Chapter 55 Trust
ZORA
I was temporarily forgotten. Everyone trooped out of the suite after the servant, hurrying as elegantly as they could.
"That was fast," the ones closest to me whispered.
"Maybe she didn't go missing like we thought."
"I wonder what happened."
They continued to whisper theories while I was left perplexed.
Because we were a lot trying to get to the scene first, movement slowed down at the entrance. All of sudden, there came a loud wail from outside, sorrowful enough to strike a chord in me.
Every whisper turned to curious mumblings, and everyone contracted a sense of urgency in their footsteps as they hurried faster to the scene.
We eventually poured into the open field just outside, and a heavy hush fell on everyone, silencing every sound except sobbings.
I pushed my way to the front until I could see what it was that rendered a group of Lunas who liked to run their mouth at every instance, quiet.
Jayna's petrified form lay in the center on the cobbled aisle in the middle of the large field.
The sobbings came from a woman with tousled hair and bruised skin whose wrists were bound in thick ropes. She sat beside Jayna, her clothes were familiar. There were two guards, and one guard held the end of the rope like a dog leash.
"What happened to you?" The Luna who had yelled at me earlier in the suite was on her knees beside the unmoving Luna.
"What happened..." she choked.
The way I had left Jayna was the same, the wicked grin, the evil in her now pupil-less eyes... All was the same except her skin. They were cracked. Like a stone sculpture depreciating.
"This was definitely not done by a wolf. No wolf can leave her dry this. There's a witch among us!" The guard holding the rope shouted and rose a foot.
"And we caught her in action." He kicked the girl's head harshly and sent her flying backward. I heard a bone crack. It was definitely not the guard's.
The girl landed with a hard thud, her hair covering her face.
Then the host Luna ,the one in charge of the event, walked forward and stood in front of the girl.
"We caught her trying to dump the body over a cliff."
Gasps erupted from everyone, and hands flew to cover mouths as the rest of the Luna exchanged horrified glances with one another.
"Let me see the face of the abomination that the earth should not permit to breathe its air any second." The host Luna commanded.
Once again. the whole open field fell into a hush. The guard holding the rope grabbed her hair and used it to yank her whole body up.
"Ahh!" The girl yelled in pain at the brute force.
My ears tingled at the familiar voice. I tried to see who they'd caught, but the host Luna's body blocked my view.
"You bloody servant do not deserve to live." I heard her say condescendingly before spitting on the girl's face.
The host Luna turned around.
"Jayna was a friend to us and a leader to the MalCreek park." The host Luna raised her voice.
"Although I am deeply hurt by the loss, I will not make a sole decision of what punishment will be meted out to her. Together, we will decide, and with one voice, take our request to Alpha Landon."
The rest of the Lunas agreed, but I knew what they wanted more than anything was to see the face of the abominable killer. Like me.
The host, Luna, stepped aside and revealed the face of the girl whose whole body was still being yanked up by the guards with the open end of the rope.
Marissa!
If I was holding anything at the moment, It would have dropped and crashed onto the floor.
Beaten, battered nearly beyond recognition, and bruised.
Marissa stared at me. One tear slipped from her eyes while I held mine in. She hadn't given me away, and with the little smile she gave me at that moment, I knew she wasn't going to even though it would cost her life.
"Murderer!" Someone flung a shoe at her, the heel hit Marissa's forehead, and blood oozed out of the fresh cut immediately.
I took an instinctive step forward, but she shook her head, signaling that she'd rather I stay put.
The guards took charge from there, hitting her across the face.
She landed on her stomach, and the Luna, who had knelt beside Jayna's body crying, rushed to give Marissa's stomach a hard kick full of rage.
The rest of the Luna's follow suit, one after the other. They gathered around, hitting Marissa.
Including the ones who never liked Jayna because of her proud behavior.
This was purely out of sheer bully's joy.
The fact that they get to beat up someone lower in status.
"Die you lowlife! Die!"
This wasn't about punishing Jayna's killer. This was pure bullying.
There were procedures for handling crimes in the pack, and they were bypassing all of them to satisfy their thirst.
"Stop!" I called out, rushing to pull them away from Marissa, one after the other.
At that point, it didn't matter if all the Lunas were stronger than me, Marissa was not going to die because of me.
"Stop! I'm the one," I screamed even louder. "I killed Jayna!"
That was enough to cease their actions. They turned around to look at me with frowns on their faces.
"What did you say?"
"I killed Jayna, not Marissa. Leave her alone, please."
"Do you really think we're fools, huh? Trying to cover up for her, aren't you? You are a weak wolf. Even weaker than she is, and you really think..."
"I asked her to dump the body somewhere." I interrupted, "She only acted on my instructions. Leave her alone."
I sobbed, my heart tearing apart at Marissa's state.
Blood stained the area where she lay on the floor, barely breathing. She had been beaten to pulp by these vile wolves.
"So the rumors are true..." The host Luna came out of the crowd, her hand coiled into a fist.
I could see her blood-stained knuckles and the craziness in her eyes.
She was enjoying this.
"You are a witch. You are the one we should get rid off the face of this earth."
She advanced forward.
"Do you think your relationship with Alpha Ryker would save you from our judgment?"
She continued to advance towards me. The others followed closely behind her like she was their leader.
"The solution is simple, dear." Her fingers started to grow longer and curvier, turning to claws.
She was undergoing partial transformation, her eyes looked more wolf-like than human and thirstier than before.
"There are lots of women who are suitable for Alpha Ryker. With you gone, it'd be easy for them."
"You were never worthy of him in the first place," she continued, "When you are out of the picture, Alpha Ryker would be able to have as many women as he wants on his bed."
Something in me suspected that the lots of women that she was referring also included herself.
What brazen attitude!!
She wanted Ryker, even though she was already mated to an Alpha. I knew she was coveting Ryker.
And so were other women I was yet to know.
The bond didn't like the sound of that.
It didn't like the thought of other women on Ryker's bed that's not us.
I agreed with it.
I wasn't too happy with the image of that in my head, too.
Was I going crazy?
Yes? Maybe? I don't know?
I just was not comfortable with that.
"We'll have to make your death look accidental." The Luna added.
I felt my fury work up in me, along with fear of being battered to death.
My whole body trembled, and at that moment, all I wanted was for them to be in pain.
"Get her!" The host Luna commanded, and they all rushed at me.
I didn't need to move, but as soon as they got within a certain distance, all of them froze. The others who tried to push further were thrown up and suspended mid-air by unseen hands.
I watched them slowly struggle with breathing, like air was being sucked out of their lungs. They were dying, and their life was being sucked out of them.
"I didn't mean to kill her." I heard myself say. "But she shouldn't have followed me. She tried to kill me. It wasn't my fault. It was just self-defense. Why won't you understand that?"
Despite that I was conscious of what I was saying, I knew I wasn't in control of my powers.
It felt like I was drowning in the current of it all.
" Zora!" Someone yelled my name.
I blinked, still in daze.
It was Ryker.
Was he here to support them? Blame me, too?
This was why I told him we needed to leave. If he had answered, I wouldn't be in this situation, Marissa wouldn't be half dead.
Tears clouded my vision, making my vision blurry.
Strong hands pulled me backward and away from the dying Lunas.
I didn't see him move, but I knew it was him.
"Ryker," I called out softly, feeling relief flood into my body along with a sense of safety as I collapsed into his arms. "I swear, it was an accident."
"I know, meiga," he whispered and gently stroked my hair. "I know."
"They can't hurt you anymore."
With that assuring statement, I allowed myself to slip into the dark abyss, knowing that Ryker was going to make sure I was safe.
I trusted him.
The bond trusts him.