False Accusations.

NOVA’S POV

I had no idea how long I was locked up in the dungeon, but the only thing that gave me hope was the child in my womb and this ring that Alpha Draco gave to me.

It was a promise of forever that I couldn’t wait to be mine.

My lips were dry from lack of hydration, and my stomach revolted in anger.

I can’t remember the last time I put something into my stomach.

I hummed one of my favourite songs to keep my hope alive as I awaited the final verdict for assaulting the Luna of the pack.

My grandmother used to sing this song to me back then, when my parents sent me away to live with her because they thought I was a disgrace to them.

That was before I came back to my parents on my sixteenth birthday and killed them in the process of shifting for the first time.

I never shifted, and I was now tagged the child who killed her parents, a tag that had followed me into my adulthood and had never stopped haunting me since then.

The sharp clang of a rod against the metallic bars securing the dungeon ripped me away from my thoughts, and soon enough, I was glaring at the scariest face I had seen. Beta Jasper, the notorious second hand to the alpha.

“I see that you have a death wish, you worthless omega,” he snarled as he opened the locks to the dungeon. “Attacking the Luna of this pack is a grievous offence,” he continued.

“I have always wondered how sweet your flesh would taste when I feed it to my beasts. It’s a pity that we have to wait until you have delivered the heir before we mete out any punishments to you.”

He pulled the metallic door open and entered the dungeon. Two gamma soldiers walked in behind him.

“Bundle her out of here. The Alpha demands that she be brought to his presence immediately.”

The two soldiers walked up to me, grabbing both sides of my arms roughly. I didn’t struggle with them because I knew it was a dead end.

What mattered was that I was getting out of this place, and hopefully, I wouldn’t be returning to it anytime soon.

I began to regret not begging Alpha Draco to take me with him when we met earlier. I would have saved myself all these troubles.

They threw me to the floor when we got to the throne room, my long hair falling to the ground and covering my face.

“I hate when an act of mercy from me is spat upon,” Alpha Ethan roared to me, leaning forward on his chair.

I lifted my eyes to him, turning to the side to notice Aubrey for the first time since our ordeal the night she came to my room.

And beside her, sat Luna Celeste, casting me some deadly glares like she wasn’t pleased that I survived being locked up in that dungeon for so many days.

I looked closer at Aubrey, surprised at what I was seeing. There were bruises and stitches on her face. I had no idea how they came to be. All I could recall was that she fell to the ground during our brief exchange.

How, then, did all these bruises come about?

Her quiet sobs filled the air as I glared at her, confusion clawing at me.

“Yes, look at her. Look what you have done to my mate, the Luna of this pack,” Alpha Ethan said to me, his nostrils flaring badly.

“What kind of animal would do this to another person?” Luna Celeste interjected, her tone dripping with venom. “And to think I was about to let you get married to my son. Not knowing how evil you could be.”

I noticed how flushed Aubrey’s cheeks were as the former Luna said those words to me, elated that they were taking her side and not mine, even though she knew that she was lying.

“How cruel could you be to inflict such injury on her?” Alpha Ethan continued, his voice rising with a sharp intensity.

My shoulders quaked in fear of what he would do to me, my body too weak to react.

“Just because you are jealous of her, you went ahead to do this to her, when you already know the reason I was supposed to marry you in the first place,” he continued, his face scrunching in fury. “And to think that she already accepted you and was ready to accommodate you in the pack house. And you did this to her.”

Aubrey straightened up in her seat, her sobs growing louder. “I only went to tell her that I had a job for her, and then out of nowhere, she lunged at me and began throwing punches at me,” Aubrey cried out from beside the alpha.

My mouth dropped at her dramatic display. I was too stunned to speak or even defend myself.

“I couldn’t fight back because of her condition, and I knew how protective of your heir you were. That was why I just lay there as she panelled me to the ground.”

How does one lie so effortlessly without her conscience even pricking her?

To say I was astonished doesn’t even begin to explain how I felt at that moment.

She continued, her whimpering increasing badly.

“The guards arrived late, and by the time they got there and pulled her from me, I was almost passing out.”

Alpha Ethan’s face turned dark, his eyes blazing red as he turned to look at me.

“You took advantage of the love I have for my heir to bring this on my Luna. You are going to pay for this, and you will pay dearly. How heartless could you be to do this to someone who has been nothing but kind to you?”

“She is lying,” I said through gritted teeth, my irritation barely contained. “I only…”

“I can’t believe you are about to deny this,” Aubrey said, springing to her feet.

Shouldn’t she be in pain? Where did she suddenly get such strength to stand with such speed?

“Look at my body. Look at my face,” she cried out. “Isn’t this evidence enough that you inflicted these injuries on me? I did nothing to you. I even wanted to apologize to you. To tell you not to blame the alpha for what happened and to stretch out a hand of friendship to you since I would be the foster mother to your child. You didn’t want to listen.”

How long did she plan to keep up with these lies? I asked myself.

I couldn’t even bring myself to look at her as she said all these things that weren’t true. Aubrey was a monster, and she belonged to that dungeon and not me.

“You should have let her rot in that dungeon.” Luna Celeste quipped. “That’s where a lowlife like her belongs anyway.”

Alpha Ethan took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling unevenly.

“My mate has been nothing but kind to you. A royalty like her shouldn’t be talking to a worthless omega like you. Yet, she stooped so low to speak to you, and you did this to her. I would have you flogged at the stables as punishment for your crimes.” He turned sharply to the guards. “Guards, take her away. Whip her good till she learns her lesson.”

The guards rushed to me, eager to take me away.

As they pulled me away, I noticed the smirk on Beta Jasper’s face.

I knew he would be put in charge of seeing to it that I got the perfect punishment, and from the look on his face, I was convinced that he was going to enjoy every bit of elation my sufferings would bring to him.

“Wait,” Aubrey called out just before we walked out of the massive doors.

The guards turned to face her, dragging me along.

“A ring,” she said, shaking her finger at me as she drew closer to me. “She stole a ring from me. I noticed it on her when I was in her room.”

She stopped just when she got to me. Alpha Ethan relaxed into his chair, watching keenly as the scene unfolded before him.

Aubrey pulled my hand, noticing that the ring wasn’t on my finger. She stepped back, her eyes wild with fury. "Thief, where is it?"

I didn’t respond.

She turned to the guards. “Search her. I want that ring found now,” she barked, and the guards instantly rounded me up to carry out her orders.

“It’s not on her, your grace,” the guards said.

“My love, let it go. I am sure our jewellers would be more than happy to make you another one,” Alpha Ethan said, gesturing at her to return to her seat.

“No!” she exclaimed. “I want that exact one she stole. It is a family heirloom, and a scallywag like her shouldn’t have such fine jewellery.”

She stared me down with disdain, her lips curling.

“She must have hidden it somewhere. Search her room and the dungeon she was kept in. I want that ring found. I want this entire pack turned upside down until that ring is found and returned to me.”

The guards nodded. She tilted her chin upward, content with her orders.

“Take her away and teach her a lesson she would never forget.”