Chapter 118: Sacred Moon’s Judgment
Chapter 118: Sacred Moon’s Judgment.
(Celeste’s POV)
Scarlett had positioned herself beside Grace. Grace stood rigid, her beta wolf trembling with barely suppressed aggression. The air around her buzzed with hostility, her narrowed eyes glued to me, daring me to speak further.
“You’re making false accusations!” Grace snarled, stepping forward as though she wanted to launch herself at me. Her wolf surged aggressively. “How dare you blame us for your own
brutal assault on Scarlett?”
I couldn’t stop the bitter laugh that bubbled in my chest. It came out harsh, jagged, and cold. “ Brutal assault?” My voice rang across the sacred space, sharp and biting. “Let’s discuss brutality, shall we?”
The words hung in the air for a moment, their weight pressing down on the gathered crowd. My scarred body trembled slightly under the scrutiny of their eyes, but I didn’t flinch.
Victoria, who had been hovering near Scarlett, stepped forward cautiously. Her emerald eyes shimmered with a practiced panic, but her wolf’s energy betrayed the calm calculation she always maintained. “Celeste,” she said with that false softness she had perfected, “you’re letting your emotions twist the truth. I raised you better than this. You must calm yourself,
child.”
“Raised me?” I repeated bitterly, my gaze locking onto hers. “Do tell, Luna. Did you also ‘raise‘ Scarlett to ignore suffering? Or is that a skill she developed later?”
Victoria flinched, her lips parting slightly in a silent gasp. She stepped back half a step, trying to regain composure, but her wolf whined softly beneath the surface.
Scarlett whimpered dramatically, her emerald eyes filling with tears that sparkled under the sacred glow of the temple. “Sister, please…” she murmured, her voice trembling. “Why are you doing this, here of all places? Have you truly lost all sense of our bond?”
Her words were meant to sound like a plea for peace, but I could feel the venom curled around each syllable. My wolf growled lowly inside me at her attempt to sway the crowd with fake
innocence.
I turned my attention to Victoria again, ignoring Scarlett’s quivering act. “Luna, I have one question,” I said flatly, my voice devoid of emotion now. “Do you truly believe Scarlett was
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Chapter 118: Sacred Moon’s Jud…
unaware of the extent of Marcus’s… lessons?”
Confusion flickered across Victoria’s face, but it was momentary. I had seen that expression before. It was the face of a wolf caught off guard, scrambling for a response that wouldn’t give away too much.
“I don’t understand what you’re implying,” she said cautiously, her fragile attempt at patience cracking slightly under the weight of my stare. Her wolf bristled faintly, radiating unease.
I smiled coldly. “Let me clarify, then.” I took a slow step forward, ignoring the stabbing pain in
my legs. “Scarlett visited me daily, did she not? When I was unconscious from silver poisoning. She even helped change my blood–soaked bandages.”
A sharp gasp erupted from several gathered pack members at my words. Wolves exchanged quick, uncertain glances, their auras buzzing with uneasy energy.
“If that’s true,” I continued, “how could she possibly have missed the injuries Marcus left
behind? The silver burns across my back? The lashes laced with wolfsbane?”
Victoria visibly recoiled, her wolf emitting a pitiful whine as if to beg for time to gather her
thoughts. Her mouth opened and closed, but no sound escaped.
“Dr. Pierce,” she finally managed, almost desperately. Turning quickly, she gestured toward the
pack healer standing silently in the shadows. “Examine her wounds,” Victoria ordered, her voice quivering slightly. “Let’s… settle this quietly.”
Dr. Pierce hesitated, his brows furrowing. His gaze flicked to me with something suspiciously
close to guilt before he gave the smallest nod.
I let out a hollow laugh, shaking my head. “More manipulation, even here in the Moon Goddess’s temple?” I said harshly. “How predictable. How disappointingly predictable.”
Victoria flinched again but said nothing. Her silence spoke volumes.
Before Dr. Pierce could step forward, Alpha James decided to make his presence known, his towering frame cutting an imposing figure as he moved toward the altar. His wolf surged aggressively, filling the space with his dominance.
“You will not pollute sacred ground with your lies,” he roared, his voice booming with Alpha authority. “Control yourself, Celeste!”
I didn’t flinch under his rage. Instead, I turned my attention away from him, deliberately ignoring his dominance. My eyes found Lucas, who had remained quiet through this exchange but whose golden eyes burned with both frustration and conflict.
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Chapter 118: Sacred Moon’s Jud…
Through our fading pack bonds, I reached him with my voice. “Future Alpha,” I addressed him coldly, “tell me this: which crime deserves harsher punishment?”
Lucas straightened, his body tensing visibly.
“Is it a royal mate–claim injuring another wolf?” I continued mercilessly. I didn’t let my voice waver. “Or a personal guard defending their charge?”
The tension in Lucas grew. His wolf bristled under the question, understanding full well the
trap laced into my words.
If he spoke against guards defending their charges, he would indirectly condemn Scarlett by not addressing my claims about Marcus. And if he spoke against a mate–claim injuring another wolf, it would implicate Marcus directly.
It was a lose–lose decision. And I intended to squeeze every second of discomfort out of him.
“A guard attacking their superior deserves punishment,” Lucas said after a long pause, his voice quieter now but still laced with authority.
I smiled grimly. “Good answer,” I said. My tone was mocking, disdainful, laced with bitterness.
“Let me help you clarify further.”
Scarlett bristled. Her perfect mask of sorrow cracked ever so slightly, her emerald eyes narrowing just enough to reveal the sharp edge behind them. Her wolf whimpered faintly as it likely prepared for me to turn the full force of my words onto her.
I looked past Scarlett to Grace, who had shifted partially behind her mistress during the growing tension. Grace’s wolf radiated fear now, trembling slightly as my gaze locked onto hers.
“You’re protecting her… again,” I said coldly, my attention snapping to Scarlett. “How noble. How sisterly.”
Scarlett’s lips parted slightly, her tears shimmering more brightly under the temple’s sacred glow. “Sister, please,” she began, her voice trembling melodically.
“I said enough!” I interrupted, my voice cutting through hers like a knife as I took a step forward. The pain was unbearable, but I ignored it. Adrenaline fed my movements now.
My violet eyes burned dangerously as I fixed Scarlett in a piercing, unrelenting glare. “You shield her so easily now,” I said, allowing the bitterness in my tone to deepen. “Was it this easy when she lied about the sacred moon crystal to save you? Was your loyalty this quickly
earned then, Scarlett?”
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Chapter 118: Sacred Moon’s Jud…
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