Chapter 12 No.12

Kelli Nelson POV:

The black pearl fan in her manicured hand fluttered lazily, her patronizing smirk still playing across her lips.

Queen Eleanor's skin turned the shade of damp chalk. Her jeweled fingers tightened around the gilded armrests of her chair, her golden crown shifting precariously with the sudden movement.

"I fail to see what you find amusing, Consort Victoria," Eleanor snapped, her voice strained and brittle. "This is a solemn matter concerning ancient pack succession."

Victoria let out a musical laugh, her dark eyes darting down toward Karson, who was still kneeling upon the stone. "Solemn? It looks far more like a clumsy attempt by your loyal political allies to swallow a vulnerable pack whole."

The scandalous declaration dropped into the room like a lit torch on dry timber. Subdued gasps erupted among the surrounding lords and ladies as the covert alliance between the Queen and House Ironfang was dragged directly into the light.

Karson's head snapped up, his amber eyes bloodshot with fury. "Consort Victoria, you insult the honor of the Ironfang Pack!"

Victoria looked down her nose at him, snapping her folding fan shut with a sharp crack that pointed straight at his nose. "Honor? You just tried to force a grieving orphan to accept your bastard—pardon me, your adopted son—while he was secretly bedding another maiden in private villas. Tell me, Lord Karson, where exactly does the honor lie in that?"

Demonte flinched violently at the word bastard, cowering against the floor like a whipped hound, not daring to utter a single syllable against the King's favored consort.

I remained perfectly still, keeping my eyelashes lowered, projecting the image of a traumatized victim while letting Victoria dismantle my enemies for me.

Eleanor stood abruptly, her silk robes rustling with fury. "Victoria! How dare you speak of pack politics in the sacred presence of the Alpha King? You overstep your station!"

Victoria did not retreat. Instead, she turned toward the Alpha King, her dark eyes glittering with theatrical concern. "I speak only for the stability of Your Majesty's realm. If certain queens are permitted to orchestrate fraudulent pack marriages to expand their private factions, where does that leave the authority of the Crown?"

Alpha King Adrain's expression darkened into a thunderous scowl. His golden wolf eyes shifted slowly toward Eleanor, heavy with cold suspicion and sovereign warning.

Eleanor caught the lethal chill in her husband's gaze. Her knees gave out, and she sank back onto her throne, raising a trembling hand in desperate defense. "Adrain... My King, I swear upon the Moon Goddess, I had no part in Karson's foolish scheming!"

Karson closed his eyes in defeat, the color draining from his face as the Queen discarded him to save her own skin.

Watching Eleanor squirm in her gilded seat, a cold, silent satisfaction bloomed in my chest. Treacherous wolves always devoured their own when backed into a corner.

The Alpha King exhaled a harsh, rumbling growl. "Eleanor, you will confine yourself to the Queen's Tower for three days — and not a day longer. Reflect upon the dignity of your crown."

Eleanor bit her lower lip until it bled, tears of humiliation brimming in her eyes as she lowered her head. "Yes, Your Majesty."

Victoria arched a brow in triumph, fanning herself once more before casting a warm, calculating glance in my direction.

I offered her a fragile, trembling gaze filled with innocent gratitude, maintaining my helpless facade to the end.

A wet gasp broke the silence as Demonte shoved himself away from Baylee's trembling grasp, crawling frantically toward the dais. "Your Majesty! Please! I never sought to usurp the Nelson lands! My feelings for Kelli were pure! I only wished to shield her from ruin!"

The surrounding nobles sneered openly, their faces painted with disgust at his shameless begging.

I let out a soft, sorrowful sigh, turning toward him with the mournful pity one might show a rabid beast before its execution.

"Lord Demonte," I murmured, my voice trembling with practiced heartbreak. "If your admiration for me was truly so pure, why did you propose a dual-mating?"

Demonte froze, his mouth hanging open as he struggled to invent another lie.

I stepped closer, letting fresh tears spill down my cheeks. "You claimed you wished to protect my bloodline, yet you brought Lady Baylee to share the sacred bond. Tell me, how does an honorable Alpha divide his soul between two mates without spitting upon the sacred laws of the Moon Goddess?"

Demonte scrambled backward on his elbows, cold sweat drenching his collar. "I... I thought... it was the only way..."

Dowager Luna Erla struck her ebony cane against the platform, the crack echoing like thunder. "Blasphemy! To mock the divine bond of the Goddess with such a foul, greedy arrangement! You turn my stomach, boy!"

Demonte collapsed onto his stomach, burying his face in his hands as dry sobs wracked his body, stripping away the last shreds of his noble pride.

Baylee watched him crumble, realizing her tool was broken beyond repair. Her expression twisted, and she scrambled to her feet with reckless desperation.

She darted toward the royal steps, ripping a yellowed sheet of parchment from her bodice and thrusting it high into the air.

"Your Majesty!" Baylee shrieked, her voice shrill and unhinged. "Lord Edward is not dead! And Kelli Nelson has no right to his name!"

The Great Hall froze. I narrowed my eyes, locking my gaze onto the parchment in her trembling hand.

Baylee's eyes burned with feverish madness. "I have proof! A personal letter written by Lord Edward's own hand, promising his heart and the Luna's crown of Ironfang to me!"