Accidentally Mated To Four Alphas-Chapter 266: _ The Truth Vs. The Lie

The courtroom erupts.

"What?"

"That’s vile..."

"A Moon Blessed doing that?"

"She wanted to silence her!"

The Alpha slams his staff once against the floor. The sound booms, silencing the crowd again. Heidi feels like the air has been knocked from her lungs.

Her wolf roars violently. "They’re eating it up."

Sierra presses on, voice shaking. "When I went to her room, she thought I was there to tell everyone. She... she tried to kill me."

A woman in the gallery lets out a sharp cry. Another whispers a prayer. Heidi’s hands curl into fists.

That’s not what happened. You tried to stab me. She wishes she could scream that out at the top of her lungs.

"I’ll cut that bitch’s lying tongue out," Morgan swears under his breath.

Heidi watches Darien rise beside her and step forward confidently. "May I question the witness?"

Elder Rowen nods. "Proceed."

With that, he takes slow steps toward Sierra. "Sierra," he says evenly. "You’re certain you went to Heidi’s room to make peace."

"Yes," Sierra says quickly.

"You didn’t go there angry?"

"No."

"You didn’t carry a weapon?"

Her lips tremble. "No."

Darien tilts his head slightly. "Then why did you call your friend Ivy that same night and threaten to kill Heidi?"

The room freezes. Sierra catches her breath.

Her lawyer is on his feet instantly. "Objection! That is a baseless accusation without evidence."

Darien doesn’t even look at him. "Then allow me to provide it."

A ripple of tension surges through the court.

Darien turns calmly toward the elders. "I call Ivy Korrin to the stand."

Heidi’s stomach drops. Ivy, no that’s a bad choice. She knows Ivy is no better than Sierra. She’s literally the second in command of their mean girl group.

Her wolf growls. "That girl hates you. What the hell is Darien doing?"

Ivy steps forward from the crowd, expression carefully neutral. She looks as confident as the kind of girl who knows how to lie without blinking looks. As she takes her place, Heidi watches Darien closely. He wouldn’t do this without reason. He wouldn’t walk into a trap blind.

She decides to trust him on this. He’s got them, just as promised. Perhaps, Ivy was one of the witnesses he gathered.

Elder Rowen gestures. "Proceed."

Darien’s gaze locks onto Ivy. "You received a call from Sierra Castell the night of the incident. Correct?"

Ivy nods. "Yes."

"What did she say?"

Ivy exhales shakily. "She was upset. Emotional. She said she wanted to confront Heidi."

"Did she threaten to kill her?"

Ivy hesitates long enough to be noticeable before she sighs heavily and says, "No."

A wave of murmurs crashes through the room. Heidi’s heart sinks. No. No, no, no. She knew it. Ivy’s just as horrible as Sierra, for crying out loud.

Morgan explodes beside her before she can even process the new development. "That’s a lie!" he snarls, lunging forward.

Soldiers move instantly, hands grabbing his arms.

"Speak the truth!" Morgan roars, eyes blazing. "You know what she said!"

Heidi flinches.

Morgan shakes them off violently. "Don’t touch me. I’ll sit."

He storms back to his place, muscles taut with fury.

The Alpha turns to his son. "One more outburst like that and you will be removed."

Morgan bows his head stiffly. "Understood."

Ivy avoids looking at him. Darien doesn’t react outwardly. Inside, his mind is clearly recalibrating.

"Very well," he says calmly. "No further questions."

Ivy is dismissed. The weight in Heidi’s chest becomes unbearable.

Her wolf attempts to calm her. "He has more. Trust him."

She honestly hopes so.

Darien turns back to Sierra. "You claim Heidi made the video on your phone. How did that come to be?"

Sierra swallows. "I lent her my phone. On her first day. She said she wanted to make a video for her boyfriend."

A murmur rises again.

Darien raises a brow. "A boyfriend."

"Yes."

"Are you saying Heidi already has a boyfriend in the pack on her very first day in the Castells’?" He raises his hands incredulously, sarcasm written on his face as he turns towards the audience.

Sierra begins to stammer. "I... don’t think so. I... I believe the boyfriend is a human. She’s been dating him before becoming a Moon Blessed and was brought into the pack."

"So," Darien dips his hands in his pockets, "you’re saying that on her very first day in a new pack, Heidi chose to record an explicit video for a human boyfriend she supposedly still clings to?"

Sierra’s mouth opens before she opens them again. "She didn’t want to let go of her past. That’s not my fault."

Darien nods thoughtfully. "And after making this video, she didn’t delete it?"

"She tried," Sierra says quickly. "But I recovered it from the recently deleted files."

Sierra stiffens.

The shift is subtle, but Heidi catches the tightening of her jaw, the flicker of calculation behind her eyes. This isn’t the rehearsed part anymore. This is improv, and Sierra has never been good at that.

"I..." Sierra swallows. "I was concerned."

Darien hums softly. "Concerned."

"Yes," she insists. "She was... strange. Secretive. I thought she might be doing something inappropriate in the house."

A few elders exchange looks.

Heidi’s wolf snorts. "Concerned like a vulture circling roadkill."

Darien takes a step closer, hands still in his pockets, posture relaxed enough to be insulting. "So your concern led you to scroll through a private file she’s already deleted?"

"I didn’t scroll," Sierra snaps, then freezes.

The courtroom goes dead silent.

Darien’s eyes gleam. "You didn’t scroll," he repeats gently. "Then how did you find it?"

Sierra opens her mouth.

Her lawyer shifts sharply. "My client has already stated she retrieved the video from recently deleted-"

"Yes," Darien cuts in, turning just enough to acknowledge him without granting respect. "Which still requires accessing the phone’s private storage."

He turns back to Sierra. "Walk us through it. Slowly."

"Yes," Darien cuts in, turning just enough to acknowledge him without granting respect. "Which still requires accessing the phone’s private storage."

He turns back to Sierra. "Walk us through it. Slowly."

Sierra’s fingers twist together. "She gave me my phone back. Later, I... I checked."

"Checked for what?"

"To see if she deleted it."

"Deleted what, Sierra?"

The girl’s breathing quickens. "The video."

Darien’s voice stays maddeningly calm. "So you already knew it existed."