Darien turns towards the audience. "Valentina Cruz, if you would step forward, please..."
Heidi holds her breath. Val stands from the crowd, smoothing her skirt with hands that tremble just a little. She walks forward with her chin up, eyes determined under those glasses. When she reaches the witness box, she places her hand on the stone ledge and looks directly at the elders.
"State your name," Elder Rowen says.
"Valentina Cruz," she replies. "First-year student at the Duskwind Academy."
"And your relationship to the accused?"
Val doesn’t hesitate. "She’s my friend and I’m proud of it."
Sierra scoffs loudly. "Of course you are."
"Proceed," Elder Rowen says.
Val takes a breath. "The first time I ever saw Heidi was on her first day at school. She was on the floor."
The room stills.
"She was being kicked by Sierra Castell and her friends. They surrounded her. They laughed at her and enjoyed her misery. I wasn’t a friend of Heidi’s back then, so I minded my business."
Heidi’s vision blurs.
She hadn’t realized how deeply that memory had buried itself until Val pulled it back into the light. The cold floor. The echo of laughter. The way no one stepped in.
Her friend continues, voice shaking now but unwavering. "That was her first day at the academy. That was plain cruelty! But it’s a thing in Duskwind, getting beaten by seniors from influential families. Your crime is being of the lower class. However, with Heidi and Sierra Castell, it seems it was a little more personal."
Sierra explodes. "That’s a lie! You lying whore!"
Val doesn’t even look at her. "Since then, those girls have tormented her relentlessly. Name-calling. Sabotage. Public humiliation."
She turns to the elders. "Heidi is kind. Almost to a fault. She stands up for people even when it costs her. I’ve never seen her be violent unless she was defending herself. She’s stubborn about what’s right. And she would never..." her voice shakes, "...never record a video like the one Sierra described."
Heidi presses her lips together, emotion swelling dangerously in her chest.
Val’s gaze softens when it flicks briefly toward her. "As for romantic relationships, I’ve never—never... seen Heidi romantically involved with anyone other than Morgan and Grayson Bellamy. Ever."
The room grows noisy again. Heidi feels something crack open inside her. Her chest aches painfully. She hadn’t known how badly she needed this. To be seen. To be defended without conditions.
Her wolf whispers. "She sees you."
Sierra slams her palm against the armrest. "She’s lying!" she screams. "She’s biased! Of course she’d defend her friend!"
Val turns then, eyes flashing. "You don’t get to rewrite what you did."
"Enough!" Elder Rowen barks.
Sierra is breathing hard now, eyes wild. "Call my friends," she demands. "They’ll tell you the truth. They’ll tell you how violent she is. How she stripped us publicly!"
Heidi’s heart stutters. .
Her wolf stiffens. "They will lie."
Fear crawls up her spine. Ivy already did. The rest will too. She can feel the tide pulling away again.
She turns her head just and sees Darien, who doesn’t look alarmed or angry. He’s smiling. Across the room, Ace meets Darien’s gaze. There’s a silent exchange there. A nod.
A decision has already been made.
Ace rises from his seat. "Permission to call witnesses," he spreads his hands goofily, like watching Sierra shamelessly lie was the best entertainment he’s ever had in his life.
Elder Mavren, one of the elders, raises a brow. "You are not representing..."
"They are mine," Ace replies calmly. "And I vouch for their testimony."
After a pause, "Proceed," Elder Rowen allows.
Ace gestures toward the gallery. "Maribel. Ginny."
Two girls stand. Sierra’s eyes widen.
"No..." she breathes.
Ginny steps forward first.
She moves quietly, climbing into the witness box like she’d rather be anywhere but there.
"State your name," Elder Rowen commands.
"Ginny Vale."
"And your relationship to Sierra Castell?"
Ginny presses her lips together. "Former friend."
The word ’former’ causes Heidi’s jaw to drop.
WHAT? She whispers.
Sierra jerks forward. "Ginny—what are you doing?"
Ginny doesn’t look at her. "Telling the truth."
The room leans in. Heidi’s pulse pounds wildly as hope flares in her chest. Does this mean...?
Her wolf exhales softly. "Here we go."
Ginny’s fingers curl into the edge of the stone ledge like she’s afraid she might slide off the world if she lets go.
For a long moment, she doesn’t speak.
The courtroom holds its breath with her.
Heidi watches the girl closely. Ginny’s shoulders are stiff, spine locked too straight, like someone bracing for impact. Her eyes are red already, lashes clumped with unshed tears. Not the polished kind of crying Sierra does—the ugly, uncontained kind that comes from holding something rotten in your chest for too long.
"Ginny Vale," Elder Rowen says evenly, "you may proceed."
Ginny swallows and bites her shaky bottom lip.
"We were obsessed."
The words are so blunt, the crowd gasps. A ripple moves through the room.
Ginny lifts her eyes, and for the first time, she looks directly at the elders. "All of us. Me. Maribel. Sierra. Ivy. Every single one of us." Her voice wobbles. "We were obsessed with the Alpha heirs."
A few murmurs break out. Heidi’s stomach twists.
Ginny keeps going, faster now, like she’s afraid that if she slows down she’ll lose her nerve. "We talked about them all the time. We ranked them. Fought over them. Claimed them like... like property."
Morgan lets out a sharp, incredulous laugh from his seat. Grayson’s jaw tightens. Amias, who has walked in with Daphne and Isolde thirty minutes ago looks down like they were the problem, after all.
Darien doesn’t react at all.
"We already decided who belonged to whom," Ginny continues, cheeks burning. "Like it was a game. Like they were prizes."
Her voice cracks on the last word.
"We thought if we waited long enough.. If we were pretty enough, important enough—they’d eventually look at us."
She lets out a shaky breath. "But they never did."
The silence that follows is hard and uncomfortable. The kind that crawls under skin. Heidi feels something cold settle in her chest.
Ginny’s gaze drops to the floor. "Then Heidi came."