Chapter 0036 – Seraphina’s POV
The courtroom was silent, the air so heavy with tension that it felt like it might collapse under the weight of the truth. Lucian’s terrified sobs echoed through the hall, his small figure trembling as his world unraveled.
Damon’s face was pale, his lips parted as if searching for words that wouldn’t come. Finally, he rasped out, “…W-what?”
Althea’s voice broke the stillness, her desperation slicing through the moment like a jagged blade. “No! Damon! None of it is true!” She grabbed his hand, shaking it wildly as if trying to dispel the damning truth that hung in the air.
Isolde stepped forward, her voice ringing with anger. “You said Jimmy was lying because we supposedly bribed him. What about now, Althea? Your own son said the same thing! Are you going to claim we bought his testimony too?”
Althea crumpled to her knees, clutching at Damon’s pants with trembling hands. Tears streamed down her face, but her voice wavered with panic rather than sorrow. “I don’t know… They must have threatened Lucian! There were only vitamins in that bottle, I swear!”
Caden let out a cold chuckle, holding up the small plastic bottle and waving it toward Lucian. His voice was like steel. “Did you hear that, Lucian? Your mom is still insisting that there were only vitamins in the bottle. Seems like she doesn’t care whether you live or die.”
Lucian’s cries turned into full-blown wails. “Mom! Mom! Why are you still lying? I don’t want to die!”
He thrashed and screamed, his small body jerking in the soldier’s grip as he tried to rush toward Althea.
Althea’s mask slipped for just a moment, her beautiful face twisting with rage. “Shut up, you stupid kid!” she hissed, venom dripping from every word.
Lucian flinched as if struck, but his terror quickly overwhelmed him. “I admit it! I did it!” he sobbed. “I was the one who brought the poisonous candles into Seraphina’s room! And after she survived, I switched them with the safe ones! I’m telling the truth! Please, just give me the antidote!”
Gasps rippled through the room. Elders exchanged stunned glances, their disbelief mirrored in the murmurs that rose from the crowd.
Damon’s body stiffened. He clenched his fists, his jaw tight as he inhaled sharply.
Then, in a swift movement, he bent down and gripped Althea’s chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. His voice was cold and unyielding. “What Lucian said… Is it true?”
Althea’s lips quivered, her tears flowing freely now, but her once-practiced sobs no longer held the same power. Damon’s expression was stone, unrelenting.
“You said yourself that an eight-year-old can’t lie,” he snapped. “So what he said must be the truth! You… You actually tried to kill Seraphina!”
Althea’s face contorted under his grip, her trembling hands clawing at his arm as she tried to free herself. Finally, she let out a broken sob, her voice barely a whisper. “Yes… I did try to kill Seraphina.”
Her admission hit like a thunderclap.
The room erupted into chaos.
Nora and Isolde immediately began shouting, their curses echoing off the stone walls.
“Asking a murderer to be your Luna? Bravo, Alpha Damon. Truly impeccable taste,” Caden remarked dryly, his voice cutting through the noise.
An elder stood abruptly, his voice loud and authoritative. “Alpha Damon, even if Althea hails from a powerful pack, you cannot make her Luna now. She’s a criminal—a murderer—”
“BUT!” Althea’s voice rang out, desperate and defiant, cutting the elder off mid-sentence. “Killing Seraphina wasn’t my idea!”
Damon’s frown deepened. “Then whose idea was it?”
Althea’s trembling hand rose, her finger pointing shakily toward someone in the room. Every eye followed her movement, and when her finger landed on her son, gasps filled the air.
She was pointing at Lucian.
“It was Lucian who told me to kill Seraphina!” she cried.
A tidal wave of rage surged through me. My vision blurred with fury as I pushed past Nora and Isolde, rushing toward Althea.
“Blaming your own son for your crime?! And you call yourself a mother?!” I shouted, my voice trembling with anger.
Althea ignored me entirely, her focus locked on Lucian. “Sweetie,” she cooed, her tone soft but laced with venom, “do you remember saying you wanted Seraphina dead?”
Lucian’s wide, tear-filled eyes darted around the room, his small frame trembling. “Y-yes,” he stammered. “I did say that…”
“Then why did you want Seraphina dead?” Althea pressed, her voice dripping with faux concern.
“Because… because she hit me, abused me, and I hated her…” Lucian whispered.
“Enough!” I roared, my voice breaking under the weight of my emotions. “Stop making him lie!”
Althea’s head snapped up, her gaze defiant. “I wanted to kill Seraphina out of a mother’s instinct to protect my child. If Seraphina hadn’t mistreated Lucian, I wouldn’t have come back to this pack, let alone insisted on marrying Damon!”
“Enough, Althea,” Damon muttered, his voice softer now.
Althea collapsed into his arms, sobbing theatrically. “I risked everything—my reputation, my honor—to protect Lucian! I only did what any mother would do!”
Damon stroked her back gently, his own voice laced with discomfort. “If you had concerns, why didn’t you tell me? Why take such extreme measures?”
“I thought you still had feelings for her!” Althea cried, clinging to him desperately. “I overheard it all! Even after she rejected you, you wanted her back as your mistress… You wouldn’t take my side!”
Damon’s gaze flickered to me briefly, shame coloring his expression, but he quickly looked away.
“You’re on her side?” I demanded, my voice sharp with disbelief. “What do you mean by that, Damon?”
He turned to face me, his expression torn but his arms still firmly around Althea. “No real harm was done,” he said weakly. “And this clears up the rumors about you and Alpha Caden. It’s a win-win.”
“Bullshit!” Isolde shouted, stepping forward. “Your mistress tried to kill Seraphina. That’s attempted murder!”
Damon’s irritation flared. “It was Lucian who wanted Seraphina dead. What are you going to do? Put a child on trial?”
Althea clung tighter to him, trembling. “Will they put my son on trial? Will they hurt him? Exile him? No! No!”
Lucian wailed louder. “Don’t kill me! I don’t want to be a Rogue! And don’t hurt my mom either!”
Some elders sighed, their expressions softening.
“Poor thing,” one muttered. “He’s just a child. What does he know?”
Another chimed in, “Miss Althea might have been ruthless, but she acted out of love for her child… A mother’s love.”
I froze at those words, disbelief and anger threatening to consume me.
A mother’s love?
Althea didn’t just try to kill me—she killed my unborn child.
She deserved punishment, not pity.
Tears stung my eyes, my body trembling as helplessness threatened to swallow me whole.
But then, a firm hand rested on my back.
Caden’s cold, commanding voice cut through the room like a blade.
“You said Lucian asked you to kill Seraphina. Who came up with the idea to poison the candle?”
Althea hesitated, her lips trembling. “That… That was also Lucian’s idea.”
Caden’s expression darkened, his voice laced with dangerous intent. “Then this child is indeed a little demon without morals. Alpha Damon, he needs to be sent to an orphanage, where he’ll receive strict discipline.”
