---- Chapter 12 No.12 Aria POV: The word "sick" landed like a physical blow. Kaelen recoiled, his hand flying to his chest as if warding off a phantom pain. The invisible bond between fated mates, the sacred link the Moon Goddess bestows, was fragile. My visceral rejection was causing it to fray, sending splinters of agony straight into his soul. His face went pale, a sheen of sweat breaking out on his brow. He couldn't believe it. The Aria who had adored him, who had followed him like a shadow her entire life, was looking at him with pure, undiluted disgust. | turned my back on his pain, my focus narrowing to a single target. | walked through the parted crowd, my steps deliberate and silent, until | stood before Lyra. She was trembling, trying to hide behind one of the other warriors, her eyes wide with terror. | didn't say a word. | simply swung. My left hand, then my right. The slaps were sharp, ringing cracks in the dead silence of the ballroom. Once, twice, three, four times. | struck her until my palm stung and red welts rose on her tear-streaked cheeks. "You ungrateful parasite," | snarled, my voice low and trembling with rage. ---- She collapsed into a sobbing heap on the floor. "! didn't do it! | swear! I'm innocent!" she wailed, her performance as polished as ever. | drew back my leg and kicked her squarely in the shin. She yelped and fell to her knees before me. "Alpha Alistair!" she cried, turning her pleading, tear-filled eyes to my father. "Please, you have to believe me! I'm just an Omega! | don't know anything about computers or codes! Kaelen is lying! Someone is framing me!" | saw a flicker of doubt in my father's eyes. He was a fair man, and Lyra's defense, on the surface, made sense. She was playing her role as the weak, helpless victim to perfection. | didn't bother to argue. | simply turned and looked back at Kaelen, who was watching the scene unfold with a dead, hollow expression. "This is your last chance, Kaelen," | said, my voice carrying across the room. "Are you going to be the one to tell them the truth, or shall 1?" | let the threat hang in the air, a silent, deadly promise. "You can confess now," | said, my gaze sweeping over both him and the sniveling girl on the floor. "And maybe, just maybe, I'll allow you to leave this pack with a shred of dignity. Or you can force my hand. The choice is yours."