"I must confess. There is something quite joyful in seeing you like this." Natasha said as she tilted her head to the side.
"What do you want?" I seethed as I narrowed my eyes at her.
"I want to talk." She said as she leaned against the wall.
"Well I don't. You can leave now." I turned my head and broke eye contact. I was on the verge of tears and would rather die than have anyone see me cry.
Natasha came and kneeled in front of me, grabbing my chin and turning me to face her.
I looked into her eyes, and she no longer looked amused. She looked caring. Natasha wasn't looking at me like someone would a werewolf who was accused of treason.
I pushed back the tears and gulped down the lump in my throat.
"I didn't do it." I said. My voice was weak and trembling. Natasha looked deep into my eyes and pushed back the hairs that were falling onto my face.
"I know." She said and my eyes opened widely. Did she believe me? She knew I was innocent.
"You do?" I asked in shock, and the first tear fell. I quickly wiped it off and grabbed her hand. She believed me.
A sense of joy filled my body, giving me energy I hadn't felt since I was brought down here. I thought that everybody saw me as a traitor, as someone who would work against them only because she wanted to be with the Alpha.
"I do. That's why I want to talk." I nodded my head fast and Natasha sat down. She tried taking her hand away but I wouldn't let her. I don't know why, but I needed her to hold my hand. I needed the comfort more than I realized.
She smiled and left her hand in mine. Taking a seat where she was kneeling.
"What's going on?" I asked her.
"You do have a traitor within the pack. That much is clear and true. However, this person has framed you so as not to shine light upon themselves. The Alpha doesn't know who it is and neither does anyone else, but they are all fairly certain that it isn't you."
"Fairly? So they still believe I'm guilty." I said sounding exasperated. I removed my hand and placed them on my lap.
"Yes and no. They don't believe it's you but seeing as nobody else has been known to have contact with the wizard, it looks very much like you're guilty. What can you tell me about your contact with him?" I looked at Natasha dumbfounded.
"What wizard?" I asked her.
"You were talking to him on the phone the day you were captured," Natasha started. She looked at me as if she was searching for something.
"You truly don't know him do you?" She asked and I shook my head. I tried to regain my composure.
"No I don't know any wizards. The man I was talking to on the phone, his name was Cross or crisis or something,"
"Crow." Natasha said.
"Yes! His name was Crow. And I didn't call him, I had never heard of him before. He called me, saying he wanted to schedule a meeting for some event. He said that he needed the name of my Alpha and I told him his name. Then he proceeded to talk about Avery saying they knew each other and that he needed my help getting in contact with her. He referred to her as the Luna. I told him that I didn't have a way for him to contact her and that if he needs to talk to them he should come...here."
I realized my mistake. I talked to him about the Alpha and Avery, I invited him to our pack, I told him the Alphas name.
Natasha sighed and looked at me.
"I fucked up," I admitted.
"You did, but the thing is Sofia, that is not all you said." I looked at Natasha waiting for her to continue.
"You also told him who Avery is, where she came from and how the pack feels about her. You told him everything you knew and that is why Amber believed you to be guilty. Because you shared information regarding the future Luna that isn't yours to share." I felt another tear roll down.
"I'm so sorry. I know now that I shouldn't have but I- I don't know why I did it." I said shaking my head. How could I have been so stupid? Of course, it sounded like I was a traitor, even I heard it now.
"You didn't know who he was, but you did know not to speak of the pack to an outsider."
"Yes but he told me that he knew Avery from before!" I tried defending myself.
"Even if he did, why would he need to know where she came from? If they knew each other, shouldn't he already have that information?" Natasha made some very valid points. I couldn't believe how badly I'd fucked up.
"None the less, right now the most important thing is to find the actual traitor. Do you have any idea whom it could be?" I thought long and hard but came up blank. I couldn't think of anyone that would betray the pack, let alone the Alpha.
I shook my head after coming up empty. In some way, it made me glad not to be able to think of anyone who would do such a thing.
"I'm sorry, but no."
"That's okay. Sooner or later they will show themselves. I just hope for sooner, rather than later. For now, you need to stay down here I'm afraid. Whoever it was that framed you needs to believe that they succeeded." Staying down here didn't sound like much of an option but I did understand the reasons. I nodded my head and Natasha stood up, helping me up as well. She gave me a warm hug and then called for the guard to let her out.
I watched as she left and then went back to take a seat in my usual spot by the wall. Having someone believe in my innocence and knowing that the Alpha and the others somewhat saw it too, was enough to bare this out.