Chapter 43 As innocent as he is
Tristan's POV
“It's okay, I know you could never hurt a soul as innocent as this boy,” she said.
And she was walking off in the direction of the building, to get out of the palace. She barely left. She only did a few times, but when she did I always guessed she was going to pay her friend, Rachel, a visit.
But this time seemed different.
She didn't believe me.
It was all written in her expression—the little argument she’d put up before admitting she believed.
I had hurt people. She was aware of that, and that was the stake against me. I know you would never hurt a soul as innocent as this boy.
She kept looking back at me, walking at a fast pace as though she was running. And that look on her face—just fear? Or just pity for this boy?
But I hadn't touched him. I hadn't used my claws on him. I hadn't thrown him into the fire. The fire was burning, but he wasn't inside. It was just a stupid show-off to the council members. The blood on my clothes wasn't his, just that of a rodent I killed.
But what evidence did I have?
Nothing.
The burnt marks on his skin and the claw marks only pointed toward me.
I’d asked him to leave. Of course I hadn't bothered to know his name—innocent Cory.
I hadn't believed he was innocent. He couldn't prove that to me, but I'd let him go. If he was a spy, then the mission failed. If I had killed him for being a spy, other spies would be sent. No difference after all.
“Jude!” I mindlinked.
My mind had turned into a battlefield. Someone killed him without my consent, even after I'd decided not to, and that person made it look like my handiwork.
As I stepped back from the body, going toward the council, I could feel that darkness in me. I hadn't let it subdue me, but my blood was heating up with that darkness.
This wasn't the curse. The curse had its own effect.
But it was hard for me to control myself.
I pushed the door to the council hall open. “Jude!”
He was seated on one of the chairs but stood when he saw me.
“I didn't kill that boy… I didn't cause any further harm to him.”
His eyes rolled at me. “But you did.”
“I didn't.”
“We watched you from afar.”
“That was just a show… I couldn't do it!”
He stared at me for too long. I couldn't exactly tell if he was putting up an act or asking real questions. It was hard to process.
“But you were supposed to,” he said. “You told us you would, and we believed you.”
“And I'm to decide who dies, not any of you.”
“We all know that, I mean that was why we made sure he was brought to you, to our Alpha.”
I clenched my fingers in a bid to control myself. Just a little push—just the slightest—and I could turn into my wolf form to fight him.
I gazed strongly at him. “Someone went against that.”
He sat back on his chair. “What do you mean?”
“Someone killed him.”
“After you’d let him go?”
“Yes, his body is outside. The exact way I'd made it look I did.”
“Too bad for him.” He shrugged.
I wanted to use that as a hint that he was responsible, but I shouldn't expect him to show much concern for someone he didn't know.
“And how did you know he was innocent?” he asked.
“Zara confirmed it.”
“Oh…”
“Jude.”
“Just say the word, ask the question.”
“Did you kill him?”
He chuckled. “And how was I supposed to know you didn't take his life when you made it feel that way?”
“Because you must have read between the lines to know I didn't want to.”
“And you felt I would go against you?”
I shouldn't have asked him that question. But someone had done it if it wasn't me, and it had to be someone who knew I had lit a fire. That person had to make it look like me.
“Then who must have done this?”
“We’re getting into a war, things are becoming crazy. Anything should be expected. The other packs have been prepared for this even before sending out their letter to us.”
“And some of them are hiding among us?”
“Yes.” He stood up. “That's why we shouldn't take any risk by seeing anyone as innocent. Your father wouldn't.”
I nodded.
“You should be worried about containing your curse.”
“I know… but isn't there a way to stop this?”
“No, we have to go with the flow. Time is ticking against us. The gammas, the guards—they need to be prepared for what’s coming, and you have to be in your best strength.”
I left his presence soon after.
I stormed into my father's secret chamber. I hadn't been in this room for months, and the only time I came in, I always stood by the door.
I never walked inside.
A bed had always been inside. It was a room he chose to stay in on rare occasions. But at this time, it was covered with dust. Clothes were littered on the floor, candles. It was far from being habitable by any person.
I had also refused the maids from coming in here to clean.
I walked inside, and the dust was all over me. I sat on the bare floor, resting my back against the bed.
“I caused all these…” I muttered. “They're all coming back at me to take a deep grip at me, to take every bit of my flesh.”
Somehow, the energy in this room matched the dark energy in me. It felt as though I was one with this room. My curse was first triggered in this room, and that day, my life had taken a different turn.
I caused all these.
If I could reverse the hands of time…
But even if I could, how was I certain I wouldn't make the same decisions? How was I certain that the urge for revenge would not make me end in this same path?
Warmth built up in my chest, but this feeling wasn't from the curse. It was guilt laced into my everyday living.
I rolled on the floor, breathing in the dust.
Soon, I found myself waking up, a film covering my eyelids. I didn't know I'd fallen asleep, but my body was weak. It suddenly felt like I had not had any meal for days.
I heard a faint knock on the door.
How did anyone know to find me here?
“Who is that?” I said with a handful of breath.
No one answered.
“Who’s there?”
The door rolled open.
“Zara… what are…”
Her gown was stained with blood, mud and dirt all over her face.
“Tristan, I…”