Moon String

Chapter Fifteen:I Almost Killed A Man

Chapter Fifteen: I Almost Killed A Man

All I ever did was try to get some sleep.

Just some peaceful, uninterrupted sleep.

But no.

Apparently, the universe had other plans.

It decided to send a bunch of angry Pack members to my door instead.

"Open the door right now, you rogues!" someone screamed from the other side.

"Let's break down this door!" another person yelled.

I stared at Liora.

Liora stared back at me.

"What's happening?" she asked, her brows furrowing.

"How do you expect me to know?" I whispered back.

She paused.

Then slowly turned toward me with an accusing look.

"What did you do this time?"

I gasped.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"I swear I didn't do anything this time!"

"This time?"

"That's not the important part!"

A loud bang shook the door.

We both jumped.

"They're actually trying to break the door!"

"No kidding, Lysa."

"Open up, you rogues!"

An elderly voice shouted from outside.

The audacity.

Rogue.

They really loved that word.

I marched toward the door before someone decided to destroy it completely.

The moment I opened it, a muscular-looking woman stepped forward and slapped me across the face.

My hand immediately flew to my cheek.

For a second, I just stood there.

Did this woman seriously just slap me?

My sleep-deprived brain was still trying to process the situation when she glared at me.

"How dare you steal the royal jade after all the mercy the Alpha has shown you rogues!"

I blinked.

"I'm sorry... steal what?"

"The royal jade!" she snapped.

Behind me, Liora stepped forward.

"Lysa, you stole the royal jade? How could you do that?"

I slowly turned toward her.

"You believe them?"

Her expression hardened.

"Why wouldn't I?"

For the first time in my life, I couldn't find a sarcastic response.

Not when my own sister didn't believe me.

Not when she looked at me like I had actually done it.

I swallowed hard and turned back toward the crowd.

A royal guard stepped forward.

"I have been sent by the Pack elders to search your room regarding a jade that went missing this evening."

I stared at him.

"Excuse me, what exactly makes me the prime suspect?"

The guard raised a brow.

"You were the only maid who went there to clean this morning before the jade disappeared."

I let out a dry laugh.

"So I'm guilty because I know how to use a broom?"

Nobody laughed.

Right.

Tough crowd.

"Like you all keep reminding me, I'm just a rogue. I don't even know what this royal jade looks like."

"Lyra, just admit it so we can get this over with," Liora said, yawning tiredly.

I stared at her.

"Are you seriously yawning right now?"

"Yes."

"I'm being accused of stealing royal property and you're bored?"

"I've known you long enough to know you probably did something."

My mouth fell open.

"Wow."

Before I could say anything else, angry murmurs erupted from the crowd.

"Stop wasting our time!"

"Search the room!"

"If she isn't confessing, she'll have to face the consequences!"

I sighed.

Fantastic.

Apparently, being innocent was no longer a valid defense.

Before I could even bat an eyelid, one of the enraged women slapped me and pushed past me and stormed into the room.

She immediately began scattering and flinging our belongings everywhere.

Clothes were thrown from one side of the room to the other.

Drawers were pulled open.

Our blankets were tossed onto the floor.

Then one by one, the angry Pack members forced their way inside, pushing Liora and me toward the corner.

I clenched my jaw.

I was willing to let them search.

I was even willing to let them destroy my perfectly respectable sleeping arrangement.

But then one of the men reached for my violin.

My entire body went rigid.

He picked it up.

And before he could throw it aside, I lunged forward.

I grabbed him by the neck and lifted him off the ground.

"Don't you ever touch my violin again!"

The room went completely silent.

The man struggled in my grip.

"Lysa, put him down!" Liora shouted.

I barely heard her.

My eyes burned.it turned crimson red

My heart pounded violently in my chest.

Something inside me had snapped.

"Lyra, he's going to suffocate!"

I tightened my grip.

The man's face began turning red.

"Put him down!"

My eyes flickered crimson.

For a terrifying moment, I couldn't think straight.

All I could think about was his hand touching my violin.

My violin.

The one thing that had stayed with me through everything.

The one thing I could never allow anyone to take from me.

"Lrya!"

Liora shoved my arm.

That finally snapped me back to reality.

I looked at the man dangling from my hand.

Then at the floor.

Then back at him.

Oh.

My.

Goddess.

What was I doing?How did I even have the strength to do that?

I immediately released him.

He crashed onto the floor, coughing violently as he scrambled away from me.

I stared at my own hands.

I had almost killed a man.

"Lysa..." Liora whispered.

Her eyes were wide with shock.

"What has gotten into you?"

I opened my mouth.

"I..."

I didn't even know what to say.

I wanted to apologize.

I wanted to pretend that hadn't just happened.

Mostly, I wanted to crawl into a hole and stay there until everyone forgot my name.

But before I could say anything, a piercing scream came from across the room.

"I found it!"

Everyone turned.

The female Pack member stood beside one of the cupboards, holding something in her hand.

"The royal jade!"

My stomach dropped.

She held the royal jade up for everyone to see.

For a moment, nobody spoke.

Then Liora slowly turned toward me.

Her expression changed.

"You lied?"

I stared at her.

"What?"

"You said you didn't steal it."

"I didn't!"

"Then why was it in our room?"

"I don't know!"

"You expect me to believe that?"

"I expect you to believe your sister!"

Her eyes hardened.

"I can't believe you, Lyra."

My chest tightened.

Before I could respond, the crowd erupted.

"Arrest them!"

"They stole from the royal family!"

"Filthy rogues!"

"After everything the Alpha has done for them!"

The crowd began closing in around us.

And for the first time that night, I wasn't sure my sarcasm was going to save me.

I backed up until my shoulders hit the wall.

Liora stood beside me.

The angry crowd moved closer.

Their eyes were filled with vengeance.

Then suddenly...

A deep voice echoed from behind them.

"Enough."

Every person in the room froze.The room fell so silent that I could hear my own heartbeat.

Everyone turned toward the doorway.

The guards bowed and immediately stepped aside.

And there he stood.

The Lycan King.

His expression was unreadable, but there was something in his eyes that made the entire room feel ten degrees colder.

He slowly scanned the room.

The scattered clothes.

The broken drawers.

The angry Pack members.

Then his eyes landed on Liora and me.

I swallowed.

Of all the people who could have walked in at this exact moment...

Why him?

His gaze moved to the man still coughing on the floor.

Then to me.

Then to the royal jade in the woman's hand.

His jaw tightened.

"What is happening here?"

Nobody answered immediately.

Apparently, everyone suddenly forgot how words worked.

The royal guard stepped forward.

"Your Highness, we received a report that the royal jade had been stolen. After searching the rooms of the Pack members, we found it here."

His eyes flicked toward the jade.

Then back to me.

I couldn't read his expression.

The guard continued.

"She was the only maid who entered the royal chambers this morning, so we had reason to suspect her."

The King said nothing.

His eyes remained fixed on me.

I shifted uncomfortably.

For some reason, his silence was worse than being yelled at.

"Well," I muttered under my breath, "this is awkward."

Liora elbowed me.

"Not now."

"I'm aware."

The King finally looked away from me.

"Where did you find it?"

The woman holding the jade immediately stepped forward.

"Inside their room, Your Highness."

"Inside their room?"

"Yes."

A murmur spread through the crowd.

One of the elders stepped forward.

"These rogues have been nothing but trouble since they arrived. We warned you about releasing them into the Pack, Your Highness."

My eyes narrowed.

Rogues.

There it was again.

That word.

The King's expression darkened.

The elder continued.

"They have no place among us. First, they trespass into our territory, then they steal from the royal family. They should have been thrown out long ago."

I looked at the King.

Something changed in his face.

Barely.

But I noticed it.

His jaw clenched.

His hands curled into fists.

Yet he said nothing.

Another Pack member stepped forward.

"They should be punished severely. Rogues like them can never be trusted."

My stomach twisted.

Liora grabbed my hand.

I glanced at her.

For once, she wasn't accusing me.

She looked scared.

The King suddenly turned toward the Pack member.

"What did you call them?"

The man froze.

"Your Highness?"

"I asked you a question."

His voice was calm.

Too calm.

The man swallowed.

"Rogues, Your Highness."

The King's eyes flashed.

"Do not call them that again."

A stunned silence fell over the room.

I stared at him.

What?

The elder frowned.

"But Your Highness, they are—"

"I said enough."

His voice thundered through the room.

The walls seemed to tremble.

Everyone lowered their heads.

Even I found myself holding my breath.

He looked around the room, his eyes burning with fury.

"You stormed into their room.Without my consent,without informing me"

His gaze moved to the scattered belongings.

"You destroyed their things."

His eyes landed on the man who had touched my violin.

"And you put your hands on her."

The man immediately lowered his gaze.

"She attacked me, Your Highness."

The King's eyes snapped toward him.

"And why?"

The man hesitated.

"She became violent when I touched her belongings."

I muttered under my breath.

"Technically, he did touch my violin first."

The King glanced at me.

I immediately looked away.

Right.

Not the time.

His gaze returned to the man.

"You entered her room without permission?"

"We were searching for the jade."

"And that gave you permission to destroy everything you saw?"

The man opened his mouth.

Nothing came out.

The King's anger grew.

"You call yourselves Pack members, yet you behave like a mob."

Nobody dared speak.

Then his eyes landed on the jade again.

The room fell silent.

His expression changed.

Because he knew.

He knew exactly what that jade was.

And he knew something

Did he think I had tried to steal it.

His eyes met mine.

My heart stopped.

For one terrifying second, I thought he was going to hit me.

I couldn't look away.

There was something complicated in his gaze.

Anger.

Suspicion.

Confusion.

And something else I couldn't understand.

He knew.

Yet he wasn't saying anything.

Why?

His wolf stirred inside him.

Mate.

He clenched his jaw.

Not now.

He had spent weeks trying to silence that part of himself.

Every time his wolf mentioned her, he shut him out.

Every time that ridiculous bond tried to pull him toward her, he fought it.

And yet here she was.

Standing in the middle of a room filled with people who wanted to punish her.

His wolf growled.

She's afraid.

He ignored him.

She's in danger.

"Be quiet," he muttered.

The beta beside him looked confused.

"Your Highness?"

He realized he'd spoken aloud.

"Nothing."

His eyes returned to Lyra.

She was trying to appear calm.

Trying to hide the fear in her eyes.

And somehow, that irritated him even more.

He didn't understand why.

He knew she was not guilty.

He knew she had not attempted to steal the jade.

He should have been furious with her.

He should have ordered her arrested.

So why did the sight of these people surrounding her make something inside him want to tear the entire room apart?

The elder stepped forward again.

"Your Highness, with all due respect, these rogues have already proven themselves unworthy of your mercy. The jade is proof enough."

The King's eyes turned cold.

"You are mistaken."

The elder blinked.

"Your Highness?"

"The jade is proof that it was found in her room."

His gaze shifted toward Lyra.

"It is not proof that she stole it."

I stared at him.

What?

The Pack members exchanged confused glances.

The elder frowned.

"But—"

"I will decide what happens to her. This should be the last time you people will decide something with out informing me"

His voice left no room for argument.

The elder bowed reluctantly.

"Yes, Your Highness."

The King took a step forward.

Then another.

Everyone moved out of his way.

He stopped directly in front of us.

For a moment, he said nothing.

His eyes met mine.

I couldn't tell whether he wanted to strangle me...

Or save me.

Probably both.

His gaze dropped to my hands.

Then back to my face.

"You."

I swallowed.

"Me?"

His expression darkened.

"Do you have something to tell me?"

My heart pounded.

I knew exactly what he was asking.

The jade.

I opened my mouth.

But before I could answer, one of the elders scoffed.

"She'll never confess. That's what rogues do. They lie, steal, and then expect the Pack to pity them."

The King slowly turned his head.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop.

"What did you just say?"

The elder stiffened.

"I only meant—"

"I heard you."

His voice was dangerously quiet.

The elder swallowed.

The King stepped forward.

"You insulted them once."

Another step.

"You accused them without evidence."

Another.

"You invaded their room."

His eyes flashed.

"And now you stand before me and insult them again?"

Nobody moved.

The King's aura suddenly exploded through the room.

Several Pack members stumbled backward.

His eyes glowed with the unmistakable power of the Lycan.

"You will never call them filthy."

His voice shook the room.

"You will never call them worthless."

He looked around at every person standing there.

"And you will never again mistake my mercy for weakness." He turned to the guard that made that statement and said "you will be punished for this,I therefore sentence you to three weeks in the dungeon"

Silence.

Absolute silence.

Then his gaze landed on the royal jade.

His anger didn't disappear.

If anything, it became more complicated.

Because beneath all that fury was one undeniable truth.

He knew Lyra had not tried to steal it.

And he couldn't understand why he was still standing between her and everyone who wanted to punish her.

He looked at her again.

Their eyes met.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Then he turned toward the guards.

"Everyone out."

The room erupted in startled whispers.

The King raised his voice.

"I said, OUT."

Nobody dared disobey.

One by one, the Pack members hurried from the room.

The elders followed reluctantly.

The guards disappeared through the doorway.

Until only the King, Lyra, Liora, and a very uncomfortable silence remained.

The King stared at Lyra.

His expression was unreadable.

Then his eyes dropped to the jade.

"You and I need to talk."

Lyra's stomach twisted.

Because somehow, she knew that conversation was going to be far more terrifying than the angry Pack ever was