Chapter 96
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The rogue looked at Alice. It was small, but obvious. Not a gasp. Not a dramatic confession. His eyes went to her first, too fast, and Alice saw it too. Her face went pale for one second. Then she stepped back, pressed one hand to her chest, and grabbed the wall like she was about to faint.
“Oh my god,” she whispered. “Why is it looking at me?”
I turned my head slowly and stared at her. Damien stepped forward, blocking the rogue from the rest of the room. “Chain him properly.” The warriors tightened the chains around the rogue’s wrists and forced him to his knees. He still kept glancing past Damien, at Alice. I saw it again. My wolf saw it too. Something hot pushed under my skin. I curled my fingers into Damien’s hoodie.
Damien glanced at me. “Sienna.”
I swallowed. “He knows her.”
Alice snapped her head toward me. “Excuse me?”
I pointed at the rogue. “He looked at you like he knew you.”
Alice laughed and looked around, like she wanted everyone to agree with her. Nobody did. “A rogue looks at me and suddenly I’m guilty? That’s insane.”
I stepped closer, arms folded over my chest. “You reacted before he even moved.”
“I reacted because there is a disgusting rogue bleeding on the floor,” she said, voice sharp. “Sorry for having normal survival instincts.”
I tilted my head. “Normal survival instincts don’t smell like panic and lies.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You’ve been a wolf for five minutes. Maybe don’t act like you know everything.”
Damien’s jaw tightened. “Enough.”
Alice looked at him quickly. “Damien, please. You know me. You know I would never help rogues.”
That hit something in my chest. Because she was right about one thing. He knew her. He had known her longer than me. And I was still the girl everyone had called human like it was an insult. I looked down, raking my fingers through my hair. “Maybe I’m wrong.”
Damien turned to me immediately. “No.”
I blinked up at him. He stepped closer, lowering his voice. “Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Make yourself smaller because she knows how to perform innocence.”
My throat tightened.
11:48 Thu, May 21 ♪♫
Chapter 96
Alice let out a small gasp behind him. “Perform innocence? Wow.”
Damien did not even look at her. “Tell me exactly what you saw.”
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I pressed my lips together, then nodded. “He looked at her first. Not around the room. Not at the guards. Her. And she saw him do it. She panicked, then pretended to be scared.”
Damien listened like every word mattered. His hand came to my waist, grounding me. I whispered, “I thought you’d defend her.”
His brows pulled together. “Why?”
“Because she’s been trusted longer.” I glanced at Alice, then back at him. “Because everyone here already thinks I’m the problem.”
His face softened. He brushed his knuckles along my cheek, wiping away blood I did not know was there. “I trust what you saw.”
The room disappeared. My chest squeezed, and I hated how close I came to crying from one sentence. Nobody had believed me lately. Everyone kept looking at me like I was cursed, dramatic, dangerous. Damien looked at me like my instincts mattered.
Alice’s mouth parted. “You can’t be serious.”
Damien finally looked at her. “I said what I said.”
She laughed, but it cracked. “You’re going to believe her over me?”
“I’m going to investigate what she saw,” he said. “There’s a difference.”
I let out a breath I did not know I was holding. Damien looked back at me and touched my chin gently. “We need proof before accusing her,” he said quietly.
I nodded. “I know.”
“But I’m not dismissing you.”
My fingers curled into his shirt. “Good.”
His mouth twitched. “Good?”
“Yeah.” I looked up at him. “Because I would have been really mad.”
His eyes warmed. “I noticed.”
The rogue suddenly laughed from the floor. It was wet and ugly. Everyone turned. Damien stepped away from me and grabbed the rogue by the collar. “What’s funny?”
The rogue smiled with blood on his teeth. “Your house is already cracked, Alpha.”
Damien’s fist tightened. “Who opened the border?” The rogue said nothing. Damien leaned closer. “Answer
11:48 Thu, May 21 J
Chapter 96
me.”
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Alice shifted near the wall. I looked at her fast. Her face was calm now, too calm, but her fingers twisted together. The rogue’s eyes flicked again. There. So tiny someone else might miss it. But I did not.
I stepped toward Damien. “He did it again.”
Alice snapped, “Oh my god, stop staring at me.”
I ignored her. “Damien.”
He looked from me to the rogue. Then his face went cold. “Take him to the cells,” he ordered. “No one speaks to him without me. No one goes near him alone. Double the guards.”
The warriors dragged the rogue up. As they pulled him past Alice, he lowered his head, but his shoulder brushed her dress. Alice jerked back. “Don’t touch me.” I watched her face. Fear, yes. But not the fear of a victim. The fear of being exposed.
Damien’s hand found mine as the rogue was dragged away. He laced our fingers together, slow and firm, right in front of everyone. I leaned closer to him, and he dipped his head until his mouth brushed my ear. “You did well,” he murmured.
I looked down, cheeks warming. “I didn’t do anything.”
“You noticed what everyone else missed.”
I squeezed his hand. “Don’t make me feel things right now. I’m trying to be suspicious.”
He huffed a quiet laugh, then kissed my temple. “Stay suspicious, then.”
Later, Damien took me back to our room, but neither of us slept. He sat on the edge of the bed while I paced. “She’s involved,” I said.
“I know you think that.”
I stopped pacing. “You think I’m reaching.”
He shook his head and pulled me gently between his knees. “I think your wolf caught something real.”
I rested my hands on his shoulders. “Then what do we do?”
“We wait until dawn. I question the rogue myself.”
Before dawn, someone pounded on the door. Damien was on his feet instantly. A guard stood outside, breathing hard. “Alpha… the rogue is dead.” My blood went cold.
The guard swallowed. “Someone killed him in his cell.”
