Lisa Rellane stepped in small and timid, escorted by Lieutenant Blackhart. Her hands twisted in her apron, her gaze glued to the floor.
"Sit," Fin said.
She obeyed so fast the chair screeched.
Fin's Alpha aura dropped into the room like a blade.
The air pressed inward.
Lisa trembled.
Jax straightened, jaw tight.
Aeron lifted his gaze, assessing, the way a predator studies wind before a strike.
"You will answer truthfully," Fin said, voice low, controlled, lethal. "Attempt to lie, and you will feel it."
Lisa's breath hitched. "Y–yes, Alpha."
"Good." He didn't blink. "Tell us exactly what occurred."
Lisa swallowed hard.
"I—I received a mindlink from Princess Meredith. She said she needed me. Immediately. I rushed to her chambers and… I heard noises. From inside."
Fin didn't move. His stillness was dangerous.
"What kind of noises?"
"A—A struggle," she stammered. "Something falling. I thought—someone was attacking her."
Aeron scoffed quietly. "Convenient."
Lisa flinched at the sound.
Fin didn't look away from her. "Continue."
"When I entered," Lisa rushed, "the princess was on the floor. Her cheek was bruised. I helped her up. She said Nova Moonveil had attacked her and stolen her gold comb."
Aeron pushed off the wall with slow, deliberate irritation.
"What evidence," he asked, voice a soft scalpel, "did you personally see of that?"
Lisa blinked at him. "The princess said it."
"That," Aeron said, tone clipping, "was not the question. What. Did. You. See."
"I—just the bruise," she whispered.
"And the comb?" he pressed.
Lisa shook her head. "No. I didn't see it."
Aeron's mouth curved — not a smile, something colder. "So… nothing."
Fin didn't acknowledge the exchange, but the muscle in his jaw ticked once.
"Lisa," he said softly.
Too softly.
Her eyes snapped to him, terrified.
"Did you see Nova strike Meredith?"
"I—I didn't see the actual moment—"
"So you didn't see her strike Meredith," Fin said, correcting her with surgical precision.
"I—I saw Meredith hurt—"
"That wasn't the question." His voice was a quiet threat. "Did you witness Nova physically harm her?"
Lisa sagged in her chair, the truth dragging out of her.
"No, Alpha."
Jax muttered, "There it is."
Fin continued, unrelenting.
"Did you see Nova leave the room? Enter the room?"
Lisa hesitated — which under an Alpha's aura was agony.
Her breath came short and sharp.
"N–no, Alpha. I did not see her leave."
Fin's brows lowered. "Then how did you know she left at all?"
"Princess Meredith told me," she whispered.
A muscle in Jax's cheek twitched.
Aeron's eyes narrowed, filing that away.
"And the comb?" Aeron asked, voice deceptively mild.
"I went to Nova's room later that night," Lisa said, hands twisting harder, "and I found it under her pillow."
Jax gave a short, incredulous laugh. "Under her pillow. Yeah. Very subtle."
Lisa winced as if struck.
Fin leaned forward slightly. "You are telling us Nova entered Meredith's room at night… attacked her… stole a gold hair comb… and then hid it under her pillow?"
Lisa nodded weakly. "Y–yes, Alpha."
Fin's stare sharpened. "If she had just attacked your princess, how is it you did not see her leave the room moments before you entered?"
"I—I'm not sure," she whispered. "But I heard the struggle—"
"Did you hear Nova's voice?" Fin asked.
Silence.
Lisa's throat tightened under the weight of his aura. Her eyes watered. She tried to speak — nothing came. She gasped again, throat spasming.
"N–no," she finally choked. "I did not hear Nova's voice."
Jax took one step forward, eyes flickering gold.
"So you didn't see her. Didn't hear her. Didn't see her enter or exit. But you magically found a comb under her pillow. Right."
Aeron shot him a look. "Gamma."
But Jax did not back down.
Fin's aura pressed harder.
"Lisa," he said quietly, "did you see Nova involved at all?"
Her face crumpled.
Her lips trembled.
The truth ripped out of her.
"No, Alpha. I did not."
Silence slammed into the room.
Fin stepped closer — one slow, deliberate movement.
"So," he said, "you entered a room, saw a bruise, and repeated Meredith's accusations without question."
Lisa nodded helplessly. "Princess Meredith was distraught—"
"I don't care about her emotions." Fin's tone sliced clean. "Did Meredith tell you to relay the accusation?"
Lisa froze entirely.
Aeron's voice sharpened. "Answer."
"I—" Lisa's voice cracked, "She said Nova was dangerous. That she needed to be contained until your return. I… believed her."
Fin exhaled once — slow, controlled, lethal.
It felt like the room breathed with him.
"Lisa," he said. "You will not repeat any part of this conversation to Meredith. Or to anyone. Do you understand?"
"Yes—yes, Alpha," she whispered.
"You are dismissed."
Lisa nearly fell out of her chair in her rush to leave. She scrambled out the door with Lieutenant Blackhart close behind.
The room sealed into tension once more.
Aeron broke it first, pacing sharply.
"The incident happened in the middle of the night. Nova would have been asleep. How in the hell did Lisa find the comb under her pillow? Why was she even in their room at that hour?"
Jax swore under his breath. "Part of the arrest grounds, wasn't it? Unauthorized entry. Irony's wild."
Aeron's eyes narrowed like frost forming.
"Oh, I'm going to enjoy speaking with her again."
Lieutenant Blackhart recited the last of the report.
"Lisa claimed she found the comb before the arrest. The future Luna's word and the omega's discovery were used as justification."
Fin's eyes didn't just darken.
They went molten—a slow burn, not a flare.
The kind of fury that meant someone was about to regret breathing.
He stepped toward Blackhart once.
Just once.
But the Lieutenant stiffened like he'd been shoved against a wall.
"Lieutenant," Finric said quietly—too quietly. "Clarify something for me."
Blackhart swallowed. "Yes, Alpha?"
"You are telling me my guards," Fin continued, "took orders from a guest of this pack… over their own command structure?"
Blackhart hesitated.
Jax took one step forward, voice low. "Don't make him repeat it."
Fin didn't look at Jax.
His eyes never left the Lieutenant.
"Answer," he said.
Blackhart exhaled shakily. "Yes, Alpha."
Fin's jaw flexed once. A small thing—small, but lethal.
"And when they detained a seventeen-year-old girl who was not resisting," Fin said, "they placed her in silver."
Blackhart nodded once, neck stiff.
"That," Fin murmured, "is four counts of violation. Detainment without due process. Abuse of a minor. Silver used without cause. And harm inflicted on a subject in custody."
He stepped closer again—not looming, simply existing with intent.
"Their badges," Fin said, "are to be turned in. Immediately."
Blackhart paled. "Alpha—"
"Immediately," Fin repeated. "They are stripped of rank, barred from security duty, and will face tribunal review in front of Brutus Sterling. They will not step foot in the castle again without escort."
Jax gave a low whistle. "They're lucky you didn't let me handle it."
A muscle twitched in Fin's cheek. "Don't tempt me."
Aeron smirked faintly at that—dark, dangerous amusement flickering at the edges. "You're being diplomatic tonight, Alpha. Surprising."
Fin ignored him.
He lifted his chin toward Blackhart.
"You will remind every guard under your command," he continued, "that orders come from me, my Beta, or my Gamma. Not from a princess playing politics."
Blackhart lowered his head. "I understand, Alpha."
Fin's voice sharpened into something precise.
Surgical.
"No—understand this.
You failed. Your men failed. And Nova Moonveil suffered for it."
A pause. "That will never happen again."
Blackhart bowed deeply. "Understood. I'll handle it at once."
"Dismissed."
The Lieutenant left—dignified, but rattled. The door closed behind him with a soft thud.
A few seconds later, Elias entered, shutting the door quietly.
His expression was carefully measured—but his eyes burned.
"I examined the princess," Elias said. "She was in bed when I arrived."
Three heads snapped toward him.
"But," Elias added coolly, "there were two cups of steaming tea on her balcony table. Two."
Jax's jaw worked. "So she wasn't alone."
"Not remotely," Elias said. "And more importantly—there is no bruise. No swelling. Nothing. The princess is perfectly unharmed."
Silence carved itself through the room like ice.
"We all know what this is," Fin said softly, voice like a blade sliding free. "A setup."
"She pulled this the second we left the castle," Jax muttered. "What—did she think we weren't coming back?"
Aeron tilted his head, expression sharpening into something predatory. "Let's go visit her. Politely."
Fin exhaled once, slow and deadly.
"We keep this contained," he said. "If Meredith so much as whispers about exile or demands Nova be removed from Shadowclaw, the Elders will get involved."
Jax stiffened. "They'd side with Meredith?"
"They'd side with protocol," Fin corrected. "A foreign princess claiming assault by a minor under our protection? If it reaches their ears, Nova becomes a political liability, not a girl who was framed." His jaw flexed, voice dropping. "And I refuse to give Meredith that weapon."
Aeron folded his arms. "So we keep her quiet."
"No." Fin met his gaze. "We make her believe she never had ground to stand on in the first place. She cannot think she got away with this."
Jax scoffed, fury still simmering. "She's going to throw a tantrum the second she realizes Nova's not being dragged out in chains."
"And if she does," Fin said, "the Elders will investigate every piece of her story. Every bruise that doesn't exist. Every guard she influenced. Every ounce of protocol she violated." His eyes hardened, gold sparking. "She's a guest. Not royalty. She forgets that at her own peril."
Silence settled—cold, heavy, tactical.
Aeron's lips curved into something sharp. "Good. Then let's ensure she has no tantrum to throw."
Jax raised a brow. "Meaning?"
Aeron pushed away from the wall, all calm calculation and quiet menace.
"I have an idea," he said. "Something that keeps this quiet… protects Nova… and reminds Princess Meredith exactly whose territory she's in."
Fin's gaze narrowed.
"Explain."
Aeron only smiled, the expression wicked and far too satisfied.