005: EXILED

~Elara~

The guards eagerly shuffle to carry out Helen’s orders, binding my wrists behind me roughly. My eyes find Kael instinctively. Tears gather behind my lids as I stare at him, silently pleading with him to believe me. But his face is unreadable. 

“Kael,” I breathe, desperate to vindicate myself. “Please, you have to believe me. You of all people should know what I'm capable of. I’d never try to hurt Celeste.”

His shoulders are tense, brows drawn together as he regards me. Does he really think that I'd do something like that? After all the years we spent together, he still thinks I'd be cruel enough to try to kill Celeste?

“Take her to the dungeon,” Helen instructs. At her words, the guards shove me forward. A slight groan rips past my throat as a sharp pain shoots through me. They don’t even care that I'm heavily pregnant. It’s as if they’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this all along.

“She’s pregnant with my heir,” Kael finally speaks after what seems like an eternity. He turns to his mother, his tone softening. “We can’t risk keeping the Luna in a dungeon. She won’t be safe there.” 

Helen parts her lips to dispute him, but he looks back at the guards before she can say a word. “Lock her up in her room. She is to be confined there till I instruct otherwise.” 

Kael’s eyes meet mine. I search his face for a sign that he still has a bit of trust in me. I can ignore what other people think of me, but not him. His expression is tight, guarded. “There will be a tribunal to judge this case,” he adds flatly. “Theron will surely demand an explanation. His daughter is on the verge of death.”

With a scowl, he stalks away, leaving me to the mercy of the guards as they drag me away from the scene.

My room feels colder than usual. The walls seem to close in on me as I await my fate. If Celeste is greatly affected by the poison she consumed, things will be a lot worse for me. I sit still on the bed, my hands laid flat on my stomach as I go through the events of the day.

I didn’t always have a room of my own. I slept together with Kael every night until he suddenly suggested staying in separate rooms two months ago. I knew his first love was involved in that decision, but I complied. I gave everything to prove myself to him and his mother. Yet, it wasn’t enough.

The door creaks open, bringing me back to the present. A guard steps inside and says, “The elders are ready. You should head to the tribunal.”

And with that, I stand and trudge through the corridor with shaky legs, heading to be judged by the pack’s elders. A part of me knows that this meeting is only a formality. My fate has already been decided. The elders of the pack never wanted a human as their Luna, and they are bound to use this opportunity to make sure I am gotten rid of. 

***

THE TRIBUNAL HALL

The tension  in the large hall is thick enough to be sliced through. Elders sit behind a high table, conversing among themselves. Under their tense scrutiny, goosebumps sprout on my skin. Kael and his Beta are seated on another table. As expected, Theron is furious, shooting me a murderous glare.

“Luna Elara," Elder Fenris begins. He’s the leader of the council, a formidable man who everyone submits to. “You know why you’re here, so I won’t beat around the bush. Did you poison Celeste Blackthorne?”

I straighten, placing a hand beneath my bump. “No, I didn't.”

“We have good reason to believe that you did. I suggest you say the whole truth now, so as to lessen your punishment.”

The whole truth? They don’t care about the truth. They don’t believe a word I say. My heart thumps loudly in my chest, but I school my expression, hiding my fear. “I am innocent.”

Elder Fenris glances in the direction of the door. I follow his line of sight to see a maid being dragged in by a guard. She’s shoved to the ground roughly, blood and pus oozing from different marks on her body. At first, I don't recognize her because of the grime on her face, until I take a closer look.

“Anna?” I let out, my voice shaking. Anna is the head maid in the Alpha’s home. I rush to her as fast as my large belly can allow me, catching her just before she slumps on the ground. My eyes roam her bloody figure. “Why…why would they do this to you?”

“She confessed, Eder Fenris,” the guard announces. “Luna Elara made her source for wolfsbane outside the pack’s grounds.”

“I did no such thing!” I yell at the top of my lungs as my vision turns blurry. Anna is whimpering in my arms, unable to speak. She has always been the only person who had my back in my matrimonial home. While the other servants disrespected me, she tried to make up for it. How could they do this to her just to bring me down?

The guard tosses a sachet to the ground beside me. “Here. This is the residue of the poison we found in Luna Elara’s room, tucked in between her sheets. We also found traces of the wolfsbane in the pot the Luna used to prepare the meal ingested by the Beta’s daughter.”

That does it. The elders go into a frenzy, muttering curses and evidence  of their disdain for me. Dazed, I stare at the sachet before me. Truly, it contains the poisonous powder just like the guard said, but it’s my first time seeing it.

“I think this is all the proof we need,” Elder Fenris rises to his feet. “Elara, it's a shame that someone in your position was despicable enough to do this.”

My eyes trail to Kael. Beside him, Theron is seething, obviously holding himself  back from jumping me so as not to rile the elders up. Kael averts his gaze, completely torn between believing me or the evidence that has been brought forward.

“You know the law, Elara,” Elder Fenris' voice rises in anger. “If this was done by an ordinary subject, they’d be killed. But since you are the Luna, you’ll only be exiled.”

The people at his side nod in agreement. Just like that, I'm sentenced based on false evidence, without even getting a chance to defend myself. Murmurs circulate round the hall, drowning out anything have to say.

“Enough!” Kael's voice shakes the hall. He springs up and walks towards the center to face the elders. For a brief moment, hope flickers in my chest.

“She’s carrying the pack’s heir. We cannot risk harming the child. The punishment must not be carried out till child is born."

The elders don’t take that suggestion lightly. Anyone can tell that they are eager to send me out of the pack. They put their heads together to discuss a fitting counter attack, but no one gets to say anything, because someone else steps in.

“That child should not be carried to term, Alpha,” a familiar voice echoes in the room. Bewildered, I turn in the direction of the speaker. Doctor Corvin walks in, throwing a glance my way. “The child the Luna is carrying is not fit to be the heir."