Chapter 11
1036words
I forced myself to walk to the Great Hall. Every step felt like walking on knives.
The throbbing pain in my chest was a constant reminder that the broken bond was tearing my soul apart.
But I had to hold it together.
I was the Alpha.
I couldn't show any weakness in front of the other packs.
The hall was packed. Every major pack had sent their representatives.
Their eyes were all fixed on the altar, waiting for the Blood Moon ceremony to begin.
I stepped onto the platform, feeling hundreds of pairs of eyes scrutinizing me.
"Alphas, Elders," I began, my voice straining for power. "Welcome to the Blackwood Pack's Blood Moon ceremony."
"Alpha Byron." The delegate from the North stood up. "Where is Luna Sandra? By tradition, the ceremony requires both the Alpha and Luna to preside."
My heart skipped a beat.
"The Luna is feeling unwell," I said, forcing the words out. "But the ceremony can proceed—"
"Unwell?" The elder from the East Coast frowned. "What illness could possibly keep a Luna from a ceremony this sacred?"
"It's... a private matter." My voice started to shake. "I cannot discuss the details."
Whispers erupted from the crowd.
Everyone was murmuring, their gazes turning suspicious.
"A private matter?" a voice like thunder cut through the crowd. "Or does your 'private matter' involve the torture of my daughter, Byron?"
The crowd parted.
A tall figure strode from the back of the hall, his Alpha aura rolling off him in waves of pure menace.
Alpha Caden of the Silver Moon pack.
Sandra's father.
"Caden," my voice turned to ice. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here for my daughter," he said, each step toward the altar filled with killing intent. "Byron, what has your pack done to her?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"You don't?" Caden sneered. "Then let me tell everyone here. My daughter, Sandra, the Luna of the Blackwood Pack, was tortured by you people until she was covered in wounds! Her leg was broken. Her back was shredded by a silver whip."
The hall exploded in an uproar.
"What? Torturing the Luna?"
"How is that possible?"
"A silver whip? That's a death sentence!"
"And," Caden's voice grew colder, "she was four months pregnant with this pack's heir when one of your own slammed into her, murdering the child in her womb!"
His words were a bomb.
Every delegate shot to their feet in shock.
"Killing the heir?"
"That's a crime against our kind!"
"Has the Blackwood Pack gone mad?"
"You're lying!" I snarled. "I never hurt Sandra! It was her own—"
"Her own what?" Caden vaulted onto the altar, his sheer presence forcing me back a step. "Did she break her own leg? Did she whip her own back with silver?"
"I... I didn't..."
"Then hand over the one who did," Caden said coldly. "Give us the one who harmed my daughter, and we will judge them in front of everyone!"
The roars of anger from the crowd grew louder.
"Yes! Hand over the culprit!"
"The Luna deserves justice!"
"If the Blackwood Pack shelters a criminal, we will sever all ties!"
Sweat beaded on my forehead.
Every pack was condemning me. Every gaze was filled with rage and doubt.
"I am not sheltering anyone," I said, struggling to stay calm. "Sandra was emotionally unstable before she left. She may have misunderstood some things—"
"Misunderstood?" Caden pulled out a photo. "Does this look like a misunderstanding?"
The photo was projected onto the large screen.
It was a picture of Sandra's back. The horrific lattice of whip marks was sickeningly clear. Some of the wounds were still bleeding.
The hall fell silent.
Then it erupted in an even greater fury.
"My Goddess! Those wounds!"
"Who could do something so monstrous to a Luna?"
"Byron, you must give us an explanation!"
Just then, the main doors of the hall were thrown open.
Ariana rushed in, her face a mask of panic.
"Byron!" she shouted. "There are people outside spreading rumors about me! You have to protect me!"
She saw the photo on the stage and her face went white.
"That... I didn't do that!" she shrieked, pointing at the screen. "I didn't cause Sandra's injuries!"
"No one said you did," Caden watched her, his voice cold. "Why are you so nervous?"
"I... I..." Ariana stammered. "I was just worried someone might misunderstand—"
"Misunderstand what?" someone in the crowd yelled. "That you murdered the Luna's child?"
"I didn't!" Ariana screamed hysterically. "It was an accident! I lost control! I didn't mean to!"
"Lost control?" Caden’s eyes flashed with killing intent. "A grown she-wolf 'loses control' and slams into the pregnant Luna's stomach, and you expect us to believe that was an accident?"
"I... I really couldn't control myself then..."
"Enough!" I finally snapped. "This is all just one side of the story! You have no proof!"
Just then, the giant screen flickered and switched to a new image.
A crystal-clear surveillance video began to play.
The footage showed Ariana in the dungeons, swinging a whip at Liam, who was bound in silver chains.
"This is what you get for biting me!" the Ariana in the video screamed, lashing him again and again. "Sandra thinks she's so clever, but she has no idea. I'm the one pulling the strings in this game!"
The hall fell dead silent.
Everyone stared, wide-eyed, at the screen.
"Sandra's baby?" the video-Ariana laughed triumphantly. "Of course I did it on purpose! Byron never wanted that child! He told me himself that if Sandra had the heir, it would be harder for him to get rid of her!"
My blood froze.
This can't be happening.
That conversation... when was it recorded?
"And her mother," the video continued, Ariana's voice chillingly clear. "That curse was just 'Soul-Devouring Dust' I bought from a banished shaman. Byron knew everything from the start. He even helped me cover my tracks!"
The hall erupted in furious roars.
Ariana stared at the screen, completely broken.
She scrambled toward me, grabbing my sleeve.
"Byron!" she shrieked hysterically. "You promised you'd protect me! Tell them! Tell them it was all for Killian! For the true heir of the North!"
