Chapter 4

The next day, I walked into the assembly hall as planned, ready to hand in my transfer request in person.

The second I stepped through the doors, I felt the room shift. Several Elders who handled pack affairs were standing on either side, their eyes sliding away from mine, like they were looking at someone who'd already been found guilty.

Kael sat on the high stone seat. His face was ice.

Lysandra was standing right beside him. Eyes slightly red, like she'd been wronged.

The moment she saw me, she rushed over and grabbed my wrist. Her voice was dripping with hurt.

"Ella, we've known each other for so long. How could you leak pack secrets to another tribe just because I took over your duties?"

"If you were unhappy, you could have just told me. I would have stepped down. Why would you do something that breaks pack law?"

I yanked my hand free, brows knotted. "What the hell are you talking about? When did I touch your project files?"

"Last night, the border defense maps and the herb contracts were all leaked. You were the only one with access to those materials."

She bit her lip gently. "If you just admit it now, I can ask Kael not to take this to the Elder Council."

The next second, Kael stood up.

"How long are you going to keep pretending?"

His voice was cold. "If not you, then who?"

"You couldn't stand that Lysandra took your position, so you destroyed everything she'd just taken over. You even handed border intel to an outside tribe."

I stared at him. The whole thing was so absurd it was almost funny.

"Those contracts and defense maps were created and signed by me! So what if they were mine? And you don't even have proof! All you can do is accuse me!"

"Proof?" Kael let out a cold laugh and raised his hand. "Search her bag."

Two guards stepped forward.

I watched their hands reach for me, and the last shred of dignity I had left shattered.

I ripped the supply pouch off my waist and dumped everything out myself.

A few moonstones, herbs, and my official pack seal clattered to the floor. No classified scrolls. Nothing.

The room went dead quiet.

Lysandra suddenly covered her mouth and whispered: "How can there be nothing... Could she have already sent them out?"

Then she turned and apologized to everyone around her.

"No matter what, I'll take full responsibility for this loss. It was my fault for not securing the materials properly. It has nothing to do with Ella. Please don't blame her."

The tenderness in Kael's eyes deepened by a few more shades. "This isn't on you. Why should you take the fall?"

In that moment, I finally understood.

Evidence or not, they'd already decided I was guilty.

Kael looked at me. Not a trace of doubt in his eyes. "Freeze every account under her name. Use the funds to cover the pack's losses."

My head snapped up. "Do you even know what that money is?"

It was my mother's inheritance. Even in the years when I was too broke to buy herbs, I never touched a single coin of it.

"Ella." His patience was completely gone. "Don't make me send the guards to collect it."

I stared at him for a long time. The man in front of me had become someone I didn't recognize.

When I wouldn't step down gracefully, the last of his tolerance burned out.

He tapped his phone twice. I got the deduction notice immediately.

I'd given him access to my accounts because I trusted him.

I stared at him with burning eyes. He didn't flinch. Not even a little.

"Consider it a light warning. Better than dragging this to the Elder Council where everyone loses face."

"But you're right about one thing. You really shouldn't stay in this pack anymore."

Since he'd already chosen to believe Lysandra, there was nothing left for me here.

That night, I submitted my transfer papers to the pack guards.

But before I left, I filed a formal appeal with the Elder Judgment Hall.

"I'm requesting a Judgment of the Moon."

The Judgment of the Moon is the most sacred trial a pack can hold.

Whether you're an ordinary wolf or the Alpha who controls the entire pack, once you accept the trial, you stand before the Moon Goddess's sacred flame.

The flame doesn't care about rank. It doesn't bend for anyone's will.

It judges one thing only: guilty, or not guilty.

I submitted everything. Kael's accusation that I stole pack secrets. The forced freeze on my personal account. And every piece of so-called evidence Lysandra held.

The Judgment Hall responded quickly. "Appeal accepted."

"The Judgment of the Moon will be held upon completion of the evidence review."

Once everything was settled, I picked up my suitcase and got on a plane to Shadow Pack territory.

The second I landed, my phone was flooded with missed calls and messages.

All from Kael.

The last one was just a single line.

"Ella, where the hell did you go?"