9

Rafael could be such a snake sometimes. He was basically cutting off guys who I was generally close with. That ass. I understood if they had intentions toward me, but neither Billy or Orion ever made intentions of wanting any type of relationship before. It wasn't fair. I had some friends who were girls, and even guy friends who I studied with at school. I'm sure he has lady associates he is friends with. He probably does lunch and dinner meetings with the all the time. I sighed in thought of this and just leaned back against the long wooden bench. I decided to text my mom in the meantime while I waited for anything better to happen.

Rafael's POV

I gazed at her from across the precinct room watching as she was hunched over shaking her head. She looked so lost and sad, and I would do anything to make her happy again. I could see the brightness in her eyes when I was able to get her friend released. It made me feel good inside knowing she was happy. But when she looked at me and the brightness faded, I felt empty inside.

Olivia came into my view blocking Amara from me and I almost frowned but stopped when I remembered Olivia is my friend.

"We released Orion Evans. Let's hope we don't see him again." she said. But she noticed I was looking through her and when she saw who I was looking at she looked back at me with a light curious gaze. "How are things going with her?" I looked at her feeling weakness playing on my face and I refused to let anyone see that. So I turned and began to walk toward one of the empty offices and she followed.

"She hates me. I give her a house, access to everything she wants inside and out and she still rejects me. I'm going crazy." I said quickly after she closed the door. She nodded slowly.

"These things take time. True working bonds form when both parties are willing and on board." she said and I raised my hands in frustration.

"I'm on board! She isn't." I exclaimed and she nodded raising one of her hands calmly at me. "It's not my fault she got herself arrested and I ended up seeing her."

"I know. Which is why you need to come at this from a different angle. Amanda was not happy with me when she found out I was her alpha. She liked men and was dating a man you know this." she said, and I nodded placing my hands on my hips as I mildly paced around remembering how she too was distracted from work because of Rollins. "It's only been two days. Trying anything that could come off as you commanding her is going to get you rejected every time. Try to find common ground."

"How! I mean we jogged this morning-"

"You jogged?" she asked with a forward tilt of her head. I waved my hand at her.

"I don't want to talk about it." I said. "But we clicked. We had a civil conversation. I made her breakfast and we talked and it was nice and then we argued."

"How did you argue?" she asked. I was a bit hesitant now to answer, because I know what I said that made the fight begin.

"I told her to tell me where she is when she's not at school." I said lowly and she gave me a look and I shrugged. "What, normal couples do that all the time!"

"When there is absolute trust and love." she said.

"Yeah well I don't trust her! I don't trust her because of how our bond formed. She could run away with another man or favor another guy! I don't even know if I can trust her to be alone because I am afraid of what she would do… and now I am afraid of what I may do." I admitted. Her eyes hardened on me a bit.

"What are you talking about, Raf?" she asked seriously. I did my best to keep control as I spoke.

"I haven't taken her yet and I want to so badly. I can feel my body react to her every time I am with her whether it's noticeable or not. And I'm afraid I may hurt her." I admitted and Olivia shook her head.

"Hey, I know the instincts are there. I've felt them sometimes want to take over and I have heard it in many alphas who have problems getting their betas to submit, but. But we've seen cases when alphas don't want to wait for their betas to consent and in the end we have a victim. Scholars have been trying to find ways to help alphas all over the world learn to wait and fight their instincts." she said.

"Who knows how long that will take… look I know I made her sign the documents that would keep her out of prison. But what choice did I have? I didn't want her to be taken from me and after all that I've done… she still doesn't like me." I said in defeat. Olivia's eyes softened and she approached with her usual warm smile.

"Look you need to be patient with her. She still a young adult and she has yet to experience the real world, experience real hardships… experience love. You have to give her some space and be open." she said. I stared at her as if unsure before looking away.

"Do you have any idea how happy it would make me to see her just glance at me with favor of me in her eyes?" I asked softly and she looked at me with a deep understanding gaze.

"Yes I do." she said softly.

My phone suddenly buzzed. Maybe it was Amara. I looked to see it was my secretary alerting me that some court dates got moved to today.

"Great if that isn't bad enough, I have to be in court today." I said. Olivia nodded.

"You ready for them?" she asked, and I nodded.

"Always." I said with a hint of pride. "Maybe I can ask one of the detectives to give Amara a ride home. I'm sure if she has to stay here another minute it'll just make her even angrier at me." I said and I wanted to avoid that at all costs. Olivia shrugged.

"You want to impress her, why don't you let her sit in on a few cases of yours. Let her watch you work." she advised. My eyes beamed with happiness before dropping.

"Yes! Wait no, seeing her could distract me and throw me off my game." I said. She shrugged.

"Or make you better than ever." she said, moving to the door. "Think about it. If not, I'll give her a ride home." And I was sure the talk between them could go either way. Well what did I have to lose? Maybe she could talk some sense into my hard-headed beta.

Amara's POV

I was growing bored and irritated with having to sit here. Were we leaving any time soon? I finally got up with intent to find Rafael. However, I got my answer when I saw Olivia and him coming out of a room together. I blinked rapidly curious of what they were talking about. Rafael walked over to me mild speed. He looked at me with a weak smile.

"Hey. So, I got called into court today. It's only four. I know you have classes tomorrow and I'm sure you want to be as far away from me as possible in order to prepare for them. If you want, I can have Olivia drive you home and you can have the entire house to yourself. Or…" he trailed off some as if unsure he wanted to continue speaking. "You can come to court with me and see me work. We can get lunch or something after. It's up to you." I looked from him to Olivia to see her standing by her desk with a stern smile. I could tell the alpha female was no joke just by the way she carried herself. No doubt we would have some sort of talk about alphas and betas that I really did not want to have at this moment. I looked at Rafael and nodded.

"I'll go to your cases." I replied. He looked at me stunned.

"What? You did hear me say you can have the entire house to yourself, right?" he asked. I arched a brow.

"Do you want me to change my mind and go?" I asked and he shook his head before smiling.

"No! We'll have to go further down town. The court room is maybe thirty minutes away!" he said talking fast, tone filled with happiness. I didn't realize how me agreeing to go to court with him got him so excited. It was almost… cute.

I sat in the back of the court room surrounded by strangers. I saw Olivia and Amanda in the back. They were talking about something and I just sneered and looked down at my lap. The hearing started and I watched Rafael on the left of me. He looked ready. The three cases were of disputes involving abuse of children, a woman who had abducted kids, and some civil dispute between two shop owners. Rafael was a very ruthless attorney. He asked hard questions and made sure to always get an answer. I studied every case he had to work on today. He basically said or did anything to get a result. The last case involved rape. It involved an alpha male and a beta female. However, before the case started there was a recess.

I needed to stretch my legs anyways. As I stepped into the hall, my phone vibrated, and I removed it from my hoodie. I was familiar with numbers even if they had nothing saved. Billy. He wanted to talk to me. I slipped from the room and called him.

"Billy?" I asked.

"Amara… what the hell is going on?" he asked. I sighed.

"It's complicated. I've been told I can't see you." I said looking around at everyone exiting the court.

"Yeah, your alpha told me." he said lowly. "So what, we can't be friends anymore?" He sounded so hurt and it made me feel even more saddened. I shook my head.

"I don't know. I made an agreement with him to stay out of prison." I said. There was silence on the other line. "You have a match tonight. Are you ready?"

"Maybe. I'd be perfect if I had my good luck charm there." he said. I smiled warmly.

"I will try and get there." I said.

"Your alpha will not allow it." he said bitterly.

"Well I still have my VIP pass you gave me. If somehow I can't, I will be watching on TV." I assured.

"Can I see you tomorrow at school?" he asked. I turned around to see Rafael on the other side. People were going back inside the courtroom. He motioned his head for me to get inside. I only nodded.

"Yes. After my class. I'll see you then. I gotta go." I replied.

"Alright." he said and hung up. I moved inside with the others and sat down and listened to the case. The alpha, Charles Morrison, was charged on multiple counts of rape against his beta, Denise Morrison. She completely traumatized and frightened of her alpha.

"I think he was always insecure of my family and what I had. I mean he worked a construction worker and I was going to nursing school. He would always drink and yell at how my family wasn't doing enough for us- for him." she said. She was a pretty redhead and the guy was a bit rough looking, but he had a handsomeness to him. When Charles took the stand, he admitted to raping and sometimes beating his wife.

"Look I work forty hours a week and the least she could was be the good beta she was and have dinner ready when I come home. Sometimes you gotta put a beta in their place. That's what they're there for right?" he asked. I was tensed at his words and looking down unaware that Olivia was watching me.

I was so hurt for Denise but listening to Rafael ask certain questions and get answers made me somewhat impressed with him. He showed the courtroom what a monster Charles was. When he gave closing arguments, I had to admit I was very touched at how much he made Denise to still look like a human being and not some title, not someone's property. But the courts ruled in favor of Charles. The judge recommended counseling and stated if he saw Charles in court again he would be fined. Fined! Fined for raping his wife! I wanted to stand up and shout how much it wasn't fair. My heart was pounding in my chest and I felt I'd have a panic attack. As the court adjourned, I found myself speeding out of there. It was such a mistake agreeing to stay here. I should have just taken the ride home.

An alpha can rape his beta and hurt her for as long as he wants, and the only penalty is being fined. I felt like I would cry.

"Amara, hey Amara!" I heard Olivia call out. I looked at with utter disgust as she closed in on me. I backed away from her.

"Don't touch me." I said and she shook her head.

"Hey. I know it was hard to sit in on that case and hear what you had to hear given everything you've been told by AntiDom, but you have to know we are not all like that man." she said. I scoffed.

"Why should I believe you?" I asked.

"Because that alpha is still a man, an insecure man. He was insecure about his life before he met his beta and he will still be insecure when we throw him in jail." she said.

"And what would he have to do to be thrown in jail huh! He could do horrible things to anyone else, but It wouldn't be for hurting his beta, that much is for sure." I snapped. Olivia looked down keeping her hands on her hips.

"Well I'll tell you one thing… be grateful you have an alpha that would never hurt you. Not all betas can say that. Sure, enough my mother couldn't." she stated firmly before walking around me. I turned and watched her leave wondering what she meant by that. I could imagine how close she was with Rafael she was ready to defend him. But don't alphas defend all alphas? Stupid question. After seeing him defend Denise, I knew there was more to him than just his alpha status.

We had been at Rafael's office for most of the day while Rafael finished up his paper work. I volunteered to wait outside. Billy's match started at 10 tonight. It was a little after one now. I had time to find a way to get there or how to bring up the discussion. Rafael moved from his office looking around as he was grabbing his coat and putting papers away in his briefcase.

"I'm sorry you had to stay with me the entire day at work. Believe me, I wasn't trying to keep you here all day." he said. I looked at him and shrugged.

"It's fine. Really." I replied and he nodded as he stood in front of me with a smile.

"You know for what it's worth I'm glad you decided to come to my court hearings today. I know that last case hurt for some and believe me I wanted jail time." he said. I could hear the sincerity in his voice, and I nodded.

"You did your best. I know Denise appreciated what you did for her today. I know I would have." I replied softly. His looked at me as if thrown off and slowly smiled.

"So my schedule is cleared and I know I promised you lunch." he said and motioned for the front door. "Got any suggestions?" I shook my head and followed.

"We can eat wherever… so any more work you have to do tonight?" I asked as we walked to his car. He looked at me, his warm smile still on his face.

"Probably do some paper work tonight. Why you want to do something?" he asked. I bit the inside of my cheek and shrugged some as we were now standing by his car. Great now I was nervous. He tilted his head as he examined my face. "What is it mami?" Ok I wasn't expecting to hear his accent flow so smoothly as he spoke to me.

"I wanted to go see a kickboxing match tonight with some friends." I said. He leaned back from me now looking mildly curious.

"Who's fighting?" he asked. I scrunched my lips up and looked away.

"Conlan vs. Heritage." I said lowly. Now he sighed heavily.

"Amara, we have talked about this. I don't want you having any contact with him." he stated firmly. I shook my head and leaned into him.

"Rafael, please. I just want to support him. He's my friend and going to his fights, make me happy. I liked to watch them, and it was always so fun… why don't you come with me." I said taking his hands. He looked down at our hands before sighing heavily sliding them from me.

"I'm sorry, I have work to finish tonight, and my answer is no. You aren't his anymore. You're mine." he said softly opening the passenger door for me. I just looked down in sadness and got in. I was actually really glad, I had school tomorrow. That meant I didn't have to do anything with my alpha. He tried to make conversation on the road home, but I didn't say much on them. Once we were at a red light behind numerous cars, he looked at me. I just looked down at my hands.

"I'm not doing this to hurt you." he said softly. I glanced at him. "You have no idea how much it hurts me to know you get excited by watching another man work. I can hear it in your voice you are so proud to see him fight. Maybe I want you to be proud to see me fight cases, tough, hard cases, that I will not always win." I looked at him more and he looked sad.

"I know it's going to take time for you to get use to this. That means I have to wait for you to accept me." he told. I winced and felt mildly bad that I had hurt his feelings. I slowly slid my hand over towards his leg and rested it on his hand. I didn't fully want to, but I did anyways. He looked at me with a deep gaze.

"I'm sorry. You are good at your job, but you shouldn't care what anyone thinks of how well you do at your job." I said. He looked at me with a light shake of his head.

"I don't care what anyone else thinks… but I care what you think." he said. I stared at him for a moment a long moment and I nodded. I didn't want to put any more stress on him. I didn't want to fight right now. It was just time to move on.

"Okay… I like Chinese." I replied. He slowly smiled.

"I know a great Chinese place down town. We're not too far from it actually." he said. I just smiled and nodded.

"Alright. But I don't want to be out too late. I do have classes tomorrow." I reminded. He nodded and smiled.

"Fine. I can get you there, but I don't think I'll be able to pick you up though." he told.

"It's fine. I'll catch a ride." I replied. He looked at me curiously.

"From who?" he asked.

"The bus." I replied. We made it to the small Chinese place and went inside. The food was delicious especially their egg rolls. We didn't talk about his case or school. We just talked about random things, like Rafael's like in Cuba before moving here. He came from the projects and had a small group of friends to help him fight anyone who wanted to mess with him. I didn't realize how much of a survivor he was. When we returned home, it was dark. We moved up the stairs and down the hall. He stopped at my room.

"Good night." he said gently and I smiled warmly at him. For the first time it was genuine.

"Good night." I replied and opened the door and went inside.