جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 8

At the biggest gala the werewolf nation throws all year, I looked dead into the cameras of every news crew there and said, “When the Alpha King walks in tonight, I’m going to sleep with him.”The clip hit the trending list within minutes. The hate came at me in waves.“Her? Sleep with the Alpha King? She should look in a mirror.”“The Alpha King hasn’t touched a woman in years. He hasn’t even shaken one’s hand. She’s dreaming.”A normal person would’ve spiraled. Me? I wanted them louder. The nastier they got, the more attention I had, and the more attention I had, the harder it would be to bury the truth later.“What asylum did this lunatic escape from?”“Look at her. She’s not right in the head, and she looks dangerous.”The comments turned into straight-up attacks. Fair enough — I did look like I’d lost it.When I’d woken up that morning and realized I was actually back, I’d almost thrown up from the shock of it.I hadn’t put on makeup. I hadn’t even gotten dressed properly. I’d show

At some point my mother had made it to the hall too. Her voice came through the door, ragged. “Rosie. Sweetheart. Don’t do anything stupid. If something happens to you, your mama can’t live through it. She can’t.”It tore me apart.Last time, on the road to exile, she’d thrown herself at the guards’ feet and begged them to let me go. She refused to believe her daughter was a killer.They shoved her off like she was nothing. I’d watched her get smaller and smaller in the distance, until she was just a dark speck.When the news of my death reached her, something snapped. She lost herself.My father held her together as best he could, while their pack crumbled around him. The real killer never spent a single day paying for it.And in the end, it was my own boyfriend, Caleb, who swallowed our pack and sent my parents to the block.A debt like that doesn’t go unpaid.Killian felt me stop struggling and slowly let go of my arm. “If you stop hurting yourself, I’ll play along.”I looked up at

The case stalled out.Even the lead agent had nothing. He rubbed his temples. “You were at the hotel at midnight. We’ve got that confirmed. But the footage from the scene shows you too. How can someone be in two places at once?”Lyra jabbed a finger at me. “Stop wasting time. She did it. She said herself she’d take out anyone who got near the Alpha King. The motive’s right there!”She was pushing too hard,too eager to nail me down. The agent caught it.He brought his palm down on the desk. Lyra jumped and shrank behind Caleb.“This is the Authority. Keep your voice down.”“Rosie has motive. She has an airtight alibi. We can’t charge her. She stays in holding until we know more.”So I sat in a cell while the story spread faster than anyone could contain. People found my parents’ address. They camped out front holding signs that said MURDERER. They wanted my life.The Greenmoor Alpha was already mustering for war against my pack to avenge his daughter. If the real killer didn’t surface f

The trial came fast.People who knew nothing about the case looked at me like I was the devil. They threw rotten eggs. They threw rotten produce. They wouldn’t stop screaming.“Murderer. You don’t get to be a wolf!”“She’s the one who took the Alpha King. If his name gets dragged because of her, we are not letting this go.”The crowd was tipping toward a riot.“Silence.”Killian’s voice cut the room in half. Every wolf there felt it land, the full weight of an Alpha, and shut up.He sat on the dais and let his gaze move over the room. Then he spoke, easy and slow.“Time of death was midnight. Rosie was with me the entire night, in one room. She didn’t leave my sight at any point. I’ll testify to that personally.”When the Alpha King spoke, even the loudest voice fell flat. The crowd settled.Then someone called out, “Then how is she on every camera at the scene? How are her prints on the weapon?”People nodded along.Killian raised a hand. A clerk stepped out behind him carrying a smal