Chapter 70
Chapter 70
(Siena’s POV)
The celebration hums around me, the energy electric, the room alive with laughter and congratulations.
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For the first time in years, I feel a fragile sense of happiness, a flicker of hope that maybe, just maybe, this night marks the turning point I’ve longed for.
Windhowl has proven itself, and so have I. I can see it in the way people look at me now–not as Raiden’s rejected Luna, but as a leader in my own right.
Butthen, as if by clock–work, tehre she stands.
Lila.
Tear stained face.
Like a blade slicing through the moment, her voice cuts across the room.
“It’s time the truth came out,” she announces, her tone trembling just enough to sound like pain.
The room falls silent, all eyes turning to her. She stands near the center of the hall, her crimson dress pooling like blood around her feet, her face a mask of practiced anguish. I feel the first prickle of unease, Horace stirring uneasily in the back of my mind.
Lila holds up a stack ofphotos, her voice trembling with just the right balance of hurt and righteousness. “For too long, I’ve been silent, but I can’t keep this secret anymore. The pack deserves to know?”
My stomach twists as the words settle over the room. Something inside me knows–whatever she’s about to say, it’s aimed at
“Raiden,” she says, turning toward him, her voice softening. “I’m sorry, but I have to do this.”
Raiden stiffens beside me, his midnight eyes narrowing as he studies her. “What are you talking about, Lila?”
She steps forward, holding up the papers like a weapon. “I’m talking about this. About us. About the child we’re expecting.”
The words hit me like a physical blow, the air rushing from my lungs as if she’s stolen it. Around us, gasps ripple through the crowd, the atmosphere shifting from celebratory to stunned.
“You your proof,” Lila continues, her voice growing stronger. She gestures to the pictures and papers in her hand. “Medical records confirming my pregnancy. Photographs from the night Raiden and I spent together. Testimonies from servants who saw us who knew the truth all along.”
Her voice carries, her eyes fall on mine.
The evidence is damning, the narrative compelling.
My mind races, trying to make sense of what I’m hearing, but I can’t move, can’t speak.
I can only stand there, frozen, as the jagged shards of humiliation pierce the fragile happiness I’d been clinging to.
Raiden’s voice cuts through the chaos, sharp and angry. “This is ridiculous. I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
But there’s a flicker of hesitation in his eyes, a moment of confusion that Lila pounces on.
“Don’t lie, Raiden!” she says, her voice trembling as she steps closer to him. “Don’t you dare deny me, or our child! You were
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Chapter 70
drunk that night–I didn’t want to take advantage, but… things happened”
Her voice breaks, tears spilling down her checks. “And now, I’m carrying your child.”
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The room erupts into chaos, voices overlapping as people whisper and murmur, their gazes darting between Raiden, Lila, and me. Horace howls in my mind, a sound of grief and betrayal that echoes through my chest.
Raiden turns to me, his expression desperate. “Siena, I swear to you, I didn’t-”
But his words are drowned out by Lila’s next bombshell.
“And that’s not all,” she says, her voice rising above the noise. “I’ve kept quiet about this for years, but Siena has been abusive toward me. She’s lashed out, threatened me, even attacked me.”
My breath catches in my throat as she continues, twisting innocent encounters into damning accusations.
“She once cornered me in the hallway, accusing me of things I didn’t do. I was terrified, but I stayed silent because I didn’t want to cause trouble.” Her voice cracks, her tears flowing freely now. “I just wanted to protect Raiden. To protect our child.”
The crowd’s murmurs grow louder, their pitying glances cutting through me like knives. I see it in their eyes–the confirmation of what I’ve always feared. To them, I’ll always be the rejected Luna, never good enough to hold my mate’s attention.
The humiliation is unbearable.
But then, something inside me snaps.
The grief, the shame, the anger–it all melts away, leaving only a cold, unshakable determination. I won’t let her destroy me. Not like this.
Gathering my dignity like armor, I step forward, my heels clicking against the marble floor as I approach the podium.
The room falls silent, all eyes turning to me as I raise my hand for attention.
“I believe explanations are in order,” I say, my voice calm and steady despite the storm raging inside me.
Reaching into the pocket of my dress, I pull out a small recording device, its sleek black surface gleaming under the chandelier’s light.
“This,” I continue, holding up the device, “contains a conversation I recorded earlier this week. A conversation in which Lila makes some… interesting admissions.”
I press play, and her voice fills the room, clear and unmistakable.
“You think she’s so perfect, don’t you? Well, she’s not. Siena’s just a weak little girl pretending to be strong. And once everyone sees her lose control, they’ll turn on her. They’ll see that I’m the one who deserves to stand beside Raiden.”
The recording continues, Lila’s voice growing harsher, more venomous.
“It wasn’t hard to push her over the edge. A few drops of the right compound in my perfume, and her wolf went wild. It was almost too easy.”
Gasps ripple through the crowd as the implications sink in. Lila’s plan to sabotage me, to manipulate me into appearing unstable–it’s all laid bare.
I turn to face her, my gaze steady. “Care to explain that, Lila?”
Her face pales, her composure cracking as she stammers for a response. “I… I don’t know what that is. It’s fake—she must have edited it-”
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