Chapter 5

Aurelia POV

The Alpha gripped my arm and dragged me through the palace corridors. I stumbled trying to keep up with his long strides, with my heart slamming against my ribs.

Selena Walker behind us and we headed outside, toward the palace gates where carriages waited.

My mind raced as I thought of the possibilities of what could have happened. What had they found in my mother's hospital room? I'd barely been allowed to visit her since arriving at the palace. The few times I had gone, I'd only sat by her bedside, holding her hand, praying she'd wake up.

What could possibly be there that was incriminating?

The carriage ride felt like an eternity as I sat across from the Alpha, who stared out the window with a clenched jaw. Selena sat beside him, occasionally touching his arm, whispering things I couldn't hear and whatever she was saying made his expression darker.

I wanted to speak, to defend myself against accusations I didn't even understand yet. But the look on his face told me any words would be wasted.

When we finally arrived at the hospital, the head nurse who usually greeted me warmly now looked at the floor and that showed that she knew something. The Alpha stormed through the hallways, still gripping my arm as we climbed the stairs to the third floor where my mother's private room was located. The door was already open, and I could see guards stationed inside.

My heart nearly stopped when we entered. My mother lay in her bed, unchanged, still lost in her coma, but that wasn't what everyone was staring at.

Under her bed, pulled out into plain view, was a wooden box I'd never seen before.

Selena moved past us, and gesturef towards the box

"We received an anonymous tip this morning," she said softly, 

"Someone reported suspicious activity in this room , it's dark magic."

She knelt down gracefully and opened the box.

Inside were like glass vials filled with dark liquids. Dried herbs bound with black thread and a small book with symbols on the cover that looked ancient. And worst of all, a cloth bundle that Selena unwrapped carefully to reveal a doll, a poppet, with black hair attached to its head.

Hair that looked exactly like the Alpha's.

"No," I whispered.

 "No, I've never seen any of that before."

Selena's voice remained gentle, almost pitying. 

"You're the only one who visits this room regularly, Aurelia. The hospital staff confirmed it and your mother can't have done this. She's been unconscious for months."

The Alpha's hand finally released my arm as he moved closer to the box, staring down at its contents. When he picked up one of the vials and held it to the light, his expression was unreadable.

"Do you know what this is?" he asked quietly.

I shook my head frantically. 

"I've never seen it before. I swear."

Selena reached into the box and pulled out another vial, this one smaller than the rest. She held it delicately between her fingers.

 "This is Matefern root," she said, 

"The same ingredient I was accused of using."

The implication hit me. She was turning everything around, making it look like I'd made up the story about her poisoning the Alpha and making it look like I was the one practicing dark magic.

"She's framing me," I said desperately, looking at the Alpha. 

"Can't you see? She planted all of this here. I would never…"

"Wouldn't you?" Selena interrupted, her voice still soft but with an edge now. 

"You've been trying to come between the Alpha and me since the moment you arrived. You accused me of poisoning him, tried to turn him against me. And all this time, you were the one using dark magic."

She gestured to the poppet with his hair.

 "This is a binding spell. She used to control someone, to make them believe whatever you want them to believe. You've been trying to manipulate my husband."

"That's not true!" My voice cracked.

 "I don't even know how to do magic. I'm just an Omega. I don't have that kind of power."

The Alpha turned to look at me then, and the coldness in his eyes made me want to disappear. "Dark magic doesn't require power," he said.

 "It requires desperation. And from what I understand, you were very desperate. Your mother's medical bills, your father's debts and also you needed money, needed security."

"Yes, but I wouldn't…"

"Guards." He called out loud and two warriors stepped forward immediately.

"Take her to the cells," the Alpha commanded. "She'll be tried before the council tomorrow."

The world tilted. This couldn't be happening! Not again, I'd died once already, and now I was going to die again, and I still hadn't stopped Selena, I still hadn't saved anyone.

"Please," I begged as the guards grabbed my arms.

 "Please, Your Majesty. I didn't do this. She's lying, she planted everything. You have to believe me."

But he'd already turned away, his attention on Selena, who was dabbing at her eyes like she was crying.

As the guards dragged me toward the door, I looked back at my mother one last time. She lay there peacefully, unaware that her daughter was about to be executed and unaware that Selena had used her, used her room, to destroy me.

"Please don't hurt her," I called out, my voice breaking. 

"Whatever you do to me, whatever punishment I deserve, please don't hurt my mother. She's innocent in all of this."

No one answered as the door closed behind me, and I was pulled down the hallway, past nurses who looked away, and the past patients who whispered.

The carriage ride back to the palace was worse than the first. I sat alone this time, with hands bound, with guards on either side.  They had thrown me into a cell immediately we got back to the pack.

I sank down onto the stone bench that served as a bed and tried to think. My hand moved automatically to my dress, feeling for the small vial Beta Kael had given me. It was still there, tucked into a hidden pocket. Thank the moon goddess they hadn't searched me thoroughly. 

I pulled it out and stared at it in the dim light. This was proof. But what good was it now? I was locked in a cell, scheduled to die tomorrow. Even if I showed someone, who would believe me? 

Selena had made sure everyone thought I was the one practicing dark magic.

Hours passed, or maybe minutes as time felt meaningless because everything had always been the dark.

I was starting to drift into an exhausted sleep when I heard footsteps approaching. A figure appeared outside my cell, hidden in the dark and then she stepped into the torchlight. It was Lyra.

 She glanced around nervously, then pulled out a piece of paper and pencil, writing quickly before pressing it against the bars.

The Alpha is leaving the pack tomorrow morning, its an emergency at the border. You'll lose your chance to show him the truth.

My heart sank into my stomach. Of course Selena would make sure he was gone before I could defend myself. She'd thought of everything.

I grabbed the bars, pressing my face close.

 "How do I get out?" I whispered urgently. 

"How do I reach him before he leaves?"

Lyra shook her head sadly and wrote again: I don't know. But the Luna planned this. She made sure he'd be called away.

"There has to be a way. There has to be…."

Lyra was writing again, faster this time. She held up the paper: Beta Kael. He's been asking questions about the Luna. He'll be at the south tower at dawn. If you can get out, find him.

Then she pressed something else through the bars. Another note, smaller this time: I'm sorry I couldn't do more. Your mother would be proud of you.

Before I could respond, she disappeared back into the darkness.

I spent the rest of the night turning possibilities over in my mind. None of them were good as most of them ended with me dead. But doing nothing also ended with me dead, so what did I have to lose?

Just when I'd started to formulate a desperate, probably suicidal plan, I heard footsteps again. Multiple footsteps this time and I definitely knew it was the guards.

Three guards appeared outside my cell. The largest one unlocked the door with a grinding of metal.

"The Alpha King wants to see you," he said gruffly.

 "One last time before your trial."

My heart leaped. One last time? Yes! This might be my only chance.

I followed them through the dark corridors beneath the palace, then up stone staircases that led back to the main floors. But instead of heading toward the throne room where I expected we'd go, they led me in a different direction. It was toward the Alpha's private chambers.

My pulse quickened. Why would he want to see me alone in his chambers? Was this some kind of trick? Another one of Selena's traps?

The guards stopped outside the massive oak doors. One of them knocked twice.

"Enter," came the Alpha's voice from inside.

The door swung open and I was pushed gently forward. The Alpha stood by the window, his back to us, 

"Leave us," he commanded without turning around.

The guards hesitated for just a moment, then retreated, closing the door behind them.

We went silent for a while before finally, he turned around. 

"Tell me the truth, Aurelia," he said quietly. "And don't lie to me. Are you practicing dark magic?"

My hand moved instinctively to where the vial was hidden. This was it, this was the moment I'd been waiting for. Show him the proof now, explain everything, make him understand before Selena could stop me.

I opened my mouth to speak, to tell him everything.

But before a single word could leave my lips, I heard Selena's voice 

"My love, I'm sorry to interrupt."

She stood in the doorway, and I wondered how long had she been there? How much had she heard?

"The council is waiting for you," she continued smoothly. 

"The border situation is urgent. We need to leave now, or we'll lose daylight."

The Alpha's jaw tightened as he looked torn, his eyes moving between Selena and me.

"Aurelia can wait," Selena added, her voice gentle but firm. 

"She's not going anywhere, and the pack needs you."

She was right, of course. That was the thing about Selena's manipulation 

The Alpha nodded slowly. "You're right." He started walking toward the door, toward Selena, toward leaving me behind.

My chance was slipping away. I'd failed again.

No.

No, I hadn't come this far, hadn't been given a second chance by the moon goddess herself, just to die quietly in a cell.

My hand closed around the vial in my dress.

"Wait!" The word came from me, louder than I intended. Both of them turned as the Alpha's hand was on the door handle. Selena's eyes widened slightly, then narrowed afterwards.

I pulled out the vial with shaking hands, and hekd it up where both of them could see it.

"Before you go, Your Majesty," I said, my voice trembling but determined, 

"You need to see this.”