Chapter 6

I woke up to the sound of metal scraping against stone.

My eyes shot open. How long had I been asleep? The dungeon was still dark but a torch flickered in the corridor outside my cell.

Someone was there.

I sat up fast, my hand going to where I had hidden the small key Sienna gave me. Still there, tucked in my dress waistband. Safe.

"Who is there?" My voice came out rough from crying.

The figure moved closer to the bars and I could finally see.

Elena.

Relief flooded through me so strong I almost cried again. But Elena put a finger to her lips, gesturing for silence. Then she pulled out keys and started working on my cell door.

"What are you doing?" I whispered. "If they catch you helping me escape, they will kill you."

"Not escaping. Not yet anyway. I bribed the night guard. We have maybe ten minutes."

The lock clicked. The cell door swung open with a soft creak.

Elena slipped inside and closed it again behind her, making it look still locked. Smart. If someone walked by, they would not notice anything wrong.

She sat beside me on the cot and pulled out a folded paper from inside her armor.

"Mira sent this. She has been working nonstop since Sienna collapsed." Elena's voice was barely audible. "What she found changes everything, Aria."

I unfolded the paper. Mira's neat handwriting covered it, medical terms I struggled to understand in the dim torchlight.

"Explain it to me."

Elena leaned closer. "Mira examined Sienna thoroughly after the miscarriage. The Mortwert they claim you used? It was in her system, yes. But Mira found something else too."

"What?"

"Another herb mixed with it. Something called Bloodbane Root. Extremely rare, grows only in northern mountains, takes years of study to even identify." Elena pointed to a line in the notes. "See? Bloodbane amplifies other herbs. Makes them work faster, more violently."

I read the passage. My hands started shaking. "Whoever poisoned Sienna was not just knowledgeable. They were an expert. Someone with advanced training."

"Exactly. And you studied with Mira for what, three years? Basic healing herbs for Luna duties. You never studied anything this advanced."

Hope sparked in my chest. "This proves I could not have done it. I do not even know what Bloodbane looks like."

"That is what we thought too. But there is a problem." Elena's expression darkened. "Kael told the Elders you have been secretly studying advanced herbalism for years. That you hid it from everyone, including Mira. He claims you were planning this for months."

The hope died as fast as it came. "Of course he did. He has an answer for everything."

"Maybe not as perfectly as he thinks." Elena pulled out something else. A small leather journal, worn and stained. "I found this in Dr. Cross's abandoned quarters."

"Who is Dr. Cross?"

"The healer Kael brought in from outside. The one supposedly helping Sienna with her pregnancy." Elena opened the journal to a marked page. "Except he was not a healer at all. He was a poison maker. And this journal details every step of creating the compound that killed Sienna's baby."

I stared at the page. Detailed notes about mixing Mortwert with Bloodbane Root. Dosage calculations. Expected timeframes. And at the bottom, a single line that made my blood run cold.

"Payment received from A.K. for services rendered."

A.K. Alpha Kael.

"This is proof," I breathed. "This proves Kael hired someone to create the poison."

"Could. If we can get it admitted as evidence at your trial." Elena closed the journal. "But Aria, there is something you need to understand. Kael is not just trying to frame you. He is trying to destroy any chance you have of defending yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"Your trial is set for three days from now. But Kael convinced the Elders you are too dangerous to have a proper defense. No witnesses on your behalf. No evidence presentation. Just a hearing where they present their case and you either confess or get executed."

Rage burned through my fear. "That is not a trial. That is an execution."

"Exactly. Which is why we need to invoke the Right of Truth."

I had heard that phrase before but could not remember where. "What is that?"

Elena's eyes gleamed. "Ancient pack law. Any wolf accused of a capital crime can demand trial before a council of regional Alphas if they claim their own Alpha is corrupt. It has not been used in over fifty years but the law still stands."

"Regional Alphas? From other packs?"

"Five of them. They come here, hear all evidence from both sides, make judgment. Kael cannot control them the way he controls our Elders." Elena gripped my shoulders. "It is risky. If they find you guilty, the sentence is immediate execution with no appeals. But it is your only real chance."

My mind raced. A trial before impartial judges. A chance to present Mira's findings and Dr. Cross's journal. An actual opportunity to prove innocence.

"How do I invoke it?"

"Publicly. In front of witnesses. So many that Kael cannot deny it or cover it up." Elena stood and moved to the door, checking the corridor. "Tomorrow morning they are transferring you to a more secure cell. When they move you through the pack house, that is when you do it. Shout it loud enough that everyone hears."

"What exactly do I say?"

"I invoke the Right of Truth under ancient pack law. I formally accuse Alpha Kael Nightshade of corruption and conspiracy, and I demand trial before the regional council." Elena turned back. "Say it exactly like that. Do not forget a single word."

I repeated it three times until I had it memorized perfectly.

"Good." Elena unlocked the cell from inside, preparing to leave. "Mira is gathering more evidence. I am finding witnesses. Your father is conflicted but I think he might come around."

"My father chose Kael over me."

"He chose duty over emotion, which is what he has been trained to do his whole life. But I saw his face after they took you, Aria. He looked destroyed." Elena paused. "Give him time. Sometimes people need to see how far things have gone before they find courage."

She slipped out and locked the cell again. Within seconds she disappeared into the darkness.

I was alone but everything felt different now. I had information. I had a plan. I had allies.

And I had the mysterious key Sienna gave me, still hidden against my skin.

I pulled it out and examined it in the weak torchlight. Small, brass, old looking. What did it open?

A lock obviously. But which lock?

Archives.

The word hit me like lightning. The pack archives were in the basement, not far from these dungeons. Locked away were decades of records. Treaties, laws, documentation of everything important.

Including, potentially, records of whatever Kael was hiding.

I turned the key over in my fingers. Had Sienna gotten me access to the archives?

But I was locked in a cell. Guards everywhere. No way to reach the archives before my transfer tomorrow.

Unless.

Elena had opened the door with guard keys. Which meant guards could open it. Guards who might be bribed or distracted or very stupid.

The night guard Elena mentioned would be back soon. He took her bribe to look the other way. Maybe he could be convinced again.

I had nothing to offer except information. But information could be valuable.

Footsteps echoed. Heavy boots. The guard returning.

He appeared at my cell, a young wolf barely past twenty. Nervous eyes. Fidgeting hands.

Perfect.

"I know you took a bribe from Elena," I said before he could speak.

He went pale. "I do not know what you are talking about."

"Yes you do. And I am not going to report you. I want to offer you another deal."

He glanced around nervously. "What kind of deal?"

"I need one hour outside this cell. Middle of the night when everyone sleeps. You let me out, go do whatever you want, come back and lock me in. No one ever knows."

"You will run."

"Where would I run? The entire pack thinks I murdered a baby. Every wolf would hunt me within hours." I kept my voice calm. "I am not stupid enough to run. I just need to retrieve something that will help prove my innocence. Something hidden nearby."

The guard chewed his lip. "What is in it for me?"

"When I am proven innocent and Kael is exposed, you will be known as the guard who helped me. The one who chose justice over orders. That kind of reputation opens doors."

Young and ambitious. Not completely loyal to Kael or he would not have taken Elena's first bribe.

"Two hours from now," he finally said. "I open your cell. You have until dawn. If you are not back, I sound the alarm."

"Deal."

He left without another word.

I sat in the darkness, key clutched in my fist, and waited.

Two hours felt like forever and no time at all.

When the guard returned, he unlocked my cell without speaking. Gestured for me to follow and walked away.

I slipped into the dark corridor.

The dungeons connected to underground passages for storage and utilities. I had studied the layout years ago for my Luna duties.

The archives were two corridors over and down another flight.

I moved silently, ears straining for any sound.

The passages were empty. Cold. Silent except for dripping water.

I found the archives door. Heavy wood reinforced with iron. Large brass lock.

My heart pounded as I pulled out Sienna's key.

Please fit. Please work.

I slid the key into the lock.

It fit perfectly.

The lock clicked open.

The door swung inward with a long creak. I slipped inside and closed it behind me.

The archives smelled like old paper and dust. Shelves stretched from floor to ceiling, packed with boxes and folders.

Where to start?

I had maybe three hours before dawn. Before the guard expected me back.

What would Kael want to hide?

Financial records? Pack laws he violated? Treaties he broke?

I started pulling boxes, searching by weak light from a high window. Birth records, death records, ceremonies, nothing useful.

Then I found a box labeled "Alpha Correspondence, Private."

Inside were letters. Dozens of them. Some going back years.

I started reading and my hands shook.

Letters between Kael and Dr. Cross going back six months. Discussing the poison. Planning its use. Timing the dosage for maximum damage at the gathering.

Letters between Kael and another Alpha, negotiating deals involving Moonridge territory.

And at the bottom, a letter that made everything make terrible sense.

A letter from Kael to the Elders three months ago, outlining his plan to remove me as Luna. Claiming I was mentally unstable and dangerous. Asking permission to reject me and take a new mate.

The Elders refused. Said tradition protected my position.

So Kael made a new plan. Frame me for murder. Execute me. Take Sienna as Luna without legal obstacles.

I stuffed the letters into my dress. Evidence. Proof. Truth.

Then I heard voices in the corridor.

Guards. Multiple guards. Coming closer.

"Check down here too. The prisoner is missing."

They knew.

I was trapped. The only door led right to where guards were.

Unless.

I looked up at the high window. Small, barely big enough to squeeze through. But it led outside.

I climbed the shelves like a ladder. Reached the window and pushed it open.

Barely fit. Squeezing through scraped me raw but I made it.

Dropped onto ground outside just as the archives door crashed open behind me.

"She was here! Search everything!"

I ran toward the pack village. Toward Mira's cottage where I could hide.

Shouts behind me. Guards pouring out. Torches lighting up.

Almost there. Light in Mira's window.

I burst through her door and slammed it shut.

Mira jumped up. "Aria! How are you out?"

"No time." I pulled the letters out. "Read these. Proof Kael planned everything."

Pounding on the door. "Open up!"

Mira grabbed the letters and shoved them in her medical bag. "Hide under the bed. Now."

I crawled under just as the door burst open.

Gamma Thorne with four guards.

"Where is she?"

"Where is who?" Mira asked, innocent.

"Luna Aria. We tracked her here."

"I have been working all night. Alone."

They searched. Tore through everything.

One guard bent to look under the bed.

Our eyes met.

He opened his mouth.

Mira stumbled against him. "Oh, forgive me!"

His torch went out. By the time he relit it, Mira blocked his view.

"No one here, Gamma."

Thorne looked suspicious but nodded. "If she shows up, report immediately."

They left.

I crawled out when their footsteps faded.

"Too close," Mira said.

"But we have evidence now." She pulled out the letters. "Tomorrow when they transfer you, invoke the Right of Truth. We present these to the regional council."

She handed me another paper. "I found something else. The Mortwert in Sienna's system was contaminated. Cut with common herbs."

"What does that mean?"

"The Mortwert under your bed was from a different batch. The poisoner kept pure stuff and planted cut version in your room." Mira smiled grimly. "Kael made a mistake."

I fell asleep on her floor, letters

hidden safely.

When I woke, sunlight streamed through the window.

Transfer day had arrived.

The day I would invoke the Right of Truth and fight back.