The day of Xavier’s trial arrived, and the air was thick with anticipation and unease. The trial was to be held in the central hall of the pack’s meeting grounds, a grand, imposing building that had witnessed countless crucial moments in our pack’s history. Today, it would be the stage for Xavier’s judgment.

To say I wasn’t nervous would be a bald faced lie. My heart was pounding with a mix of emotions I couldn’t quite untangle. Fear, anxiety, rage, sadness, pain, nervousness and a whole lot more I didn’t stop to identify. On one hand I needed Xavier to be found guilty. For my brother’s safety as well as...