Chapter 230: Chapter 230

Rowan’s body stiffened, his fists clenching. "Wolfsbane?!" His voice cracked like thunder.

The guards murmured among themselves, fear spreading through the room.

I shook my head wildly, my hair clinging to my damp cheeks. "No! That’s not mine! I’ve never seen that bottle before!"

Kael turned slowly toward me, his face twisted with disgust. He held up the vial for me to see. "It was in your chamber. Do you deny that?"

"I...I don’t know how it got there! Please, you have to believe me, Kael!" I cried, my voice raw. "Someone... someone planted it! It’s a trap!"

Rowan’s voice was a roar, drowning me. "Enough lies! You would dare poison Damon with wolfsbane?!"

I fell forward, my palms hitting the cold floor. My whole body shook. "No... no... please... I swear on my life...I swear on the Moon Goddess....I didn’t do this!"

But no matter how loud I cried, their eyes remained hard.

And Damon lay silent, suffering, as if the gods themselves were deaf to my screams.

I couldn’t believe my ears.

"Take her to her room and lock her up!" Kael’s voice boomed like thunder, shaking me to my core. Chapters fırst released on 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝✶𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮✶𝓷𝓮𝓽

"No! No, I didn’t do it!" I screamed, my throat burning from how loud my voice was. "You can’t do this to me! I loved Damon, he’s the only one who ever trusted me and I wouldn’t dare hurt him!"

The guards grabbed me roughly by the arms. Their grip was so tight it felt like my bones were breaking. I kicked, I struggled, but they were wolves and I was only human. I had no chance.

Rowan’s eyes burned into me like fire. "Shut your mouth. You think you can play innocent? We found the poison in your chamber. Do you take us for fools?"

"I swear on my life, it’s not mine!" I sobbed, my chest rising and falling so fast that I could barely breathe. "I don’t even know how it got there!"

Kael stepped closer, his face full of anger but also a trace of confusion. "Do you expect us to believe that someone sneaked into your room, placed wolfsbane there, and you never noticed?"

"Yes! Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying!" My tears blurred my vision. "Someone is framing me! Please, you have to believe me. I would never hurt Damon....never!"

But my words meant nothing. The guards started dragging me out of the hall. My nails scraped against the cold stone floor as I tried to fight them off. "Damon! Damon, please wake up! Please tell them it wasn’t me!" I cried out, my voice breaking.

But Damon lay still on the bed, pale, blood on his lips, unconscious. He couldn’t hear me.

As I was yanked down the hallway, my heart shattered. The palace walls blurred past me, each step echoing like the end of my world.

"This is a mistake!" I screamed again, my throat raw. "I didn’t do it! Why won’t anyone believe me?"

One of the guards snarled at me. "Shut up, slut. You should be grateful the Alphas haven’t ordered your death already."

Tears streamed down my face as I struggled, but my body was weak, my voice hoarse. They dragged me down into the prison instead of my room, cold, dark, and damp. The smell of mold hit my nose and made me gag.

"Why did you bring me here? I was supposed to be locked in my room and not here!" I yelled out but the guards said nothing as if my screams were nothing.

The iron bars closed behind me with a loud clang.

I clutched the bars, my fingers trembling. "Please! Please, I need to see Rowan! I didn’t poison him. Someone is trying to destroy me!"

But the guards ignored me and walked away, their boots echoing against the stone floor until I was left alone in silence.

I collapsed fully to the floor, my body too weak to hold me up any longer. The cold stones pressed into my skin, but I hardly felt them through the weight of my pain. My sobs shook me so hard I could barely breathe. My chest hurt, my throat burned from all the screaming I had done, and my heart... my heart felt like someone had torn it out and crushed it right in front of me.

"Stupid... I was so stupid," I whispered, my voice breaking apart into the silence. The words came out over and over again, like I was punishing myself with them. "I should have told Damon. I should have told him everything about Fridolf. I should have warned him. Maybe then he would have been ready. Maybe then he wouldn’t be lying there fighting for his life."

My hands clawed at my hair as hot tears kept falling. I shook my head again and again, my body trembling like a leaf in the wind. "But I didn’t know... I didn’t know they would go this far. I never thought..." My voice broke completely, and I pressed my face into my palms, hiding from the nightmare that had swallowed me.

Belinda’s face suddenly filled my mind. Those cold, mocking eyes. That cruel little smile she wore whenever she looked at me like I was beneath her. My stomach twisted at the memory.

"She... she must be behind this," I whispered shakily, my teeth chattering though the air wasn’t cold. "She hates me. She hates everything about me. Of course I didn’t expect her to go this far."

The thought made my stomach twist in horror.

I pressed my forehead against the cold floor, my tears soaking the dirt. "Please, Damon... you have to wake up. You’re the only one who believes me in this cursed palace. Please, don’t leave me alone."

The silence of the prison pressed down on me, heavier than chains.

I curled tighter on the cold prison floor, shivering even though the night was warm. My voice was barely a whisper, but it carried all the pain in my heart.

"I miss you, Damon..." My lips trembled as I spoke his name. "I’m so worried about you. They have to find an antidote. They just have to..."

My fingers dug into the dirt as fresh tears fell. "I know you’re strong. I know you’ll fight. But I’m scared, Damon. What if they can’t save you? What if I never see you open your eyes again?"

The emptiness of the cell swallowed my words. No one answered me.

I pressed my head against the bars, staring at the flickering torch in the corridor. My chest rose and fell with ragged breaths.

"Please... please find an antidote soon," I whispered, my voice breaking.

For a moment, I closed my eyes and tried to picture his smile, his steady voice, the way he looked at me when everyone else doubted me. That memory gave me a little strength.

But fear quickly crushed it.

What if Belinda had already planned everything? What if she wanted Damon gone forever, and me with him?

I hugged my knees to my chest and rocked back and forth, whispering his name again and again, like a prayer.