Silver Moon (Colors of the Moon #3)

Chapter 24

"What's going on here?" I called out.

The sea of witches and wizards, who had gathered around the statue of the first High Priestess, parted the moment I opened my mouth. They created a passageway for me to make my way to the center of the crowd.

"That's her!" a high-pitched female voice shrieked the moment Theo, Kasey and I reached the empty circle in front of the statue. "She's the one who killed him."

The first person my eyes landed on was Darlene. She was once again leaning against the statue, with her arms folded in front of her chest. The sparkling glint in her eyes told me she had something to do with this; whatever this was.

Darlene wasn't the one who had screeched, though. The honor belonged to a middle-aged she-wolf half my size. She was standing right beside Darlene, with her arm extended in front of her and her index finger pointed straight at me.

One look at her bloodshot eyes and the sickly sweet chemical odor of her clothes told me she wasn't a stranger to alcohol. Before I fully focused on her, however, I glanced in Theo's direction. With my eyes, I asked him what another werewolf was doing in Allium.

"We all know who the High Priestess is." Effie emerged from the crowd and stopped right next to me. "There's no need to point."

"You need to arrest her." The woman waved her accusing finger at me. "Or better yet kill her."

A wave of burning anger rushed through my veins. The intensity of the feeling surprised me more than the feeling itself. While I was annoyed with the werewolf, I had no reason to be this angry with her.

All of my questions were answered the moment Theo edged a step forward. It wasn't my own anger I was feeling. It was Theo's.

"Did you just threaten your own Luna Queen?" His voice was ice-cold as he positioned himself in front of me.

The she-wolf shook her head and then glanced from her Alpha King's massive frame to my mostly hidden figure behind him. And then back at him.

Before Theo could do anything else, I grabbed onto his hand. I allowed my touch to calm him down. Only once I was sure his shaking had stopped did I move around him and positioned myself back in front of him.

"What's your name?" I focused on the she-wolf. "And what is this about?"

The sooner we got this over with, the quicker I could go back to the study. I was dying to know what Theo had found amongst the pile of papers.

"My name is Paula Snider, and I am from the Black Moon pack," the she-wolf said. "I am here to tell everyone the truth about the so-called High Priestess."

I wanted so badly to roll my eyes at her theatrics, but I held myself back. It wouldn't be right for the High Priestess to act in such a childish manner.

What made the situation a little easier to bear, was the eye roll I saw Effie do. She didn't have any qualms about how the action might appear. Then again, no one would be brave enough to scold Lady Euphemia for her behavior.

"She," the she-wolf once again pointed at me, "killed my husband."

Scoffs of laughter spread all around the gathered crowd and a few people even started to leave. No one believed the ridiculous statement.

"Okay, this is—" Effie began, clearly as exasperated as everyone else.

"I'm not lying. She came to my house about three years ago, asking for my mate, the Gamma of our pack. But he wasn't home."

I froze the moment she mentioned me coming to her house looking for her mate. I had barely paid her any attention back then, which is why I didn't recognize her here today.