To ruin an Omega

Chapter 199: Divine Demotion

FIA

A sentinel appeared in the doorway. He was young and he has this nervous energy that radiated off him in waves.

“Luna Fia.” He bowed his head. “The elder circle is ready for you. The trials are about to continue.”

I stood. “Alright.”

My legs moved mechanically. One foot in front of the other. Garrett and Baruch fell into step behind me.

The corridor stretched ahead. Cold stone walls pressed in from both sides. The air felt thick as well.

Someone rounded the corner ahead.

I didn’t see her until it was too late. My shoulder connected with hers and the impact jolted through me.

“I’m sorry,” I said automatically the second we made eye contact.

She shuddered. Her entire body went rigid. Her mouth opened, closed, opened again.

“Athena?”

The word came out strangled. Barely more than a whisper. Her eyes were wide and her pupils dilated.

She looked at me like I was a ghost. Like I had crawled out of her worst nightmare and materialized in front of her.

She was dressed well. A dark suit that probably cost more than most people made in a month. Her lips were painted ruby red. But beneath the polish, beneath the carefully constructed appearance, I saw something raw. Something that looked almost like terror.

“I’m sorry,” I said again. “I’m not Athena. My name is Fia.”

Then I moved past her.

But her scent lingered. The expensive perfume was cloying.

I glanced back once. She hadn’t moved. She stood frozen in the middle of the corridor, staring after me with that same horrified expression etched across her face.

What was that about?

The question circled in my mind. Who was Athena? Did I look like her? Had she done something to this woman? The reaction had been visceral. Immediate. Like seeing me had physically hurt her.

I pushed the thought away. Filed it somewhere in the back of my mind to examine later. Right now, I had bigger concerns.

The door to the elder circle building loomed ahead. The sentinel pushed it open. I stepped through.

The room was already occupied.

Elders sat in their designated places. The semi-circle formation made the space feel like an arena. Like I was stepping into something designed to devour me whole.

My father sat off to one side. His face was carefully blank. The mask he always wore when he wanted to pretend he didn’t feel anything.

Isobel was next to him. Her eyes found mine immediately. The hatred there could sbw seen from a mile away. It rolled off her in waves so thick I could almost taste it.

I didn’t look away. I held her gaze until she broke first.

The lead elder stood. He was older than time itself, or at least he looked it. Gray hair. Deep lines carved into his face. Eyes that had seen too much and judged even more.

He walked toward me.

That was when I saw her.

Hazel.

She stood below the semi-circle. Her eyes locked onto mine. The arrogance that usually defined her was gone. In its place was something easier to read. At face value, it might look like defiance. But I knew very well that this was desperation wearing defiance’s mask.

I almost smiled.

Almost.

“Please.” The lead elder’s voice pulled my attention back. “Have your seat at the witness corner.”

I moved to the designated spot. The chair was simple. Wooden. Uncomfortable by design. Just as everything in this room was designed for a purpose.

Baruch and Garrett positioned themselves opposite me. Their presence was a reminder that I wasn’t alone in this. That I had people who would stand with me regardless of how this played out.

Not that the script was going to change right in front of my face. I looked back at Isobel who was playing with her fingers at this point because what else could she do?

Her daughter was finished.

The lead elder returned to his seat. He settled in with the careful movements of someone whose bones ached.

“The case against Hazel Hughes continues.”

The back door opened.

I turned.

The woman from the corridor entered. The one who had called me Athena. She walked with purpose now, the shock from our encounter seemingly tucked away. But I could still see it in the tightness around her eyes. The way her jaw was set just a fraction too firm.

A man walked beside her. He looked roughly the same age as her. But where she moved with practiced grace, he carried himself with the unmistakable confidence of an Alpha. Power rolled off him in quiet waves.

Visitors, probably.

Though why they were here, I couldn’t guess.

The man’s eyes swept the room and they landed on me.

I watched in real time as he froze.

It was brief. For a fraction of a second, his face went cold.

More like completely blank. Like someone had flipped a switch and shut down every emotion he possessed.

But I had seen it.

The woman noticed too. She has noticed him staring and she immediately jabbed him by the hand to break him out of the trance he was in.

She alsoeaned in and whispered something I couldn’t hear.

He blinked. The mask cracked and then he nodded once as they continued walking.

What the hell was that?

Did I really look that much like this Athena person? And who was she to inspire that kind of reaction? Had she hurt them? Betrayed them? The woman had looked horrified. The man had looked… I wasn’t even sure what that was.

“Hazel Hughes stands accused of pack endangerment, attempted kin slaughter, and murder.”

The lead elder’s voice cut through my thoughts like a blade.

“She has pleaded not guilty. Evidence and witness testimony was given time to be gathered and now, we can begin.”

I forced myself to focus. To push aside the mystery of Athena and the two strangers who seemed to have a bad memory of her face.

“On to the matter of pack endangerment…”

The process was methodical. Clinical. They called witnesses. Omega Delta went first. She recounted what she had seen with the careful precision of someone who knew every word mattered.

My stepmother was questioned next. Isobel’s performance was masterful. She played the concerned parent. The Luna who only wanted truth and justice. Her voice never wavered. Her expression stayed perfectly controlled.

I wanted to laugh.

Others were called. Their testimonies built on each other. Piece by piece. Fact by fact. They did not call me though.

Me who suffered the brunt of it. I guess that would have been a conflict of interest maybe.

But… they did play the recording.

My recording.

My voice filled the room. Hazel’s responses echoed back. The lies were obvious now. Glaring. The inconsistencies in her story and those of the witnesses whether true or fabricated unraveled in real time as the recording played.

I watched Hazel’s face. I watched the moment she realized how badly she had miscalculated. How thoroughly I had documented her failure.

The recording ended.

Silence stretched across the room like smoke.

“Hazel Hughes.” The lead elder’s voice was grave when he finally broke the silence. “You endangered this pack. The evidence is clear. The punishment for this crime is that you must remember that the privilege you were born with can be taken at any time.”

He paused.

“Your ranking will drop by one standing. You will be demoted from the ranks of Luna to that of Beta.”

Another elder stood.

I recognized her. Like Elder Moira back at Skollrend, she was a spiritual guide. One of the few that still has a semblance it connection to the goddess Selene.

She began to pray.

The words were in the old language. The sounds rolled through the room like thunder. Like the earth itself was speaking.

I watched Hazel dropped to her knees.

Her hands clutched at her chest. Her mouth opened in a silent scream. The air around her shimmered. Visible power wrapped around her body like chains.

The goddess was answering the prayer.

My eyes were glued to what was happening and so was everyone. There was something primal about witnessing divine punishment. Something that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

Hazel gasped. Her whole body convulsed. Then she went still.

The shimmering stopped and the Elder sat right back down.

Hazel was gasping. Her face was pale. Sweat beaded on her forehead. She looked smaller somehow. Diminished. The invisible weight of her Luna status had been stripped away and everyone in this room could feel its absence.

“It seems the goddess agrees with your punishment.”

The lead elder’s tone was matter of fact. Like he had just commented on the weather instead of watching divine intervention reshape reality.

He leaned forward slightly.

“Do you still hold to the stance that you are not guilty? There are two charges left.”

Hazel looked up. Her eyes were glassy. Unfocused. She was still reeling from what had just happened.

But still, her audacity had no bounds.

“I am not guilty.”

Her voice shook. The words came out weak and unconvincing.

But she had said them.

“Very well.” The lead elder settled back in his chair. “On to the matter of attempted kin slaughter.”