Mated To My Mate's Worst Enemy Chapter 114

ARIA

"Motive four: simple jealousy and rage. You've been under enormous pressure since your arrival. Constantly judged, constantly found wanting. Maybe you just... snapped. Maybe in that moment in the forest, when Ivory told you that you'd taken everything from her, something broke inside you and you lashed out."

The silence that followed her recitation was deafening. I looked around the room, seeing the same calculations playing out on face after face. The motives made sense. They fit the narrative. They explained why I would do something so terrible.

The fact that I hadn't actually done it seemed almost irrelevant next to the tidy logic of those four motives.

"I didn't do this," I said, and I hated how small my voice sounded. "I swear to you, I did not attack Ivory. I tried to save her."

"Elder Morrison," came a voice from the crowd. I turned to see Martha, the head cook, stepping forward. "May I speak?"

Morrison considered for a moment, then nodded. "Briefly."

Martha moved to stand before the elders, her formidable presence somehow making the space feel smaller. "I've served this pack for forty years," she began. "I've seen Luna after Luna come and go. Good ones, bad ones, adequate ones. And I've learned to read people."

She turned to look at me directly, and I braced myself for condemnation.

"Luna Aria is not a murderer," Martha said flatly. "She's insecure, yes. Out of her depth, absolutely. But there's no violence in her. I've watched her these past weeks. Seen how she handles stress, how she reacts to provocation. She cries. She withdraws. She tries harder. She doesn't lash out with poison darts."

I felt tears prick my eyes at this unexpected defense.

"That's your professional opinion?" Thorne asked with barely concealed sarcasm.

"That's my observation after four decades of watching people under pressure," Martha replied. "And it's worth at least as much as speculation about motives."

"Thank you for your input," Morrison said diplomatically. "Anyone else wish to speak in Luna Aria's defense?"

The silence stretched. I looked around the room, searching for someone—anyone—who might stand up for me.

Celine was there, looking conflicted but ultimately remaining silent. Several pack members I'd tried to connect with avoided my gaze. Even those who'd been kind to me seemed unwilling to publicly support me now.

"Alpha Kael," Morrison said finally, turning to where my mate sat at his separate table. "You've been silent throughout these proceedings. What is your assessment of the situation?"

This was it. The moment where my mate would either stand by me or throw me to the wolves—literally.

Kael stood slowly, and I felt every eye in the room shift to him. Through our bond, I could feel his turmoil—the conflict between what he wanted to believe and what the evidence suggested.

"I know Ivory speaks nothing but the truth," Kael said, and my heart sank. "I've known her since we were children. She has never, in all the years I've known her, lied to me or to anyone else in this pack. Her integrity is beyond question."

He paused, and I felt the weight of his next words before he even spoke them.

"When Ivory says she felt Luna Aria grab her from behind and then felt pain, I believe that's exactly what she experienced. I have no reason to doubt her testimony."

The room erupted in murmurs. Pack members nodding, vindicated in their suspicions. The elders exchanging satisfied looks, as if Kael's statement had confirmed what they'd already believed.

"However," Kael continued, his voice rising to cut through the noise, "I also know my mate. And I cannot reconcile the woman I've bonded with—the woman I'm building a life with—with someone capable of calculated murder."

"Then you're faced with an impossible situation," Morrison observed. "Two women you trust, two contradictory accounts. How do you resolve such a conflict?"

"I don't know," Kael admitted, and the honesty of it hurt worse than a lie would have. "I don't know how to resolve it. Which is why I trust this tribunal to weigh the evidence fairly and reach a just conclusion."

In other words, he was washing his hands of the decision. Refusing to take a stand one way or another. Leaving my fate to the elders rather than defending me himself.

The betrayal was crushing.

"Very well," Morrison said. He conferred briefly with his fellow elders in voices too low for me to hear. Then he turned back to address the room.

"Given the severity of the charges, the conflicting testimonies, and the inconclusive physical evidence, this tribunal has reached a preliminary decision." He fixed me with a solemn stare. "Luna Aria Blackwood, you will be remanded to the holding cells pending further investigation. You will be treated as a suspect in the attempted murder of Healer Ivory Ashwood until such time as definitive evidence either proves or disproves your guilt."

"No." The word came from Kael, sharp and immediate. "You can't imprison my mate without solid proof of wrongdoing."

"Alpha Kael," Thorne said, her voice hard, "there are laws that govern this pack. Laws that apply to everyone, including the Luna. We cannot allow you to protect your mate from justice simply because of your bond."

"This isn't justice," Kael argued. "This is punishment based on suspicion and circumstantial evidence."

"This is proper procedure," Cassius countered. "When someone is accused of a serious crime, when the evidence is inconclusive, we investigate while keeping the suspect contained to prevent flight or further violence. These are your own laws, Alpha Kael. Laws you've enforced against others in the past."