Chapter 294

Chapter 294

Chapter 294

ARIA

This was the crucial question. The one that would determine whether I’d been complicit in Damon’s escape or the ambush that had followed.

“He asked how I was adjusting to being Luna,” I said carefully. “Asked if Kael was treating me well. If the pack was accepting me. General questions about how things were going p>

“And what did you tell him p>

I took a breath. “I told him it was difficult. That I felt like an outsider. That I was struggling to earn the pack’s trust. That Kael was being patient but I could tell he was disappointed in me p>

“Did you mention anything specific about pack routines?” Nina pressed. “Guard rotations? Kael’s schedule? Where he’d be and when p>

“No,” I said firmly. “I didn’t discuss operational details. I complained about feeling inadequate but I didn’t give him specific information about pack business p>

Nina’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Are you certain? Because Damon escaped three days after your visit using information about patrol rotations that very few people had access to. And then he appeared at that convoy ambush with knowledge about Alpha Kael’s movements that suggested inside intelligence p>

“I didn’t give him that information,” I insisted. “I was upset and emotional but I wasn’t trying to help him escape. I didn’t want him to attack Kael. I just wanted answers about why I wasn’t good enough p>

“But you might have mentioned things without realizing their significance,” Lunaris suggested. “Casual comments about when Kael was busy. Where he’d be. Who was accompanying him. Small details that someone trained in intelligence gathering could piece together into actionable information p>

I tried to remember. Had I said anything like that? Had I mentioned that Kael had a convoy scheduled? That he’d be traveling to meet with another pack? I’d been so focused on my own emotional turmoil that I hadn’t been paying attention to operational security.

“I might have,” I admitted finally. “I don’t remember saying anything specific but I was so upset that I might have let things slip without realizing it. I don’t-I can’t say with certainty that I didn’t give him information he could have used p>

1/3

Nina and Lunaris exchanged a look that I couldn’t interpret. Nina made more notes, her writing becoming faster, more urgent.

“During the ambush,” Nina said, “when Damon appeared and extended his hand toward you- you started to move toward him. Multiple witnesses reported seeing you begin to step forward before Alpha Kael ordered you to stay down. Why p>

This question felt like a trap no matter how I answered it. “It was instinct,” I said. “I saw him and my body just-reacted. Moved toward something familiar in a moment of chaos and danger p>

“Were you going to go with him?” Nina asked directly. “If the reinforcements hadn’t arrived, if Damon had successfully extracted you from that situation, would you have gone willingly p>

“I don’t know,” I said, and it was the most honest answer I could give. “I’d like to say no. I’d like to think I would have stayed with Kael, would have refused to leave with Damon. But in that moment, with everything happening so fast-I don’t know what I would have done. I was terrified and confused and when I saw him I just—I moved. I didn’t think about it rationally p>

More note-taking. More significant looks between Nina and Lunaris.

“Did Damon give you anything during the visit?” Nina asked. “Any objects, papers, messages to carry back to Shadowmere p>

“No,” I said. “Nothing physical. Just the conversation p>

“Did he ask you to do anything for him? Pass along information? Help him in any way p>

“No,” I repeated. “He just explained why he’d chosen Sera. That’s all. It was about closure, not about him recruiting me for anything p>

Nina set down her pen and studied me for a long moment. “Luna Aria, I need to ask you directly-did you help Damon Blackwood escape from the neutral prison? Did you provide him with information, intentionally or not, that enabled that escape or the subsequent ambush on Alpha Kael p>

“No,” I said, meeting her eyes. “I didn’t help him escape. I didn’t provide information intentionally. If I said something he used, it was because I was careless and emotional, not because I was trying to help him p>

“But

you can’t

say

with certainty that you didn’t provide usable intelligence,” Lunaris said.

“No,” I admitted. “I can’t say that with certainty. I was so focused on my own feeling that I wasn’t being careful about operational security. So yes, it’s possible I said something he used. But it wasn’t intentional. I wasn’t trying to help him p>

2/3

Nina and Lunaris conferred quietly in a corner while I sat there feeling like my entire future was being decided in whispers I couldn’t hear. My guard remained by the door, her expression unchanged, giving nothing away about what she thought of my testimony.

Finally, Nina returned to her desk. “We’ll need to verify some of this information,” she said. “Cross-reference with prison logs, guard reports, intelligence we’ve gathered about Damon’s movements. We’ll get back to you with our findings and any additional questions p>

“What happens if you determine I did help him?” I asked, needing to know the worst-case scenario. “If you find evidence that I provided intelligence he used p>

“That would be treason,” Nina said bluntly. “Aiding an enemy of the pack, compromising the Alpha’s safety. The consequences would be severe. Exile at minimum. Possibly execution depending on the extent of the damage p>

The words hit like physical blows. Execution. They could execute me for this. Even if I hadn’t intended to help Damon, even if I’d just been careless and stupid, the consequences could be that severe.

“But that’s worst case,” Lunaris added, her voice gentler than Nina’s had been. “If we determine you were just foolish rather than malicious, if we find no evidence of intentional collaboration, the consequences would be less severe. Continued confinement. Loss of certain privileges. Enhanced supervision. But not death p>

“Unless you’re lying to us now,” Nina said. “If we find evidence that you’re being dishonest in this interview, that you’re minimizing your involvement or hiding key details-that would make everything worse. So if there’s anything you haven’t told us, anything you’re leaving out, now is the time to say it p>

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