The Woman Who Killed a Witness

​POV: Vaelith Nyxmoor

​The air outside hit my face as I stumbled through the forest path, but the pain in my chest was so intense that I barely felt the sharp branches scratching at my bare arms, and my mind just kept replaying the image of Isolde holding Caedric in that library room over and over again. 

I couldn't bring myself to go back to our shared quarters because I knew his mother’s smirking face would be waiting to mock me, so I just kept walking blindly until the trees gave way to the roads of the lower city, wandering aimlessly past the closed shops and houses while the tears slowly dried on my cheeks.

​Back in the palace library, the exact second my fingers lost their grip on the silver bracelet, Caedric violently shoved Isolde away from him, his face turning completely dark with anger as he yelled, "What the hell do you think you are doing, Isolde? Get off me right now!"

​"Caedric, please, I just see how stressed you are with the council meetings, and I wanted to help you," Isolde said, quickly stepping right into his path and grabbing his arm again to keep him from running toward the door, deliberately pretending to stumble so he had no choice but to catch her full weight to keep her from falling.

​"Let go of me, Vaelith was out there, I heard something drop on the floor," Caedric growled, tearing his arm completely out of her tight grip and sprinting down the long corridor, but the extra minute she bought was all the time I needed to completely vanish into the the estate. 

​I had absolutely no idea how long I walked through the city streets, my thoughts completely consumed by the tiny baby growing inside me and how I was going to raise a child all alone if my marriage was truly over, when a strange, sudden heaviness washed over my entire body, making my vision blur and my knees feel incredibly weak. 

I staggered into a dark alleyway behind the city just to catch my breath, but my head started spinning so violently that the walls around me began to tilt, and before I could even call out for help, my eyes rolled back and everything went completely black.

​When my eyes finally fluttered open, the smell of blood was incredibly thick, and I found myself sitting on the damp ground with my back resting against a wooden crate, feeling a strange, warm liquid sticking to my skin.

​"Hey, wake up, what did you do?" a rough voice shouted from the entrance of the alleyway, and I blinked hard against the sudden, light of several flashlights that were blinding me completely.

​"What's happening? Where am I?" I whispered, lifting my hands to block the terrible glare, but as the bright beams of light hit my skin, I saw that my fingers, my palms, and the entire front of my white silk gown were completely covered in thick, dark blood.

​"Don't move a single inch, put your hands where we can see them right now!" another guard yelled, drawing his iron sword with a loud, terrifying clink that echoed off the high walls, while three more men rushed forward to surround me with their weapons raised.

​I scrambled backward in total panic, my heels slipping on the wet ground, and that was when my foot hit something heavy and soft lying right beside the wooden crates. I looked down through the shadows, and my breath caught in my throat as I saw the motionless body of a middle-aged man in a formal suit, his eyes wide and lifeless while a deep gash in his neck continued to pool blood onto the gravel. Right next to his limp hand lay a long silver dagger, and I recognized the royal crest engraved on the hilt because it was the exact type of weapon issued to the high-ranking members of my own pack's guard, making my stomach turn as the pieces fell together.

​"I didn't do this, I swear I didn't do this, I don't even know who this man is," I sobbed, pushing myself further against the hard wall while my whole body shook with terror, because I had absolutely no memory of how I got into this alley or how this man had ended up dead right next to me.

​"Save your lies for the royal council, everyone knows this witness was scheduled to expose the pack financials tomorrow morning," the lead guard said, stepping over the dead body and kicking the silver dagger far away from my reach before grabbing my bloody wrists tightly.

​"Please, you have to call Caedric, he knows I was at the ball all night, he can tell you I didn't leave the palace until midnight," I pleaded, pulling against his grip, but the guard just pulled my arms behind my back, clicking the heavy iron cuffs around my wrists that instantly dampened my inner wolf's energy and left me completely defenseless.

​"The Alpha King isn't going to save you from this, alpha's wife or not, you were caught red-handed next to a dead body," another guard muttered, pushing me forward so I stumbled over the uneven gravel while the rest of the unit kept their swords pointed directly at my chest.

​The heavy footsteps of a dozen more soldiers echoed down the narrow alleyway, and the crowd of guards parted as Commander Vance walked through the middle of the group, his face completely expressionless as he looked at the dead witness and then down at my bloody dress.

​"Commander, please, someone set me up, I was unconscious," I screamed, looking at the man who had served Caedric's family for decades, hoping to see a single flicker of doubt or sympathy in his eyes, but his gaze remained completely cold and detached.

​"Vaelith Nyxmoor, you are under arrest for the murder of the Crown's chief witness, and for willfully obstructing the royal succession investigation," Commander Vance announced, his voice booming through the small space, and as the guards dragged me to my feet, I looked up at the dark sky, completely trapped in a nightmare I couldn't wake up from.