After My Family Destroyed Me, I Returned as the Moon Wolf Queen

"Father! Mother! Please!"

The heavy leather straps bit into my wrists, pinning my arms to the freezing steel of the operating table. The metal sapped the warmth from my bare skin.

"I never hurt Seraphina! You have to believe me!"

My voice cracked, raw from hours of crying.

Duke Alistair Veyne stood in the far corner of the sterile room. He didn't even blink. Beside him, Duchess Evelyn Veyne kept her hands folded neatly in her lap.

"Mother, say something," I sobbed. I pulled against the restraints, making the metal frame rattle. "Don't let them do this to me."

Silence.

Neither of them offered a single word.

"Look at me!" I yelled.

Evelyn finally raised her chin. Her eyes were completely dry. "Stop making a scene, Elara. It is unbecoming."

"Unbecoming?" I stared at her in disbelief. "They have me strapped down like an animal!"

"You brought this upon yourself," Alistair added, his tone flat.

I twisted my neck, searching the room for any lifeline.

Lucien Ashford towered over my left side. His jaw was set, his expression carved from stone. The sharp cut of his dark suit looked entirely out of place in the bright, clinical room.

"Lucien," I whispered, the name catching in my dry throat. "Tell them. You know me."

He stared down at me. "Do I?"

"I wouldn't hurt my own sister."

"Do not speak her name," he snapped.

"I'm innocent!" I thrashed my legs until the thick ankle bindings cut off my circulation.

"Keep her still," Lucien ordered the medical staff.

A nurse pressed her hands firmly against my shoulders, forcing me flat against the icy surface.

"Why are you doing this?" I demanded.

The lead doctor stepped into my line of sight. He held a tangle of wires attached to a humming machine.

"Lady Seraphina is suffering," the doctor stated, his tone entirely clinical. "Every time she sees you, she falls into a state of sheer panic."

"That's not my fault!"

"She trembles violently," the doctor went on, ignoring my outburst. "She refuses to eat. The night terrors are destroying her mind."

"I didn't cause them! I haven't even been alone with her since she came back!"

"You were the last person to see her before she disappeared," Lucien said. He took a step closer, his shadow falling over my face. "You lured her to the old estate."

"I did no such thing! She asked me to meet her there!"

"Lies," Evelyn interjected from the corner. "Seraphina would never go near the ruins. She is terrified of the dark."

"She sent me a letter!" I argued, desperation clawing at my throat. "Check my room! The letter is in my desk!"

"We searched your room," Alistair said. "There was no letter. Only the poison you used to keep her weak."

"Poison?" My heart pounded against my ribs. "What are you talking about?"

"Do not play the fool," Lucien growled. "We found the vials. You wanted her out of the way so you could take her place as the true heir. So you could take my hand in marriage."

"You're insane," I choked out, tears spilling over my cheeks. "Someone planted those! I would never poison her! You have to investigate this!"

"We need to know exactly what she endured," the doctor interrupted. He wiped a smudge from the machine's monitor. "Since she refuses to speak of the ordeal, we must extract the truth directly from your memories."

"Memory extraction?" Panic seized my chest. "That's illegal! It will destroy my brain!"

"It maps the neural pathways and forces the subconscious to project past events," the doctor explained, adjusting a dial. "The process is highly invasive."

"It is necessary," Lucien stated. His voice cut through the room like a blade. "Seraphina's well-being is the only priority."

"What about my well-being?" I cried out.

"You lost the right to our concern the moment she returned broken," my father said. His tone held no affection, only profound disappointment.

"I didn't break her!"

"Then you have nothing to fear from the machine," Evelyn said coldly.

"It causes permanent damage!" I reasoned, frantic. "You know the risks. People lose their minds. They go catatonic."

"A small price to pay for the truth," Lucien remarked.

"You're a monster," I spat at him.

He leaned in close, his face inches from mine. "I am doing what must be done to protect the woman I love."

"You loved me once," I reminded him, my voice breaking.

Lucien didn't flinch. "I was a fool."

He straightened up and gestured to the doctor. "Get on with it."

The doctor leaned over me. Two cold, metallic discs pressed against my temples.

"Wait!" I shrieked.

"Secure the nodes," the doctor instructed the nurse.

Thick adhesive tape locked the metal pads to my skin.

"Father, stop them! You're my family!"

Alistair turned his back to the table.

"Mother, please!"

Evelyn adjusted the cuffs of her silk dress. "Do not look at me, Elara