Chapter 147: The Night of Reckoning I

Malachi allowed the silence to stretch for another few seconds, then he looked at Beatrice again, "Lady Beatrice."

She lifted her chin a little bit, meeting his stern gaze, "Yes, Alpha?"

"You said the necklace was a gift from Della."

"Yes."

"You wore it throughout the ceremony."

"Yes."

"And you became weak after wearing it."

Beatrice nodded slowly. "Yes."

"Who discovered the Moonrot ash in it when you started to feel weak again?"

"The healer."

"You’ve already said that." Malachi’s voice remained perfectly calm, and Beatrice now looked confused.

"What I want to know is who placed it there."

"I—" She felt her throat itch a little strangely, "It was Della. She gave me the necklace with the Moonrot ash inside of it, and I didn’t wear it till the wedding day,"

"There’s someone, always someone like a personal maid who usually handles everything you are supposed to wear before the ceremony. Who was that person?"

"No one. I did everything myself,"

"Think carefully." Malachi’s voice had grown deeper.

"I am."

"Then answer carefully."

Her throat suddenly felt impossibly dry, "I... don’t know."

"Very well." Malachi leaned back.

He turned toward Jaime, and the Alpha heir could already feel his wolf lowering its head under the man’s blue eyes, "Did you know the necklace contained Moonrot ash?"

"No."

"Did you know Beatrice would be wearing it?"

"Of course. Everyone knew."

"Did you put the ash inside?"

The question was a little surprising since it’s been said already that Della was responsible, but Jaime felt a little too restless, and the answer came out too quickly, "No."

Then Malachi asked, "Who did?"

Jaime opened his mouth, and not a single word came out. He wanted to tell the goddamn Alpha that kept repeating the same question that it was Della, but it was as if something invisible was clamping down on his throat, making him say something else completely, "I don’t know."

His brows furrowed, and his fingers began tapping against his knee.

Of course, Malachi noticed.

"So you know the necklace was altered."

"I didn’t say that."

"You didn’t have to."

Jaime’s eyes flickered, and he tried to swallow. His mouth felt insanely dry that the attempt itself burned his throat a little.

"Who put the ash inside?" Malachi asked again.

Jaime’s breathing became noticeably heavier, "I..." He quickly stopped himself, and his eyes widened, "I don’t know."

Malachi said nothing and kept watching him.

Beatrice subtly glanced at her brother, wondering what the hell was going on with both of them.

Jaime’s hand suddenly gripped his knee, losing more and more control of himself, "I don’t know why I’m—" His voice was shaky, and he swallowed hard, "Alpha Augustus."

The whole room froze in shock, and Jaime’s face went completely white.

Evangeline turned toward him so sharply that her chair scraped against the stone, "What did you just say?"

Jaime stared at his mother like he was also trying to believe what had come out of his mouth, "I..." His lips trembled, "I said Father."

Beatrice’s fingers slipped from Leopold’s hand, and she turned to her brother and stared at him in complete disbelief. Why the heck did he say that and why on earth did he repeat it?!

Malachi didn’t move. He didn’t even look surprised, "Alpha Augustus put the Moonrot ash inside the necklace?"

Jaime squeezed his eyes shut, his body trembling hard now. His lips parted again, and the words slipped out once more, "Yes."

A murmur spread through the chamber, with a few elders even rising from their seats in bewilderment. But Malachi raised one hand and silence returned instantly.

"Why?" He asked.

"I don’t know."

"Why, Jaime?"

"I don’t know!" His voice cracked looking extremely frightened now, "I wasn’t supposed to say that."

"But you did."

Jaime’s breathing became ragged, and he started tapping his feet even more aggressively, "I was told to put it inside. That’s all."

"By whom?"

Jaime’s eyes darted toward Evangeline, then toward Beatrice again. He almost looked like he was pleading with them to save him, "Father."

They all looked horrified at this point.

He shifted his attention to Evangeline, and the woman’s heartbeat skipped almost ten times in that second, "Luna."

"Yes?" She straightened.

"Did you know your husband ordered Sir Jaime to alter the necklace?"

"No." Her answer was immediate, but her toes curled inside her shoes.

"Did Augustus tell you what he intended to do with Della that night?"

"No."

Malachi watched her closely again. When there was no visible reaction, he knew she had told the truth this time.

Then he asked something else. Something that made the older woman grab the front of her dress and squeeze till her knuckles whitened and began to crack, "Who gave Della the black cloak?"

"I don’t know."

"You don’t know?" Malachi asked, tilting his head a little.

"No."

"Then who gave it to her?" He repeated it.

"I said I don’t know!" Her voice sounded sharper and a little more hesitant than her last answer.

"Where did the cloak come from?"

Evangeline’s lips parted, and she looked down at her crumpled dress. "I..." Her breathing became uneven. The lie was right there on her tongue, so why the hell was it being delayed?

Malachi waited.

"I don’t know." She squealed, like the words had barely come out.

"Who gave it to Della?!!"

Evangeline’s hands began trembling, and tears gathered in her eyes as she slowly looked up and met his eyes, "I did."

Beatrice’s head snapped toward her, and Jaime also stared at his mother.

Evangeline quickly covered her mouth in fear, glancing at everyone’s shocked faces staring back at her, "No..."

Malachi’s voice remained cold, "You gave Della the cloak."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I..." She shook her head, and a tear rolled down her cheek, "I can’t..."

"Why?"

"I wanted her to wear it."

"That isn’t an answer."

"I wanted everyone to see it."

"See what?"

"The markings!!" She finally burst, "I wanted everyone to see the markings!!!"

Silence followed.

The type that made the room feel like gravity had become three times stronger than before, then Malachi leaned forward, "What markings?"

"Clawfang." She replied with her eyes squeezed shut so hard she was definitely hurting herself.

A collective gasp moved through the chamber again, but Malachi’s face didn’t change, "Why did you want Della wearing Clawfang markings?"

"So everyone would believe she was working with them." She sniffed.

Malachi’s eyes shifted to Jaime again, and Jaime glanced around the room in pure panic. He quickly turned to the stare at the first thing he could think of, and then he saw the Alpha’s beta and a few other guards standing by the door, blocking it.

SHIT!

"Who supplied the Moonfire?"

"I don’t know." Jaime almost growled, but he knew better than to do that if he didn’t want to incur the Alpha’s wrath.

Malachi waited again.

"I don’t know." Jaime started to shake his head erratically.

"Who had access to it?"

"I don’t know."

"Who brought it into the castle?"

"I don’t know!!"

"Jaime Barrett." Malachi’s voice had become quieter, a sign that his patience was slipping at an uncontrollable rate, making the young man’s entire body stiffen.

"Who supplied the Moonfire?"

His lips trembled, and then he said it again, "Father."

Beatrice’s knees nearly buckled, but Leopold quickly caught her arm.

"Alpha Augustus supplied it." Malachi continued.

"Yes."

"For what purpose?"

"To frame Della,"

The words fell into the chamber like a stone into deep water, and nobody spoke at all.

Not even Elder Ravaryn.

Beatrice glanced at her husband again, her eyes pleading with him to do something. But Malachi was like a beast of incredible self-control at this point, and at the same time he could see everything happening in front of him.

The moment Leopold looked like he wanted to make even the slightest move, Malachi’s eyes turned crimson, and he glared down at his brother so hard that Leopold’s instinct screamed at him to go down on both knees and plead for his life instead!

He instantly lowered his head, trembling all the way to his bones.

Malachi slowly rose from his seat, and then his robes fell around him as he stepped down from the raised platform, "Then let’s discuss the trap." His eyes shifted back to Jaime

"What trap?" Jaime turned to the door again frantically.

"The one that caught Della beneath the altar."

"I don’t know anything about a trap."

Malachi stopped several paces away, "Who arranged it?" He asked.

"I..."

"Who arranged the iron jaws?"

"I don’t know."

"Who knew Della would be beneath the altar?"

"I don’t know."

"Who told Della to go there?"

Jaime’s eyes widened, and his lips were parting again but he quickly clamped his teeth down on his tongue for as long as he could to keep the truth from slipping again.

"You did."

"No."

"You did."

"I didn’t!"

"You sent her beneath the altar." Malachi’s voice remained terrifyingly calm.

Jaime began to shake his head violently again, like he was traumatised by something he didn’t understand. His eyes were slightly red from whatever was messing with his head, "I only wanted her to—"

"Wanted her to what?"

Jaime stared at him, fear clouding his eyes. His teeth were off his tongue before he could even help it, and then the truth came out, "To take the Moonfire. I told her she was the only one who could touch it and told her that if she didn’t, everyone above would die, including Beatrice!"

The chamber erupted.

Jaime looked horrified by his own confession, and Beatrice was slowly beginning to have that maddening look on her face again. Evangeline couldn’t bear to look up at anyone or anything again.

"So you sent Della beneath the altar." Malachi didn’t wait for the murmurs to stop at all this time.

Jaime’s chest rose and fell rapidly, "Yes."

"You knew the Moonfire was there. You knew she didn’t plant it there, but your father did instead."

"Yes."

"You knew she would be caught. You intentionally framed her,"

"Yes."

"And you knew the cloak would make everyone believe she was siding with Clawfang."

"Yes." Jaime’s voice broke.

Malachi stared at him for a long moment, then he turned toward Evangeline, "And you helped him."

She instantly brought both hands and pressed them over her ears, but the words still made it out somehow, "...yes, I did. I helped him,"

The fire crackled inside the torches, and the chambers had become utterly silent again.

Gravity had probably become five times stronger at this point, and Malachi’s eyes were... only growing harder by the second, "They still haven’t told us everything. Because with this, I want to believe that the wedding wasn’t the only time Della was framed."