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Jax nodded. “I have. He said he’d come in here before he opened the courthouse. I’m going to offer you a piece of advice. You won’t take it, but I’ll feel better having given it to you.”
“I’m listening.”
“If Winter doesn’t want to return to you, you’d be better off to pack up and head back to the Highlands.”
“We were bonded; vows were exchanged.”
“That’s not the way that Winter tells it. Mystic River is a small, close-knit community. You’ll do well to remember that. I’ve known Colby Reynolds most of my life, and while we might not be as close as we used to be, I know for a fact that he will not relinquish Winter if she doesn’t want to go.”
“And what if I give him no choice?”
“Then you’re a bigger fool than I think you to be. Don’t let the lynx’s sly grin and easy manner fool you. Colby has killed in the past and will do so again. There’s a lot about the way he lives now that I don’t respect, but I have never once doubted his ability to lead those at Windsong. Regardless of the face he shows to the outside world, Colby can be ruthless and is admirably protective of those he leads. You’d do well to remember that when dealing with him.”
Almost as if on cue, a man Sean could only assume to be Colby Reynolds entered the office at Winter’s side, followed by a small, round man in flowing robes and a bald head, fringed by a ring of silver hair. The judge was an odd duck, he often wore his robes even when he wasn’t in the courtroom and what he wore under them was anyone’s guess. One time during the summer, he’d had on shorts and a Hawaiian shirt.
“All right, what the hell has got everyone in an uproar?” asked the man Sean guessed was Judge Freeman.
“My name is…”
“I know who you are, Campbell,” said the judge. “It’s written down here on the complaint. Tell me, do they allow people to steal vehicles in Scotland?”
“No, Your Honor,” he said almost choking on the honorarium, “but I would point out that I only borrowed the Jeep.”
“Really?” inquired the Judge. “Did you ask the owner’s permission?”
“No. It was an urgent matter.”
“Was it now; so urgent you couldn’t go into The Workshop and ask, but not so urgent that you couldn’t call the authorities? You may be the all-powerful alpha of the Curaidh Snow Leopards, but here you’re just a common, garden-variety car thief and not a very good one at that.”
Sean kept a tight rein on his temper. Sheriff Miller might be right, perhaps coming at this in a direct manner was not the way to go. Apparently, his mate had made a big impression on those in Mystic River. Perhaps the best way to take back what was his was to look defeated and then return with a unit of highly-trained men at his back and simply take back what was his.
“I wouldn’t, if I were you,” said Reynolds in a voice that could sell ice to the inhabitants of the North Pole.
Hamish got to his feet. “You don’t know my alpha well enough to presume to know what he was thinking.”
“Don’t I?” Colby taunted. “One of the most highly decorated special operatives in British military history. A man who, when his father was murdered, took up arms to defeat those who had risen to try and challenge his leadership of his clan. A man who recognized his fated mate to be amongst those who owed him a blood debt, chose to show clemency in exchange for his fated mate being pledged to him. The problem is—Hamish—isn’t it?—Winter was never her father’s to give. She has been her own person since she was a small child. Your problem, Campbell,” Reynolds said, turning back to Sean, “is that you never knew her at all.”
“I know she was bonded to me, and by law she is mine.”
Reynolds looked at Winter and shook his head. “I daresay if he spent any time with you, he’d find out your skills as a warrior are the least of the things he doesn’t know. The sad part is, he’s missing out on a whole lot more.”
Winter inclined her head toward Reynolds.
The alpha lynx-shifter continued, “I wonder, Campbell, are you intelligent enough to believe that fate has given you a mate of such rare and extraordinary quality, that you might have to prove yourself worthy of such a gift?”
“She is mine,” growled Sean.
“Not according to Winter. I know Judge Freeman, and I feel fairly confident in saying he isn’t going to just hand her over to you. Am I right, Your Honor?”
The judge nodded. “You are, indeed. Winter is a member of this community. Campbell here is not. I can make a ruling that dismisses the pending grand theft auto against him in exchange for his word that he will leave Mystic River and never return.”
“And I will take whatever ruling you make and appeal it to the Ruling Council.”
Judge Freeman spat on the floor. “If you think anyone in Mystic River gives a rat’s ass about what that ill-gotten group of bureaucrats, pissants, and their goons think, you’d best think again.”
Reynolds held up his hands. It struck Sean as curious that Winter simply stood at Reynolds’ side, neither supporting or contradicting him, but never took her eyes off Sean. Each time he looked away from the others, she was staring at him.
“I think I may have a less contentious way to settle this matter. Judge Freeman, why don’t you bond Campbell over for trial. You can set a reasonable or unreasonable bail, whichever you prefer, either of which I will pay, and release him into my custody. We can put him and his friend there up at Windsong, thereby relieving the town of having to pay for his incarceration.”
