~ NYSSA
It shad to say that it took far longer than it should have for to realize what happened.
Every single eye in the room was trained on with varying looks of shock, disbelief and disdain.
I stared at the rogue, wondering if I’d misheard, but he repeated my na with a sigh.
"She told what to do," he mumbled. "I swear it."
"How could you?" Alisa was the first to react. "Are you so cruel that you would put your own pack in danger? Was this so kind of sche to get Henry back?
I blinked, shocked by the conclusion that she’d drawn.
I looked around, waiting for soone to co to my aid but no one did. They stared at like I was a monster they’d never seen before.
"I don’t know that man," I managed out. "I swear to you, I have never seen him before in my life. Soone is framing ."
"Don’t be ridiculous," Alisa snapped. "Why would anyone fra you? How would he know your na?"
"I don’t know!" I exclaid, throwing my hands up in defeat. "Show him my picture! He probably doesn’t even know who I am. This is... there has to be an explanation."
She snorted. "Of course you’d say that when his eyes are swollen shut. You are despicable. I expected better from you. It’s no wonder you were so insistent on going to the King for help in the first place, you didn’t want Henry to find out what a bitch you are!"
I turned to Henry. "Surely you know that this is a joke, right? What would I gain from all of this?"
He didn’t respond imdiately, he just stared at with barely concealed disdain.
Through everything that had happened, Henry had never looked at the way he was right now, like he didn’t know .
"I would never!" I repeated. "One of you has to—"
The sound of bone cracking filled the air, cutting my words off.
I turned just in ti to see the rogue slumped on the ground, his neck bent at an unnatural angle. His chest didn’t rise, and no ragged sound ca out of him... he was dead.
"Why would you kill him?" Henry hissed, speaking for the first ti. "He was the only one who could pin her to the—"
"You are a fool if you think he was telling the truth," Rowan snapped, voice almost bored. "Rogues lie."
"What would he gain from lying?"
Rowan shrugged. "I guess that’s sothing you have to figure out on your own."
Henry’s chest heaved with barely concealed anger, but he turned away from Rowan, levelling the entire weight of his ire on .
"It doesn’t matter, we heard what we needed to. We know who the traitor is and we know how we deal with them in this pack. Take Nyssa to the cells—"
"If any one of you lays a hand on my mate, you will find yourself in a similar position to this rogue right here."
No one dared to move. Hell, no one even breathed.
I stared at Rowan in shock.
He was the last person I thought would defend and yet, here he was.
He leaned against the wall, hands crossed over his chest in a symbol of ease, but there was no mistaking the volcano flaring in his eyes.
He watched everyone carefully, eyes lingering on Henry in particular. He hadn’t looked at , not since this whole bullshit began.
"She is a traitor," Henry growled.
"And you are a fool," Rowan retorted coolly. "She has nothing to gain from attacking the pack."
"She could have done it to get Henry back," Alisa cut in.
I wanted to tell her how ridiculous that sounded but Rowan turned his gaze on her before I could speak.
She took a step back, eyes cast to the ground as she realized just how intense it was to have the King’s attention.
"If I recall correctly, the rogue attacks began before her unfortunate rejection. Unless there is sothing I have missed?"
She didn’t speak.
Doing so would an admitting to the fact that she and Henry were involved in an affair while we were together. It was bad enough that the tiline of their relationship was ssy; cheating was not tolerated, especially not when the cheating was done against one’s mate.
"She still needs to be punished," Henry ground out. "She is—"
"If I hear the word traitor one more ti, I will pull out my fucking ear drums," he snapped before turning to his guards. "Did you hear the rogue speak before he died?"
The guards kept their faces stoic as they shook their heads. "No sir."
"I didn’t either." He turned to the council. "Did you?"
For a minute, no one spoke.
I just stood there unable to speak as I watched the sa man who treated like shit warp reality to defend despite the overwhelming evidence.
The longer I stood there, the more I realized that there was more to Rowan than I thought. He’d done everything he could to prove to that he was an ass and yet when it ca down to it... he was on my side.
"No," a council mber said softly.
Soon enough, they were all echoing their no’s until Henry and Alisa remained.
The room was thick with brewing tension and most of it ca from the both of them.
"It seems you were the only two that heard it," Rowan drawled. "It would be a sha to hear you spread a rumor about my mate. The palace doesn’t lightly to things like that."
His stance was easy, but there was a clear threat in his eyes.
"I’ve dealt with your rogue problem, do not call on again."
He headed for the door.
His fingers wrapped around the doorknob when he stopped and without looking over his shoulder, he spoke.
"Are you coming or not, Nyssa?"
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