I Didn't Do It

I cowered before the Beta, my breathing ragged and uneven. “Please,” I whispered, “I didn’t do this. I swear I didn't. I have to get away, I've been commanded to get away.”

The Beta fixed me with a piercing gaze, his jaw clenched. “Then how do you explain your scent, all over the crime scene? And you chose to run away without informing anyone isn't that surprising? And I've been trying to connect to the Alpha via the mind link but I was surprisingly cut off no entry, and as far as I know, you're the only pack member who has that ability to temporarily block mind links.” He emphasised the last part with a growl. 

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. My mind raced, searching for an explanation that would exonerate me, but there was none. The evidence was too damning. I lost my mind when I realised that I was smoothly framed, for what I couldn't even tell. 

“Your silence is as good as a confession,” the Beta continued, his voice growing louder, more intense. “You have betrayed your father, your pack, your Alpha. For this, there can be no mercy. You don't even qualify to be called his daughter, and I'm even more angry that I've always cautioned him against you but he never listened.”

What is he even saying? I trembled, my eyes wide with fear. “No,” I whispered, backing away. “Please, you have to believe me. I love my father.”

But my words fell on deaf ears, as the Beta lunged forward, grabbing me by the arm.

“Take her to the cells,” the Beta barked to the other pack members. “She will await judgment for her crimes.”

I was then dragged away, my protests falling on deaf ears as the pack members hauled me back to the kingdom as if I were some strange serial killer. I struggled and fought, tears streaming down my face, but to no avail. The path to my prison cell was a blur of pain and shame. My commotion might have attracted onlookers, before long someone stopped the Beta and demanded to know what was going on. As I stopped struggling and trying to free myself, I lifted my head and came face to face with my mate Marcus. 

A fresh set of tears started falling rapidly from my eyes. I wanted to run into his arms and cry my heart out. But before he could say anything, Beta Eric told him fiercely that I had killed the Alpha and that as a prisoner I was supposed to be locked away safely to await my judgment. 

Marcus opened his mouth in shock but quickly recovered. To my surprise, he thanked Beta for updating him well in time. As if that wasn't enough my mate decided to reject me right there and then without attempting to hear my side of the story. 

As the cell door slammed shut behind me, I sank to the floor, my body too wracked with shock and fear that I couldn't even cry anymore. 

Days passed in a blur of stinky cell air and despair. I was kept isolated in the cold, damp cell, with only the sound of my own thoughts for company. I was denied food and water, honour fit for murderers as they said.

As my strength weakened, I began to lose hope. I even lost count of the days owing to the dark cell. Where was my wolf when I needed it the most? Or was it too ashamed of me just like my former mate? 

But then, one day, the silence was broken by the sound of footsteps approaching.

The door creaked open, revealing Luna Arissa standing in the doorway, her face pale and drawn. “Bella,” she said, her voice cold. Gone was the tenderness and concern, replaced with a coldness that I had never seen in my mother’s eyes before. Luna Arissa did not offer me a hug, nor did she speak any comforting words as mothers occasionally do. Instead, she stood before me, her arms crossed tightly over her chest.

Despite her fierce posture, I looked up, startled. “Mom?” I whispered, my voice hoarse from lack of use and poor hydration. “Mom, you're here?”

“Bella,” Luna Arissa began, her voice not betraying any emotion. “You have destroyed my family. You have betrayed and brought shame to our pack. How could you kill someone who sacrificed so much for you? That man loved you unconditionally despite everyone begging him to return you to where he picked you from. He chose you every single day. What kind of monster are you? How  could you really?”

I staggered back, as if struck. “Mom, no!” I cried, my voice a desperate plea. “Please, you have to believe me! I didn’t kill Dad!” 

Luna Arissa scoffed, her gaze getting angrier each moment. “So you think I’m a fool, Bella? Your scent was all over the crime scene. There is no denying your guilt. Beta was right, you are a curse to this pack. Derek should have listened to him.” 

Luna Arissa spoke with so much anger that her voice was even breaking, and her nostrils flaring as she continued. “I have lost my mate. My Alpha. My heart. And you expect me to believe that it was not your evil hand that brought him down?” I shook my head helplessly, tears streaming down my face. “I didn’t do it! Please, Mom, I swear to you!”

Luna Arissa’s expression hardened, contempt written all over her face. “I have no use for your pathetic lies. You have betrayed us, Bella. You are no longer my daughter.” I fell to my knees, shock shaking my whole body. “Mom, please! I’m begging you!” I pleaded, my voice choked with desperation. 

But no, Luna Arissa merely shook her head, her gaze cold and pitiless. “Enough. If it were up to me you could be banished from this pack to go back where you belong, but Alpha Alphius has already taken control of this judgment I'll leave it to him to serve justice for my mate. “You will have nothing to do with us from this moment onward.” Luna Arissa’s words were like a knife to the heart, each syllable cutting deeper than the last.

My tears spilt freely, my voice trembling with emotion. “Mom, please. I didn’t do this. I love you. I love Dad so much I'll give anything to turn back time. Please believe me.”

But Luna Arissa was unmoved, she only scoffed. “There is nothing more to say, Bella. You are no longer a part of this pack.” Luna Arissa’s voice rang with finality, her eyes hard and unforgiving.

I trembled, unable to believe the words I was hearing. This could not be the end, I thought. This could not be my fate.“Mom,” she whispered, her voice a mere whisper. “Please…don’t do this.”

Luna Arissa turned away, her shoulders stiff with resolve. “You are no longer my concern,” she said, her voice chilling with indifference. 

My world as I know it spun, my heart shattering into countless pieces. There was no room for doubt in Luna Arissa’s eyes, no hope of reconciliation. I pulled myself back against the cell wall, hugging, my body numb with shock.