Chapter 76

The Great Hall of Justice loomed around me, its ancient stone walls seeming to pulse with the weight of centuries of werewolf law. I was honestly surprised it had taken this long for me to enter it, but then, most debates were just held in the council chambers. The Hall was only ever opened up when someone did something so bad they had to be made an example of.

Something like slandering the Luna.

I sat rigidly in my seat, my fingers digging into the worn wooden armrests as I looked down. The Hall was built like a gladiator ring, and I could only imagine what it must feel like to have the entire pack looming over you while someone else decided your fate. I almost felt bad for Rita.

I watched as the former socialite was led to the defendant’s podium, looking like half the woman she’d been just a few weeks ago. Her usually pristine hair was disheveled around her sallow face, her eyes wild with fear. Not even her father had been tried in front of the pack like this.

For all that it was built like an arena, the Great Hall of Justice held no cheers or taunts from the audience. This was a somber performance, and as the high council filed in and took their seats at the jury’s bench it felt like the entire world held their breath.

It was an odd, suspended sort of moment. A mix of emotions churned inside me - relief at not having to testify, weariness from the endless drama Rita had put me through, and a spark of satisfaction at seeing her finally face consequences. All of her haughtiness was gone now.

The last person to enter the stage was Elroy. In spite of the situation, my heart skipped a beat. He looked breathtaking in his official robes, which looked almost like military dress and gave him an even more regal air.

Was that what I should have been noticing right then? No. Could anyone blame me for noticing? Also no.

Only once Elroy sat did the counselors do the same. I felt my stomach curdle; in an instant the atmosphere changed. The trial had begun.

The charges rang out, echoing off the vaulted ceiling: "Rita Blackwood, you stand accused of fabricating information, obstructing an official investigation, and slandering the Luna," Elroy announced. “How do you plead?”

I couldn't help the small smile that tugged at my lips. Finally, justice would be served.

“My client pleads guilty to all but one charge, Alpha,” Rita’s appointed lawyer answered. Rita was shaking too hard to say much of anything, it seemed.

“Explain,” Elroy prompted, eyebrow raising. I couldn’t lie, the plea shocked me too; I’d thought for sure that Rita would go down kicking and screaming about her innocence, but the last few weeks in the dungeons must have broken what was left of her fighting spirit. Still, to plead guilty to all but one charge?

“My client pleads guilty to the slander of Luna Olivia, and recognizes the impact her actions had on the official investigation. However, she did not fabricate the information, and so pleads innocent to that charge.”

My brow furrowed. That could only mean…

“Then you assert that you were given the information by an outside source?” Elroy asked, turning to Rita directly. She seemed to hunch under the weight of his stare, but she spoke.

“Yes, Alpha,” she said, voice cracking from nerves. “I got it from the Ravencrest pack, so of course I thought it was true.”

My blood ran cold. Ravencrest? Why would they involve themselves in this? If this was another one of Rita’s schemes, it wasn’t a very well thought out one.

I could vaguely hear murmurs from behind me as the pack tried to take in that information too. The Ravencrest pack was known for its vast array of knowledge, from scientific to literary to public gossip, and their research had always been sound. If you wanted to know something, you went to Ravencrest.

“You hired another pack to stalk Eclipse’s Luna?” Elroy asked, tone disbelieving but sharp.

“No!” Rita yelped. “I—they—”

“My client was approached by a Ravencrest pack member,” her lawyer butt in smoothly, sparing her from stuttering out a response. She was obviously terrified. That didn’t bring me any joy.

"And why," the Elroy asked, stern-faced, "would the Ravencrest pack have any interest in providing false information about our Luna?"

Rita's shoulders slumped. "I don't know. That's why I believed it. It seemed so... official."

“Then why not say where you got it from?” Elroy asked. “Wouldn’t it lend credence to your claim?” Rita bowed her head.

“The woman—the Ravencrest person who gave me the information—told me it would distract everyone from the actual report. It would become a whole political issue and people would focus on that instead of on what the report said about Luna Olivia. That made sense to me, so I pretended I’d done the research myself.”

“Who was this Ravencrest woman?” one of the councilmen asked. Rita shook her head, lip trembling—not for show this time, but in genuine helplessness.

“I don’t know,” she said quietly. “I really don’t.”

“And you expect us to believe that?” Elroy asked.

“I’m not lying!” Rita said frantically. “If I was, I’d pick a better lie, right? Or at least make up a name for the Ravencrest woman, buy myself some time.”

My stomach sank. She was absolutely right.

“Why aren’t you?” Elroy asked.

“Because I—I know I messed up!” Rita gasped, near to tears. “I was jealous and petty and I did stupid, impulsive things because of it, but I would never do something like this.”

“But you did,” Elroy pointed out coolly.

“Because I believed it!” Rita swore. “I thought all that information was true, I thought that I was helping by uncovering it. I thought I was protecting Eclipse!”

And honestly, I couldn’t blame her for that. After all, if it had been true, then I would have been a legitimate threat to the pack—it would be her duty to turn me in. Her pride led her to go about it in the flashiest way possible, but under that, she had a point.

As much as I hated to admit it, I found myself believing her. The genuine confusion and fear in her eyes were impossible to fake, but more than that there was a sense of resignation, like she already knew the verdict. Like she realized she’d been set up to take the fall.

But if Rita was telling the truth, what did that mean?

“Can you provide any evidence to back up your testimony?” Elroy asked, but not in a challenging way. He heard the same thing I did, and he needed proof. From the way Rita looked down, I knew there was none.

“No,” he admitted quietly. There were hushed whispers throughout the Hall.

The murmurs fell silent as Elroy rose to his feet, his imposing figure casting a long shadow across the room. His eyes swept over Rita's trembling form.

“Then it is hearsay, and we cannot submit it in a court of law,” he said heavily. “Given the lack of substantiated evidence and your history of antagonism towards Luna Olivia, we have no choice but to doubt your testimony.”

Rita slumped. She knew. She’d walked in here knowing.

"We will review among ourselves. Wait patiently.”

I shifted in my seat, a mix of relief and unease washing over me as the counsel and Elroy bowed their heads together. Part of me wanted to speak up, to voice my suspicions about Ravencrest's involvement, but all I had was a gut feeling. Besides, what did it change for Rita?

Nothing, really. It didn’t matter where she’d gotten that information, she’d used it to attack me and derail a critical investigation. Even without that, Ravencrest didn’t make her desperate to steal my Mate, didn’t convince her to frame me with fake poison or work so hard to undermine my place in this pack.

With or without Ravencrest, the result was inevitable.

Elroy stood again, his voice filling the hall as he somberly announced the verdict. "In light of the evidence presented and past transgressions, this council finds Rita Blackwood guilty of all charges. The sentence is banishment, effective immediately."

A collective gasp rippled through the assembled crowd. Then Rita wailed.

"No!" she screamed, her voice raw with desperation. "Please, you can't do this! I'm telling the truth!"

Two burly guards moved to restrain her, but Rita thrashed wildly in their grasp. "Luna!" she cried out, her gaze locking onto mine. "You believe me, don't you? Tell them!"

I averted my eyes, my chest tight with conflicting emotions. It was pointless to feel sympathy for her when she was just reaping the consequences of her own actions, but as her anguished cries filled the air, I felt no satisfaction, only a hollow emptiness.

Probably because I knew exactly what banishment felt like, and I couldn’t bring myself to celebrate that kind of pain.

As Rita was dragged from the chamber, her pleas echoing off the stone walls, I closed my eyes, trying to block out the sound. But her voice lingered in my mind for a long, long time after.