All Chapters of My Neighbor Accused My Son, I Laughed: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

Gloria took one look at the injuries on Daisy's body and lost it completely. She threw herself at her daughter, dropping to her knees."My baby! My poor baby!" She reached out with shaking hands toward the bruises and claw marks, but couldn't bring herself to make contact. Her fingers stopped just short of Daisy's skin as she choked on her own sobs."Look at her! All of you, look at what that animal did to my daughter!"Daisy knelt half-naked in the center of the training grounds, hands covering her face, shoulders heaving."It was Koda... he dragged me into the woods... he said he'd kill me if I didn't comply..." Her voice came in broken fragments, barely audible.Harold's head snapped up, his glare burning into me."Take a good look!" he snarled, voice raw. "Look at what your son did to my girl!"The three of them clung to each other on the training grounds, sobbing. It was a wretched sight.Among the watching pack members, many had tears burning in their own eyes, anger building beh

The pack members exploded with outrage.Everyone stared at the witch's blurry projection, seething with rage. Voices from the crowd screamed for Koda to be dragged out and killed.Harold surged forward a step, getting in my face."A memory trace can't be faked!""Your son's crimes — everyone just saw them with their own eyes!"I glanced at the so-called witch standing in the middle of the grounds.There wasn't a trace of panic on my face.I hadn't expected the Pembertons to go this far. They'd actually hired a witch to fabricate evidence. Manufacturing that entire fake sequence targeting my son must have cost them a fortune.I met the crowd's furious stares, my tone as even as ever."That memory trace is fake."Harold's eyes went wide. His whole body coiled tighter, and he roared even louder."The witch performed the trace herself and you still won't accept it?""Your whole family is rotten to the core!"Daisy's tears hadn't even dried. She suddenly wrenched free from Gloria's grip, lo

Harold's outburst immediately had an effect on the crowd.Those pack members who had started to doubt the Pembertons began wavering again.Whispered speculation rippled through the group."Harold has a point — what if she really did just grab a random dog?""She's the Beta personally appointed by Alpha. She's got power and money.""Getting a dog to put on a show would be nothing for someone with that kind of pull."Gloria caught the subtle shift in the crowd's mood and seized on it. She hauled herself up off the muddy ground.She thrust a hand toward Koda in my arms and shrieked."Vera's real son is definitely a wolf hiding somewhere!""This dog is just a prop she brought in to get the real criminal off the hook!""She's making fools out of every last one of us!"Daisy latched onto this like a drowning woman finding a lifeline. She shot up from the mud and screamed at me in a piercing voice."That dog is not Koda!""Vera, you're despicable — using a dog to humiliate me and drag my name

The Pembertons stood rooted to the spot.Gloria forced herself to stay composed. She tugged at the corners of her stiff mouth, trying to bluff her way through.She mumbled that she'd already apologized, hadn't she?I cradled my Samoyed and walked up to them, step by step.I stood over them, my voice flat and final."If a casual apology could cancel out the crimes of slander and extortion, what would be the point of pack law?"Daisy flinched and stumbled backward, cowering behind Harold's broad back.A dry laugh escaped me."You were loud enough when you were making up lies.""Scared now?""Too late."Daisy's composure shattered completely. She dropped to her knees in the dirt and wailed, palms pressed together, begging me to forgive her.She made excuses — said it was dark and she'd confused the person. She even had the nerve to appeal to our neighborly relationship for mercy.Harold had abandoned every shred of the bravado he'd displayed in front of Alpha. Head bowed, shoulders hunche