I was Caleb’s mate while she was his fiancee. If push came to shove, who would he choose?
After the security guards let her in, Janiya hurried over to me, stopping only when she was a few feet away. Eyes shining with tears, she murmured, “I’m sorry Debra. I made a dumb mistake! I can provide you with as much money as you need as compensation for what happened.
Please tell Caleb to let me stay here and not force me back to the
Thorn Edge Pack.”
I was so surprised that I turned to look at Caleb.
So he was trying to send her back to the Thorn Edge Pack.
What kind of punishment was that? It was not even up to one tenth of the suffering Janiya had caused me.
“I’ve heard your apology, but I won’t accept it,” I told Janiya, striving to keep my emotions under control.
Janiya stared at me with wide eyes. “What do you want then?”
I returned her gaze calmly and stated firmly, “If you want me to forgive you, you can turn yourself in to the police. That’s only fair.”
Janiya’s expression changed immediately.
She bit her lip and forced a smile.
“You want to settle this in front of Adam?”
“What makes you think that’s what I meant?”
I knew she was playing dumb. Given Adam’s typical approach to such matters, I knew that he would just try and make me compromise. And in any case, Adam and Janiya was on the same side, so he wouldn’t punish her no matter what.
“Roz Town belongs to the Xeric Pack. There’s no need to go to Adam, we’ll just settle this according to the Law of the Xeric Pack,” I said.
“No!” Janiya’s crocodile tears vanished immediately and in its place was a terrible expression. She even forgot that she was pretending to be remorseful and started cursing me.
“Debra, you bitch! You know that the punishment for sexual violence in the Xeric Pack is very heavy, so you said that on purpose
Janiya was very angry and her expression promised murder. When she took a step forward as if she planned to pounce on me, I hastily took a few steps back and away from her.
But my sudden retreat didn’t mean I was going to budge on my decision.
I lifted my chin and replied, “You committed the offence in the Xeric
Pack, so your punishment should be decided according to the law of the pack.”
If it was possible, Janiya got even more angry.
“That’s easy for you to say. According to the law of the Xeric Pack, I would be forced to wear electronic shackles and be monitored for the rest of my life. You bitch! You just want to humiliate me on purpose!”
I just sneered.
