Arabella’s POV
As I walked towards what was possibly my execution, I was calm. It was the sort of calm that came from accepting one’s helplessness rather than the one that came from assurance.
I was barefoot – my footwear had been confiscated almost immediately I had been incarcerated by the guards on Anastasia’s orders- my feet were injured but a bit stronger due to the little food Margaret had been able to give me.
I limped, escorted by a guard on either side. My pulse thundered and my mouth was dry. I swallowed. I couldn’t even ask for water because Anastasia had forbidden it. At this point, I was more scared of Alpha Luciano marrying her than I was of her marrying him.
They took me to a part of the pack house that had been out of bounds for me before. It was like an amphitheatre only smaller. It was teeming with wolves that I could hear way before I reached it.
When I entered the baying increased and I averted my gaze choosing to look at my panel of judges.
Emery had explained it to me the day before. I would have six judges who were respectable and unbiased members of the pack. Then the Alpha made the seventh judge.
A unanimous ruling was indisputable while a ruling of at least three judges could be carried out only when it wasn’t disputed by more than one council member. A ruling of above four judges could be carried out only when it wasn’t disputed by more than two members such that the more members who voted against you, the lesser your chances of being pardoned were.
Alpha Luciano sat straight and rigid without glancing at me once. He sat apart from the judges as the Alpha that he was and Anastasia sat next to him but on a seat lower than his to indicate her lower ranking.
Five of the judges were unfamiliar with three males and two females. The sixth judge was Luciano’s uncle. Elder Tommaso was my judge. The man who hated me. Sometimes it felt like he even hated me more than Luciano did. It was in the way he looked at me like I was less than human.
With two votes already against me before the trial even started, I wasn’t optimistic.
In a few seconds, the crowd began to quieten down. Elder Tommaso raised his hands in the universal appeal for silence.
The noise was reduced to almost nothing. Once the room was so silent you could hear a pin drop, Elder Tommaso spoke.
“Today we are gathered to conduct a trial and give a verdict on a crime that has occurred in this pack. A relative of the future Luna of this pack was murdered in cold blood inside the pack house, a place of sanctuary. Whoever desecrates that sacred rule cannot be pardoned.
“Arabella Bianchi, daughter of Vitalio Bianchi was found with the body alongside other incriminating evidence that will be seen and examined in the course of this judgement. When found guilty, she will be sentenced according to the laws of the Lupo-Mortale pack.”
When. He said when not if. To him, this was a mere formality. My sentence was already decided.
Alpha Luciano’s expression was unreadable. I wondered if he agreed with his uncle or if there was a chance however slim that he would take my side.
“As our first witness, we will call upon Anastasia Creole, the cousin to Alec Esposito to speak her part.”
Wait, did he just say, Esposito? Alec was an Esposito? This changed everything.
I fought the urge to look over my shoulder at Margaret and Emery. No wonder Elder Tommaso had taken my sentence as a given. If Alec was an Esposito they had to find me guilty even though I was proven innocent. If they didn’t, the Espositos would come after them with their full might.
Then I thought again. What Margaret overheard suddenly took a grimmer outlook. If they were relatives of the Espositos then… I might just have a way out for myself. I just had to tweak what I was going to say.
Anastasia stood up and walked to the centre of the podium to address the pack. She wore a black ensemble obviously still in mourning for her cousin. It was plain, simple and without embellishments. Her blond hair was for once straightened and pulled back showing off her perfect features devoid of make-up.
It was as though a transformation had taken place. She looked older, more mature yet undeniably beautiful and grim. The pack quietened down as she got into place.
“Good day. I am Anastasia Creole, daughter of the Creole family and fiance to Alpha Luciano of the Lupo-Mortale Pack.” Her voice was quiet yet unshakable.
“Anastasia, tell us what you witnessed on the day of your cousin’s murder.” Another judge. A female this time spoke.
“I was with my fiance at the time. When we entered the room, my cousin was already dead.” Anastasia sniffed and dabbed below her eyelids with the handkerchief she held. “His skull was caved in and blood was everywhere. She,” Anastasia managed to infuse the word with so much disgust that I was almost afraid she would charge at me and rip off my face where I stood below the podium. Almost.
“She stood there, her hands coated in my cousin’s blood glaring at him independently while holding a shard of the ceramic bowl she had killed him with. Photos of the scene and the pieces of the bowl gathered have been submitted as evidence to the judges.”
“I implore the judges and the good members of this pack to not let a murderer go scot-free. My cousin was murdered in my fiance’s pack house because he came to celebrate my mating ceremony. We were promised hospitality and protection. The Lupo-Mortale pack owes my family the right to retribution in the absence of this. We demand the immediate execution of Arabella Bianchi.”
The pack murmured, some cheered and others yelled. I tried not to feel bad about the fact that so many people wanted me dead.
The judges examined the pictures and the ceramic bowl murmuring among themselves.
Then they called up the next witness who was a maid who had heard sounds of violence and had gone to get the guards that had come in immediately after Alpha Luciano and Anastasia who had arrested me. The maid didn’t see anything but she had apparently heard me threatening Alec. Wow.
And so the testifiers kept coming in until about ten people had testified. Some had seen me enter his room with vengeance in my eyes. Others had heard me speak about ending his life because he wanted to take me from Alpha Luciano.
By the time they were done speaking, I was ready to crucify this Arabella they spoke about before realising it was me. They spoke about me. My wildness, my free spirit and how daring I was, one of them even cited how I had tried to end my life rather than be shackled. So surely it wasn’t much of a stretch that I would try to kill someone to do the same.
It was obvious that Anastasia had paid off or threatened the witnesses. Whatever slim chance I had before was now close to null.
The council didn’t bother asking for any witnesses for my side of the story. At this point, it was obvious that I was guilty. Sort of. I did kill him but I didn’t do it for the reasons the witnesses were stating. They discussed amongst themselves and after some minutes seemed to come to an agreement. One of the elders stood up and went to whisper something in Alpha Luciano’s ear.
Alpha Luciano looked straight at me. I could have sworn I saw a hint of regret on his face but surely I was mistaken. “Arabella Bianchi, the council has decided on your case. Before the verdict is carried out, do you have anything to say in your defence?”
Elder Tommaso glared at Alpha Luciano like he had gone off script. So I wasn’t supposed to even speak? What a sham of a trial.
“I do.”
Alpha Luciano looked shocked, Arabella shifted in her seat and Elder Tommaso looked like he was contemplating both Alpha Luciano’s and my demise.
“I wish to say that yes I killed him.”
Outrage followed my words.
“See? She confessed. Kill her now!” Anastasia said, pointing at me about to leap out of her seat.
“Silence!” Alpha Luciano bellowed and the murmurs from the audience disappeared and he faced Anastasia.
“Anastasia, you will be quiet. She will speak her piece as you did yours. Only after she has spoken will the sentencing be carried out.”
Anastasia looked like she wanted to contest the point before thinking better about it. She clenched her jaw regarding me as she would just up and strangle me.
“Arabella continue.”
“I killed him because I found out the true reason he came here. He and Anastasia came here with the sole purpose of stealing intel on the Lupo-Mortale drug syndicate and annexing the Lupo-Mortale Pack lands.”
Anastasia paled. “Lies. Luciano, surely you cannot believe–”
“Keep talking Arabella.” Alpha Luciano’s deep blue gaze looked stormy with flashes of silver and extremely unstable.
“While they are relations of the Espositos, the family fell on hard times due to being cut off due to their excessive spending habits. After stabilizing their pack, they wished to prove themselves once more to the Espositos so they came up with this plot to take over this pack and siphon its resources to be included in the Esposito family once more.”
“Enough.” Elder Tommaso said standing up from his seat in indignation. “Do you know who you are accusing in that manner? It is the future Luna of this pack! You are lying through your teeth to escape your sentence–”
“No. I will be sentenced according to my crime. I will not deny it but I will reveal all the crimes of the Creole family first. I am not just giving this testimony out of malice. I have evidence.”
Anastasia visibly froze and the murmuring in the crowd was thicker than ever.
“I call on Margaret Argent as my witness.”
Margaret stood up.
“The crimes of Anastasia Creole don’t end there, I’m afraid. In an effort to ensure that Alpha Luciano doesn’t have any heir to his empire to ensure a smooth takeover, she poisoned and killed three she-wolves of the harem.”
“She poisoned and killed your daughters. For this claim, I call Emery Salvatino as my witness alongside Sophia, Zoey, Malia and Florentina other members of the harem who were treated unfairly by Anastasia Creole.”
I took a deep breath and looked Alpha Luciano in the eye. He was vibrating with barely restrained violence.
“I request a thorough investigation and a swift punishment of all offenders involved in this case.” I bowed.
I had played my move. It was Alpha Luciano’s turn now.