Chapter 8 Elysia's POV +25 Bonus Everyone in the auction hall turned to stare at Lydia. Seeing she had everyone's attention, she grew bolder. "It's her fault!" she shrieked, her finger trembling as she pointed at me. "She's the reason we lost the quarry! She leaked our bottom line to the Silverclaws-on purpose!" A wave of gasps went through the room. Losing the Moonstone territory was a massive blow for any pack. "Lydia, shut up!" Damon's face was dark as he tried to silence her. "Why should I?" she shrieked back. "She needs to take responsibility for what she did! During the negotiations, she deliberately revealed our strategy, giving the Silverclaw Pack the upper hand!" "Enough!" Damon roared. But Lydia couldn't stop. "You did it for revenge! Because he chose me over you! So she made sure the Blackmoon Pack would suffer! And now that she's found a new Alpha, she thinks she can just walk away?" Her voice grew higher and more frantic. "No way! She cost you so much. She has to pay it back!" I let her finish, a slow, cold smile spreading across my lips. "Brilliant. Truly a work of fiction." Lydia froze. "What?" "Too bad for you, I have proof." "It's a memory crystal," I said, my voice cutting through her tirade. I held it up so the light caught its facets. "A complete, unedited recording of that negotiation." Damon's face turned ashen. "Elysia, don't..." "Why not?" I sneered. "I'm not taking the blame for this." 1/3 Chapter 8 I activated the crystal. A holographic image appeared in the air, showing the negotiation room from a month ago. In the image, I was at the table, across from the Silverclaw representatives. "We are willing to trade Silvermoon Valley for the mining rights to the Moonstone Quarry," the Silverclaw Alpha said. "The terms are not sufficient," my image replied. "The quarry's value far exceeds the valley's." "Then what do you want?" Just as my image was about to speak, a voice came from the door. "Wait! We haven't fully considered this!" It was Lydia. She barged in, ignoring all protocol. "The Alpha is still thinking about the offer! Why don't we discuss other terms? Like the border-line issue?" The Silverclaw Alpha frowned. "The border? You want our border?" +25 Bonus "No, no!" my image of Lydia waved her hands frantically. "I mean, if we give you the quarry, can you promise not to expand south?" The other Alpha's expression turned to ice. "Expand south?" He stood up. "Are you questioning our honor?" "That's not what I meant..." "You just said it!" he slammed his hand on the table. "You want our land, and you accuse us of planning to expand?" "No, I just..." "Enough." The Silverclaw Alpha rose. "This negotiation is over. We will not accept any of your terms." The image faded. A stunned silence fell over the auction hall. Every eye in the room swiveled to Lydia. The color had drained from her face, leaving it the color of bone. "That's... that's not real..." she stammered. "What part isn't real?" I asked coldly. "That you didn't barge into the room, or that you didn't say those idiotic things?" "I... I was just trying to help..." 2/3 Chapter 8 "Help?" I scoffed. "Your 'help' cost the Blackmoon Pack the Moonstone Quarry." Damon stared at the space where the image had been, looking like he'd been struck by lightning. He slowly turned to Lydia, the rage in his eyes turning into something cold and lethal. "It was you," he growled, his voice a low snarl. "It was always you." "Alpha Damon, I can explain-" CRACK. The sound of his palm connecting with her face was sickeningly loud. Lydia fell to the floor, blood trickling from her mouth. +25 Bonus "You brainless, worthless bitch!" Damon roared, his voice shaking with fury. "Do you have any idea what you've cost me?" "I... I just wanted to prove I was useful..." she sobbed, holding her face. "Useful?" Damon's eyes flashed with murder. "You've ruined everything!" I watched them, disgusted. "Let's go," I said to Adrian. He nodded, wrapping an arm around me and leading me to the door. "Wait!" Damon chased after us. "Elysia!" We didn't stop. "Elysia!" His voice grew more desperate. "Please! Come back!" We walked out without a backward glance. "ELYSIA-!" Behind us, his desperate howls echoed into the night, the sound of a king who had lost his kingdom. Support Share 3/3