Chapter 182: Not guilty 2
HAZEL
The silence that followed my plea stretched taut as wire.
"Not guilty."
The lead elder repeated my words slowly, like he was tasting sothing foreign on his tongue. His eyebrows drew together. "Not guilty?"
Around the chamber, murmurs rippled through the tiers of seated elders. I caught fragnts of whispered conversations, saw heads turning toward one another. Even Mother shifted in her seat above , her composure cracking just enough that I could see the white of her knuckles where she gripped the armrest.
The lead elder leaned further forward. "Are you certain of this plea, Luna Hazel?"
I held his stare. I didn’t let my voice waver. "Why would I go back on the truth?"
The murmuring grew louder. Soone coughed. Another elder whispered sothing sharp to their neighbor.
I raised my voice just enough to cut through the noise. "I thought this circle called
here to know the truth." I swept my gaze across the tiers, making sure they all saw
looking at them. "Have you already judged
at the back of your minds?"
The lead elder’s jaw worked. For three heartbeats, he said nothing. Then he straightened in his seat and inclined his head. "You are correct. I apologize for my... surprise." He cleared his throat. "If that is the stand you choose, then there is no problem at all."
He settled back, his fingers steepling beneath his chin. The chamber quieted. Everyone waited.
"The accusation upon you," he began, his voice formal again, "that you callously put this pack in danger to avoid a marriage to Alpha Cian is being thoroughly investigated. A ssage has been passed to Luna Fia, requesting her presence."
My stomach tightened. Fia. Of course they’d bring her into this. Of course she’d co running with whatever story served her best.
The lead elder continued. "As for you accusing Milo of rape to get him murdered, we asked the one close witness that was there. The Oga Delta."
My pulse kicked up. Delta. They’d questioned Delta while I was here or before? She hasn’t ntioned.
"But she claims you are innocent."
Relief hit
so hard I nearly swayed. Delta had protected . Even under questioning from the elders, she’d held the line.
"The family of the sentinel have been reached out to," the lead elder said, "for any information regarding the extent of your relationship with the sentinel."
I blinked. "What does that an?"
The lead elder’s expression remained neutral, but sothing cold flickered in his eyes. "From what the recording ntioned, you seed to imply Sentinel Milo and yourself had a..." He paused. "A sexual relationship, if not more."
Heat flooded my face. Not from embarrassnt. From rage. They were digging through my personal life like scavengers picking at a carcass. Looking for anything and everything I had said that they could twist into evidence.
"There was no such thing." My voice ca out harder than I intended. I forced myself to soften it, just slightly. "Fia Donlon was rude to Father. Our father. And I simply wanted to hurt her." I let a thread of sha creep into my tone. "Yes. It was stupid. But everyone knows I have always been family oriented. Take anything I said in that recording with a grain of salt."
The lead elder regarded
for a long mont. "That will be for us to decide." He gestured to one of the younger elders in the second tier. "We have also sent ssengers to Skollrend to retrieve the audio recording."
Perfect. More evidence gathering. More ti for stories to shift and change.
The lead elder’s attention fixed back on , and this ti his expression hardened. "For the attempted murder of Fia Donlon, ruling Luna of Skollrend pack, there is definitive proof that you attempted to kill her."
My breath caught. Definitive proof. What proof could they possibly have?
"Why would you lie before this court and claim innocence?"
I let the question hang there for just a second. Let them think I was considering it. Then I t his gaze head on. They had nothing. They are simply sounding
out.
"Because I did not do it."
More murmurs ca. Louder this ti. Soone scoffed from the upper tiers.
I pushed forward before they could interrupt. "Have you all forgotten how insane my sister can be?" I looked up at the faces surrounding , making sure my voice carried to every corner. "She beat
up to a pulp to take over my place at the altar. To marry Alpha Cian when it should have been ." I paused, letting that sink in. "Is it really a stretch that she hurt herself to pin it on ?"
The lead elder’s expression didn’t change, but I saw his fingers tighten against each other. "But if you deceived the pack and made your sister the villain because you did not want to marry Alpha Cian, if that can be proven to be true, how can we believe these words of yours now?"
The trap closed around
so smoothly I almost admired it. Almost.
He leaned forward again. "We distinctly rember Luna Fia on the altar that day, claiming that you ran away. That was why she had to take your place. If it is true, she was a matryr who wanted to protect this pack. At the risk of her life."
My throat went dry. But I’d played this ga too many tis to freeze now.
I turned slowly, deliberately, until I was looking up at Mother. Her eyes had gone wide. Her face had lost all color.
Then I looked back at the lead elder.
"That would an you are implying my mother helped deceive everyone that day."
The chamber went absolutely silent. Not a whisper. Not a breath. Every eye turned toward Mother’s seat.
I kept my voice steady. Clear. I joined them. I looked at my mother who now had wide horrified eyes." I gestured up at her. "Is the wife of the ruling Alpha a traitor? Is that what you are saying?"
The lead elder’s jaw tightened. For the first ti since I’d entered this chamber, he looked uncertain. His gaze flicked to Mother, then back to .
"The truth is the truth," he said finally. But his voice had lost so of its edge.
I lifted my chin. "Well, I stand my ground. I am innocent of everything."
The lead elder stared at . I stared back. Neither of us blinked.
Finally, he straightened and addressed the chamber at large. "So be it."
He turned to confer with the elders on either side of him. Their voices dropped too low for
to hear, but I saw them nodding. Gesturing. Coming to so kind of consensus.
When the lead elder faced
again, his expression had smoothed back into that cold, official mask.
"You will be called to this circle again once the evidence is gathered." He raised one hand, and the gesture felt final. Absolute. "Sentinels, take her to a holding cell for the ti being."
The doors behind
groaned open. Footsteps echoed across the polished floor.
I didn’t turn around. Didn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing
flinch.
The sentinels appeared at my sides. Different ones this ti. Younger. They didn’t reach for cuffs this ti, but their hands closed around my upper arms with enough force to make their point.
Mother rose from her seat. "This is unnecessary. She can wait at the estate under guard."
The lead elder didn’t even look at her. "Protocol dictates otherwise."
I let the sentinels turn
toward the door. My reflection in the polished floor followed , a dark smudge against all that brightness.
As we crossed the threshold, I glanced back one last ti.
The lead elder watched
go. His face remained impassive, but I caught that flicker again. That tiny flinch when our eyes t.
Good.
Let him rember it.
Because when I got out of here—and I would get out—he’d learn exactly what happened to people who tried to bury .
The doors slamd shut behind us with a sound like thunder.
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