Chapter 11: The Hearing

Nan's POV

Dane told me over cold coffee, standing in his kitchen with his phone in his hand.

"Tonight. In the pack hall. Ernest says you lied under Ward Law."

"I did lie."

"I know."

"Am I going to be banished?"

"Not while I'm standing," he said.

I put on my cleanest jeans and my mother's locket, and I did not let my hands shake.

The hall was packed to the doors that evening.

Every folding chair was taken, and people stood along the walls.

Ernest sat at the head table in his gray cardigan with the three Council elders beside him.

Colt and Regan sat in the front row, side by side, not touching.

Dane walked me down the center aisle.

He did not hold my hand.

He walked so close that his sleeve brushed mine the whole way.

"Nan Thackeray," Ernest said. "Thank you for coming."

"Of course."

"You're accused of lying under Ward Law," Ernest said.

"Before this pack, I'll ask you one question, and you'll answer it as the Alpha's ward."

He smiled at me, kind and sad.

"Do you remember who you are?"

Dane's hand touched my back.

"Yes," I said.

The hall inhaled.

"I remember all of it. I've remembered it since the clinic."

"Why would you lie?" an elder asked.

"Because my fiancé stood in the clinic hallway and agreed to get rid of me before I woke up," I said.

Nobody moved.

"Regan Rycroft put wolfsbane in my glass at her own birthday party. Colt Merrow knew."

Regan was on her feet.

"That's a lie!" Her voice cracked on it. "She's confused! The poison damaged her mind!"

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