Claiming My Luna Queen Again

Diane’s POV “I swear, I'm innocent. I didn't do it!” I cried as tears flowed down my eyes but no one listened to me. No one cared to believe me. They all glared at me with resentment in their eyes, unwilling to give me a chance to explain. “You're a liar!” A little girl screamed and hurled a stone at me. “You'll pay for what you have done!” A woman who looked in her fifties yelled, handing an egg to her son to throw at me and he duly did. None of them cared that I was currently heavily pregnant. It was my sixth anniversary with Kade, my mate and the absolute love of my life, a day that I hoped would be the best of my life. Kade was the best man that I could have ever hoped for. Daily, I blessed the day the Moon Goddess gave him to me as my mate. He was my bundle of joy and happiness. There was no length that he wouldn't go for me. For five years during our marriage, he made sure that I never lacked anything. Although we had no child, Kade never made me feel unloved. He loved me relentlessly and defended me before everyone else. He stood by me like a rock. No one dared whisper an evil word about me with him around. He was my protector in every single way. So when the time for our anniversary drew closer, I thought about several things to do for him, just to let him know how much I loved and appreciated him. I wanted to show him how much he meant to me so I came up with a plan… A surprise party... Our previous anniversaries were all pretty uneventful except for the first when he threw a large party. We often hung out by ourselves, treating ourselves to lunch or dinner so I wanted something different this time. So I drew up a plan with the help of Rosy, my friend and together, we were able to come up with a brilliant idea for the surprise party. But it was I, who was surprised in the end. Tied up to a pillar in the presence of all the Pack members, I was subjected to utter humiliation. They yelled at me, cursed and spat on me and even threw eggs and anything else they could lay hands on at me. “Murderer! Wicked murderer!” They kept screaming as they assaulted me, accusing me of a murder that I didn't and could never have committed. As they hurled things at me, Kade watched on, encouraging them as he did whilst voicing hurtful words at me. “Kade, you have to believe me. This is a misunderstanding. I didn't do it!” I cried out once again but just like the previous times, it fell on deaf ears, no? It made the people even angrier and they showed it by hurling things at an even faster rate. I shut my eyes and wailed as pain engulfed my entire body. But it was Kade's refusal to believe me that hurt me the most. How could he believe that I was a murderer? How could he even think that I'd kill his mother? How? Mrs Gina, Kade's mother, was like a mother to me. She was just as kind as he was toward me and never made me feel like I wasn't welcome in the family. We ate together and had wonderful conversations as I spent quite a lot of time with the woman, drawing from her well of wisdom which never seemed to have an end. When I was accused of killing her, I couldn't believe it. The Pack members were shocked too; only that they were shocked that I could do something like that, but I didn't. She was an angel. She treated me like her own child. She was a woman that I loved with all of my heart but it wasn't just me who did. Mrs Gina was loved by everyone in Pack. Known for her generosity, she ensured that the poor in the Pack didn't have to suffer a lot. We'd go to the market together and buy several foodstuffs. Then we'd take them to a large, abandoned building where all the poor Pack members often gathered and we'd distribute the foodstuffs to them. Her dedication to her work was second to none and the people loved her for that. Now that she was dead, they were so enraged and ready to do anything to the one who killed her. To them, that was me. “She showed you so much care, Diane,” an elderly woman cried. “She was no different from a mother to you and all of us in this Pack. Why did you have to take her away from us? What did she do to deserve this, you evil child?” Nothing I said could change their minds. They had already drawn their conclusions and anything else I tried was just a waste of time. There was no way I was leaving there alive, especially since it was my own twin who announced that I was guilty. It was Fiona who informed Kade that I murdered his mother. She claimed to have witnessed me first-hand killing Mrs Gina. “I tried to stop her but she wouldn't be stopped,” she lied with tears in her eyes and all I could do was gasp in surprise. My lips parted as I tried to defend myself, to tell my mate that my twin was lying but alas, I couldn't. I was so shocked by her words that I just gaped at her with tears in my eyes wondering why she'd tell such a lie. When I finally managed to speak up, Kade didn't believe me still. He chose my twin's words over that of his mate. I couldn't understand why Fiona would do something like that. She was always so kind to me. Ever since we were little, we did everything together. The love between us was so palpable that everyone talked about it. Yet, she chose to lie against me. She took out her phone and handed it over to Kade. “Look, go through these chats and see who's lying between us,” she urged him and he did. His eyes slowly went increasingly wide as he scrolled through the chat. When he was done, he returned his gaze at me with so much pain in his eyes. “Why?” He asked with tears welling up in his eyes bringing the phone closer so that I could read the chats. It was a screenshot of exchanged texts between Fiona and me. In those texts, I saw that I informed my twin of my desire to kill Kade's mother as soon as possible and my eyes went wide too. I didn't do that. I could never. I didn't remember ever having that conversation with Fiona because I didn't. “These screenshots are fake, Kade. This never happened,” I denied. “I would never say something like that to Fiona. She's trying to frame me. You have to believe me, my love.” “Don't you ever call me that!” Kade bellowed at me, almost hitting me with his right hand only to stop short. “My mother was everything to me and you knew that. Yet, you chose to murder her in cold blood for reasons best known to you. I'll make you pay for it with your life. You will suffer!” I fell on my knees and wept profusely, hoping that somehow, it'd get him to believe me. But how could he when he just saw proof that it happened in the form of a screenshot? How could he when my hands and clothes were stained with his late mother's blood? Earlier today, I heard a scream from inside the house so I ran in to find out who it was. When I got into the house, I found out that it was no one else but Mrs Gina lying on the floor with blood oozing from her mouth and stomach as she gasped for air. I picked up a piece of cloth and began to tie it around her to prevent the bleeding. “Help!” I screamed as loudly as I could but no one seemed to be close. “It's… It's –” she tried to say to me but couldn't because the pain she felt was unbearable and slowly, she was losing consciousness. “Don't worry, mom. I'll save you,” I promised, tying up the wound as quickly as I could. Suddenly, her hands went limp. “No! No!” I yelled, shaking her as hard as I could. “You can't do this to me. You can't leave me, Mom. Help!” As I stood and headed for the door hoping to get the attention of someone from outside, Kade and Fiona appeared at the doorway, glaring at me with hateful eyes. “Thank goodness! Kade. We need to get the Pack healer,” I suggested with teary eyes. “It’s your mother, I don't know but I found her here in the pool of her blood.” Kade ran into the room and checked on his mother shaking his head while Fiona stood by his side with her arms folded. “Look, I know that she's my sister and I don't want any harm coming to her but this is the truth, Kade. She killed her. I watched her with my own eyes,” she lied with tears in her eyes. “I hope you'd find a place in your heart to forgive her.” “That's not true, Fiona. I was only trying to save…” “Shut your mouth, Diane!” Kade glared at me with resentment in his eyes as he approached me. “How could you do this to my mother?” He ran his eyes down my hands which were still stained with his mother's blood and then brought them back to my face. “I hate you with everything in me,” he voiced in anger, blowing hot air from his nose. “I, Kade, reject you as my mate. You're hereby sentenced to death for the murder of my mother.”