The reborn lycan heiress

The Accusation

ARIANA's POV

I was reading a report of one of our border patrols as I sat beside the window when I heard the sound again, three insistent knocks on my door. Frowning I put the paper aside and called out, "Enter."

The door opened immediately. One of the guards walked in. His pose was rigid and there was something about the strain in the shoulders that gave me a tightening in the stomach.

“Miss Blackwood,” the guard said, “Alpha Victor would like to see you at once in his own office.”

I straightened in my chair. My father seldom called me at this time of the night unless it was due to some serious occurrence.

"At this hour?" I asked.

The guard showed a bit of hesitation and then responded. “The Lycan council have come, miss.”

The words made my heart skip.

"The council?" I repeated slowly.

"Yes."

My confusion deepened. The council of Lycan was able to visit only after giving prior notice days before. They would not turn up without any planning.

Such a sudden call might only result in one thing.

Something had so gone amiss.

I got out of the chair and lumbered the fabric of my dress as I could feel the unease sitting very heavy in my chest.

I nodded once. "Very well. I'll come now."

The guard had stepped aside and I passed by him. It was different the minute I entered the corridor--the silence of the place before the house--so tense, as a storm that was going to pass.

One could hear servants rushing through the corridors and whispering to one another.

Something had surely gone wrong.

My mind was running as I strolled to the main wing of the estate.

What was the council doing to come out of the blue?

Was there any attack there?

Or a dispute between packs?

The possibilities flashed through my brain, all of them unpleasing.

My heart was thumping more rapidly than the norm by the time I crashed through the big oak doors which led to the office of my father.

Two guards were standing outdoors.

As they beheld me coming up they straightened.

One of them declared the names of Miss Blackwood, and when he opened the door he did it with due respect.

I stepped inside.

The feeling struck me as I entered the door like a wall.

The room was silent.

Cold.

Each couple of eyes looked at me.

My foot was halted in the middle of the steps when I looked at the picture in front of me.

My father was standing and looking at his desk with an inexpressible look on his face. Something more sinister in his eyes than usual was added to the air of authority with which Alpha Victor Blackwood had forever moved.

Some of the other members of the Lycan council occupied the chairs which were placed in the room.

Their faces were grim.

And one of the persons standing close to the middle of the room could not be overlooked.

King Adrian Ravencrest.

Even without his crown there was no mistaking him.

The Lycan King was very tall and imposing and his dark hair was flowing around his sharp features. His golden eyes were smooth and piercing as though he could see right through anyone who dared to stand in front of him.

His presence by itself made the air heavier.

Then my eyes were redirected.

And I saw him.

Lucas Ravencrest, the king’s brother and my boyfriend who had suddenly grown distant.

I felt myself slightly tightening at the sight of him.

Lucas had always brought a warmer atmosphere than Adrian. Where Adrian was icy and dictatorial, Lucas was easy and sociable.

In any case, his presence would have been a relief.

There was something awry to-night, however.

Lucas wasn't smiling.

I struggled to continue walking until I got to the middle of the room.

"What's going on?" Looking between the members of the council and my father, I asked,-- “Why did the council suddenly come?”

No one answered immediately.

The silence was too long to become bearable.

At last one of the council elders cleared his throat.

“Ariana Blackwood,” the elder said slowly, “do you know why you have been called here to-night?

I frowned slightly. "No."

The older gave the others a momentary look and moved on.

“A few hours ago,” he said, “an attack was made on the northern borders of the Lycan land in a well-organized attack.”

My breath caught.

"An attack?" I repeated.

"Yes."

Another council member spoke, and his voice was serious. “Several rebel groups had broken through into the defensive lines. A number of our high-class warriors were killed.”

The words caused a shiver along my spine.

“There were elite warriors, who were the strongest fighters in the territories.”

If several of them had died...

The assault must have been destructive.

“What was their method of piercing the defensive?” I asked.

The members of the council subsided.

I got a cold sensation that was running through me as something about what they said.

The elder by the first glanced over slightly.

“They broke through,” he said slowly, “because they were in a position to get strategic defense plans of the territories.”

My confusion deepened. “That information is classified. It is inaccessible to the common leaders, except high-ranking ones.”

“Yes,” the older replied.

His gaze locked onto mine.

“And that is why you were summoned.”

A weird sensation came into my stomach.

"What are you saying?" I asked carefully.

The older one did not next stutter.

“We are saying,” he said, “that the information was leaked inside.”

My pulse quickened.

“No that is impossible,” I said right away.

"Is it?" another elder asked.

I was about to answer, when one of the guards came forward and put a pile of documents on the table which was in the middle of the room.

The older pointed their way.

“These had been found in the search,” he said.

I went on at a slow pace and selected the upper page.

My hands froze.

Our defensive plan was to be found in the document.

But that wasn’t what shocked me.

My name was written at the top.

My heartbeat began to pound loudly in my ears.

“This… this doesn’t make sense,” I said, flipping through the papers.

There were message transcripts.

Meeting logs.

Movement records.

Each one seemed to connect me to communications with rogue factions.

I looked up sharply.

“This is fake,” I said firmly. “Someone fabricated this.”

Another council member slid a small metal device across the table.

“We also recovered encrypted messages,” he said.

I stared at the device.

“Messages sent from your personal communication channel.”

My head snapped up.

“That’s impossible,” I said immediately. “I never sent anything like that.”

The room remained silent.

The weight of every stare pressed down on me.

My gaze moved desperately around the room.

My father said nothing.

The council members watched me with cold suspicion.

And Adrian Ravencrest stood silently, observing everything with an unreadable expression.

My chest tightened.

Finally, my eyes found Lucas.

He would know this was wrong.

Lucas knew me better than anyone.

He knew I would never betray the territories.

“Lucas,” I said, my voice tightening slightly.

He didn’t look at me.

I felt a strange chill crawl up my spine.

“Lucas,” I repeated more firmly. “Tell them this is ridiculous.”

Still nothing.

My confusion quickly turned into dread.

“Lucas,” I said again.

Slowly, he lifted his head.

But he still wouldn’t meet my eyes.

The council elder leaned back slightly before speaking again.

“There is one more matter,” he said.

I turned toward him.

“The evidence presented tonight was discovered by someone very close to you.”

My heart skipped.

The elder looked toward Lucas.

Then he said the words that made my blood run cold.

“Lord Lucas Ravencrest.”

Lucas stepped forward.

Every instinct inside me screamed that something was wrong.

I stared at him, searching his face.

Lucas finally lifted his gaze.

For a brief moment, our eyes met.

There was something there.

Conflict.

Hesitation.

But it disappeared almost instantly.

Lucas turned toward the council.

His voice was calm.

Steady.

And completely unfamiliar.

“I discovered the messages during a routine security check,” Lucas said. “At first I didn’t want to believe they were real.”

My chest tightened painfully.

Lucas continued speaking without looking at me.

“But after confirming the communication channels and verifying the records,” he said, “there was no doubt left.”

I shook my head slowly.

“Lucas,” I whispered.

He finally looked at me again.

But this time there was no warmth in his eyes.

Only distance.

Then Lucas turned fully toward the council.

And delivered the words that shattered my world.

“The evidence is real,” Lucas said clearly.

His voice echoed through the silent room.

Then he finished the sentence.

“Ariana Blackwood betrayed the Lycan territories.”