Gloria took one look at the injuries on Daisy's body and lost it completely. She threw herself at her daughter, dropping to her knees.

"My baby! My poor baby!" She reached out with shaking hands toward the bruises and claw marks, but couldn't bring herself to make contact. Her fingers stopped just short of Daisy's skin as she choked on her own sobs.

"Look at her! All of you, look at what that animal did to my daughter!"

Daisy knelt half-naked in the center of the training grounds, hands covering her face, shoulders heaving.

"It was Koda... he dragged me into the woods... he said he'd kill me if I didn't comply..." Her voice came in broken fragments, barely audible.

Harold's head snapped up, his glare burning into me.

"Take a good look!" he snarled, voice raw. "Look at what your son did to my girl!"

The three of them clung to each other on the training grounds, sobbing. It was a wretched sight.

Among the watching pack members, many had tears burning in their own eyes, anger building behind them.

Hostile glares converged on me. Someone screamed that I was heartless.

Several warriors turned directly to Alpha, shouting their objections.

"Alpha, how can someone like her be our Beta?"

"Vera can't even control her own son — how is she supposed to manage the pack?"

Through all of it, I stood exactly where I was, watching with flat detachment.

Not so much as a flinch.

It wasn't that I was heartless. Their performance was just that pathetic.

Seeing the situation about to implode, Alpha Kieran released an even heavier pulse of dominance. The pressure swept over the grounds, and the noise died instantly.

"Both sides will state their case." His voice was low and final. "Until I've made my ruling, no one moves."

At the Alpha's command, Harold hauled himself to his feet.

Breathing hard, he launched into his account.

"Last night, Daisy was walking back from the patrol outpost at the edge of the woods."

"She took the path behind Pack House, and someone grabbed her from behind — covered her mouth and dragged her into the trees!"

Daisy clutched Harold's arm, trembling as she picked up where he left off.

"I saw his face while I was fighting back."

"It was Koda! He even told me he was the new neighbor who'd just moved in."

My gaze settled on Daisy's tear-streaked face, and I cut in without warmth.

"How exactly did you identify him as my son?"

Daisy flinched, then bit her lip and answered loudly.

"Because on moving day, I ran into Koda in the hallway!"

"He came up to me and introduced himself — he told me his name was Koda!"

I listened to every word of her tearful accusation, then called her out without an ounce of mercy.

"Every word of that is a lie." I held her stare, my voice quiet but cutting.

That pushed Harold over the edge. He let out a roar and lunged at me.

Several warriors reacted instantly, grabbing him and holding him in place.

Harold thrashed against them, screaming. "Are the injuries on my daughter's body fake too? Vera, do you have any conscience at all?"

Daisy broke down completely, covering her face and shrieking.

"Why would I use my own honor to frame someone?" She was sobbing so hard she could barely stay upright.

I watched their collective hysteria and felt nothing I needed to show them.

"If she'd actually seen my son, she would never have made such a ridiculous claim."

Daisy was wailing on the ground, and I almost felt amused.

I knew the truth.

On moving day, the Pembertons had only ever seen me. Koda had stayed in the car the entire time. He hadn't shown his face to a single person.

More importantly — if they had actually seen Koda, they never would have pinned a charge like sexual assault on him.

Harold let out a harsh bark of laughter and cut me off.

He stepped closer, crowding my space.

"Is your son some kind of big shot?"

"You think my daughter would throw away her own reputation just to frame an outsider?"

Daisy immediately stopped sobbing and backed up her father at the top of her lungs.

"I saw Koda with my own eyes!"

"On moving day, I bumped into him coming out of your place in the hallway."

She clutched at the torn fabric of her clothes, absolutely certain of her claim.

"He came up and introduced himself to me!"

Gloria heard her daughter's words and started screaming along.

"Daisy saw your son in person — she even knows his name!"

"Don't you dare keep trying to weasel out of this, Vera!"

I watched the three of them taking turns with their little charade, and all I felt was contempt.

I knew exactly why Daisy felt bold enough to lie so brazenly. The patch of woods behind Pack House was a blind spot in patrol coverage. No one ever passed through, and there wasn't a single witness to contradict them. The family had exploited that gap, spinning their lies without a shred of fear.

I was done arguing with these people.

I turned to face Alpha Kieran directly.

"Alpha, their testimony is full of contradictions and obvious holes." My voice was hard. "A few words aren't proof of anything."

Alpha Kieran met my gaze and gave a slight nod. His demeanor made it clear he intended to conduct a fair hearing.

Gloria panicked. She scrambled to her feet and screamed at the Alpha.

"Every word my daughter said is the truth!"

Harold's jaw was clenched so tight a muscle jumped in his cheek.

He glared at me through gritted teeth. "If you won't handle this, Alpha, I will."

I held Harold's stare without flinching.

"You think a few unsubstantiated claims are enough to convict my son? Pack law isn't something your family gets to twist to suit yourselves."

The watching pack members took my pushback as stubbornness. The jeering grew louder.

"The outsider Beta is exactly as unreliable as we thought!" someone yelled.

"She won't even own up to what her son did!"

I straightened my spine and let my voice rise above their curses.

"The truth hasn't been determined yet. I'd think twice before letting yourselves be used as someone else's weapon."

Gloria caught the crowd rallying behind her and grew bolder. She turned and fixed me with a venomous look.

"You said our evidence wasn't enough?"

A smirk crept across her face.

"Then take a good look at this."

Gloria turned and waved toward the edge of the crowd.

A woman in a dark cloak stepped onto the training grounds.

A witch. Clearly hired by Gloria.

Harold puffed up his chest and announced to the crowd.

"We brought a witch to perform a memory trace on Daisy!"

"The witch has already seen the attacker's face in the memory playback!"

The witch stepped forward to stand before Alpha Kieran.

"Alpha, I performed a memory trace spell on Daisy. In the playback, I clearly saw a young male who identified himself as Koda assaulting her."

As she spoke, she produced a crystal ball. She murmured an incantation, and a projected memory flickered to life above the crystal.

The image was blurry — impossible to make out the attacker's face clearly.

But everyone could see a young male figure violently tearing at Daisy's clothes.

In the playback, Daisy struggled desperately, whimpering in anguish.

"Koda, please let me go..."

The male figure let out a cruel laugh.

He backhanded Daisy hard across the face, the crack ringing out over the training grounds.

"Don't push your luck!"

He snarled viciously.

"You were smiling at me all day when I moved in — flirting with me, weren't you?"

The playback cut out abruptly.

The training grounds erupted into pandemonium.

The pack members exploded with outrage.

Everyone stared at the witch's blurry projection, seething with rage. Voices from the crowd screamed for Koda to be dragged out and killed.

Harold surged forward a step, getting in my face.

"A memory trace can't be faked!"

"Your son's crimes — everyone just saw them with their own eyes!"

I glanced at the so-called witch standing in the middle of the grounds.

There wasn't a trace of panic on my face.

I hadn't expected the Pembertons to go this far. They'd actually hired a witch to fabricate evidence. Manufacturing that entire fake sequence targeting my son must have cost them a fortune.

I met the crowd's furious stares, my tone as even as ever.

"That memory trace is fake."

Harold's eyes went wide. His whole body coiled tighter, and he roared even louder.

"The witch performed the trace herself and you still won't accept it?"

"Your whole family is rotten to the core!"

Daisy's tears hadn't even dried. She suddenly wrenched free from Gloria's grip, locked her eyes on me, and screamed.

"You reject my testimony!"

"Now you reject the witch's trace!"

Her voice pitched higher, breaking. "What do you want from me? You want me dead? Is that it?"

The words barely left her mouth before Daisy whipped out a gleaming silver dagger from her pocket.

She gripped the handle with both hands and pressed the tip against her own chest.

The crowd gasped.

Gloria let out a desperate scream and threw herself at Daisy, clinging to her arm.

Harold's red-rimmed eyes bored into me. His whole body was shaking as he spoke through clenched teeth.

"If Koda doesn't confess today — I'll drag your entire family down with me, even if it kills me!"

With the situation spiraling again, Alpha Kieran's expression turned to stone. He released another crushing wave of dominance, flattening the noise across the entire grounds.

Everyone was forced into silence.

"Enough. I will deliver a fair ruling." His voice left no room for argument.

But the dominance couldn't extinguish the anger. Pack members rallied behind Harold, shouting their support.

"The witch confirmed it and she's still denying it!" someone yelled.

Several people pushed through the crowd, demanding Alpha strip me of my Beta rank.

Harold forced himself to resist the Alpha's pressure. He planted his feet and bellowed.

"Alpha, you think pack law lets the guy who destroyed my daughter just walk?"

"Koda has to pay for what he did!"

Silence fell over the training grounds. Every eye turned to the Alpha, waiting for his ruling.

Alpha Kieran turned and fixed his gaze on me.

One final question.

"Vera, regarding the witch's memory trace and Daisy's account — do you have anything further to say?"

I met his scrutinizing stare without backing down.

I squared my shoulders and spoke, slow and deliberate.

"My best evidence is my son himself."

"Alpha, I'm asking you to bring Koda here."

Alpha Kieran held my gaze for a long moment, then nodded.

He gestured to two warriors and sent them to my residence to bring Koda.

The training grounds fell into a tense, crawling silence.

Every eye locked on the entrance.

The Pembertons stood rigid, faces twisted with hatred. They were clearly prepared to take down the animal the moment he appeared.

Minutes dragged by. At last, the two warriors appeared at the entrance.

But when everyone got a clear look at the figure being led onto the grounds —

The entire crowd went still.