Chapter 2

Astra pov ...

Again, the fear that I'd experienced when Noah had pushed me at the stairs was back again, gripping my heart for all it was worth. I stood glued to the spot, watching as Kylie sashayed out of the room, my heart thundering in my chest.

What in the name of the Goddess had she told him?!

"Miss Astra?" The guard called out. "Miss Astra!"

I snapped out of my thoughts and took a tremulous breath. I'd been fisting my fingers, and my nails had been digging painfully into my palms. I closed my eyes and took another quivering breath, then opened my eyes and walked towards the door. "Sure," I murmured. "Let's go and see the alpha."

****

Rage was a dangerous emotion, and yet it was so powerful when channelled well. My heart was simply pumping ember-hot anger through my body. I wanted to turn around and sniff Kylie out within the pack house, make sure she had a few scratches on her face, curtsey of my nails. But on the other hand, I wanted to face whomever she had managed to buy with her lies and argue my way out of there. 

I wanted to see the shocked expression on her face when her web of lies fail her again.

We stopped at the large, intricately-carved double mahogany doors of the court room, as we waited to be called in. I could hear hushed whispers inside the court room, a few raised voices; I could smell Noah's familiar scent too.

I'd thought his anger at me would have settled down, only to come to his house and be forced to face some inquisitorial court.

Suddenly the doors to the court room swung open and a guard peeked through. "The alpha and the Council will see you now." He said.

I stood up from my perch and walked into the court room, the guard in tow. The entire room went silent as I walked in, and I didn't miss the hostile stares being thrown my way. I ignored those and looked around, awed. 

The court room was located in the very last floor of the pack house. Its roof was domed and airy; full of floor-to-ceiling windows all around, giving it a "windmill" feel. The high-backed benches stretched to the very end of the room, where I stood. In my front was the high table, where Noah and six other elderly werewolves sat—the seven-man Council of Wolves. To my left was the small cubicle where the accused was supposed to stand to receive judgement. This wasn't my first time here, as I'd been a guest to a fair nunber of trials.

Who knew the tables would turn and I would be the subject of a trial myself?

I slowly started my walk of doom, between the benches and towards the front, feeling the glare of a hundred eyes on me. When I got to the front, I gave a small bow to the members of the Table, before moving to the accused's cubicle. On my way I stopped in front of Noah's seat, my eyes full of questions unanswered.

"Noah, what the hell is this supposed to be?" I whispered.

Noah didn't look at me.

I shook my head in disappointment and moved to the cubicle. Once I was there, one of the men behind the table stood up and cleared his throat.

"Miss Astra, I believe you know why you're here." He asked.

I frowned and shrugged with non-committance. "I wasn't given a choice anyway. The alpha's guard all but dragged me here."

The elder bristled with annoyance. "Wisecracks will not be tolerated, considering the weight of the allegations levelled against you."

I raised an eyebrow. "What allegations? I don't remember committing any crime."

The elderly man turned to the alpha—my mate—and whispered. "Do you think we really should proceed with this trial? We're doing it at too short a notice and certain procedures need to—"

"Continue, Barnabas. I don't care about any procedure." Noah snapped, his eyes fixed resolutely somewhere above the elderly man's shoulders.

The old man—or Barnabas—shifted impatiently. "But alpha,  that is not how things are done!"

"I said, I do not care! Do it now or I'll do it myself." Noah growled.

"Alright, alpha." Disgruntled, Barnabas turned to me. "Since you insist that you have no idea why you have been called here, an allegation have been levelled against you by one of us—"

"You mean Kylie? That slimy Bi—"

"You will not speak unless asked to, Miss Astra." Barnabas bellowed, unusually loud for such an old man. How quick he was to call me by my first name, someone who never referred to me as anything other than Luna. How intricately Kylie had wrapped everyone in her dome of deceit.

The man continued. "According to her, she caught you in very....unpalatable conditions. In other words, you were sighted with someone other than our alpha."

I narrowed my eyes. "Barnabas, say what you mean in plain terms and stop cutting corners."

He continued as though he hadn't heard me. "You were discovered in a situation that is unbecoming of a Luna of this pack by several eyewitnesses, and this trial was set up to prove your innocence or guilt."

I gaped for a few moments before recovering myself. "So what you're saying is, I've been accused of cheating on Noah?"

"That's the alpha to you, Miss Astra."

I watched in disbelief as Noah gestured to Barnabas to sit, and he took the elderly man's place. His eyes roamed the silent room for a few seconds, and I prayed within me for him to look my way.

Please, Noah. Look into my eyes and tell me you're with me. Tell me you don't believe Kylie's lies.

His striking green eyes finally met mine, and what I saw in them killed all the hope within me.

Kylie had successfully bought him over.

Oh, Goddess.

"Astra," he started, and I almost melted in the cubicle. "Do you deny these allegations?"

"Of course I deny them, Noah. In all the time we've been together, have I ever shown any signs of cheating? Why would I start now?"

"I don't know, why would you?" He snapped at me.

"I know nothing about this, Noah," I said. "You know I can't do this. You're my mate—"

"And I thought you were mine," he said in a quiet voice.

"Noah...please don't do anything rash—"

"You should have thought of that before you did what you did. I was suppoeed to be your only man, you were supposed to be untainted, undefiled!" He pointed out.

"And I still am! I didn't fucking do anything, Noah! At least let me defend myself!"

"You lost that right when you cheated on me—"

"Fuck, Noah! Be reasonable!" I said and stopped. The both of us were panting with the exertion of our battle of words now. The entire court room was silent, watching our back-and-forth.

I couldn't believe he would do this to me. I couldn't imagine he would change overnight. Noah had been the most wonderful mate, gentle with me and my emotions. Kylie's lies had changed him so abruptly.

"Noah, please..." I pleaded, but he cut me off with his hand raised.

"I, Alpha Noah, reject you, Astra, as my mate. You will roam this earth devoid of a mate's warmth, as I hereby banish you from this pack. You shall take no belongings..."

The rest of the words faded into a hum in my ears. My eyes never left his as he rambled on, his eyes full of wrath and hatred. Slowly the first tear dropped from my eye and a sob escaped my lips. I pressed my hand over my mouth, then stumbled from the cubicle. I ran through the benches as eyes followed me, then scrambled out of the court room, away from the hateful people and my mate's anger.