~Charlene~
"Draven! Please, believe me!" I cried, my voice echoing desperately through the throne room as I was dragged forward and forced to kneel before the Alpha King and the Luna Queen.
"Please, believe me. I would never do something like this. I value our relationship!"
I had prayed that Draven would look at me, trust me, and know I could never stoop so low as to cheat with his guard. But his head remained lowered, his expression cold and unreadable. He gave no sign of listening, no inclination to hear me out.
I was disappointed. We had been married for only six months, and he had sworn he loved me because, after all, he was my fated mate. But now, he wouldn't even look at me.
"Stop lying when the evidence is right before us!" the Luna Queen, Marissa, shouted at me. "Crown Princess, I never thought you would act like this. It's shameful to see you behaving in such a way. You disgraced the entire royal bloodline by sleeping with the Royal guard."
"Your Majesty, I am telling the truth. I would never stoop so low as to cheat with a guard!" I defended myself. If Draven wouldn't protect me as my husband, then the least I could do was stand up for myself. "I don't know how these pictures were taken or how these videos were made, but I will—"
The Luna Queen threw the pictures at me. My eyes widened as I saw myself and the guard kissing. My hands trembled as I picked one up from the ground. It couldn't be me—yet it was my braided hair, my tanned skin, exactly as I looked. Worse still, there were multiple pictures of us in different clothes and places. We laughed in some, kissed in others, and even sat on a date in one.
I couldn't remember any of those moments. I was being framed, blackmailed, and no one was on my side.
My hand instinctively moved to my stomach, rubbing it gently. "I…" My voice shook uncontrollably. "I am pregnant with the prince's child," I announced, hoping that would prove the pictures were lies. I looked at Draven, who suddenly raised his head to stare at me.
His blue eyes were devoid of emotion, glaring with such hatred that it pierced me, as if my words had only deepened his rage.
"I am pregnant with the Crown Prince's child!" I repeated, turning to the Alpha King, Magnus, who had been silent all this time. I had always regarded him as a father figure, since I lost my family as a child. "Your majesty, I am telling the truth here."
The Alpha King once saw me as his daughter, but now his face was filled with contempt, and he seemed reluctant even to look at me.
In that moment, I realized I was alone. No one was on my side. No one believed me.
"You wretch!" The Luna Queen rose from her throne and approached me. She raised her hand and slapped me across the face.
"Now you lie to me with a straight face! How dare you speak of an illegitimate child with my son!"
"I'm telling you the truth. I'm pregnant with the prince's child, and I only—" She silenced me with another slap, and this time my vision blurred, and for a few seconds, I could barely see anything.
"Stop lying to me, you foolish woman!" she screamed, then pointed toward the entrance of the throne room.
The doors opened, and the guard I was accused of being involved with was dragged in, accompanied by my maid.
They were both shoved to the ground. My maid spoke first. "Your Majesties, the Crown Princess and Guard Elias have been involved with each other for months. I discovered them a week after the Crown Prince left for the pack affairs, and—"
"Liars!" I shouted at her. "Clara!" I rose from the ground and rushed toward her. Dropping to my knees, I gripped her shoulders. "How could you say such things about me?" I yelled at the top of my voice. "You knew I would never do something like that, yet you lied about me!"
"Let her speak, Charlene!" The Alpha King's voice boomed with authority. "There is no reason for your maid to fabricate lies about you, so keep quiet and let us hear what she says. Speak, Clara!"
I burst into tears, covering my face in shame. I was defeated because no one wanted to listen to me—not even my maid, who had lied.
The surreal nature of the situation overwhelmed me, and I knew no matter how much I cried, no one would come to my rescue unless Draven believed me.
"She has been involved with him for some time!" Clara added to her lies. "They had been meeting outside in private. "
Filled with anger, I grabbed her shoulders and screamed at her.
"How could you do this to me? I thought you considered me your friend! How could you…?" I yelled at her, then wept on her shoulder. "I…"
"Is this true, Guard Elias?" The Alpha King asked. "Is what she's saying true?"
Guard Elias nodded. "She and I have been secretly involved," he confessed, and Draven reacted instantly, seizing him by the throat and hurling him across the room.
"How dare you touch what belongs to me!" Draven appeared before him, his claws extended, and slashed the guard's chest.
"Why are you so furious, Your Highness?" the guard asked, laughing. "I enjoyed every moment with the Crown Princess, the way she called my name when I entered her—"
Before he could finish, Draven angrily plunged his claws into Elias's chest and ripped out his heart.
I screamed as the heart fell to the ground, and when Draven turned to face me, his eyes had turned blood-red, as if he was on the verge of shifting into his lycan form.
He pushed the guard's body aside and started moving toward me. "Draven!" I shouted his name as he glared at me with a menacing expression, as though he wanted me erased from existence.
But before he could reach me, the Alpha King intervened. "Enough, Draven!" he commanded.
Draven froze, his eyes shifting to blue as he looked up to face his father. "Yes, Father," he said, bowing his head.
"Your Majesty," I cried out, desperate for mercy. "Please, I implore you to investigate this and—"
"Shut up!" The Luna Queen shouted. "You know the penalty for having an affair in the royal family. You have broken a sacred law, and you know the consequences."
The penalty was death. I knew it already, but dying now, while pregnant, was unthinkable. I couldn't accept that fate, not when it meant my unborn children would never have a chance at life.
I couldn't figure out who had set me up or why, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't understand who wanted me destroyed.
"Please, have mercy on me," I cried, clutching my stomach. "Please, I am—"
The Luna Queen's voice cut me off. "Guards!" she shouted. "Take her away and lock her up until her persecution!" she ordered.