Chapter 1: Dead rat

KATE

"Move, traitor!" A rough shove sent me staggering forward making my bare feet scratch against the hard and cold stone floor as they dragged me out of the dark cell of the stinking dungeon.

Every time I took a step, the metal of the chains that bound tightly to my wrists made a clinking sound and the tightness made them cut into my flesh as I was being walked towards the Pack hall where my fate would be decided.

I was marched out by two grinning and merciless guards into the open. The strong, dazzling sunlight made me squint as I attempted to adjust to the brightness after spending the night in that cold, damp hole.

My pulse was racing in my chest, each beat reminding me that there was no way out of this hot mess I’ve found myself.

The pack hall was packed with werewolves of various ages and ranks, from newborn pups to feeble elders, and everyone in between.

As they watched me come closer, their faces contorted into looks of hatred and disgust. They kept chanting words that cut through like a blade.

"Witch!"

"Kill her!"

"She deserves to die!"

Suddenly, something hard hit my shoulder—it was a rock and it almost dislocated my shoulder, followed by another, and then raw eggs. The yolks splattered against my thin, white armless knee length dress, drenching me in a stinking mess and soiling it with a sticky, sour-smelling goo.

I winced as laughter echoed around the hall, followed by an even harsher slap from the guard on my left side.

"Stop making yourself stink, girl," he sneered, smacking the back of my head.

I wasn’t making myself stink, you fool. They were, but no one cared after all.

I was just sixteen and I barely slept last night as the dungeon’s coldness kept me awake and all I did was try to make sense of why all this was happening to me.

The only explanation I could get was that someone wanted me gone. But who would go to such lengths?

Who hated me so much that they’d decided to let me suffer for someone else’s crime? How could a sixteen year old plan to kill an alpha as strong as Alpha Shawn?

Wait, Lexi? Lexi was my best friend and I actually took the herb from her yesterday night but I believe Lexi can’t do this. And if this isn’t from Lexi, then someone out there planned this and is watching for how this is gonna play out.

Hence I don’t want to mention her name to rat her out, one of us must stay out there to sort things out. Well, I and Lexi have one or two things to discuss when I see her. She still needs to let me know why she betrayed me and ruined my life in this way.

I wondered what my father, Jorge, would have done if he’d been here but I guess he wouldn’t have done much because he also hated me so much before he died when I was just ten.

My mother, Selene, had died giving birth to me and he blamed me for killing his mate, he would beat me, starve me and torture me. It's been a while since I had no one even when I still had a parent.

Now, I was an orphan with no wolf, no mate, and now, apparently, no future. The pain of that truth hurts me so much when I think about what is happening to me right now.

They dragged me before the high council, where the elders sat in a high row of seats, their faces hardened like stone and unforgiving as I was brought before them.

At the center sat Alpha Shawn, the Alpha of Hilltop Pack, the most powerful wolf in the kingdom and, ironically, the reason I stood here today, shackled and accused.

I watched as the delta of the pack, Garrick, stood up and cleared his throat. “The charge before us today is a very critical one, an abomination has happened in the kingdom of the Hilltop Pack,” he began, his voice booming with authority. His job was to announce crimes of the offenders like a court clerk.

“Kate Caelum, Alpha Shawn asked for his evening tea last night. You delivered it to his door, and our guards witnessed it. His guard took the first sip and died instantly.”

He had barely finished his statement when a chorus of murmurs arose within the crowd echoing in accordance to what Garrick just said.

He paused for a while before he continued, “Let there be decorum please! He shouted.

“Alpha, do you have anything to say about this charge?” His voice dripped with false pity.

Alpha Shawn rose from his seat, his gaze was dark and foreboding.

"Last night," he began, "I requested my usual before-sleep herbal tea. Kate was the one who brought it to my door. My doorstep guard took the tea from her hands and tasted part of it as he always does, and within moments… he was dead."

"I ordered her immediate imprisonment yesterday night in order for us to reach a decision here today. A crime of this magnitude cannot go unpunished and before the very eyes of every member of the Hilltop Pack, her punishment will be pronounced." He declared.

It was obvious I wouldn't be given a chance to say my own side of the story but I had to try even if my voice was hardly audible above a whisper. "Please, Alpha, I didn’t do it. I’ve never even been near the Alpha’s quarters. I….”

“I was only doing my duty—I didn’t even prepare that tea! I was just told to deliver it!”

I opened my mouth to say another word, but words failed me. I’d never once imagined standing here, accused by the very man I had served loyally.

"Enough with your lies, girl! Can’t you see the gods have cursed you, you were born wolfless and on top of that, the misfortune you’ve brought to the pack killed your parents…Perhaps you were cursed to bring ruin upon us all!" An elderly short, plump woman with thin hair and a permanent scowl, pointed a finger at me.

My mouth went dry. They truly believed this. They believed I was a curse?

I caught sight of Beta Tobias, a stocky man with a scar that ran down the side of his face, sneering at me as if I were nothing more than dirt on his boot. There was no mercy here, no hope. Only venom, coming from everyone around me.

He took the floor next, his eyes glinting with a smug satisfaction. “For too long, we’ve allowed a significant number of omegas to live here and today one of them reminded us just how unfortunate they were.”

“Today, we put an end to that!” His voice rose, as he pronounced my judgement

“As we continue our investigation and ultimately determine your fate and other useless omegas like yourself…”

“….you, Kate, the daughter of Jorge and Selene Caelum, will be imprisoned for six months in the dungeon without food or water!”

The words hit me like a blow to the chest. Six months? I thought I’d faint.

I’d always been an outcast. I’d longed for a different life, maybe to go to school, to study medicine one day.

But dreams like that were a luxury someone like me couldn’t afford. No, my destiny was here, in this hell of a hall, being condemned by people who think they’re better than me.

The crowd’s jeers echoed in my ears and only faded slightly with each step away from the hall and I looked up at the faces around me. Not a single one showed any hint of sympathy. Even the children looked at me as though I were a monster.

My legs trembled, barely able to keep me upright, and I could feel the warmth of my own blood trickling from where the chains had torn into my wrists.

The guards pulled me back to my feet, yanking on the chains around my wrists and forcing me to walk back toward the dark, damp hole of the dungeon.

I was hit squarely in the head by an egg, which smashed into my face and temporarily blinded me.

Immediately, I tripped over a stump which caused my body to hit the ground. I had to jump up quickly to prevent being beaten by the pack guards.

One of them sneered, “Stand up you witch! Before I break your head. You should’ve thought about the repercussions before poisoning the Alpha.”

The smell of rot and damp stone mixed with the smell of raw eggs thrown at me filled my nose as we descended back into that terrible place which made me almost throw up.

As they locked the heavy iron door behind me, leaving me in darkness, I slumped against the cold wall. Alone. Broken.

How did it come to this?

For a long moment, I sat there, thinking of the life I’d dreamed of but would never have. I wasn’t just allowed to pursue any other goal than serving others.

And now, without a trial, without a voice, I was condemned… to die in a place where I can’t find rescue, by some bunch of illiterates that would sentence a suspect without any solid evidence!

I curled up on the damp floor, hugging my knees to my chest, letting the tears come freely now.

I was nothing to them, less than nothing. Just an orphan, a powerless girl they could discard without a second thought.

“Who had really poisoned the Alpha? And why had I been the one that was framed? And what if the real culprit wasn’t found eventually? I thought to myself.

“Argh!” I exclaimed, it’s better for them to even kill or send me on exile once and for all than letting me go through this kind of suffering and torture.

There was no one to check how I was faring or what I’m feeling at the moment.

While I was lost in my thoughts, a mysterious black nylon bag crept into my cell. After observing the bag for about two minutes to see if anything would happen, I got up and carefully picked up the nylon bag. I was shocked to discover that it was food—someone had brought me food just minutes into my six-month jail sentence without food or drink.

Sounds like the light at the end of a tunnel right?

It was bacon and bread, my obvious favorite.

Well, I was close to whoever sent this, and the only person who this might have been was Lexi, my best friend in the omega quarters.

I took out the bread and ate it halfway through when I noticed something. It was a little piece of paper with writing on it.

"For the first time, you’re helpful to me, sweetie. All you have to do is to keep your mouth shut about who gave you the tea, and you'll continue to receive pleasant treats like this until your jail sentence is up. You realize that you don't actually need to die or starve. Don't act smart. I am watching you!

"Is this really it?" I whispered,

So the person who truly wanted to kill the King knew I was here and would stop at nothing to keep me quiet? Maybe even kill me if I try to say anything.

My fate has already been decided, so nobody would even listen to me as it stands right now!

"So I'm gonna just keep quiet, and suffer or even die in the long run for someone else's crime?" I became weak and everything went dark.