Liora
"What…?" The word slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it.
My stepmother stood outside the gate like a grieving widow. Her hand rested dramatically on her chest while Ummu stood beside her with that same cruel smile she always wore when she knew she had won.
I stared at them.
"You're lying," I whispered.
Gasps spread through the guards around us. Some of them looked confused. Others were already staring at me like I was dangerous.
Jaelyn's voice cut through the noise.
"What exactly are you accusing her of?"
His tone was calm but there was something dark underneath it. Something that made even the guards straighten.
My stepmother wiped her face, as if she had been crying all day.
"My husband was found dead this morning," she said.
My chest tightened.
Dead?
My stepfather?
The man barely spoke to me, but murder?
"No," I said quickly, shaking my head.
"That's not possible."
Ummu stepped forward.
"Oh, it's very possible."
Her eyes locked on mine.
"And you were the last person who saw him alive."
My stomach dropped.
"That's not true!"
"You argued with him last night," she said loudly so everyone could hear.
"I never even saw him last night!"
The guards began whispering among themselves.
Jaelyn slowly turned his head toward me.
"Liora."
His voice was steady.
"Look at me."
I forced myself to meet his eyes.
"Did you kill him?"
The question felt like a knife in my chest.
"No," I said immediately.
"I would never kill anyone."
Jaelyn held my gaze for a few seconds longer.
Then he turned back to them.
"She stays here."
My stepmother's face hardened.
"You can't protect a murderer."
Jaelyn didn't even look at her.
"I said she stays."
Something about his voice made the air feel heavier.
Ummu laughed.
"You barely know her and you're already defending her."
Jaelyn's jaw tightened.
"That is not your concern."
"Oh it is," she replied smoothly. "Because if she stays here, you are hiding a criminal."
The guards shifted again.
I could feel the tension growing.
My stepmother suddenly stepped closer to the gate.
"Last night my husband called her into his study," she said.
"That's a lie!" I shouted.
"He confronted her about stealing Ummu's necklace."
"That necklace was planted!"
No one responded.
My stepmother continued like I had never spoken.
"They argued loudly. Everyone heard it."
I shook my head.
"That never happened."
"Then explain this."
She pulled something from her pocket and held it up.
Even from where I stood, I could see it clearly.
My breath caught in my throat.
It was a bracelet.
My bracelet.
The one my father gave me before he died.
My hands started shaking.
"Where did you get that?" I whispered.
My stepmother's lips curved into a smile.
"It was found in the Beta's room."
A wave of whispers swept through the guards.
"No," I said weakly.
"That's impossible."
"You must have dropped it when you killed him," Ummu said sweetly.
"I didn't even go near his room!"
Jaelyn stepped forward slightly.
"Anyone could have planted that."
My stepmother shook her head slowly.
"Perhaps."
She looked directly at me again.
"But there is something else."
My stomach twisted.
"What?"
Ummu's smile grew wider.
"We found blood on it."
The words hit me like a punch.
Blood?
I stared at my bracelet.
My mind raced.
I hadn't seen that bracelet since yesterday afternoon.
I thought I had lost it somewhere in the house while cleaning.
"This is ridiculous," Jaelyn said.
But my stepmother wasn't finished.
"Bring him forward," she told someone behind her.
The crowd outside the gate shifted.
Then someone stepped forward.
The moment I saw him, my breath stopped.
It was one of the pack guards.
He had been on duty at the house last night.
My heart began pounding.
"He saw everything," Ummu said.
Jaelyn crossed his arms.
"Then let him speak."
The guard looked nervous.
But when his eyes landed on my stepmother, he straightened.
"I was guarding the hallway last night," he said.
"And?"
"I saw Liora enter the Beta's room."
My head snapped toward him.
"That's a lie!"
But the guard continued.
"She came out a few minutes later."
My chest felt tight.
"That never happened!"
"She was running," he added.
My voice broke.
"I was already leaving the house!"
The guard shrugged.
"That's not what I saw."
Ummu folded her arms with satisfaction.
"There you have it."
The courtyard fell silent.
Jaelyn's face had turned dark.
But something else was happening inside me.
Something strange.
Because suddenly…
A memory flickered in my mind.
A hallway.
Dim light.
A door slightly open.
I felt my head spin.
Why did that place look familiar?
I pressed my hand against my temple.
Another flash.
A voice shouting.
Not my stepfather.
Someone else.
My breathing became uneven.
Jaelyn noticed immediately.
"Liora?"
I looked at him.
"I… I think…"
Another image hit me.
A shadow moving in the room.
Someone tall and fit
My heart started racing.
"Liora what is it?" Jaelyn asked.
My voice came out shaky.
"I didn't kill him."
"We know that."
"But…"
I swallowed hard.
"I think I saw who did."
Everyone went still.
Ummu's smile disappeared.
Jaelyn stepped closer.
"Who?"
My head throbbed as the memory pushed forward.
The shadow.
The voice.
The door opening.
And then…
My breath caught.
Because the face that appeared in my memory made my blood run cold.
I looked straight at the man standing outside the gate.
And whispered.
"It was him."