bChapter /bb43 /b

ra’s POV

I could barely breathe as Mi’s voice echoed in the room. The aulin looped over and over, each repetition digging deeper into my chest,

I want you to use Alpha Cael of raping you…and nobody will take his pack seriously

A chill crawled up my spine. It was unmistakable–Mi’s voice. The whispers began immediately, each person exchanging confused, questioning

nces

Why was Mi ying this? And who was she talking to

My eyes

et Mi’s, and I bsaw /bit. Her face drained of color, panic shing through her eyes. Then, before anyone could react, she shot to her feet.

“No! Wait, this isn’t the footage I wanted to y! Somebody pause it, now!” Her voice cracked, desperate.

I didn’t hesitate. I pulled the remote from my pocket and hit pause

“Recognize your own voice, Mi?” bI /basked, the smile bon /bmy lips barely concealing the satisfaction.

Mi’s beyes /bnarrowed. “You” She hissed, voice low and full of venom. “You switched my footage.”

I stayed calm, the remote still in my hand. “Did Or was this your n all along?”

Hart

gaze snapped to Thome, She rushed to grab his hand. “Alpha, you’ve got to make her delete this. Please, by /bmy footage, not this?”

But before Thorne could answer, I spoke, slow and deliberate. “Hold on. Before we jump to any conclusions, Mi… Do you remember who you were talking to?”

Mi’s breath hitched. Her eyes flickered to Fenna, who had been hiding behind Vessa. bA /bsickening realization seemed to wash over her. “YOU!” bscreamed/b, pointing at Fenna. “You backstabbing bitch!

Fenna flinched, refusing to meet Mi’s gaze. I could see the wheels turning bin /bher head now. She knew exactly what I was doing–what I’d nned.

I’d given Fenna an earpiece the day before. She’d been my binside /binformant, the one who’d been listening in on Mi’s poisonous conversations. And when Mi had started plotting at this party, I had no intention of letting her get away with it. I knew she’d take a swing first. And I’d let her. The btrap /bwas set, and M bhad /bwalked right into it.

The crowd was murmuring, watching this mess unfold. I could bsee /bThome trying to bkeep /ba neutral face, but I could feel his difort. The air in the

room thickened, heavy with tension.

Vessa stepped forward, sneering. “Fenna didn’t betray you, Mi She’s just not stupid enough to stand by while you try bto /bbruin /bAlpha Cael’s life.”

“No, I swear it’s not like that!” Mi’s voice wavered, desperate “I–I only said those things because Fenna told me about the rape. I just wanted to make Cael’s reputation stink, but he’s ba /brapist, okay? I just wanted the btruth /bout!”

ng his hand. “Gamma ra, this audio doesn’t prove anything. Mi didn’t bsay /bshe wanted to nder Alpha Cael. She could be talking about something else, using her maid as a pawn. That’s an ethical issue, not a legal one!

The crowd’s attitude shifted, murmurs turning into shocked gasps. Gamma Theo from the Obsidian Pack stepped forw

A few people nodded in agreement. But I wasn’t tona.

A

“Is that so?” I asked, my voice smooth and calm. “Well, Theo, would you like to hear the full version of this conversation!”

His face dropped. “Full version

“Of course,” leaned bback/b, bncing /bat Thorne. “I didn’t want to y it at first. I thought Mi mighte clean, but since the insists on lying, I guess,

Wed, 3

there’s no harm in letting everyone hear the rest.”

I saw M’s beyes /bwiden, pank flooding her face. She bolled trward me, reaching for the cenote, but I was faster. I hit y.

I know Alpha Cael isn’t that into ta. Fenna, you should keep sleeping with him”

M’s mother’s voice. Cold, Calcting

Mi’s voice followed, venomous “No, Mom. Just making Cael forget about ra won’t work. Fenda, you need to use him of raping you in front of everyone.”

A collective gasp filled the room. Mi’s face drained of all color, her body shaking

The room crupted into chaos. People were shouting, trying to make sense of the audio, plecing together the ugly truth. M’s own words had sealed her fate. She had orchestrated the whole thing–seducing Alpha Carl’s maid and then turning her into ba /bweapon to run him,

Mi’s hands trembled, her eyes frantic. She lunged at me, trying to snatch the remote. But the Blood Moon soldiers were already there, blocking her path.

And the audio continued, Mi’s words ringing out in the now–silent room:

“His reputation will be destroyed. No one will take his bpack /bseriously. We’ve got the proof. If Fenna says it’s rape, how could Cal deny it?”

The noise in the room swelled again, but Cael’s voice cut through it. “I didn’t sleep with Fenna. We just let Mi beleveldid”

The crowd’s confusion was palpable, Theo looked bewildered, shaking his head. “This is insane. Fenna, did Miss M really ask you to seduce Alpha Cael

Fenna stumbled forward, her voice quivering but resolute. “Yes. And she asked me to lie about the rape. She hated Gamma ra and Alpha Cael so much she wanted to ruin them both. bShe /bchoked up. “One of her maids…she was charged with a crime she didn’tmit. Mi had her thrown out of Direstone Pack, had her ws chopped off and her forehead tattooed…b” /b

Mi’s scream cut through the room, shrill and desperate “LIART Her face was a mess of rage and panic, her hair wild. She locked nothing like the poiseddy everyone bonce /badmired. Now, she was nothing but a hysterical wreck.

“I didn’t I didn’t!” she shrieked, stumbling toward Thome. Her bvoice /bcracked as she bclung /bto him. “Thorne, my love, you know they’re lying about that maid. She tried to steal your room key. She got what she deserved”

Thome’s expression was unreadable as he looked down at her. “Yes, I remember her,” his voice was t, indifferent

know

Mi’s broath hitched, thinking she had won him back. But Thorne wasn’t finished. “But I didn’t sentence her to have her ws chopped off and her forehead tattooed. That was you, wasn’t it?”

Mi frone, her eyes wide in shock.

“You went behind my back,” Thorne said, his voice low, a dangerous edge creeping

Her lips trembled. “0–Of course not. Maybe 1–maybe remembered it wrong. Fenna’s memory

I couldn’t help but smirk “Another lie, bMi/bTM

yis wrong too. That maid–she just got expelled, I swear!”

“Mi,” I said, cutting her off. “You’re digging yourself into a

Her face twisted with panic. She started to fall apart. “No, no! You don’t understand-

a hole. And I think it’s time to bring in a witness

bI /bpped my hands. The doors at the front of the room swung open. Two Blood Moon soldiers bentered/bb, /bnking a young woman. She was pretty, bbut /bbher /bface was marred with a seared tattoo reading “THIEF.” She was missing her wolf ws. Both of them. Her disfigurement was the hanhest proof of Mista’s cruelty

The room went silent…

Mi’s breath hitched, her body trembling as she stared at the woman.

“Meet the witness,” I said, my voice icy. “The maid you destroyed, all because you couldn’t get your way”

AD