Betrayed and Claimed by the Lycan King Chapter 156

EZRA'S POV

What the fuck just happened?

The scene kept replaying in my mind: Isolde being dragged out of the Battle Arena by security personnel, her face a mask of confusion and fear. One moment she was preparing for her final match against Evanthe, the next she was being hauled away like a criminal.

If Orion hadn't physically restrained me, I would have vaulted over the VIP box railing and landed in the middle of the arena floor. The primal instinct to protect her had nearly overwhelmed my rational mind.

*She's our mate! They're taking her! We must stop them!* Prime roared inside my head, clawing at my consciousness with a ferocity that made my temples throb.

*Calm down,* I ordered my wolf, though I felt anything but calm myself. *We can't help her if we lose control.*

I strode through the hallways of Silver Moon headquarters, my mind racing with possibilities. Who would dare to frame my mate? And for attempted murder, no less? The accusation was absurd. Isolde had many qualities—stubbornness, pride, a sharp tongue—but she wasn't deceitful, and she certainly wasn't a killer.

"Alpha Ezra."

I barely registered Orion's voice, too consumed by the rage building inside me.

"What?" I snapped, not breaking my stride.

"You walked past your office."

I stopped abruptly, realizing I'd been so lost in thought that I'd missed my own damn office door. Turning around, I shot Orion a glare that would have made most men cower. He merely raised an eyebrow, unfazed by my foul mood.

Without another word, I pushed open the heavy oak door to my office and froze. Alpha Tudor and Howard were already inside, engaged in heated discussion. They immediately stood and bowed their heads in respect when they saw me.

"Alpha Ezra," Tudor said urgently, his voice grating on my already frayed nerves, "what do you plan to do about this situation?"

Howard nodded vigorously. "Yes. Tell us. What that girl did was sacrilege! She should be executed immediately!"

My blood ran cold at his words. Execute Isolde? The very thought made Prime howl with rage inside me, and I felt my control slipping.

"Shut up!" I roared, my voice echoing off the walls. Both Alphas flinched, immediately dropping their gazes to the floor. The scent of their fear filled the room, acrid and sharp.

I would rather burn my empire to the ground than allow any harm to come to my mate, even if I wasn't ready to acknowledge her as such publicly. The thought surprised me with its intensity.

I turned to Orion, who stood silently by the door. "Those fighters who accused Isolde of poisoning them—I don't care if they're still puking or passed out, bring them to me. The surveillance footage, all of it. I want every security investigator in Silver Moon working this case. Now!"

"Right away, sir." Orion nodded and quickly left the room.

I sank into the leather chair behind my massive desk, too angry, too irritated, too worried to engage in small talk with the two Alphas who remained standing awkwardly before me. My fingers drummed against the polished wood, the only outward sign of my inner turmoil.

The accusation against Isolde was serious—attempted murder of two Lycan Alphas. This wasn't something even I, the Lycan King, could sweep under the rug without proper investigation. The werewolf community demanded justice for such crimes, and I had to at least appear to be taking it seriously.

But she didn't do it. I knew she didn't do it. Isolde wasn't a liar or a killer. She had no motive, no reason. The girl who had stood up to me multiple times, who fought with honor in the arena, would never stoop to poisoning her opponents.

This was another orchestrated move against her. Her enemies were at work again. And when I found out who was behind this...

*We'll tear them apart,* Prime suggested, his bloodlust matching my own.

Twenty minutes later, Orion returned with two female warriors. They looked terrified, their eyes wide as they took in my imposing figure behind the desk. The scent of fear rolled off them in waves.

"Good day, Alpha," they said in unison, their voices trembling slightly.

"Tell me what happened," I commanded, my voice deceptively calm but laced with danger.

One of the girls, a redhead, stepped forward hesitantly. "Isolde poisoned our food so she could easily defeat us in the matches."

I didn't believe a word of it, and from the way Orion was subtly shaking his head behind them, neither did he. The girls' heart rates were elevated, their scents tainted with the unmistakable odor of deception.

"No. Isolde would never do something like that," I stated firmly.

Alpha Howard rose from his seat, his face flushed with indignation. "How can you be so certain? The evidence—"

"You know nothing about that girl, so shut up!" I snarled, fixing him with a glare that made him sink back into his chair. My patience was wearing dangerously thin.

Orion handed me an encrypted hard drive. "The CCTV footage, sir."

I plugged it into my computer and watched the video files. They showed Isolde arriving at Privilege Apartments and entering a room where food was stored. But there was no direct evidence of her tampering with anything. No footage of her actually poisoning the food or drinks.

I felt even more confused! If she was guilty, why would the footage be so incomplete?

A security officer entered my office, carrying what looked like evidence bags. He approached my desk cautiously, as if sensing the volatile mood in the room.

"Sir..." he began nervously, "after searching Isolde's locker at the Battle Arena, we found these two items. This herb is allegedly what she used to poison her opponents' food, and this vial supposedly contains the deadly poison she placed in the Alphas' meals."

Tudor jumped to his feet. "She tried to kill us!" My furious glare shut him up immediately.

I felt hot and cold at the same time, my mind racing. This couldn't be happening. The evidence seemed damning, but every instinct in my body screamed that Isolde was innocent.

"There's a problem!" Orion suddenly exclaimed, studying the footage more closely.

I frowned. "Why does the footage show her entering the room but no other footage of her actually poisoning anything?"

Orion's eyes narrowed. "Because you can't have footage of something that never happened." He pointed to the timestamp on the video. "This is 11:15 AM. That's exactly ten minutes before I went to the changing room to find her. She was angry because someone had told her to meet you at Privilege Apartments, but you weren't there."

The realization hit me like a physical blow. The entire room fell silent as the implications sank in.

Orion leaned closer, lowering his voice. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

I nodded slowly, the pieces falling into place. "She was set up."

"Fuck!" Orion cursed, an unusual display of emotion from my normally composed security director.

*Someone will pay for this.*