Chapter 2: The Accusation

The bouquet hit the marble floor with a soft thud.

No one moved.

No one even breathed.

All eyes were fixed on the woman kneeling at the entrance of the ceremony.

Selena Frost.

The same girl who had once ruled the pack school with cruel smiles and sharper words. The same girl who had made my teenage years a living nightmare.

She had disappeared two years ago without a trace.

Now she looked nothing like the confident beauty everyone remembered.

Her blonde hair was tangled and matted with dirt. Dark bruises covered her arms and neck. Her bare feet were scraped and bleeding, as if she had run for miles.

"Selena?" Kael whispered, stunned.

He took a hesitant step toward her.

I felt my heart sink.

She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes before throwing herself into his arms.

"Kael..." she cried, clutching the front of his suit. "I knew you'd save me."

The hall erupted into murmurs.

"What happened to her?"

"Who did this?"

"She looks terrified."

Kael gently held her shoulders, his expression filled with concern.

"Selena, calm down. You're safe now."

Safe.

The word echoed painfully in my ears.

She buried her face against his chest, trembling violently.

"They locked me away," she sobbed. "They tortured me... I thought I was going to die."

A gasp swept through the crowd.

Elder Marcus, one of the council members, stepped forward.

"Who imprisoned you?"

Selena didn't answer immediately.

Instead, she slowly lifted her head.

Her watery blue eyes found mine.

And stayed there.

A chill ran through my body.

"No..." I whispered.

She raised a shaking hand and pointed directly at me.

"It was her."

Silence.

The world seemed to stop spinning.

"Lyra Blackwood," Selena said between broken sobs. "She had me imprisoned."

My knees almost gave out.

"What?"

Every face in the room turned toward me.

Confusion.

Shock.

Disbelief.

Then came suspicion.

I stared at Selena, unable to process what I had just heard.

"That's not true."

My voice came out weak.

"I've never—"

"You hated me!" Selena screamed, cutting me off. "You never forgave me for what I did to you in school."

"I never—"

"You said one day I'd pay for everything!"

"I never said that!"

Her tears fell faster.

"You kept me in a basement... no windows... barely any food." She hugged herself as if reliving every moment. "Every day I begged them to let me go."

The guests looked horrified.

Several people began whispering.

"Could she really have done that?"

"Her father was a traitor..."

"Maybe she's just like him."

The old wound tore open inside me.

Not again.

Please... not again.

I looked desperately at Kael.

He knew me.

He knew I would never hurt anyone.

"Kael," I said quietly, my voice trembling. "Please..."

He looked at me.

For a brief moment, I saw uncertainty in his eyes.

Then he looked back at Selena.

"What proof do you have?" he asked gently.

I let out a shaky breath.

Yes.

Ask for proof.

Selena slowly rolled up the sleeve of her torn dress.

Purple bruises covered her wrist.

There was a deep scar near her shoulder.

"They chained me."

More gasps.

She turned slightly, revealing ugly marks across her back.

Several women covered their mouths.

Kael's jaw tightened.

His wolf was reacting to her pain.

I took a step forward.

"Those injuries don't prove I did this."

Selena flinched dramatically, hiding behind Kael.

"Don't let her come near me!"

The movement was so instinctive that Kael stepped in front of her.

Between us.

It felt as though someone had driven a knife into my chest.

"You think I did this?" I asked, barely recognizing my own voice.

"I don't know what to think," Kael admitted.

His answer hurt more than an accusation.

"I've been with you almost every day for the past two years."

"I know."

"You know where I live."

"I know."

"You know I've never disappeared."

"I know."

"Then why are you looking at me like that?"

He opened his mouth but couldn't answer.

Because doubt had already entered his heart.

And once doubt found a place to grow...

Trust began to die.

Elder Marcus cleared his throat.

"This matter cannot be ignored."

Another elder nodded.

"Until the truth is uncovered, no one should leave the hall."

The joyful wedding decorations suddenly felt like the walls of a prison.

I looked around the room.

Not one smiling face remained.

Some avoided my eyes.

Others stared openly.

The whispers grew louder.

"The daughter of a traitor..."

"I always knew something was off about her."

"Poor Selena."

My wolf whimpered inside me.

Not because of their words.

Because the one person who had always believed in me...

Was standing silently beside another woman.

Selena tightened her grip on Kael's arm before speaking again.

"There was someone else."

The room fell quiet.

"A man."

"He wore a black cloak."

"He always took orders..."

She looked straight into my eyes.

"...from Lyra."

My heart pounded wildly.

This was madness.

Every word was a lie.

Yet every tear she shed made her story seem more believable.

I wanted to scream.

To shake everyone awake.

To ask why no one questioned how a woman who had vanished for two years suddenly appeared on my wedding day with a story perfectly crafted to destroy me.

But the doubt in their eyes told me everything.

They weren't searching for the truth anymore.

They were searching for someone to blame.

And once again...

I was the easiest choice.

Then the guards entered the hall.

Their captain bowed to Kael.

"My Alpha..."

His next words stole the last breath from my lungs.

"We searched Miss Lyra's cottage after receiving an anonymous report."

He held up a small silver bracelet.

"It was found beneath the floorboards."

Selena gasped.

"My bracelet..."

The same bracelet she had worn every day before she disappeared.

Every eye in the room turned to me.

Including Kael's.

This time...

There was no uncertainty left in his expression.