“If they find out,” he cut me off, stepping closer, “they’ll exile me. I’ll lose everything.” His voice was strained, urgent. “Ariana, you know how the pack is. You know how much this means to me.”
I just stared at him.
Then, his next words nearly made my knees buckle.
“You have to take the blame.”
My breath hitched. “What?”
“If you say it was you, they won’t question it,” he pressed on. “You’re already an outcast. They expect the worst from you.” His fingers curled around my wrist, his grip tight. “But if you do this for me, I swear, I’ll make it right. When I become Alpha in five days, I’ll fix everything. I’ll come for you.”
A lump formed in my throat. “You’re asking me to confess to murder.”
“I’m asking you to trust me.”
I wanted to believe him. I wanted to believe that, after everything, fate hadn’t been so cruel as to lead me to this moment just to shatter me.
I took a shaky breath. “If I do this… you promise you’ll come for me?”
His hands tightened around mine. “I promise.”
The door burst open.
Caleb, Owen’s Beta, stepped in with several warriors. His eyes took in the scene—Mara’s lifeless body, the knife in Owen’s hands, the horror on my face.
His voice was cold when he spoke. “What the hell happened here?”
I didn’t hesitate.
“It was me,” I said, my voice steady. “I killed her.”
A beat of silence. Then Caleb’s jaw clenched. “Take her to the cells.”
Rough hands grabbed me. I didn’t resist.
I barely registered Cynthia’s voice, distant but desperate. “Ariana! Tell them the truth! Tell them it wasn’t you!”
But I said nothing.
Even as the iron bars of my cell clanged shut, even as the weight of my choice settled on my chest, I clung to Owen’s words.
"Five days."
"I’ll come for you."
"I promise."
But deep down, in the place I had buried all my fears, I already knew.
Promises meant nothing to the Moon Goddess.
And tonight, she had been crueler than ever.
"Ariana, daughter of the banished Alpha James," Alpha Marcus's voice rang through the hall, filled with cold authority. "You stand accused of taking the life of Mara, a cherished member of our pack. Do you admit to this crime?"
Kneeling before the council, my wrists bound behind me, I could feel the weight of countless stares pressing down on me. Hatred filled their eyes, their judgment already cast before I had even spoken a single word.