Ch 2-Freya

"I am innocent, Damon!" I scream the words until my throat burns raw, but it's pointless. The stone walls of my prison swallow my pleas, just as they've done for days. No food. No water. The irony of ending up in a cell after my wedding ceremony would be laughable if it weren't so terrifying.

I can't believe it. Will not believe it.

My chained hands tremble as I wrap my arms around myself. The cell walls are rough-carved rocks, sharp edges poking out at cruel angles, denying even the small comfort for me to lean against them. Each link of the chains bears the pack's crest - a bitter reminder of the position I've lost.

The prison doors swing open with a metallic screech. My eyes dart up, hope and fear warring in my chest as Jane appears.

"Jane!" I cry as she rushes to embrace me through the bars. The chains bite deeper into my skin as I strain against their limits to reach her. The familiar scent of wildflowers that always clings to her offers a moment of comfort.

"Jane, what are they saying? How is the Alpha doing? When is Damon coming to get me out of here?" The questions tumble out desperately. I try to hold back tears, remembering Father's constant admonition about showing weakness.

"I did not do what they are accusing me of, Jane." She nods, believing me, and I finally let the tears fall. Someone who believes me. Someone who'll help.

"I know. You're incapable of it," she hugs me again, her golden hair brushing my face. "Your father is trying to sort things out."

"What do you mean?" Confusion creeps in at her tone.

Her face falls. "The Alpha is dead."

The words echo in my skull like a death bell. Jane leaves me with fresh clothes to ward off the cell's bone-deep chill, promising to return soon. As her footsteps fade, the weight of reality crashes down. I've been framed for poisoning the Alpha - and now he's dead.

I will be too if I cannot prove my innocence.

When the prison doors open again, guards drag me roughly from the cell, chains rattling with each step. The familiar corridors of the pack compound feel alien now as we emerge into the gathering area. The entire tribe stands witness to my shame.

Father's eyes are red-rimmed, his lips pressed into a tight line that speaks of helpless rage. But it's Damon's expression that shatters me - pure hatred burns in those green eyes that once looked at me with love.

No.

He cannot possibly believe I did this. What reason would I have to kill his father?

They force me to my knees before him. Luna Elena stands nearby in mourning black, dabbing at endless tears with a delicate handkerchief. My last hope that the Alpha might have survived crumbles as Damon speaks, his voice carrying the weight of his new position.

"Freya Blackwood. You have poisoned your Alpha and have been found guilty of treason."

"I did no such thing!" I cry, turning desperately to my father. Whispers of "murderer" ripple through the crowd like poison.

"You will be executed as punishment."

"We are fated mates, Damon. I am yours - would you have me executed without trial?" The mate mark on my wrist burns as I speak the words.

"There is no need for trial." His voice cuts like winter wind. "This," he raises a crystal bottle filled with dark liquid, "was found in your room."

It's a half-empty bottle of what I assume must be wolfsbane poison. I stare in disbelief. "That does not belong to me."

"Does it not?" His lip curls. "Search her."

The guards' hands violate every inch of me, their touch bringing shame and rage. But true horror comes when a matching bottle falls from the clothes Jane provided. The other half of the poison Damon holds.

Gasps ripple through the crowd. Damon's eyes widen, though something flickers in their depths - satisfaction?

"No, Damon, this is not mine..." My voice breaks as he stalks toward me, grabbing my clothes roughly.

"You killed my father because he didn't want me to marry you?"

"No, you can't believe this. These clothes are not..."

"And even with all the evidence, you lie." His fingers dig into my arms.

"I am your mate, Damon, you have to believe me!" I sound mad even to my own ears as the crowd watches my desperation.

"The Moon Goddess would not give me a murdering mate." The same words from our garden conversation, twisted now into something cruel.

I turn to Father, silently begging him to speak up, but he remains silent. My eyes find Jane at the edge of the crowd. She promised everything would be sorted out - why is everyone calling me a murderer?

A small smile plays at the corners of her mouth. I blink rapidly, praying it's a trick of the light. My oldest friend cannot be smiling at my destruction. But no matter how many times I blink, that satisfied curve of her lips remains.

She could not have.

No.

"Freya Blackwood, I renounce you as my mate!"

The words take time to register before agony rips through my body. The pain of rejection tears through our bond like molten metal in my veins. My heart pounds so hard I fear it might burst. Through tear-blurred eyes, I look at Damon, searching for any sign that he feels this too.

But his face remains impassive. I alone bear this pain.

Storm clouds gather overhead as if the sky itself mourns what I've lost. My body begins to shake uncontrollably.

"Take her away," he orders.

As the guards approach, something breaks inside me. A scream tears from my throat - primal, inhuman. The last thing I see before consciousness fails is Damon's eyes widening in shock.

When I wake, Father sits beside my prison cot. I try to sit up, but the chains still restrict my movement.

"I am innocent Father." The words come out small, broken.

His weathered hands cover mine. I fight back tears, remembering years of his lessons about strength. But this - this betrayal - is too much to bear.

"It does not matter, Freya." His voice carries the hollow sound of defeat. "You have to live. No matter what happens, you have to. Do you understand me?"

I don't understand, but I nod, sniffling.

Heavy footsteps announce Damon's arrival. Father rises stiffly.

"Alpha," he greets, and my heart stutters at the title.

He was to be Alpha eventually - I was meant to be his Luna when that happened. How cruel the Moon Goddess must be to orchestrate this tragedy.

Damon dismisses my father with a curt gesture. Once we're alone, he presses something into my hand - the bottle of poison.

Horror dawns as I understand. "You want me to kill myself?"

"Consider it mercy" His sneer twists his handsome features into something ugly.

My body trembles with suppressed sobs. "Did you ever love me?" It's too late to matter, but I have to know.

"No." One syllable shatters what remains of my heart.

He moves to the door, pausing. "It is a gift. A quicker death compared to what awaits you." His wicked smirk makes my blood run cold.

Is this my execution then? How fitting - the same poison that damned me will end me.

He takes the keys from the guard and unchains me before dragging me outside. The bright sunlight blinds me after days in darkness, but I see it - the flag that haunts my nightmares.

The last time I saw those colors, my mother was dragged away, never to return.

The cursed Alpha King emissaries. An annual political exchange that takes one pack member from each tribe.

I struggle against Damon's grip. "No, Damon, you can't!" Terror makes my voice shrill. "You can't give me to the monster who took my mother!"

SLAP!

The sound echoes in the courtyard. I cup my stinging cheek, staring at him in shock. This stranger wearing my mate's face.

Damon yanks me close, his voice guttural. "You will control yourself."

"Be grateful your father was my father's Beta and served him well. His loyalty is the only reason this option was considered."

The betrayal cuts deeper. Father wouldn't - couldn't - give me to the man who tore Mother from us. But when I turn to him, I see only resignation in his face.

Real fear courses through me like poison.

"Please, no!"

I wrench away from Damon and run blindly, only to collide with what feels like a stone wall.

"Calling me a monster - no one has ever dared say it to my face." A deep voice reverberates through my bones.

I raise my head, up and up, to meet the face of my nightmare made flesh. My knees buckle, but his massive hands steady me. His eyes darken when they meet mine, and I freeze like prey before a predator.

He....He's here?

"Damon," he calls out, voice like thunder. "This is far from a fine welcome."

"Alpha Damon," Damon corrects sharply, but the giant merely laughs.

"I apologize - we weren't expecting you yet," Damon continues stiffly.

"I have what I came for. I shall take my leave." His grip on me tightens as he turns away.

"The details..." Damon calls after us.

"Will be discussed with my emissaries."

The Alpha King pulls me over his shoulder effortlessly.

I fight against his hold, but it's like struggling against a mountain. Every tale I've heard about his cruelty, about what happens to those he takes, floods my mind.

"Such a feisty little thing," he muses.

"I am no thing!" I shout, still fighting.

I watch helplessly as Father leads the emissaries into the court chambers with Damon.

Father's words echo: "You have to live."

But if this is living, I choose death. The rumors about his territory- the screams that echo from Wulfgar, the horror of missing prestine women he takes- flash through my mind.

The Moon Goddess must truly delight in cruelty. With strength born of desperation, I sink my teeth into his neck. He releases me in surprise, and I hit the ground hard.

My hands shake as I raise Damon's "gift" to my lips and drink deeply.

The effect is immediate. Blood fills my mouth, metallic and hot.

It really is a quicker death.

I smile through the pain.

A better death

The last words I hear from him before darkness claims me.

"Moon Goddess!!!"