His convict Luna

01 Stand Accused

Ivory

My heart was racing, seeing all the damning evidence levelled against me. It was hard to look at the faces of the people present at the trial. How had it come to this? Everything had spiralled out of control, leaving me at a loss for words. The evidence was so damning that even I began to doubt my innocence, but I knew deep down I wouldn't attempt to kill my husband, and I wouldn't murder my best friend.

Something was wrong. I was speechless because there was nothing I could say in my defence. There was nothing I could do; I was helpless.

I looked at the eyes of the people who once looked at me with love and respect, and now the look of disappointment, hatred, and anger had replaced their expressions. The warmth their gaze once held towards me faded as if it never existed.

I couldn't blame them. Honestly, I, too, would hate me.

My husband's puffy eyes broke my heart. In his eyes, I was a traitor and his biggest mistake. I could see his pain.

"What do you say in your defence, Luna Ivory?" The elder presiding over the case asked, and I was tongue-tied.

There was nothing to say. My mouth was dry from screaming and crying, and my eyes were swollen from the tears I had shed trying to prove I was innocent, but words alone wouldn't save me.

Whatever was going on was planned meticulously, and my over-trusting and loving heart had made me fall into the trap of my enemy, our enemy.

I knew whoever did this was also my husband's enemy. The enemy had incredible cunning and intelligence to destroy us from within, leaving no room to question what they wanted us to believe. All loose ends were tied, and I was made the culprit, implicated in ways that only a miracle could vindicate me.

Seeing my husband this afternoon after I had been locked away for two weeks during the trial process, I knew Cole was broken. He was shattered beyond repair.

I was his world, his north, his Luna and in his eyes, I was now the bane of his life: his greatest mistake.

"Since you have nothing to say, we might as well go to the sentencing," the elder said, his words distant from my mind. His words couldn't register. I couldn't think straight. Cole's father wasn't present as always, and his mother was a complete mess. She hated me now; she used to love me as if I were her own, but the look of disdain in her eyes showed she hated me now.

According to the strong, irrefutable evidence levelled against me, I had killed her daughter, Melissa, who was also my best friend, and I had also tried to kill her son, who was my husband. I knew there was no way I would get out of this.

"Based on the evidence provided by our investigators, this pack finds you guilty of all the crimes you have been accused of. Crimes you carried out deliberately with malicious intent to satiate your carnal desires and greed and hide your secrets. Normally, we would sentence you to death, Ivory Woodson, because you didn't only commit treason, you also took a life, but we will let Alpha Cole decide on what to do," the elder said and ended the hearing.

People began to disperse while I remained in my silver chains, standing in the box of the accused. I knew the elders’ decision to leave the punishment to Cole was based on my husband’s request. I didn’t know what he would have in store for me, but I braced myself for it.

Cole walked to me. I noticed he had a limp on his right leg. Did he not heal properly? Were there complications? My eyes went to the leg, and I was shattered. A powerful alpha like him had been reduced to nothing, and I was framed for the crime.

The moment he was in front of me, I could see the hurt in his eyes vividly.

"Why, Ivory?" he asked me, his voice breaking.

I hadn't heard his voice since I was locked up. As heart-wrenching as the words were, the sound was soothing. I missed him.

My days in the dark cell, not knowing if he’d make it, not knowing what would happen, made me appreciate our lives together. The darkness that had engulfed us now was all-consuming, and I knew we wouldn’t make it. Our love wouldn’t survive it.

I shook my head, tears streaking down my cheeks. I had nothing to say. There was nothing I could say in my defence.

"I thought we loved each other. I loved you fiercely. I thought it was the same for you," he said, his tears streaming. He was wrong; it was the same for me. I loved him fiercely, too. I still love him.

"I would do anything for you. You know it. My life, my heart, and my soul were in your hands, Ivory, and you crushed them all," he said. I tried to communicate my emotions with him and his wolf but to no avail.

"If you wanted out, you should have just told me. Instead of what you did," he said.

"I never wanted out, Cole. I can never want out. I do not understand why all this is happening. I love you. I love you too much to try to hurt you," I said, and rage was on his face.

"Then why, Ivory? Why have an affair and try to end me for it? Erin was lucky he got a quick death. If not, I would have made him suffer for everything he did," he said through gritted teeth, rage evident in his eyes.

"He was your best friend, Cole, your Beta..." I said, and he yelled at me.

"A friend that was screwing my wife and wanted my life! A friend you tried to kill me for and murdered my sister to hide your secret," he said.

“It is all lies, Cole! I swear. I will never do that to you and Melissa. Erin would never do that to you and Melissa. You have known me all my life. Why won’t you believe me? Please, why won’t you see that I was set up? Please, Cole,” I cried, hoping to reach him somehow. I was desperate for him to see my truth, but his eyes remained cold and angry.

"The evidence is there, Ivory. Why are you still lying? The video, the calls, the pictures, the emails, your money trail? Everything..." he said and breathed in with difficulty.

"When I woke up from the coma, and they told me it was you, I fought them with all my might. I didn't believe them. I said, 'Not my Ivory, she'd never do this. We love each other. Not my friend, we have been through so much together; he will never betray me,'" he said and wiped away his tears.

"Then the evidence started rolling in, and with each damning one, my resolve waned, my heart shattered, my soul broke. It was so much I could not refute it. So Ivory, please tell me, why?" he said.

"You already had it all. As my Luna, you owned the pack, the money and the power. Why?" he said, and I was speechless.

"You wanted to keep everything except me, right? I’d die, Melissa would die, and you and Erin would take over the pack. You’d be a grieving widow, and he would be a supporting best friend there to swoop in and take care of his friend’s legacy,” he said with disgust. As he spoke, I knew it was plausible. Everything he said was believable. I knew he believed it.

"Rain, please. You can tell if I am lying…” I said, pleading to his wolf out of desperation, hoping he would feel me and know that I was telling the truth.

Cole began to laugh. It was a laugh of pain and anguish.

"How dare you try to plead with my wolf. How dare you call his name!" he said with pain and unrefined rage.

Something was a miss; I could not feel the command in his rage. It had nothing to do with the silver chains I was bound with. Something was wrong with Rain, and I knew it. I could feel it. My wolf couldn't feel him; she couldn't reach him. The thought set me in panic and I knew I was doomed. With Rain out of the picture, hoping my husband would sense the truth would be futile.