Chapter 182

Chapter 182
Freya's POV

The werewolf courthouse felt like it was holding its breath. Angela's words hung in the air like poison, and I watched Cedric's face go from pain to absolute horror.

"What are you talking about?" he repeated, his voice barely a whisper.

Angela's restraints clinked as she shifted in her chair, that maniacal grin never leaving her face. "Oh, this is rich. You really don't know, do you? None of you figured it out."

"Angela, enough games," Anson snapped, but his voice was shaking. "If you have something to say—"

"I have everything to say!" Angela's voice cracked with hysteria. "You want to know who really killed your precious Linnet? It was me. Eight-year-old me."

The courtroom erupted in gasps and murmurs, but Angela talked over them, her voice rising.

"I was bored that day. Tired of being told I couldn't go into the deep forest. So I snuck out while everyone was busy." Her eyes gleamed with a sick satisfaction. "Wandered right into the forbidden zone like the spoiled little brat I was."

Cedric tried to sit up straighter despite his injuries.

Angela shrieked. "Linnet came looking for me when she realized I was missing. Found me crying by the old oak grove because I'd gotten lost and scared."

My blood ran cold as the pieces started clicking together.

"Linnet was leading me back to safety when we heard it," Angela continued, her voice taking on an almost dreamy quality. "This massive rogue werebear crashing through the underbrush. Territorial, probably hadn't seen civilization in years."

Anson's face had gone white. "No..."

"Oh yes. Linnet didn't hesitate. Shoved me behind her, told me to run for help. But I was frozen, terrified." Angela's smile was sharp and cruel. "So I got to watch everything."

She described the fight in excruciating detail—how Linnet had shifted into her wolf form, how she'd fought with desperate courage to keep the werebear away from Angela. How the beast's claws had raked across her ribs, how she'd been thrown against trees again and again but kept getting back up.

"She was magnificent," Angela said, her voice dropping to an eerie whisper. "Even bleeding, even broken, she kept fighting. For me. For a spoiled little girl who didn't deserve it."

Cedric was shaking violently now, tears streaming down his face. "Linnet... my Linnet..."

"The bear finally left when it realized she wouldn't stay down. Probably decided she wasn't worth the effort anymore." Angela's expression didn't change as she delivered the killing blow. "That's when I ran back to her."

The silence in the courtroom was deafening.

"She was still alive," Angela said simply. "Broken ribs, internal bleeding, probably punctured lung. But alive. She reached for me with one bloody hand, eyes full of hope."

Cedric let out a sound like a wounded animal. "No... please, no..."

"She whispered my name. Begged me to get the pack healer. Told me everything would be okay if I just ran fast enough." Angela tilted her head, studying Cedric's anguish. "But I was scared the bear might come back. So I left her there to die."

The courtroom exploded. Pack members cried out in horror, some lunging toward Angela before security restrained them. But it was Cedric's reaction that shattered my heart.

"LINNET!" he screamed, his voice echoing off the stone walls. "She could have lived! She could have—"

His body convulsed as grief and rage overwhelmed his already weakened state. The medical team rushed forward as he thrashed against his wheelchair.

"She might have lived another hour!" he sobbed as they tried to sedate him. "An hour... oh goddess, just one more hour..."

The medics wheeled him toward the exit, his cries fading but seeming to linger in the air like a curse.

Anson rose from his chair, his entire frame shaking with rage. His eyes had shifted to wolf gold, and for a moment I thought he might lose control entirely.

"Twenty-five years," he whispered, his voice deadly quiet. "Twenty-three years I've loved you like my own granddaughter. And you..."

He couldn't finish the sentence.

"The Faith family patrol found her body the next morning," Angela continued as if nothing had happened. "They did what any decent wolves would do—brought her home for proper burial. But you all needed someone to blame, didn't you? Much easier than accepting it was just a tragic accident caused by one bratty child."

"You let us hate them," Anson said, his voice breaking. "You let Alexander carry that rage for over twenty years. All because you were too much of a coward to call for help."

Angela shrugged. "I was eight. What did you expect?"

"I expected..." Anson clutched his chest, looking every one of his seventy-eight years. "I expected the child I raised to have some basic decency. Some honor."

"Honor?" Angela laughed bitterly. "Where was honor when Alexander chose that bitch over me? Where was honor when you all planned to cast me aside?"

The presiding elder called for order, his voice shaky. "Angela Baker, you stand accused of causing the death of Luna Linnet Reid through gross negligence and cowardice, conspiracy, attempted murder, and treason. The court hereby sentences you to death, to be carried out immediately."

Angela's smile was razor-sharp. "Good. I'm tired of pretending to care."

The guards moved to drag her away, but suddenly the courtroom doors burst open with a loud crash.

I spun around and my heart nearly stopped. Alexander stood in the doorway, swaying on his feet, his face pale but his eyes alert and focused. He must have heard everything—Cedric's screams, Angela's confession, the entire horrible truth about his mother's death.

"Alexander!" I rushed toward him just as his knees buckled, catching him as he stumbled.

He looked at me with dark, intense eyes full of pain and something else I couldn't quite read. "I heard," he said quietly. "I heard all of it."

Behind us, even as the guards dragged her toward the exit, Angela started laughing again.

"Perfect timing, Alexander!" she called out mockingly. "Did you enjoy the story? Did you like learning how your precious mother died because I was too scared to save her?"

The guards hauled Angela from the chamber, her laughter echoing in the corridors long after she disappeared. But I barely heard it.

All I could focus on was Alexander, finally knowing the truth.