Ila POV:
The knock on the door came with the first light of dawn. It was soft, hesitant, but insistent.
I had spent the night in the armchair, watching over Amos, my mind racing. At the sound, I moved quickly. I slipped off my shoes and slid into the bed beside him, pulling the heavy velvet comforter up to my chin. I turned onto my side, facing the door, and scrubbed at my eyes until they were red. I took a deep, shaky breath and composed my features into a mask of tear-stained exhaustion.
"Come in," I called out, my voice deliberately weak.
The door opened to reveal two maids in crisp, gray uniforms. The older one, with kind eyes and graying hair, carried a basin of water. The younger one held a tray with a light breakfast. They were clearly sent by the Luna.
They stopped dead just inside the room, their eyes widening in shock as they took in the scene. Me, in my ruined wedding dress, in the Alpha Apparent's bed.
I pushed myself up, letting the comforter pool around my waist. I blinked at them, my expression a carefully crafted blend of confusion and alarm.
"Who... who are you?" I asked, my voice trembling. "Where am I?"
The older maid, Zola, recovered first. She curtsied deeply. "Madam, this is the Alpha Apparent's wing. We were sent by the Luna to attend to you."
My eyes widened in feigned horror. I looked from their sympathetic faces to the still form of Amos beside me, then down at myself. I let out a small, choked cry and clutched the comforter to my chest as if to ward off a blow.
"No," I whispered, shaking my head in denial. "That's impossible. I was... I was supposed to be with Blaise. How did I get here?"
Tears, genuine this time from sheer exhaustion and stress, welled in my eyes and spilled down my cheeks. It was the perfect touch.
The maids exchanged a look of profound pity. They bought it completely. I was the poor, innocent bride who had somehow stumbled into the wrong room on her wedding night.
"Please," I sobbed, reaching a hand out to them. "You have to help me. Please, take me to the Luna. There's been a terrible mistake."
Zola nodded, her face full of compassion. "Of course, Madam. Right away." She gestured to the younger maid, Ginger. "Stay here. I will inform the Luna."
Zola hurried from the room, leaving me under Ginger's watchful, pitying gaze. I buried my face in my hands, my shoulders shaking with silent, calculated sobs.
The scene transitioned as Zola rushed through the manor to the main dining hall. There, Luna Georgina and Alpha Huston were seated at a long, polished table, a tense silence hanging between them.
Zola, breathless, recounted what she had found-the distraught new bride in the wrong bed, babbling about a "terrible mistake."
Luna Georgina's fork clattered against her plate. Her face, already strained, hardened into a mask of cold fury.
Minutes later, I was escorted into the same dining hall. I hadn't changed, my dress was still creased and smudged with dust. My hair was a mess. I looked every bit the part of a woman who had been through a waking nightmare.
The moment I saw the Luna, I fell to my knees, the worn fabric of the dress pooling around me on the marble floor.
"Luna, I beg you, you must help me!" I cried, my voice thick with unshed tears. "I don't know what happened!"
Luna Georgina's sharp, intelligent eyes scrutinized me, searching for any hint of deception. I met her gaze without flinching, my own eyes wide and swimming with a desperate, helpless plea. I was an open book of victimhood.
"You claim you went to the wrong room?" her voice was like ice.
"I... I don't remember everything clearly," I stammered, piecing together the story I had rehearsed all night. "They gave me so much wine at the reception... my head was spinning. Someone... someone pointed me down a hallway. They told me it was the right way. I thought it was Blaise's room."
I was careful not to name anyone. But the implication was clear. This wasn't an accident. I was guided. I was set up.
Luna Georgina's brow furrowed. She was a mother. She was a woman. She was beginning to see the outline of a conspiracy.
"My mating with Blaise was fated," I pressed on, the lie tasting like ash in my mouth. "We... we completed the bond. And now this... this dishonor. Please, Luna, I implore you to investigate. Clear my name!"
I twisted the truth, claiming the consummated bond that Asha and Blaise now shared as my own. It made my distress more believable, the violation more profound.
I saw the shift in her eyes. The cold anger at the disruption of pack business began to melt, replaced by the warmth of maternal sympathy. She was looking at a young girl from a lesser pack, betrayed and humiliated on the one night that should have been a joyous beginning.
She rose from her chair and came to me, her movements graceful and commanding. She reached down and took my hands, her grip firm and reassuring.
"Get up, child," she said, her voice softer now. "This matter will be investigated. I give you my word."
As she helped me to my feet, I knew I had won the first, most crucial battle. I had secured the sympathy of the most powerful woman in the Stonefang Pack.
Before the day was out, the story had spread like wildfire through the servant's quarters and beyond. The tale of the tragic Omega bride, so distraught and confused on her wedding night that she'd accidentally spent it in the chamber of the comatose Alpha Apparent.
The narrative was set. I was the victim. And somewhere in the manor, I knew Asha and Blaise were hearing the whispers, their triumphant celebration turning to ash in their mouths.
