Chapter 2: Sentenced to Death
*Ariella*
I run immediately at Lilith’s words, unsure whether Marcus will take her suggestion and kill me. I no longer trust the so-called love between us. The betrayal is still so fresh as tears spill from my eyes.
My legs carry me mindlessly through the pack lands, clutching my tattered shirt at the shoulder.
I stumble toward the temple of the Moon Goddess, pausing at the temple doors, wondering if I should go inside.
“Are you alright?” I turn to see Charles, a young temple priest, standing behind me. “Luna? What happened?”
Charles leads me inside, giving me food and drink that I take hungrily as I describe to him what happened. His warm brown eyes are kind and compassionate.
“I just didn’t know where else to go,” I whisper shakily.
“Stay here. Even Alpha Marcus wouldn’t dare risk the wrath of the Moon Goddess,” he says with a certainty I know to be foolish.
Marcus is vicious and cutthroat to his enemies, and somehow, I have garnered his wrath.
“Thank you, but I can’t stay. I just–I need supplies, and to get as far away from here and Alpha Marcus as possible.”
“Just rest for now,” Charles encourages me.
I feel the edges of exhaustion begging me to take his advice. “I guess one night–”
Banging on the temple door cuts me off.
“Ariella!”
My resting heart lurches as I recognize the booming voice of Marcus’s Beta, Damon. I hardly ever see him, but when I do, he’s usually covered in the blood of others.
“Ariella, I know you’re in there!”
He bangs again and Charles stands to open the door. As he does, pack warriors push past him and instantly surround me.
“What do you want?” I ask as I look at the hulking figure of Beta Damon walking menacingly toward me.
He has a muscular frame, towering over six feet tall with dark hair and cold gray eyes. A taming collar meant to keep me from shifting teeters in his hand–not that he needed it with my silent wolf.
“You are wanted by the Alpha!”
“Please, I–”
Two warriors grab me by the arms.
“Leave her alone!” Charles stands defiantly in front of Beta Damon. “She is in the temple of the Moon Goddess for sanctuary from Alpha Marcus.”
Beta Damon scoffs and snaps his fingers. The warriors jump on Charles, push him to the floor, and start kicking and punching him repeatedly.
“Stop!” I cry out. “Stop! I’ll come with you! Please just don’t hurt him.”
“You’re no longer the Luna, bitch, and I don’t take orders from a filthy whore like you!” Damon viciously snaps, and they continue to beat Charles until he lies bruised and bloody, unconscious on the floor.
“As for you–” Damon snaps the collar on me, and I feel the spikes prick and cut my throat.
“Let go of me!” I demanded, but to no avail.
“You don’t really think you’re off the hook, do you?” he smirks as he latches a chain to the collar and drags me outside and through the forest, back to the pack hall.
Blankly, I watch the pack members enter, their faces unreadable. Damon still holds the chain attached to the collar at my throat.
The crowd’s murmuring quiets down as Marcus enters and stands authoritatively before them as their Alpha, radiating that powerful energy that once drew me to him.
Till this moment, I still can’t believe the person who once looked at me with love and kindness and the vicious man standing in front of me are the same person.
Marcus addresses the crowd. “Midnight Moon pack members, it is with a heavy heart that I’ve called you all here today to make an important announcement.”
He pauses, and in that breath, dread creeps through my veins and pierces my heart.
“It is with great sorrow that I must replace Ariella as my Luna. We thought she was missing, but it turns out she ran away to be with another man.”
The words land like blows, and a chorus of gasps rises from the pack.
“As Alpha of the pack, fidelity and integrity are the foundations of my leadership. An unfaithful woman doesn’t deserve to be called my Luna.”
I want to scream my denial, but I am silent with anguish as Damon tugs on the collar with enough force to bring me to my knees.
“I am just as astonished by this as you all are.” Marcus’s facade is flawless–the wounded husband, sad but resolute.
I shiver to think how often I’ve believed his words of love and comfort for the last five years.
Heartache and pain swirl sickeningly inside me.
Members of the pack erupt in outraged chatter.
“How could she?”
“After all he’s done for her?”
“She never belonged here anyway.”
Demon jerks my head up and while I try to avert my gaze, I see the looks of disgust from members of my pack.
“Slut!”
“Whore!”
“You have no right to be our Luna!”
Although they have been deceived and their judgments are misplaced, each accusation flung at me still carves into my heart.
“No, I was set up! I didn’t mean to do this. It’s–” I try to say, but a tug on the collar chokes and silences me again.
“It’s what? Stop your lies, you vile woman.”
Marcus’s handsome face hardens into harsh lines. His eyes blaze with hatred… as if he wants to kill me.
I scoff to myself bitterly. Marcus has carefully planned this, so there is no way I can defend myself.
“The marriage vows are broken,” he declares coldly. “I am Alpha. You will accept my decision.”
I look up as Lilith stands at Marcus’s side, her satisfied smirk cutting me to ribbons inside. She wraps her arms around my husband, and he does nothing to resist her brazen gestures.
I don’t know if it is outrage or desperation that compels me to crawl toward Marcus until I am mere feet from him. Marcus’s eyes widen in surprise and anger at the interruption.
Shakily, I force my eyes toward my husband. “Marcus, please. Just let me know what I did to upset you. You are my entire world.”
For a moment, I think his eyes show a hint of relenting. He opens his mouth as if to respond, but Lilith intervenes, grasping Marcus’s arm possessively.
“Don’t let this pathetic wretch manipulate you, my love,” she hisses loud enough for all to hear. “She spins lies to trick you and undermine your rightful authority. Show everyone the strong Alpha you are by punishing this traitor.”
I inhale his rich, woodsy scent that once brought me such comfort. Even now, it calls to something deep inside me.
Marcus turns away, and Lilith whispers in his ear loud enough for me to hear. “I told you she was going to make this as difficult as possible. The only way to get rid of her is to kill her.”
The blood in my veins turns to ice as he looks at Lilith and gives her a small nod.
Terror washes over my body.
“This pathetic wretch disrespects our Alpha and laws,” Lilith screeches. “There is only one punishment fit for such treachery.”
She turns to Marcus with a vicious gleam in her eye. “Death.”
The pack erupts into outraged shouts. Marcus silences them with a roar and a flash of red in his eyes. He turns those burning Alpha eyes back to me.
“You leave me no choice. As Alpha, I declare that you shall be executed for treason against the pack.”
For a moment, my mind refuses to process what he said.
“Take her and carry out my order,” Marcus commands.
The warriors grab my arms. Damon leads them as they drag me away. My heart sinks until without explanation, the collar around my neck falls away and crashes to the ground.
Finally, primal instinct overrides my shock and grief. This is my one chance.
I twist violently, breaking free of their grip. Before they can react, I sprint desperately into the forest.
I hear Lilith screeching at the warriors, ordering them to catch me. The sounds of pursuit crash through the underbrush behind me. Still, I run, my lungs searing and limbs leaden but terror granting me speed.
My only thought is to get as far away from the warriors as I can. Twigs slash my skin, roots threaten to trip me, but I do not slow down. I run through the center of a creek to hide my scent.
Gradually, the sounds behind me fade. Still, I keep running until I can go no further. Finally, my legs give out as I collapse, gasping for breath. Every inch of my body throbs and burns.
But I am free.
As my panting subsides, eerie silence envelops me. Drained and bewildered, my predicament sinks in. Marcus wishes me dead, and he will not stop until his warriors find me.
Wearily, I consider my next steps. But it is too much. My mind shuts down, welcoming the oblivion of unconsciousness.
As blackness closes in, I think I hear a voice murmuring, “Sleep now, princess.”
But I slip into darkness before I can wonder at its source.