To ruin an Omega

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 something foreign on his tongue. His eyebrows drew together. “Not guilty?”

Around the chamber, murmurs rippled through the tiers of seated elders. I caught fragments of whispered conversations, saw heads turning toward one another. Even Mother shifted in her seat above me, 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. Someone coughed. Another elder whispered something sharp to their neighbor.

I raised my voice just enough to cut through the noise. “I thought this circle called me here to know the truth.” I swept my gaze across the tiers, making sure they all saw me looking at them. “Have you already judged me 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 message 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 come 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 Omega Delta.”

My pulse kicked up. Delta. They’d questioned Delta while I was here or before? She hasn’t mentioned.

“But she claims you are innocent.”

Relief hit me so hard I nearly swayed. Delta had protected me. 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 mean?”

The lead elder’s expression remained neutral, but something cold flickered in his eyes. “From what the recording mentioned, you seemed to imply Sentinel Milo and yourself had a…” He paused. “A sexual relationship, if not more.”

Heat flooded my face. Not from embarrassment. 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 came 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 shame 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 me for a long moment. “That will be for us to decide.” He gestured to one of the younger elders in the second tier. “We have also sent messengers to Skollrend to retrieve the audio recording.”

Perfect. More evidence gathering. More time for stories to shift and change.

The lead elder’s attention fixed back on me, and this time 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 met his gaze head on. They had nothing. They are simply sounding me out.

“Because I did not do it.”

More murmurs came. Louder this time. Someone 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 me, making sure my voice carried to every corner. “She beat me up to a pulp to take over my place at the altar. To marry Alpha Cian when it should have been me.” I paused, letting that sink in. “Is it really a stretch that she hurt herself to pin it on me?”

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 me so smoothly I almost admired it. Almost.

He leaned forward again. “We distinctly remember 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 game too many times 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 mean 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 time since I’d entered this chamber, he looked uncertain. His gaze flicked to Mother, then back to me.

“The truth is the truth,” he said finally. But his voice had lost some of its edge.

I lifted my chin. “Well, I stand my ground. I am innocent of everything.”

The lead elder stared at me. 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 me to hear, but I saw them nodding. Gesturing. Coming to some kind of consensus.

When the lead elder faced me 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 time being.”

The doors behind me groaned open. Footsteps echoed across the polished floor.

I didn’t turn around. Didn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing me flinch.

The sentinels appeared at my sides. Different ones this time. Younger. They didn’t reach for cuffs this time, 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 me toward the door. My reflection in the polished floor followed me, a dark smudge against all that brightness.

As we crossed the threshold, I glanced back one last time.

The lead elder watched me go. His face remained impassive, but I caught that flicker again. That tiny flinch when our eyes met.

Good.

Let him remember 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 me.

The doors slammed shut behind us with a sound like thunder.