The Lycan King, Mr Brekan, grasped Claire by the arm gently, and pulled her to himself- in a way that a father would pull his daughter to himself-making me green with envy. What did they see in the manipulative brat?
“Talk, my child. Tell me what you saw.” Mr Brekan said, his entire attention on Claire.
Claire nodded timidly, opened her mouth, then shut it, creating a palpable tension in the hall. Everywhere and everyone was silent. I couldn’t even hear the sounds of crickets. It was like everything had kept quiet just to hear what the girl had to say.
I wanted to hear too, the lie she was about to spurn and vomit out. I watched her divert her gaze to Adam who still looked at her blankly, probably not understanding why she was acting this way. But I did.
I have read all about her types in books. And I knew that she was going to point Adam as one of those that wouldn’t be happy with her confessions.
“Adam…did you do anything to Claire?” Claire’s father asked, his tone shorn with worry and curiosity.
Adam shook his head immediately, before returning his gaze to Claire. His features got harder by the passing second, like he could tell what she was about to do.
“If you say so…why is she staring at you like you are the grim reaper?” Mr Brekan inquired.
Adam only shrugged his shoulders in response. He looked at his two brothers; the duo shrugged their shoulders as well.
They had no idea what she was trying to achieve with her blatant stare. Well, that was because there was literally nothing she was talking about. She was just performing. Sadly, only Naomi and I could see that.
Mr Brekan must have gotten tired of questioning his sons because he sighed and turned to Claire the next minute. “My dear, tell me what is going on? Don’t worry about anything else. Nobody can touch you while we are here.”
Claire nodded in that stupid way of hers to what the king had just said. She took in a deep breath, then opened her mouth to spurt out the lies.
“It was Maya. I had seen her sneak into the safe room and collect it.” She stated, causng shouts and gasps to taint the quiet atmosphere in the hall.
Immediately she dropped the bomb, she turned to Adam and intentionally squirmed under his gaze.
Wow, this girl should be given an award in acting. How would I steal something I didn’t even know existed prior this time? I didn’t even know that a safe room existed!
“That’s not possible, Claire. Maya was with me the whole time. So, how could she have gone to the safe room?” Adam asked her, folding his arms across his chest, unfazed by her inept actings. If anything, I could feel the rage that was riding off him in waves. He was furious.
Claire took in a deep breath before she proceeded with her theory. “Are you sure she was with you the whole time? Where is she? You can ask her yourself.”
All eyes turned to me then, causing me to squirm under their gazes. Naomi nudged me, implying that I should move forward and speak for myself at least. Adam wasn’t going to do all the work.
When she noticed my reluctance and fear, she held me by the hand-I sighed in relief-and walked with me to the hall’s center.
“What do you have to say, Maya? Were you with Adam the whole time?” Mr Brekan asked me. There was a subtle glee on his face. Why?
For a moment I contemplated lying, but then I thought of the people that might have seen me walking out of the hall with the girl earlier, and canceled the thought. Before I could open my mouth and say something in my defense however, Naomi beat me to it.
“Maya has either been with me or Adam the whole night. The only time that she had left the both of us, had been when a little girl, of about twelve years old, had walked up to us, citing that she wanted to speak with Maya over an issue. I had wanted to follow them outside, but the girl had turned down the offer, saying that she wanted to speak with Maya alone.”
A pause, which only served to heighten the tension in the room.
“When she left with Maya, it was to the scanty bushes outside the hall, not anywhere near the meeting hall or the main pack house. I am sure of this because I had followed them to an extent, before some guy had asked me for the same thing, to have a talk with me.”
Naomi paused again, for a dramatic effect, for the information to sink into the ears of everyone listening.
Then she continued, her hand still holding mine, her eyes still stuck to Claire’s timid ones.
“Our purses were left on our seats, and I am sure that had been the moment when the necklace had been deposited into Maya’s bag. As a matter of fact, the bag isn’t Maya’s but mine. The thief really made a wrong guess.” She concluded, chuckling softly at her last statement.
“So, would you say now that I had stolen the necklace?” Naomi questioned sarcastically, staring into the faces of the king and the others.
The tears fell then, even as I squeezed Naomi’s hand. That was my best friend, and I was lucky to have her. I wished everyone would have someone like that, someone that would have their back, no matter what.
“This, my king, was a set up, carried out by one of her bullies that had deemed it important to disrespect you and the cabinet members, who had put up this party to send Maya forth. Think about this. She would be leaving the pack in the next few days, why would she do this? Does it make sense?” Naomi continued, shrugging her shoulders the next second.
“It doesn’t right? I say we find the wicked culprit who had done this. We can search for handprints on the necklace.” She suggested, smirking at Claire who bit her lips nervously before making an outburst, the timid demeanor forsaken.
“Let’s say you are right, Naomi. Where is the girl you mentioned that had led her away from the hall? For all we know, you could be covering for your friend. Of course, no one wants their friend in the dungeons. But this is an important matter. So, where is the girl? Where is she, eh?” She asked, sounding like a crazy person who had been deprived of her favorite toy.