Lyanna's POV
I bolted upright in bed, my heart racing.
Someone was pounding on my door hard enough to shake the frame. Through the wood, I heard shouting, running footsteps, the clash of weapons.
"Moon Judge!" A warrior's voice called. "You need to come now! Alpha Dante Blackwood is at the gates demanding entry!"
Dante.
My former mate. The Alpha who rejected me and left me to die.
He was here.
I stumbled out of bed, still wearing the simple dress someone had left for me. My hands shook as I opened the door. Three warriors stood outside, their expressions grim.
"What does he want?" I asked, though I already knew.
"He's demanding you be turned over to him for judgment," the lead warrior said. "He claims you murdered five of his pack members before you left Shadowpine territory."
"That's insane! I never—"
"We know, my lady. But he's brought a war party of fifty wolves. They're armed and threatening to attack if we don't hand you over." He hesitated. "Alpha King Caelan requests your presence in the throne room immediately."
I followed them through the fortress, my mind spinning. Dante was accusing me of murder? The same Dante who'd actually killed his own pack members and blamed accidents?
We reached the throne room, and I stopped in the doorway, shocked.
The massive room was packed with Alphas and warriors, all arguing loudly. At the center, facing Caelan across a tense space, stood Dante Blackwood.
He looked different than I remembered. Thinner. His eyes had dark circles under them, and his skin was pale. But when he saw me, his face lit up with something that looked almost like relief.
"Lyanna," he breathed.
Caelan's head snapped toward me, and his expression darkened when he saw Dante looking at me. He moved to stand between us, his body language protective.
"The Moon Judge will not be 'turned over' to anyone," Caelan said coldly. "She answers only to the Moon Goddess."
"She's a murderer!" Dante shouted, and wolves around the room murmured. "Five of my pack members died after she was exiled! She killed them in revenge!"
"I never went back to your territory," I said, my voice shaking but clear. "I was in the Forbidden Forest for three days, then traveled here with royal guards. I've been nowhere near Shadowpine Pack."
"Liar!" Dante pointed at me, his hand trembling. "You're lying to protect yourself!"
Caelan's power flared, making the room temperature drop. "Are you calling the Moon Judge a liar in my throne room?"
Dante flinched but stood his ground. "I'm calling a murderer what she is."
"Then prove it," Caelan commanded. "Show evidence that she committed these crimes."
Dante pulled out a piece of paper. "This was found at one of the crime scenes. A note in her handwriting saying, 'You laughed when I fell. Now it's your turn.'"
My stomach dropped. Those words... I had written something like that. In my private journal, the night Dante rejected me. Pages and pages of angry, hurt words I'd never meant anyone to see.
"My journal," I whispered. "Someone stole my journal from my room at the pack house."
"Convenient," Dante sneered. "Or maybe you left it as a message."
"I was dying in the forest!" My voice rose. "I couldn't even walk! How could I have killed anyone?"
"Maybe you had help." Dante's eyes narrowed. "Maybe someone powerful wanted my pack members dead and used you as a weapon."
"That's ridiculous—"
"Is it?" He stepped closer, and Caelan moved to block him again. "Lyanna, please. Just come back to Shadowpine with me. Face proper Alpha justice. If you're innocent, a trial will prove it."
"She's already been judged by a higher authority," Caelan said. "The Moon Goddess herself chose her. No Alpha court has jurisdiction over her."
"Then the Moon Goddess made a mistake!" Dante's voice cracked. "Lyanna, I know you're angry about the rejection. I know I hurt you. But murder? That's not you. The gentle omega I knew would never—"
"The gentle omega you knew?" I laughed, but it sounded broken. "You mean the pathetic, weak omega you publicly humiliated? The one you called embarrassing? The one you had dragged through pack lands and thrown into the Forbidden Forest to die?" My silver eyes blazed. "That omega is dead, Dante. You killed her when you rejected her."
He flinched like I'd slapped him. "I made a mistake. I see that now. But this—becoming this cold judge—this isn't you either."
"You don't get to tell me who I am," I said firmly. "Not anymore."
Dante's expression twisted with something desperate. "Fine. Then let me prove my case. Let me show evidence of your crimes to an impartial judge."
"I am a judge," I reminded him.
"You can't judge your own case!" He looked around the room. "That's not justice! That's just power protecting itself!"
Several Alphas nodded in agreement. Even some of Caelan's wolves looked uncertain.
Caelan's jaw tightened. "What do you propose?"
"A formal investigation," Dante said quickly. "Let the Alpha Council examine the evidence. Let them decide if charges should be brought. If they find her innocent, I'll accept it and leave. But if they find evidence of guilt..." He stared at me. "Then she faces trial like any other wolf."
"The Moon Judge doesn't answer to the Alpha Council," Caelan repeated.
"But she should answer to truth!" Dante's voice rang through the room. "Or is the great Moon Judge afraid of what an investigation will find?"
It was a trap. I could see it clearly. If I refused, everyone would think I was hiding guilt. If I agreed, Dante could manipulate the investigation against me.
But I also saw truth in his eyes—genuine confusion and hurt. He actually believed I'd killed his pack members.
Someone had framed me. Someone had killed those wolves and left evidence pointing to me. But who? And why?
"I agree to the investigation," I said, and Caelan's head whipped toward me. "I have nothing to hide. Let the Alpha Council examine everything."
Dante's shoulders sagged with relief. "Thank you. That's all I wanted—the truth."
"But I have one condition," I continued. "While they investigate my supposed crimes, I investigate yours. Fair is fair, Alpha Dante. If I face judgment, so do you."
His face went pale. "What are you talking about?"
"Five wolves dead in Shadowpine Pack," I said coldly. "All of them coincidentally died after questioning your leadership. That's suspicious, don't you think?" I let my Judgment Sight activate, focusing on him. "Unless you have nothing to hide?"
Dante opened his mouth, then closed it. Dark shadows swirled around him—lies, secrets, guilt. But also something else. Something wrong. Like a sickness wrapped around his mind.
"Fine," he said finally. "Investigate me. I'll prove I'm innocent, and you'll prove you're guilty."
"Or," I said quietly, "we'll both learn some uncomfortable truths."
Caelan stepped forward. "The Alpha Council will convene tomorrow morning to begin investigations. Until then, Alpha Dante and his wolves will be housed in the guest wing—under guard. No one leaves without my permission."
Dante nodded stiffly, then looked at me one last time. Something in his expression made my chest hurt—regret, pain, and desperate hope all mixed together.
"I never wanted it to come to this," he said softly. "I really didn't."
Then he turned and left with his warriors.
The throne room erupted in whispered conversations. Caelan dismissed everyone with a sharp command, and soon only he, Thorne, and I remained.
"That was either very brave or very stupid," Thorne said.
"Probably both," I admitted, sinking into a nearby chair. My whole body was shaking.
Caelan knelt in front of me, bringing us eye to eye. "Why did you agree? You had every right to refuse."
"Because he was telling the truth—at least, truth as he knows it." I met his gaze. "Someone did kill those pack members. Someone did frame me. And if I refuse to investigate, we'll never find out who."
"You realize this could be a trap," Caelan said. "Dante or whoever's helping him could fabricate more evidence against you during the investigation."
"I know." I took a deep breath. "But I also saw something when I looked at him. Dark magic wrapped around his mind, just like the Moon Goddess showed me. Someone's cursing him, controlling him. Maybe he doesn't even know he killed those wolves."
Thorne straightened. "A curse that makes Alphas kill without remembering? That's—"
"Exactly what someone would use if they wanted to create chaos," I finished. "Think about it. Cursed Alphas committing crimes they don't remember. Me arriving to judge them. Everyone turning against the Moon Judge for being a tyrant. The perfect way to discredit divine justice."
Caelan's expression turned grim. "And it gets worse. Oracle Mira's visions showed a dark witch cursing Alphas across territories. If Dante's cursed, others might be too."
"Then we need to find this witch," I said. "Before she destroys everything."
A scream echoed through the fortress—high-pitched, terrified, cut short.
We all ran toward the sound, reaching the guest wing where Dante and his wolves were housed. Warriors stood frozen outside a room, their faces pale with shock.
"What happened?" Caelan demanded.
No one answered. They just pointed into the room.
I pushed past them and looked inside.
One of Dante's warriors lay dead on the floor, his throat cut. And carved into the wall above him in fresh blood was a message:
"The Moon Judge's judgment will come for you all."
My handwriting.
My exact handwriting from my stolen journal.