Chapter 64

Cheyenne's POV

I didn't get shit for sleep last night. Gunner was on patrols and my mind with wondering with all the different impossible outcomes for my sister's trails today. In one outcome, I ended up on death row and they were both standing there laughing at me. Ridiculous, I know. Gunner would randomly check in on me, feeling the stress and anxiety through the mate bond.

I rolled my tiny ass out of bed with a moan and made my way to the bathroom. A good relaxing shower was much needed right now. My whole body was tensed from all the stress. I didn't even bother grabbing clothes to take with me. Nobody ever came into our room anyways. Well, not without knocking first anyways.

I took Gunner's shirt off and just tossed it on the floor along with my panties and shorts. I turned on the shower to let it warm up while I brushed my hair out. Once I finished, I stepped in the shower and just stood under the shower head. I let hell's fire water just rain down on my face and roll down my body.

"Breath child!" Koa said sternly.

"I am breathing! Just not when I've got water pouring on my face." I mumbled.

"You need to relax. Stop thinking about what could possibly happen. Remember, there's no point in stressing the things that you can't control. Only worry about the things that you can." Koa said softly while stretching herself out.

"So that's why they call it the downward dog position." I thought to myself as I was watching her stretch.

"Really?" Koa asked snapping her head straight forward with a very unamused expression.

"Sorry, squirrel brain remember?" I laughed.

"I'm just going to go over here, in the back, and meditate so one of us is somewhat sane during the trail today." Koa snorted and then trotted off to the back of my mind.

After I finished my shower, I was drying off when I thought I heard the door close. I hollered out "Who's there?" but there was no answer. So I chalked it up to me hearing shit. I finished drying off, wrapped the towel around me, walked towards the sink, and brush my teeth. Once I was completely finished I walked out of the bathroom and towards the closet.

"Damn!!!!" Gunner said from the other side of the bed.

I jumped in surprise and damn near lost my towel.

"What the hell babe?!" I groaned.

"Well maybe you shouldn't be walking around in towel?" He smiled.

"Maybe you shouldn't sneak into the bedroom while I'm in the shower!" I retorted.

I stuck my tongue out at him like a child would, and then walked to the closet. I was debating on what to wear to court today. I knew I would have to testify against both of them so jeans and cut off t-shirts were a no go. I opted for a pair of black dress pants, well they looked dressy but felt more like tight sweatpants. Now to find a shirt. I was scanning my side of the closet but I really didn't have anything nice.

"Babe it's just court. Not like you're meeting the President or some shit." Gunner laughed.

"Fuck you. Wouldn't wanna meet that bastard anyways." I said as I found a nicer grey shirt.

It was a bit low cut in the front, probably why I never wore it, but it's all I had. I walked back into the room, grabbed panties and a bra on my back to the bathroom before throwing my towel over Gunner's head and bolting for the bathroom door. I managed to get it locked right before he twisted the handle.

"Oh that's not even right!" He hollered from the other side of the door.

"Consider that payback for leaving me last night." I laughed.

"Oh come on! That's not even fair! You knew I was on duty last night!" He argued.

"And you knew I was in the shower when you came in." I was getting petty at this point but it was true.

"Ugh fine. What time do we have to leave?" He asked as I heard a thud on the door. I can only assume it was his head.

"Starts at 9, so about 8:30? I think?" I questioned myself.

"It's only 6:14 right now. I'm going to take a nap. Make sure I'm up around 7:30…ish." He said before walking away.

I finished getting dressed, dried my hair, brushed it, and then quietly made my way down to the kitchen for breakfast. Once I got down there Jax and Tora were already sitting down and eating.

"Good morning my two favorite people!" I smiled.

"Someone got laid." Jax joked causing Tora to smack him in the arm across the table.

"Wasn't me. Gunner was on duty last night so…" I stuck my tongue out him. Yes I know, I'm 18 years old and should act like an adult, but let's be real. 18-year old's are just big kids, for the most part.

"I made pancakes if you want some." Tora pointed towards a platter than had to have at least twenty freaking pancakes on it.

"They smell so good. What did you put in them?!" I asked taking a big whiff of them.

"Dragon's Blood." Tora smirked.

My jaw dropped and I'm sure my eyes were the size of baseballs and my eyebrows were up to my hairline.

Tora started laughing, "I'm just joking. They're strawberry."

"Now that sounds amazing!" I said gathering my mouth off the floor and turning to get a plate.

I stacked 4 pancakes on it and lathered up the syrup before grabbing a fork and joining them at the table. Tora was showing me all the plans she had drawn up for their house Gunner found them. It looked really cute.

"That looks perfect for my right-hand woman." I said nonchalantly.

Tora looked at me in shock. "Are you serious? You want me as your right hand?"

"Dead serious! Jax was the King's right hand and top warrior, and now he's my top warrior and most trusted advisor for all things lycan. If you guys are going to be mates, then I need someone to help litigate with inter-species conflicts. Who better than you for that?" I shoved a fork full of pancake in my mouth and then smiled at her.

We continued our talk of the new house and renovation. I volunteered Gunner and myself to help them whenever we weren't busy with pack or royal duties. Which hopefully after all the details were taken care of, they wouldn't take up to much of our time.

After I finished eating, I said goodbye and headed for the bedroom. It was just after 7:30 and I hadn't heard from Gunner. I knew he was tired after being up all night. I told him he didn't have to go today but he insisted. He said I shouldn't have to face these kinds of situations on my own. Guess I'm just used to dealing with everything on my own, that I never thought of how it affected him.

I walked into the room and heard the shower running. I walked over and pressed my ear up to the bathroom door and had to muffle my laugh. Gunner was singing in the shower, and yes I know we all do it, but a full-grown man singing 'Girl's Just Wanna Have Fun' was hilarious. I waited for main line to hit before throwing the door open and shouting 'girls just wanna have fun'.

The squeal that came out of that man had me doubled over and bracing myself on the wall from laughing so hard. Gunner just peered out of the shower door and glared at me. Once I could stand on my own again, and breath for that matter, I apologize and then left and went to the closet for shoes. I hated wearing shoes so I didn't have much to choose from. I found a pair of black flat slip on's and decided they were good enough.

Gunner had tried to give me a pep talk the whole time he was getting dressed and combing his hair. He still kept the sides and back cut short but the top was now long enough where a few stray strands would dangle down his forehead.

"Take a picture. It'll last longer." Gunner teased while sticking his tongue out at me.

"Ugh why didn't I think of that one earlier! Damn it!" I groaned.

Gunner came up and wrapped me in his arms while placing soft kisses on my lips. The soft kisses turned into a make out session which was turning into something hot and heavy. I pulled away to catch my breath while slightly pushing him back.

"As much as I want you right now, we can't. We need to get going." I grumbled while shoving my face in his chest and hugging him.

"You owe me!" he said while rubbing my back.

"Fine. I'll make it up to you later." I looked up and smirked.

"I'll remember that!" He said pointing at me when I walked away to grab my keys off the desk.

I just shook my head while walking towards the door. Gunner followed me out and to the truck. We pulled out of the pack house and headed towards the pack courthouse. I was amazed to see so many people here already. Surely most of these vehicles had to be workers here and not an audience for my sisters' trials.

We walked in and met with the prosecutor who explained how things were going to go today. Basically it sounded like what happened in tv shows. I just had to wait for my name to be called, swear to tell the truth, and then answer both her's and the defense attorney's questions. No biggie right? HA! Damn was I wrong. So wrong.

I was fine answering the prosecutor's questions. She kept it strictly to the case, but every time I would start to say something, the defense attorney would object on hearsay. I know I rolled my eyes more than once. When it was time to answer his questions, I would start and then object myself on hearsay. He didn't appreciate that very much. The judge got a good chuckle out of it.

Once all the witnesses had been called, the jury went into deliberation. They told us to stay close, as there is no telling how long the jury would take. So my dad, Ty, Jax, Tora, Gunner, Nik, Derek, and I all decided to grab some lunch. Sitting in a court room for damn near four hours was killing me. I couldn't wait to get out of there.

Ty, Gunner, and Jax were cracking hearsay jokes all the way to the restaurant. Tora and I turned those into 'that's what she said' jokes. Nik and Derek just shook their heads at all of us. More in amusement, not disappointment.

At the restaurant, I pulled my dad aside to check on him. I had been worried about how all of this had affected him emotionally. He kept saying he was fine but I noticed he had more wrinkles than before and a lot more grey hair.

"Dad. Stop lying to me. I know better." I sighed.

"It's been rough. I still don't feel like I can trust your mother. I mean, I still love her, don't get me wrong, but how could she do that?" He finally broke.

"I know dad, I'm right there with you." I said rubbing his arm.

"And now this with Emma and Ella. I just don't know where I went wrong." He said running his fingers through his hair.

"It's not your fault dad. The one you didn't even raise, so you can't blame yourself for that." I said trying to make him feel better. He just nodded and then we sat back down to finish eating.

Nik had just paid the bill and we were walking out when I got a text that the jury was back. We hurried back to the courthouse and took our seats. We watched as the jury filed back in one by one. The guard took a piece of paper from one of them, handed it to the judge who read it and passed it back.

The judge then asked for the juror to stand and give the verdicts. Ella received a guilty verdict on all charges. While Emma only got guilty on conspiracy. Now came time for their sentence.

"Emma, you will do 6 months of community service to be served after 30 days in the pack jail. Time already served will count towards the 30 days." The judge ordered.

I watched my sisters as the judge gave their sentences. Emma was crying but Ella was trying to hide her smirk. She thought by Emma getting off so "easy" that she would too.

"Ella. You are hereby ordered to life with possibility of parole after 25 years. Your time served will count towards that 20 years. You will be held in the pack jail also until the new royal prison is built. At which time you will be transferred to serve the remainder of your sentence." The judge ordered.

"25 YEARS?!!!! I'll be like 51 years old!!!!! Please your honor, reconsider!?" Ella pleaded.

"That sucks don't it?" The judge smirked, "Case closed." He slammed the gavel down before anything else could be said.

Everybody got up to leave, while some stopped to give me a hug and congratulate me on the win, others just walked out. Some of them were news reporters so I was glad to see them leave.

"You ok?" Gunner whispered.

"Yeah. At least I think so." I looked back at him.

"What do you mean?" He furrowed his brows in confusion.

"They are my sisters but I'm not the least bit upset. Like I don't even give two shits. Right now all I'm thinking about is getting home." I shrugged and started making my way out of the court room.

I spotted my dad and Ty by the elevator and I shot my dad a soft smile. "It's going to be ok dad." I said threw the mindlink.

"I know. Thank you E." He smirked.

It had been what felt like forever since I've heard that nickname. It warmed my heart. It was his way of letting me know that he didn't blame me for any of this. Gunner came up next to me and put his arm around my shoulders and we walked down the stairs instead of waiting on the elevator.

We had just made it back to the pack house and I had just shut off the truck. Gunner and I sat there in silence for a moment.

"Is it hot in here?" I asked looking over to him.

"No, you've had the a/c set on 64 the whole ride back. I got goosebumps." He held his arm up to show me.

"I'm burning…" I didn't even get to finish.

Gunner's eyes started glowing and he jumped out of the truck. He ran over to my side, opened the door, pulled me out, and carried me all the way to our room. It felt like my insides were on fire, like a volcano was erupting out of my stomach and just flowing through my blood stream.

Gunner got us into our room, kicked the door closed, locked it and then laid me on the bed. I started ripping my clothes off as fast I could. I didn't know what was going on.

"I need an ice bath!" I hollered out.

"That will only help for a short period of time babe." Gunner said his eyes still glowing neon yellow and I looked him in confusion.

"You're in heat." He said and my mouth dropped.

How did I not think about that before. We completed the mate bond of course I'd be going into heat.

"What's wrong?" I asked him

"You have no idea how bad I just wanna take you right here and right now." He said threw gritted teeth.

"Then take me babe! I'm all yours! Besides, I owe you remember?" I smirked while dragging him back over towards the bed.

"But…" He started.

"Shhh." I said as I pushed him down on the bed and started ripping his clothes off.

They say a female's heat can last anywhere between three to five days. Some have even went longer. Gunner and I stayed locked in our room the rest of the day. He only left to get us food. We kept cups so get could fill them in the bathroom sink so he wasn't running to the kitchen three hundred times to get us something to drink.

He told me he had mind linked Ben and Nik while he was getting out of the truck to issue a lockdown for all unmated males. That would explain why there was nobody in the pack house when he carried me in.

I lost count of what round we were on after the first night. I felt like I was playing Mortal Kombat. I kept waiting for that voice to say, "Finish her!" but it never came. After 2 days of being locked up, I was starting to go stir crazy. I knew I couldn't leave though hell I couldn't even open the window! Males can smell a female in heat for miles.

Finally after 4 days of being locked away with my mate, whom I love very much by the way, I finally got my freedom back. Of course Jax and Ben both had their jokes and taunts lined up and ready to go. At one point I actually tackled Ben to the ground and started wrestling him. He was calling out for him, but nobody would. They were all to busy laughing. Even Chelsea, his own mate was laughing at him.

After he tapped out, we all went out to eat and then Chelsea, Tora, and I dragged the guys along for some shopping. Why carry all the bags ourselves when we had perfectly capable men to do it. Least that was the thought. They took off once we got to the mall towards the game store while the girls and I hit up the clothing stores. I didn't really care for shopping but I needed new jeans anyways.

We spent the rest of the day shopping and wondering around town. Basically Gunner and Ben were giving the rest of us the tour of our pack lands. I couldn't believe I had been here this long and still hadn't seen all of it. I starred out the window just taking it all in before finally dozing off in Gunner's lap.