“Midnight tea, really?" Joseph muttered, eyeing the tray of porcelain cups as he followed Luna Victoria into the rose garden.
“You've been pacing halls like a ghost," she said, settling onto the bench. “I thought a calmer setting might help you think."
“About what? The lies you helped spread? The girl you left to rot?"
Victoria's hand trembled as she poured the tea. “About your future."
---
Unseen, Stella crouched just beyond the hedge. She'd been pruning the outer vines when their voices drifted through the leaves.
She froze.
“You were there," Joseph said. “When he died."
“I was," Victoria replied softly.
“And the report—the time of death—it was changed."
Silence.
“I asked you something."
“I did it to protect you," she said. “To protect the pack."
“You lied."
“I begged her,"
