The Silent Luna's Trial (Maple and Finn) novel Chapter 5

Chapter 5

“She saw it, I’m telling you! She saw everything! She deserves to die!”

“Monster! Go to hell!”

“She was jealous of Hazel! Serves her right for being an orphan!”

Yes. I had been an orphan, a lone wolf adopted by the Bloodmoon Pack as an omega.

That alone was enough for everyone to believe I kept quiet out of spite, that I had my own reason

to protect the rapist.

Luna Ruby broke down again. “You… you actually let him go!”

The screen didn’t linger. It shifted to another scene.

A girl was floating on the surface of a lake, her body lifeless and pale.

Her hands and feet had swollen after hours in the cold water. Pack warriors were pulling her out.

That girl was Hazel.

Finn’s tears slid down his cheeks before he even realized it.

And there I was, standing on the lakeshore, watching everything in silence as my tears kept

falling.

Luna Ruby’s sobs tore through the arena. She couldn’t accept that her daughter was gone.

Beta and guards held her back behind the barricade as she watched her child being taken

autopsy.

away

for

The pack enforcer reported that Hazel showed signs of sexual assault, and with the suicide note

found in her room, it was ruled a suicide.

Then, in nearby surveillance footage, they found me.

I appeared at the scene right around the time Hazel died.

They took me to the station for questioning.

When I came out, Luna Ruby charged toward me, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me

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violently.

“Maple, tell me! Who was it? Who hurt Hazel?!”

Her voice cracked. Her eyes were bloodshot from sleepless nights.

My head spun from her shaking, but I still said nothing.

Finn stood off to the side, his whole body radiating exhaustion.

The past few days had crushed him, even though he had barely reached adulthood. He looked at

me with such complicated pain, hoping for an answer I couldn’t give.

“Mom, please calm down,” Finn said as he gently pulled her away, his own voice trembling.

Luna Ruby let go and collapsed to the floor, too drained even to cry.

She couldn’t comprehend how the daughter who used to run into her arms every day had become

a cold, lifeless body.

“I’m sorry.”

That was all I could manage before I turned and ran out of the station, tears streaming down my

face and scattering in the wind.

“Fake!”

“If she cared about Hazel, she would’ve spoken up! She would’ve made sure the bastard was

punished!”

The screen shifted again to a photograph.

It was a group photo. Five people stood together.

One of them wore a black leather jacket, his long hair slightly curled.

“This can’t be. This is impossible!”

Finn suddenly shouted and grabbed me by the shoulders, yanking me off the hospital bed so hard

the ventilator tore free.

“You bitch! What did you do? Tell me, what the hell is this?!”

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The photo on the screen was a family portrait, which was his family. It had been taken in the yard of the pack house.

The arena went completely silent.

Then, chaos erupted like a tidal wave.

In truth, Finn’s older brother, Alpha Bruno, had left for the Northern Border the day after the

incident.

He had never returned since.

“No, no, this can’t be true!” Finn’s voice shook violently.

“My brother… he couldn’t have…”

Finn’s hand shot to my throat, squeezing tight.

“Bitch! Did you do this? Did you manipulate the memories? Tell me what trick you used!”

I couldn’t breathe. Maybe it would be easier if I died here.

Beta guards rushed forward and pulled Finn back.

I forced a smile uglier than any sob, then spoke to him through the mind link.

“Isn’t this the truth you always wanted, Finn?”

“I told you before. You’d regret it.”

Luna Ruby couldn’t handle the shock. She fainted instantly.

No one could easily accept that their own son had been the one to harm the daughter they’d raised as family.

Finn’s strength drained from him. He leaned weakly against my hospital bed.

Then what did all those years of tormenting Maple mean?

“This memory… it’s fake! It has to be fake! You forged it!”

Finn was losing his mind.

I stayed silent, watching him quietly.

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People only believe what they want to believe. When that illusion shatters, their world collapses.

That was Finn now.

He had spent years believing I was the monster, the one who protected Hazel’s killer. He had justified every act of cruelty against me.

Now, faced with the truth, he had no idea who he was anymore.

“Tell me! Tell me what this means!” he screamed, gripping my wrist so hard I felt the bones creak.

Pain shot up my arm.

I took a slow, deep breath and closed my eyes. I didn’t want to look at him anymore.

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