CHAPTER FOUR

"Liora! Thank the Moon Goddess you’re here," Tatsumi cried out, her raw voice cracking as she pressed her body against the freezing iron bars.

The heavy silver chains rattled against her wrists, a harsh sound in the quiet of the dungeon. "You have to tell them, Liora. You have to tell Storm that I could never do this!"

Liora stopped a few feet away, her red eyes wide and brimming with forced, unshed tears. She clutched her silk handkerchief tightly to her chest, her entire frame trembling as if she were facing a terrifying beast.

"Tatsumi... how could you?" Liora whispered, her voice trembling beautifully. "The pups... our future Alphas... they were just babies."

"I didn't do it!" Tatsumi’s golden eyes flashed with desperation. She reached her hands through the bars, pleading with her sister. "Listen to me, Liora. Last night, I couldn't sleep. The pack house felt so suffocating, so I went out to the royal gardens to get some fresh air. It was exactly 10:00 PM. On my way back to my wing, I stopped by the nursery. I kissed them goodnight, Liora. I cooed little Raven to sleep! And then I went straight back to my bed and fell asleep. I swear on our parents' graves, I didn't hurt them!"

From the deep, suffocating darkness of the adjacent corridor, Storm stood perfectly still. His bright blue eyes narrowed in the shadows.

But then, Liora let out a sharp, heartbroken sob, shattering the illusion.

"Oh, Tatsumi..." Liora covered her mouth, taking a deliberate step backward, deeper into the torchlight where Storm could see her distress. "Why would you tell me this? Don't you see how much worse that makes it? The head guard confirmed it, the poison was slipped to the nursery sentries, and the slaughter began only minutes after 11:00 PM. Your timeline correlates perfectly!"

Tatsumi froze, the blood draining entirely from her face. Her hands slipped from the iron bars, dropping heavily to her sides.

"What...?" Tatsumi breathed, her heart hammering wildly against her ribs. She stared at her sister, expecting to see a reflection of her own grief and desperation.

Instead, as she looked closely at Liora, a chilling sensation washed over her.

Liora was crying, yes, but she didn't carry the crushing weight of a wolf mourning thirty slaughtered children of her pack. Her posture was tense, but it wasn't the tension of fear. It was completely nonchalant beneath the theatrical tears.

Tatsumi’s devastation slowly changed into a cold wave of suspicion. Her mind, usually quiet and submissive, began to race, piecing together the bizarre pieces of the conversation.

"Wait," Tatsumi said, her voice dropping from a frantic plea to a dangerously quiet whisper. She gripped the bars again, her golden eyes locking onto her sister's red ones with a sudden intensity. "How do you know the exact minutes the pups were killed, Liora? The guards only just brought me down here a few hours ago, and they said the investigation had barely begun."

Liora’s breath hitched slightly, her faux sob cutting off for a fraction of a second.

"And why do you firmly believe that I murdered them?" Tatsumi pressed on, stepping as close to the bars as her chains would allow.

"I am your sister. We have lived together our entire lives. You know I faint at the sight of a slaughtered deer, yet you instantly jumped to the conclusion that I severed the heads of thirty children? Without a single doubt in your mind?"

In the shadows, Storm’s posture shifted. His jaw clenched. Tatsumi's questions hit him like cold water. 'How did Liora know the exact time of death before the palace healers had even released the autopsy reports?'

Liora quickly recovered, flashing a look of deep offense. "Tatsumi! Your blood-soaked dress was on the table! Your silver heirloom dagger was found at the center of the crime scene! Am I supposed to ignore the facts just because we share blood?"

"No," Tatsumi countered sharply, her voice ringing with an authority Liora had never heard from her before. "But let's talk about facts, sister. You claimed to the council that you picked up my scent near the nursery at midnight. That’s why you told Storm to send the guards."

"Yes! Exactly! I can't lie." Liora sniffed defensively.

"Then explain this to me," Tatsumi demanded, her eyes narrowing into dangerous slits. "What were you doing roaming the royal corridors at twelve in the night? Since we were children, your normal, mandatory bedtime routine has been 10:00 PM. You have fiercely stuck to that routine for over a decade because you claim an Alpha female needs her beauty sleep to rule. So why were you fully dressed, awake, and wandering past the nursery at midnight?"

The silence that followed was suffocating.

Liora’s eyes widened slightly, a flash of genuine panic darting through her expression before she quickly masked it with outrage. She hadn't expected the weak, stuttering Omega to notice such a minor detail, let alone weaponize it in front of a hidden audience.

In the darkness of the alcove, Storm’s breath caught in his throat. His mind flashed back to the previous night.

Liora hadn't been wandering the halls at midnight. She had been in his bed since 11:00 PM, slipping under his sheets, intoxicating him with her scent, and probably intentionally delaying him.

She had only mentioned the 'scent' after they were finished, forcing him to send the guards at the exact moment she wanted the bloodbath discovered.

A sickening knot began to form in Storm's stomach.

"I... I was worried about the summit preparations!" Liora stammered, her voice rising an octave as she took another step away from the cell. "How dare you turn this on me, Tatsumi! You are a monster, and I was a fool to ever love you!"

Liora burst into a fresh wave of hysterical, fake tears. Tatsumi stood, watching her wail, her heart sinking.