Chapter 7

• AURORA'S POV.
• Right now, I have no idea how to react to what I just heard. Alpha Lucien knows I'm his mate. Should I be happy? Should I be hopeful? Should I be ashamed? or should I be scared?
• I don't know what to feel right now.
• He just said he'd punish me accordingly if I say I'm guilty, but he'll stay by my side if I deny the allegations. That's a very logical thing to say in this situation and for a moment, I am really tempted to believe his words, but then I remember that a while ago, he had ordered for his guards to have me tortured to death.
• He didn't seem to care when he passed that order, but now he does.
• Why the sudden change of heart?
• "Why aren't you saying anything?" He breaks the silence. I look at him. He has a blank countenance. I can't read from his face whether he believes me or not and that's very frustrating.
• "Because I don't believe you when you say you will trust my words." He raises a brow and trains his eyes on me.
• "Why's that?" He sounds curious. Not only does he have a handsome face, but he has a dreamy voice as well. It's calm, smooth, deep and powerful. If he ever scolds me, I'm definitely going to melt.
• "If you believe I didn't do this, why then did you have me locked up in a cell? Why did you order your men to torture me to death?" The look on his face changes. He looks shocked right now, like he has no idea what I'm talking about.
• Why is he even trying to pretend?
• "Having you locked up was the order my father gave me when he sent me over to your father's house to get you and for the torture to death part, I have no idea what you are talking about. I didn't order anyone to torture you. My father did."
• What?
• "Don't lie to me Alpha Lucien."
• "Do I have a reason to do so?" His voice is still calm and damn it! He has to stop denying it.
• "I heard your voice!" I insist. "I heard you give the order so don't you dare try to deny it." I firmly accuse and for the first time in forever, his facial muscles move. There's a readable expression on his face. He looks annoyed and a bit frustrated by my accusation.
• Could it be that he didn't really do it?
• Am I wrong?
• "Aurora." He calls firmly as he takes a step forward. His deep brown eyes are drilling holes in my face. My heart starts pounding in my chest. I feel like I'm in trouble. Did I strike the wrong nerve?
• "What I hate the most is false accusations. I did not order for you to be tortured. My father did!" I don't argue with him.
• I purse my lips and look at my fingers as I play with them.
• I feel relieved to know that he didn't pass that order. No matter the circumstances, he's still my mate and the way he sees me matters a lot to me. Apart from the fact that I need him to be on my side because of his power, I don't want to look bad in front of him. He's a very important person in my life.
• I snap my head up when I hear the door to the room open up. An unfamiliar young man walks in. He looks about the same age as Alpha Lucien and the aura he exudes makes me understand that he has a high rank in the pack. He's probably the Beta.
• "Alpha Lucien, there's a new witness." My heart stops.
• A new witness.
• He's definitely referring to my case. Why do witnesses keep showing up to point accusing fingers at me? I didn't do anything.
• "Concerning Aurora's issue?" He asks and the young man nods his head. My heart sinks. I clamp my sweaty palms together and nervously rub them. There's tears stinging at the back of my eyelids. If this keeps up, I'm going to have a breakdown. This is exhausting and scary.
• Am I really going to be punished for a crime I did not commit?
• This is preposterous! Moon goddess please do something!
• "Yes it is and it's a woman."
• A woman.
• Who could it be? Do I know her?
• "Bring her in here. I want Aurora to identify her and also be on track with what's going on."
• "Yes, Alpha." The young man bows and exits the room. He is definitely the Beta.
• "I can't believe this is happening to me." I whisper as I rub my hand over my face and let out a heavy breath. I can feel Alpha Lucien's scorching gaze on my body. I don't have the audacity to make eye contact with him because I am so ashamed of what he might be thinking of me right now.
• Does he think I'm innocent?
• Does he think I did it?
• Only time will answer my question.
• Minutes later, the door opens again and the Beta walks in. This time around, he is not alone. A woman follows and I almost lose my mind when I recognize her.
• She's one of the maids who dressed me for my birthday party this morning.
• What is she doing here?
• She couldn't possibly have witnessed what happened. She was at home when I went to the venue.
• What fresh hell is going on here?
• "Is she the witness?" I find myself asking.
• "Yes, she is." The Beta replies and Alpha Lucien turns to look at them. I look at the maid, but she doesn't dare to meet my gaze. She has her head bowed down as she greets the Alpha and still doesn't raise it up when she's done.
• Why is she doing this to me?
• "Tell me what happened." Alpha Lucien orders. The maid raises her head up and shoots me a brief glance before looking back down.
• "She… she went home secretly after ruining the wedding. What happened was, she got furious when she realized she was being married off to Alpha Mael and she went ballistic. She ran out of the hall and Mael tried to follow her outside and that's where they had a conflict and she hurt him. Before the rest of us could come outside, the damage had already been done Alpha Mael was already dead."
• "Liar!" I scream at the tops of my voice as tears come flying down my cheeks. I try to jump down from the bed, caring legs about the IV connected to my hand, but Alpha Lucien holds me still on the bed.
• "You know that's not what happened! You weren't even in the hall! Stop lying!" I keep shouting and the maid flinches in fear. violent sobs escape my lips. "Please don't lie like this. My life just started, please don't ruin it for me. I didn’t do what I'm being accused of and you know it. Stop lying!" I shout out of anger, agony and desperation.
• "Aurora, you have to calm down." Alpha Lucien cautions and I turn to look at him. He's back to his blank look.
• "What I'm saying is the truth. I don't have the audacity to tell a lie before the Alpha." The maid emphasizes. I cast her a deadly glare, but I look away almost immediately because she's not important. I look back at Alpha Lucien and my heart shatters into pieces when I see the suspicious look in his eyes.
• He believes her.
• He thinks I killed his brother.
• I'm doomed.
• I calmly shake my head as more tears stream down my cheeks.
• "I didn't do it." My voice is a broken whisper. "I swear I didn't do it. You said you'd believe me if I said I didn't do it. Right now I'm saying so. I didn't kill your brother. Do you believe me?" I look straight into his eyes.
• Pin-dropping silence takes over the room…