Chapter 117: Defense
Chapter 117: Defense
(Celeste’s POV)
The hall wasn’t silent anymore. It buzzed with whispers–uneasy, hurried, and frantic. My body ached with every breath, every movement pulling against the wounds hidden beneath my
clothes.
Pain radiated across my silver–burned skin, yet I stood firm. No one here deserved to see me
falter. I refused to give them that satisfaction.
Victoria’s lavender perfume clung to the air, cloying and suffocating. Scarlett’s sickly rose–like scent mingled with it, making my stomach churn. Their very presence clawed at my self–control, as if their wolves were reaching out to strike where it hurt the most.
I clenched my fists tightly by my sides, fingernails digging into my palms. Let them watch. Let
them whisper. I, too, had something to say.
Through the crowd, the chilling scent of pine–frost reached me–sharp and cutting. Alexander.
My shoulders stiffened, my wolf bristling instinctively. I couldn’t stop myself from looking, even if every instinct screamed at me not to. There he was, lingering near one of the stone columns, his back leaning just so, every muscle seemingly relaxed.
It was all a lie. He wasn’t relaxed. His ice–blue eyes tracked my every movement, like a predator waiting to strike–or perhaps waiting for me to fall. His white wolf’s aura filled the room, a heavy, suffocating thing that bore down on everyone like a weight they couldn’t
escape.
For a brief, shameful moment, hope flickered within me. Some broken, desperate shard of me
hoped he might do something. Might say something.
But he didn’t.
My throat tightened, but I forced my thoughts back to the room, to the wolves surrounding me and pinning me with their judgmental stares. They thought they were safe in their silence. They thought their whispers, their compliant nods, would shield them from what came next.
But they were wrong.
“Who witnessed Nina attacking Scarlett without provocation?” My voice was sharp and
cutting, slicing through their murmurs in an instant.
1/4
Chapter 117: Defense
The temperature in the hall felt like it dropped. A ripple of nervous energy passed through the
gathered betas and omegas. Whispers stopped. Wolves shifted in their places.
Several beta wolves hesitated before stepping forward. Their postures screamed submission.
Heads bowed. Shoulders hunched. Their cowardice hung heavy in the air.
I wasn’t surprised.
Lucas stepped into my line of sight, his golden eyes blazing like molten fire as he advanced
with slow, deliberate steps. His wolf surged aggressively, the raw power of his dominance
pressing down on every wolf in the room.
“Still denying your guard attacked my precious sister?” His voice was a low growl, full of
menace, his gaze locked straight on me.
Scarlett whimpered softly, shrinking further into Lucas’s side. Her emerald eyes glistened with
perfectly measured tears. She clutched at her arm dramatically, her entire being radiating
helplessness.
I said nothing, refusing to look at her. My wolf roared, but I forced it to stay silent. If I let my
emotions slip now, it would be over.
The corner of Lucas’s mouth curled into a sneer. His wolf radiated triumph, but it only enraged
me further. “No defense? No response?” His tone was mocking now, like he thought he had
already won. “Do you think ignoring me makes Nina’s actions any less unacceptable?”
I forced myself to breathe through the pain in my chest, ignoring the pressure Lucas’s
dominance exerted on my battered body. I looked past him, past Scarlett’s quivering figure,
and addressed the room again, my voice unwavering even though my legs trembled.
“Then who saw what happened before Nina defended me?” My words were louder now, sharper, cutting through the tension like a blade.
The betas shuffled awkwardly. Their eyes darted back and forth to one another, filled with uncertainty. None dared speak, but I could see it–some of them knew the truth. They smelled
different now, like muted fear.
Scarlett pressed closer to Lucas. Her wolf whimpered, a pitiful noise that crawled beneath my
skin. “She’s… She’s making this worse for all of us, Brother,” she murmured weakly, her voice
trembling as she clung to him like he was her last hope.
There was a flicker in Lucas’s golden eyes–hesitation? Perhaps shame? His wolf bristled, its
energy shifting uncomfortably.
2/4
+8 Point
Chapter 117: Defense
He knew.
He’d seen Scarlett’s claws dig into my arm. He’d seen the deliberate way her actions reopened wounds still fresh from Marcus’s torture.
e
The room filled with that suffocating silence again, broken only by Scarlett’s perfectly timed sniffles.
Then, finally, someone stepped forward.
“I saw it.”
A young omega wolf. His head hung low, his body tense and trembling. He wouldn’t look at
Lucas or Scarlett. His wolf had completely submitted, but his voice trembled with strength he likely didn’t even understand.
“Second Daughter Scarlett deliberately grabbed Eldest Daughter’s silver burns, My Lady.”
The sound of his voice, shaking but steady, rang out across the hall, loud in its simplicity.
Lucas moved instantly, his golden eyes blazing with fury. His wolf surged forward, its
dominance crashing through the room.
“You dare accuse my sister?!” His roar shook the air, his anger palpable enough to make even
the highest–ranking betas shift with unease.
But before Lucas could close the gap between himself and the omega, another voice spoke.
“I saw it too.”
The words pierced through the room like glass shattering. A beta female this time. Her voice started soft, fragile against the tension, but grew steadily stronger. She stepped forward
hesitantly, shoulders squared ever so slightly.
“Nina warned Scarlett at least three times to let go of Celeste,” the beta continued. Her gaze
darted between Victoria and Alpha James, seeking their permission–or perhaps their forgiveness. “She only attacked after Scarlett ignored her warnings. Scarlett’s claws were already deep enough to draw blood.”
It was as if a dam had broken. Silence exploded into murmurs again, but this time, they
weren’t aimless.
The truth was a strange, awful thing. It had a way of turning even the most loyal followers into
doubters, even if only briefly.
Scarlett’s pale face turned ghost–like. Her lips parted, but no words came. Her emerald eyes
3/4
48 Points
Chapter 117: Defense
flickered briefly with raw panic before she quickly buried it beneath soft sniffles.
Her whimpers stuttered like static, but the sound was hollow now. Clearly strained.
I didn’t hesitate.
My head turned toward the two wolves who had dared to speak, meeting their gazes even as they avoided mine out of fear. “Thank you,” I said softly, but my words carried weight. I needed
them to stand strong now, to feel validated by someone.
Then I turned sharply, my gaze locking on Alpha James and Victoria. My voice cut through the
noise, heavy with venom.
“You’ve heard the truth,” I said. I made sure every word carried. No one here would dare
pretend they hadn’t. “Nina acted to protect me from deliberate harm. Scarlett aggravated
wounds you all knew I had. Wounds inflicted by Marcus Blackwood.”
I refused to flinch as I said his name.
Victoria’s face faltered, her wolf’s energy shifting nervously. She reached for Scarlett, her hand
hovering like it wanted to shield her child from the storm clearly brewing.
“I heard Scarlett’s claws digging into me,” I continued, staring directly into Victoria’s tear–filled eyes. “Even through Marcus’s torment, I remember exactly where those injuries came from.
You all knew. And still, no one stopped her.”
Grace’s snarl cut through the silence, sharp and jarring. Her wolf was bolder now as she
stepped toward me, her hands clenched tightly into fists.
“My mistress would never intentionally harm anyone!” Grace barked, her voice bristling with
outrage.
I didn’t respond immediately. Instead, I reached up, my fingers fumbling briefly before rolling back the sleeve of my blouse.
The blood was still fresh, seeping through bandages that had already failed to hold together earlier.
The metallic scent hit wolves nearby almost instantly, filling the space as I lifted my arm higher so everyone could see.
