Suspicion

Suspicion
The murmurs still lingered in the air even after Aiden gave his mind on why i should be given a chance.
Their gazes burned into me, each pair of eyes filled with suspicion, with disdain. My chest tightened, but I kept my chin high. I had learned to never to let them see the cracks. At least that was what the beta had told me
Someone cleared their throats “we have heard all you have said, and i think you have a point” he started, causing the mumurs to grow louder for a minute. He growled, silencing them in a second “…however, i… we do not think it is right that you stay after wards.”
“but i…” i tried to speak but was cut off almost immediately.
“please… Lady… Advika” he said my name as though he did not even believe that was my name. “i think the pack has been graceful enough to host you till the rites are over. After which seeing you on pack lands would be seen as a threat to the pack and we would act accordingly” the tone in his voice, the finality, everything screamed one thing, if i dared do otherwise, i better have unlocked my powers to take them down or i was going to be fucked
When they said it—when they told me I would have to leave the pack after the mourning rites—I felt something inside me twist. It wasn’t shock. I had expected rejection. But hearing it aloud, spoken with such cold finality, left a dull ache that stretched across my ribs like chains pulling tighter.
I caught Aiden’s eyes through the crowd. He stood firm, shoulders squared, jaw clenched. His words, spoken earlier, still echoed in my head—how he defended me and not a single one of them dared to speak against him. He hadn’t looked away when I spoke my truth. He had risked their anger for me.
I gave him the smallest nod, a silent thank you. My lips pressed together to hold back the trembling, but my eyes softened when they met his. For a moment, it was only us in that sea of doubters and accusers. Just us.
But then the stares returned, the weight of them suffocating me, and I knew I couldn’t stand there another second. I turned, walking back to the room they had given me in the castle. Each step felt heavier than the last, echoing with the reminder that this was not my home, and never would be.
Inside, I closed the door quietly, leaning my back against it. The silence pressed in on me, louder than their accusations had been. My hands curled into fists at my sides, nails biting into my skin, trying to anchor me before the storm inside could tear me apart.
I let my head fall back against the wood, eyes squeezed shut. I thought about leaving after the rites, about walking away and never looking back. Maybe it would be easier. Maybe I was a fool for even trying.
But just as the thought crossed my mind, a sharp sound split through the quiet.
A scrape.
At first, I thought it was the wind against the window. But then it came again—louder this time. A deliberate drag of claws against stone.
My heart lurched.
I opened my eyes, and there, across the room, the shadows shifted. Too thick, too dark to be cast by the dying fire.
Something—or someone—was already waiting for me.

The whole thing ended in a blur, every one rushing to protect themselves while the men went towards the pack.
“here” one of the women, the one that had called me a liar, called, pulling me to the other side. “they can’t find us here” she said, panic in her eyes as she dragged me to the other side of the room, pulling me towards an entrance.
“what…” i tried to look around for Aiden, but just like the other men, he had disappeared.
I felt my heart skip a beat. “what is happening?!” i asked, trying not to go into panic mode.
“i bet its Lucia and her squad again, always terrorizing the pack” the woman said, getting the other women to safety while carrying some weapons with her.
“i don’t… i don’t think that can be right” i said, quick on my feet while i tried to catch up with her.
“and how would you know? Miss imposter?” she said, eyeing me from top to toes. I said nothing, mostly because i knew that whatever it was i said was not going to be listened to.
“the only thing that can kill her is a blue blood, and last i checked, the only blue bloods left are the Caudly’s which have thier asses so far into their asses, they would never help anyone.” i wanted to say something.
Though i was not proud, i was indeed a caudly, and i would not hesitate to help anyone. But most importantly, Aiden, as far as i knew was not a Caudly and he was the one that Killed Lucia, not me.
“hey! What are you waiting for….” the woman asked as i had stopped following her as i was lost in thought, then i felt it again.
The same feeling that someone was watching me. “someone…” i turned around, nothing.
There was no one in the room apart from the few women in there. “someone is watching” i said, looking at the woman in front of me, i was yet to know her name.
“well i would hope so, considering the fact that we are people” she said, rolling her eyes at me
“no i mean…” i was cut off by a snarl, making everyone in the room to freeze. My hands went to where my necklace used to be only that it was no longer there as it was shattered in the batlte with Lucia.
“caudly.. “ the voice called, very faint, very lightly, but somehow, it was loud and clear.
“I am here” someone called, the hairs at the back of my neck standing because i knew too well who owned that voice…