CHAPTER 49: GALE’S OSCAR-WORTHY LIES
EMBER’S POV
Knox pivots, because Knox always pivots.
His voice is controlled but I can hear the edge underneath, the barely restrained fury at being cornered
“The recording is from day one. It doesn’t reflect where we are now. Arrangements change. Feelings develop. What started as practical-”
“How convenient,” Elder James cuts in, his voice dripping with contempt. “You claim genuine feelings only
after being caught lying about the sacred fated bond. Only after your deception has been exposed for the
entire Summit to witness. Forgive me, Lycan King, if the council finds this counter-response somewhat…
suspicious.”
The trap has snapped shut.
Knox realizes it at the same moment I do-there’s no defense that doesn’t sound like another lie.
Every word he says now will be filtered through the knowledge that he’s already deceived this council
about something sacred.
Our credibility is gone.
And without credibility, I’m going back to Gale.
“The question before this council,” Gale’s lawyer announces, rising to address the elders with the practiced
confidence of someone who knows she’s already won, “is not whether Ember Aragon suffered abuse. The
question is whether she’s a calculating manipulator who seduced a powerful alpha, fabricated stories to
justify her adultery, and is now desperately telling whatever lies she thinks might save her from facing
consequences.”
She gestures toward the screen with theatrical precision.
“We have documented proof that Ember Aragon entered into a transactional arrangemprit with the Lycan King. We have her own voice admitting to ‘playing the part’ of his girlfriend. We have her accepting money and protection in exchange for sexual access. And now she claims she was abused so severely that it
justified breaking her sacred mate bond? The timeline doesn’t fit. The evidence doesn’t exist. What we have is a woman who calculated every move, manipulated everyone around her, and is now desperately hoping this council will believe her tearful performance over documented facts”
I want to stand. I want to scream that she’s lying. I want to fight back with every weapon I have
But I don’t have any weapons left. I have my word, and my word has just been proven worthless.
“The council calls Alpha Gale Crawford to testify,” Elder James announces.
Gale approaches the stand with the confident grace of a man who’s been preparing for this moment his
The series has the witness char the he owns it and when te hoks at me his expression is aimi sympathetic Aloo bas
It’s a performance Everything about him has always been a performance But he’s so good at in 1 almost believe him myself
1 mamed Ember many many years ago, he begins, his voice modulated to hit exactly the right regret and confusion I want a perfect mariage be the first to admit that. But I took my wow seriously I was committed to making it work. To being patient with her challenges

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