CHAPTER 56.>>>>>

Akira and Beth quietly made their way back to the kitchen.

“So tell me, Nia, how the hell did you get there?” Bethany asked, still confused. “We just ate a royal breakfast… how the fuck did you do that?”

Akira's lips curled into a small smile. “Don't you think it's too early to start gossiping?”

“Don't worry; I will give you the breakdown after our morning chores. Let's run along before Madam Estelle starts to bark like a damn dog!”

With that, the two girls ran along, heading to the kitchen and taking the shorter route through the pack house so they could get there as fast as possible.

But as they turned leading to the kitchen, Akira and Beth were forced to halt immediately when they saw Madam Estelle and Prince Dominus standing in the hallway. At first, they thought it was just the two of them, but looking up, they realized it was actually a cluster of people. Akira narrowed her eyes and noticed Brevin, Lyra, and some other slaves all clustered together.

At first, she considered passing by and continuing with her work; she wasn't interested in any of the palace gossip.

But curiosity got the best of her. She pulled Bethany's arm, tugging her closer before they both shuffled through the crowd.

Moments later, they forced their way into the gathering of onlookers, which consisted of the royals, some other pack slaves, and several members of the Alpha council.

As the girls navigated through the crowd, one of the senior slaves pushed Akira forward roughly, forcing her into the open space at the center of the hallway where everyone was gathered.

Akira swallowed hard, her eyes darting around the royals—from Dominus to Brevin and his sisters. There were also some Alpha council members standing side by side whom she hadn’t seen before. She wondered what could have brought everyone out at this time of the morning.

The first person Akira's eyes met was Dominus, and she swallowed hard as her gaze darted away. She looked around, but there was no sign of Lord Ragnar.

*Did he die yesterday?* she thought, still scanning the crowd. He was the acting Alpha, which meant he was supposed to be the first person here, but he was nowhere to be found. She hadn’t seen him since last night after he let her escape from the beast.

However, once Prince Dominus saw Akira, his eyes fixed on her every move, and he wished he could read her thoughts to know what the hell she was thinking.

“My lord!” A familiar voice broke the silence and rushed through the crowd. It was Lyra.

“This is the sheet they were trying to hide when I caught them,” Lyra pointed at the blood-stained sheets.

Once Akira saw it, she froze; her heart dropped to her stomach as the realization hit her. She knew what those sheets were and to whom they belonged.

Two female slaves knelt on the floor, their knees bruised and red, their palms pressed together as they begged.

“My lord, those sheets don’t belong to us! I swear we don’t know who owns them,” one of them cried.

“Those blood stains aren’t ours! Please, my lord, believe me. I have no reason to lie to you!”

Akira stared down at them; their clothes were torn, smudged with dirt. They had been forcefully dragged all the way here. Tears had left wet trails on their faces.

“Please, Madam Estelle… please, we don’t know how that got there. It doesn’t belong to any of us,” one of the girls sobbed in a shaky voice.

Akira's heart broke for them. Those sheets belonged to her, but she couldn't say it out loud. She swallowed hard, her eyes glistening with tears. Beth had promised she would handle it. Was this what "dealing with it" meant?

Implicating innocent girls?

Akira shook her head painfully. Watching the girls cry and beg for their innocence made her angry.

The sheets belonged to her, but these girls were about to be punished for her sins.

The second girl, even younger, clutched desperately at the hem of Madam Estelle’s gown, her body trembling like a leaf. “It wasn’t us, I swear it! We only came back and gave our sheets for washing. We don’t know how the blood stains got there!”

“My lord, please believe me. I’m telling you the truth!”

“My lord, they’re pathetic liars. Please do not listen to them,” Lyra snapped. “They were hiding it all this while, and if they hadn’t been caught today, no one would have had any idea of what they truly are.”

“I swear we didn’t know how the blood got there. I promise—”

A sharp kick from one of the guards sent the younger girl sprawling onto her side, cutting her words short.

She gasped, holding her ribs, then dragged herself back into a kneeling position, forcing her tears down long enough to cry out, “Please, my lord, believe me. I have no reason to lie.”

Watching the whole scene, Akira's hands clasped tightly against her dress. The sound of the girls' sobs dug deep into her chest. Each innocent cry for mercy tore through her ribs, lodging in her heart.

She wanted to look away so badly after the kick, but she just couldn't.

Every desperate plea for help made her feel more wretched. The guilt burned through her conscience.

It should have been her, but it wasn't, and now she was watching some innocent girl get punished for something they never did.

Her throat felt dry, and her eyes filled with tears until her vision began to blur. She couldn't help it; she bit down on her bottom lip, hard enough to taste blood, while fighting her guilt not to tell them that she was the real owner of the sheets.

She wanted to scream the truth—to throw herself forward, grab Prince Dominus, and confess it all: “It wasn’t them; it was me. Punish me, leave them alone!”

Her lips even parted, the words trembling at the edge of her tongue. But just before they could become audible enough for anyone to hear, she felt a hand clamp around her wrist.

It was Beth’s hand. Akira turned to look at Beth, whose eyes were dark.

Beth shook her head fiercely, tugging Akira backward and shuffling her away from the crowd.