CHAPTER THREE: THE ACCUSATION
828 Words
The silence inside the room stretched like a tightening rope.
Lyra could hear her own heartbeat pounding in her ears.
Adrian stood across from her, Selene still holding his arm like she belonged there. Like Lyra was the intruder.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then Adrian sighed.
Not with regret.
But with irritation.
“Lyra,” he said slowly, rubbing the back of his neck, “you really chose the worst time to make a scene.”
Lyra blinked.
“A scene?” Her voice rose slightly. “I just walked in on my mate with another woman!”
Selene let out a soft laugh.
Lyra’s wolf growled inside her mind.
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“You shouldn’t raise your voice.”
Lyra stared at him in disbelief.
“You’re joking.”
Selene stepped forward then, her movements graceful and controlled. There was something eerily calm about her.
Almost like she had rehearsed this moment.
“Adrian,” she said quietly, “maybe we shouldn’t drag this out anymore.”
Lyra frowned.
“Drag what out?”
Selene’s eyes flickered toward her, cold and sharp.
Then she said the words that shattered everything.
“She deserves to know the truth.”
Lyra felt a strange chill crawl down her spine.
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
For a brief second, he looked almost… hesitant.
But then his gaze turned to stone.
“Fine,” he said.
He stepped forward, stopping only a few feet away from Lyra.
His voice turned cold.
“You’ve been meeting another Alpha outside our territory.”
Lyra froze.
The words barely registered.
“What?”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about.”
Confusion flooded her mind.
“Adrian… what are you saying?”
Selene crossed her arms, watching the exchange like someone enjoying a play.
Adrian’s voice grew louder.
“You’ve been sneaking out of the pack at night.”
Lyra shook her head instantly.
“That’s not true.”
“You’ve been seen near the eastern border.”
“I go there to patrol.”
“With another male.”
Lyra’s stomach dropped.
“That’s ridiculous.”
Selene sighed dramatically.
“Adrian… she’s still lying.”
Lyra’s head snapped toward her.
“Excuse me?”
Selene reached into the pocket of her jacket.
For a moment, Lyra didn’t understand what she was doing.
Then Selene pulled something out.
A silver necklace.
Lyra’s breath caught.
Her fingers instinctively reached for her neck.
Empty.
Her necklace.
The one Adrian had given her three years ago.
“I… lost that weeks ago,” Lyra whispered.
Selene smiled slowly.
“Did you?”
She held the necklace up between her fingers.
“We found this earlier today.”
Lyra felt the room spin slightly.
“Found it where?” she asked.
Selene’s voice was sweet.
“Outside the territory of another Alpha.”
The accusation slammed into Lyra like a physical blow.
“That’s a lie.”
Adrian’s gaze darkened.
“Is it?”
“Yes!”
Lyra stepped forward, panic rising in her chest.
“You know I would never do that!”
Selene tilted her head.
“That’s strange.”
Lyra glared at her.
“Why?”
Selene’s smile widened.
“Because someone saw you there.”
Lyra’s heart skipped.
“Who?”
Before Selene could answer, Adrian suddenly turned toward the bedroom door.
“Come in.”
Lyra frowned.
“What are you doing?”
The door slowly opened.
And Lyra’s world collapsed.
The hallway outside Adrian’s room was filled with wolves.
Pack members.
Warriors.
Elders.
Dozens of them.
Watching.
Listening.
Waiting.
Her heart dropped into her stomach.
They had heard everything.
No…
They had been meant to hear everything.
Whispers spread through the crowd.
“Is it true?”
“I always thought something was strange about her…”
“She betrayed the pack?”
Lyra’s chest tightened painfully.
Her gaze snapped back to Adrian.
“You… called them?”
Adrian’s expression was completely unreadable.
“The pack deserves to know the truth.”
Truth?
This wasn’t the truth.
This was a setup.
A trap.
Selene stepped closer to Adrian, slipping her arm around his.
The gesture felt like a dagger twisting deeper into Lyra’s heart.
Selene looked at the gathered wolves.
Then back at Lyra.
“You didn’t really think you could betray this pack without consequences, did you?”
Lyra’s breath came out uneven.
“I didn’t betray anyone.”
But her voice sounded small now.
Drowned beneath the murmurs of the pack.
Adrian stepped forward.
His voice suddenly carried across the hallway.
Cold.
Commanding.
The voice of a future Alpha.
“Lyra Vale,” he declared.
Every wolf fell silent.
Accusing eyes turned toward her.
Adrian’s gaze locked onto hers.
And for the first time, Lyra realized something terrifying.
This wasn’t happening by accident.
Every second of this moment…
Had been planned.
Adrian’s next words echoed through the hall.
“You have betrayed this pack.
- Writer
