sheer hatred that the assailant has expressed towards the young alpha I do believe a harsher penalty should be assessed.”
Daniel addresses the other council members. To my surprise I see Arthur and Marie both nod.
“I’m not taking ten hits to my bare ass over that pervert.” Dallas yells at the councilman.
“No, you’re not taking ten. You’re taking twenty.”
I can hear Andre choke on the phone before it’s suddenly cut off indicating that he’s muted it on his side.
“You will receive your first ten after dinner tonight. They will be split between Alpha Moore and Beta Greene. Your second ten will be Friday morning after breakfast but before you leave. Your new, personal security guard, Delta Sanchez, will man the belt. All will be done in Alpha Whiteman’s office under his supervision.” Arthur explains without emotion.
“Why are you doubling the standard?” Winston asks.
“Finally someone is on my side.” Dallas sighs as he sits back in his chair.
“No sir. It’s standard to ask the reasoning behind a harsher sentence when above the standard is assessed.” Winston explains monotonously.
“There are several reasons. As Councilman Arthur just explained, the malice involved in the attack is a big part of it but there is more to it. Andrew said that Cole fell and something about the fall made him unable to stand let alone run or fight. Did anyone else see the same?” Marie has started the explanation.
“We all saw it. Amos tried to convince Dallas to leave Cole be since he couldn’t fight as that is something that even Alpha Redmen is staunchly against. There is no honor in fighting someone who can’t defend themselves. I’ll be surprised if Alpha Redmen keeps his word on not punishing you once he finds out how it went down.” Maximus speaks for the first time since coming into the room.
“I noticed Cole on the ground when we pulled up. He was moving his legs erratically as if he couldn’t feel them shortly before he passed out.” I speak up on my own observations of Cole.
“Attacking someone who can not physically defend themselves, by itself, is a justifiable reason to double the standard penalty for assaulting another.” Councilman Daniel adds to the conversation. “But the penalties being assessed are not finished as there are five of you involved in this attack.”
“Because you are the only one to cause Alpha Cole damage, and based on Jamison’s report, you managed to cause a significant amount, you are receiving the harshest punishment.” Marie finishes. “I understand that it was requested and we agreed to split the proceedings but we do need a better understanding of what Beta Stevens and Delta Andrews were doing.”
“My reaction was slower than it should have been but I tackled Dallas after he kicked Cole several times in the face. I was really hoping that he would back off and take my suggestion of simply dragging him back to the pack house. Now that I say it that way it sounds incredibly callous and harsh. I’m sorry….”
I place my hand quickly over his mouth causing him to yelp in surprise before I speak directly in his ear.
“The reason I split the proceedings is because disclosing your loyalty to Andre could cause you trouble if it gets back to Redmen.”
He nods slowly as he remains silent.
“Were either of you injured during this fight?”
“We both took hits to the face and body but nothing that my wolf can't take care of in a day or two.” Amos admits.
“Dallas, do you feel the same? Do you need medical care?” Marie has picked back up the conversation.
“I’m not a wuss like that pervert.”
“He has bleeding in his brain, Dallas. You can’t fake that.” I can’t believe the statement he just made.
“But you can fake not being able to stand.” Dallas responds as if he’s trying to defend his position.
“You’re telling me that he faked not being able to run and allowed you to kick him hard enough to cause bleeding in his brain so you would receive physical punishment?” Alpha Whiteman is just as confused as I am.
Dallas opens his mouth but remains silent before closing it again. It seems as if he’s run out of things to say.
“I waited until Richard ran towards Cole to go after him. Similar to Amos and Dallas, we both took hits but I don’t feel that I have any injuries from it. Just a handful of bruises.” Maximus volunteers without being prompted.
“Delta Washington, are you injured?”
“No.” He curtly keeps it simple.