"Framed you?" Sophia's voice cut through the crowd, dripping with scorn. "Who do you think you are? Worth all this effort?"
Accusations crashed over me like waves. I stood at the center of the mob, a lamb led to slaughter, impaled by countless eyes, condemned by countless voices.
"I didn't..." My protest drowned in the noise. "I really didn't..."
"Enough!" Elder Drake raised his hand for silence. He approached, looking down from his height. "Layla Gray. The evidence is damning. Poison found in your room. Poison traces on your handkerchief. And you were the last to see Mr. Finn alive. What do you have to say?"
"I was framed." Desperation colored my voice as tears blurred my vision. "Please believe me. I'm being framed..."
"Framed? Then tell us—by whom?" Drake demanded.
"I... I don't know..." My voice shrank. "But someone must have wanted..."
"You see? She can't even answer." Drake turned to the other Elders. "I propose immediate arrest of Layla Gray, pending formal trial."
"Agreed."
"Agreed."
"Agreed."
The Elders voted one by one. I looked at their faces—faces that had always shown me coldness, contempt. Now they wore the mask of judgment.
"No..." I retreated, shaking my head. "Please, let me explain. Please believe me..."
"Take her," Drake ordered the guards.
Two guards advanced. I backed away until my spine met the wall. Nowhere left to run.
Then the crowd stirred.
"Move."
That voice. That voice I knew too well, cutting through from outside. Everyone parted automatically. And then I saw him.
Kayden Blackwood stood in the doorway, backlit by moonlight, his tall frame cast in silhouette.
He wore black formal attire, collar perfect, cufflinks gleaming darkly. That face I'd dreamed of showed no expression. Silver eyes swept the room—Finn's body, the crowd, finally landing on me.
Our eyes met.
I saw coldness there. Distance. As if he were looking at a stranger.
But I still clung to hope.
He was Kayden. The Alpha heir. His word mattered most. And we... we were fated mates. Even if he denied it, even if he rejected it, the bond remained. He had to feel my desperation, my fear, my agony.
He would help me. He had to.
"Kayden!" I nearly screamed, stumbling toward him. "Kayden, tell them! Tell them I couldn't do this!"
My steps faltered. I caught my elaborate gown beneath my feet and nearly fell. Just before I hit the ground, a hand caught me.
Kayden's hand. Warm. Strong. Familiar.
I looked up, eyes brimming with hope and pleading. "Kayden, please..."
But the next second, that hand jerked away. As if he'd touched fire.
