Fated: The Alpha's Unwanted Luna

Chapter 293: The rumors

"Your uncle can’t help you out of here. I have tried speaking to him, but he says you have to face the consequences of your actions. Oh my, I don’t know what to do anymore. I have tried my best, darling," Agnes, Laila’s mother, said from behind the door, her hand holding her daughter’s through the small opening as she sobbed in dismay.

Her daughter would never have killed anyone the way everyone was claiming she had. People were saying that she and the wolfless had contacted a witch, but Agnes couldn’t bring herself to believe it. If Laila wanted someone gone, she would do it herself rather than rely on a witch to do the job for her.

"You look like hell, sweetie. They haven’t fed you, have they?" Agnes asked gently as she took in how much her daughter had changed. Laila looked exhausted, with dark circles beneath her eyes and a pale, drawn face.

"Those shitty people haven’t fed me. They whipped me like I’m some nobody. I haven’t even taken a bath for two days now, and I smell like rotten fish. Mom, I can’t stay here for another day," Laila said in a shaky voice as she thought about how much she hated every moment of being trapped in this place, especially with the woman she despised and wanted to skin alive.

"I will see what I can do. You have to endure it for now, my dear," Agnes said, patting her daughter’s hand reassuringly while shooting the wolfless behind Laila a dirty look, firmly believing her daughter would never have been dragged into this mess if it weren’t for that nobody.

Viola watched their linked hands and felt an involuntary stab of longing, a fierce, consuming ache for a mother she had never known. Even though Laila’s mother couldn’t get her out of this place, at least she was here. She was here to hold her daughter’s hand, comfort her, and direct her dislike toward another woman she viewed as her daughter’s rival.

Her own mother had given her and her sibling away to be killed as infants for reasons Viola still didn’t know, and it was something she would never forgive.

Mothers loved their children. No matter what happened, a mother was supposed to stand by her own. And no matter how much she disliked Laila, Viola envied her in that moment.

"Are you sure Uncle can’t do anything? I don’t want to stay here another day," Laila sobbed, gripping her mother’s hand desperately, even though there had been times she had blamed her mother for every unfortunate thing that had ever happened in her life.

For the first time in Laila’s life, she had gone to check on how someone was doing, only to end up in this mess. If she hadn’t cared enough about Sebastian to check on his bratty sister, she wouldn’t have been here.

Instead of being locked inside a dungeon, starved, whipped, and treated like a criminal, she would have been at home where she belonged.

Now this was exactly why she never chose to act nice or kind, because kindness always seemed to bring you to places like this. The one time she had tried to do something decent for someone else, she had ended up chained in a dungeon for it!

"Ember’s family won’t let it go. They want justice for their daughter and are demanding that you and the wolfless confess and be executed. I heard them associating her death with sea creatures, those disgusting things that were believed to have gone extinct," Laila’s mother said with a tired sigh, having barely rested for a moment as she exhausted every option available to bring her daughter out of this place.

"That’s ridiculous. I have never even laid eyes on a sea creature with such powers. Those disgusting things don’t even exist anymore."

"I believe there are some rumors that those things exist and are in hiding. But I don’t understand why they believe you two were in contact with one to kill Ember."

Viola, who was listening from behind them, couldn’t help but look away. Disgusting sea creatures.

Werewolves could never forgive any creature of the sea. The hatred ran too deep and had existed for generations. Being connected to them, descended from them, or possessing any powers associated with them was practically a death sentence, and Viola found herself genuinely terrified of being discovered before she had found the courage to tell Sebastian, that was if she even got to see him.

The thought that they were already speaking about sea creatures in connection with Ember’s death made a cold knot form in her stomach. If anyone ever found out what she was, she doubted they would even wait for a trial before deciding her fate. There would be a huge biding on her head and people wanting some part of a sea creature to use to gain power.

The punishment they had received hadn’t even reached the level she had expected, as Matt had pulled strings from outside to make it less severe than what first level dungeon prisoners normally received, but it didn’t make it any less draining or painful; they hadn’t been given water or food since they arrived.

Viola watched the mother and daughter sobbing together and found it hard to believe that a bully like Laila had it in her to cry like that, until the guards came and announced their time was up.

"I will try speaking to your uncle again." Promised her mother.

Laila was forcefully dragged back to her chair and tied down again. "Let me out of here!" She screamed at the guard. "These lights are roasting me, can’t you turn them down?! If I get out of here, every single one of you is going to fucking pay!" She shouted, but tears were rolling down her cheeks that she clearly didn’t want there. It seemed her uncle no longer had any use for her and this was his way of getting rid of her, just like he had always promised he would once she disappointed him.

But this time she hadn’t really meant to disappoint him and had fallen into circumstances. She had been accused wrongly and would be punished for it.

"I hope you are happy now." Came Laila’s quiet words to Viola. "My life got ruined the moment you walked into Silver. You ruined everything. You did something to Ember and yet you are dragging me down with you..." She said, hating the wolfless more than ever, because as far as she was concerned this woman was the reason for everything that had happened to her, from losing Sebastian to being locked up in this cell.

Viola looked down at the floor, where the white tiles had turned dull from being constantly stained with blood, and no amount of washing could ever make them truly clean again. Guilt gritted her chest.

As much as she didn’t like this she-wolf, it had never been her intention to ruin anyone’s life or drag anyone down with her. Laila might have been cruel, arrogant, and impossible to get along with, but she didn’t deserve to be punished for something she hadn’t done.