Chapter 46 Forbidden Passion
Lila stood slowly, her whole body trembling. Adrian looked worse than she'd ever seen him. The carefully controlled king had completely shattered, leaving behind a man drowning in grief and doubt and desperate confusion.
"No." The word came out firm despite her shaking. "I didn't kill her. I swear on the Moon Goddess, on the bond between us, on everything sacred. I didn't kill my sister."
"Then explain the evidence." Adrian's voice broke. "Explain the poison in your chambers. Explain your hairpin beside her drugged tea. Explain everything that says you did."
"I was framed. Someone planted evidence to make me look guilty." She took a step toward him. "Margot. Garrett. They worked together to murder Celeste and pin it on me."
"You keep saying that. But you have no proof. No witnesses. Nothing except accusations against people who seem genuinely grieving." He ran hands through his hair. "I want to believe you. My wolf is screaming at me to believe you. But my mind keeps showing me the evidence. Keeps asking why so much points to your guilt if you're innocent."
"Because whoever framed me was smart. Knew exactly how to use truth to build lies." Lila moved closer, drawn by the bond even through his walls. "They used my hairpin that Celeste took from me. Used my family's southern connections that I never touched. Used the mate bond as motive when it's actually proof I couldn't do this."
"Is it? Or is the mate bond exactly why you would?" Adrian's voice rose. "Three years, Lila. Three years of torture. Watching me with your sister. Feeling the bond scream for completion. How do I know that didn't drive you somewhere dark? How do I know the suffering didn't break you in ways I couldn't see?"
"Because you'd feel it through the bond!" She grabbed his arms. "If I'd murdered Celeste, you'd feel blood on my soul. You'd feel guilt. You'd know."
"Would I? Can I even trust what I feel through the bond anymore?" He pulled away from her touch like it burned. "Maybe the bond only shows what you want me to see. Maybe I've been blind for three years, missing signs because I was too focused on my own suffering."
"That's not how bonds work and you know it!" Anger surged through her grief. "The mate bond doesn't lie. Can't lie. It's pure connection between souls. If I were guilty, you'd know. Your wolf would know. You'd feel wrong every time you got near me."
"I feel wrong right now!" Adrian's shout echoed off the walls. "I feel everything wrong! My wife is dead. My mate is accused of killing her. Evidence says one thing, my heart says another, and I can't tell which is truth anymore!"
"Then trust the bond! Trust what the Moon Goddess gave us!"
"The bond that's brought us nothing but pain?" His laugh was bitter. "The bond that destroyed my marriage, made Celeste miserable, turned the whole palace into a powder keg waiting to explode? That bond?"
"Yes! Because it's real! Because it's sacred! Because it's the one thing in all this mess that can't be faked or planted or manipulated!" Tears streamed down her face. "Trust it, Adrian. Please. Trust what your soul knows even when your mind doubts."
"My soul is as confused as my mind." But he moved closer despite his words. Drawn by the bond's pull. By three years of denial finally overwhelming his control. "I don't know what to believe. Don't know what's real. All I know is Celeste is dead and you might have killed her and I." His voice broke completely. "I can't survive this. Can't survive losing both of you."
"You haven't lost me. I'm right here. I've always been here." Lila closed the distance between them. "Fighting for us. Protecting the bond. Suffering in silence so you could keep your crown and your marriage. I did everything right, Adrian. Everything honor demanded. And now I'm being punished for it."
"Or you're being punished for murder." But his hands reached for her even as he said it. Reached and stopped, trembling in the space between them. "Tell me the truth. Not what you think I want to hear. The real truth. Did some part of you, even a small part, want Celeste gone? Want her removed so we could finally be together?"
The question cut to the bone. Lila wanted to lie. Wanted to say no, never, not once. But three years of hiding and pretending had brought them here. Only complete honesty could save them now.
"Yes." The admission came out as a whisper.
"Sometimes. In my darkest moments. I wished she'd disappear. Wished she'd leave with Garrett. Wished the Moon Goddess would somehow remove the obstacle between us."
Fresh tears fell. "But wishing isn't the same as doing. Thinking isn't the same as acting. I never would have hurt her. Never could have hurt her. The thoughts scared me so much I pushed them away as soon as they appeared."
"But you had them." Adrian's voice was hollow. "You wanted her gone."
"I wanted the pain to stop. Wanted the bond to stop torturing us. That's not the same as wanting her dead." Lila grabbed his shirt, forcing him to look at her. "Adrian, every person in impossible situations has dark thoughts. That's human. That's normal. What matters is not acting on them. Not letting them control you."
"How do I know you didn't act on them?" His hands finally touched her, gripping her arms. "How do I know the darkness didn't win?"
"Because I'm still here!" Her voice rose to match his. "Because if I'd killed her, I'd have run. Would have fled the kingdom before anyone discovered the body. Would have disappeared rather than face trial. But I stayed. Stayed because I knew I was innocent. Knew the truth would come out eventually."
"Or you stayed because running would prove guilt. Because staying and claiming to be framed looks better than fleeing." His grip tightened. "I want to believe you. Moon Goddess, I want to believe you so badly it's tearing me apart. But everything, every piece of evidence, every witness, everything says you did it."
"Then trust your wolf instead of evidence!" She pushed against him, years of suppressed emotion exploding. "Trust what your soul knows! Trust the bond that's never lied to you! Trust me!"
"I can't!" The words tore out of him. "I can't trust anything anymore! Not evidence, not bond, not my own judgment! You've destroyed my ability to think clearly!"
"I destroyed nothing! You're the one building walls! You're the one choosing doubt over destiny!" Her hands fisted in his shirt. "You're the one giving up on us!"
"Because maybe there is no us!" Adrian grabbed her shoulders, pulling her closer. "Maybe the Moon Goddess made a mistake! Maybe we're cursed, not blessed! Maybe Celeste died because we wanted something we were never meant to have!"
"That's not how it works!"
"Then how does it work?" His face was inches from hers, both of them breathing hard. "Explain it to me! Make me understand why the Moon Goddess would create a bond that destroys everyone it touches!"