Chapter 2

They forced me into a chair before the elders, with all the prominent figures of the pack behind us. Lena crossed her arms under her chest, smirking at me with menacing glee.

 “What is the meaning of this? How could you handcuff Alyssa?” an elder said, looking over at me with concern. I tried to speak, to tell them what Carl was planning, but still I couldn’t utter a sound. He motioned to the guards. “Free her now.”

“Wait, you’re about to know the truth,” Carl looked serious, and the guard ignored the elder’s signal. “We are at war with the rogues. Yesterday, I received the information from the lycan king. He has found proof of a traitor in our pack. Through my own investigation, I found Alyssa has betrayed us,” Carl demanded. Again, I tried to deny it, but no sound came out of me.

Was that his plan? To make me his traitor and replace me with his mistress? I struggled furiously to get out of the handcuffs.

Carl looked at me dead in the eye. “Are you our traitor, Alyssa?”

I stared at him. How dare he?

“How dare you question Alyssa? We watched her grow up...” some elders still wanted to defend me.

“Well, out of all of us, she was the only one,” Carl paused and continued with a blunt, matter-of-fact tone, “in a relationship with a rogue.”

“What?” another elder exclaimed.

“A rogue? Is this true?” One other elder demanded.

Suddenly, all seven elders erupted into a shower of demands and questions. It wasn’t acceptable to associate with a rogue, let alone have a relationship with one. “Just before the war started, Alyssa was dating a man. He turned out to be not only a rogue, but the rogue king’s son! When her bastard child died by the goddess, instead of taking the blame herself, Alyssa blamed the pack doctor and this pack!”

“Proof, what proof do you have of this?” one elder demanded.

Carl held up his hand and Lena gave him a folded piece of paper. “A love letter between her and the rogue king’s son himself,” he said and handed it to the elders.

They read over it and as each of them looked at me, I saw the disgust in their eyes. “Well, girl,” one demanded. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

I tried to speak. To tell them everything that Carl said was a lie. Tears fell from my eyes as not a sound came from my mouth.

“It seems the goddess has taken away her voice,” Carl said with a sneer as he looked over at me.

“The goddess had to know she would only spill lies and try to manipulate this pack even further. She is a snake, poisoning this pack at every turn she takes.”

I shook my head and tried to mime what they did to me, but one elder shook her head. “Look at her, she’s going mad!”

“It doesn’t matter what it is,” yet another demanded. “The goddess clearly has marked her as guilty!”

“Guilty!” another shouted.

“Traitor,” someone yelled.

My eyes widened as I watched the surrounding crowd start to shout, calling me every version of traitor, whore, or lunatic.

Carl held up his hands. “You’re right, all of you are right,” he said. “That’s why we should publicly execute her here and now! What do the elders say?”

“Agreed,” they all demanded.

“And the pack?” Carl said, playing to the crowd. He stood tall like he thought he was some Roman emperor of old, hosting the fights in the coliseum, and everyone seemed more than eager to join him.

“Agreed,” they yelled.

I grit my teeth so tightly my jaw hurt. This couldn’t be happening. This had to be a nightmare, a bad dream. Someone yanked on my hair, and another punched me, making my vision go white.

“What is this? Stop this at once,” one elder demanded, but Carl stopped him.

“No, we should allow this. She betrayed us, and they have a right to get justice for the ones they’ve lost because of her.”

“This is for my son,” someone shouted, and a fist plowed into my stomach.

“My husband,” another screamed, yanking on my hair to punch me in the jaw.

Another followed, and another, and another. Each screaming their pain in my face as they hurt me. I tried to plead my innocence, despite knowing I was mute. No one seemed to care as they continued to hurt me. Eventually, I stopped feeling the hits and only felt pain.

Lena pushed her way through the crowd to stand in front of me. She grabbed my face hard, nails digging into my skin. “See, no one wants or cares about you,” she hissed. “Just a means to an end. That’s all you ever were. I hope it hurts when he cuts your head off.” She let me go with a triumphant smirk, going over to Carl, laying a hand on his arm.

“Alright, enough,” Carl demanded, and everyone backed away. He held up a silver dagger and walked over to me. “Time to meet the goddess’ justice traitor.”

He forced me up onto my knees. Standing behind me, Carl gripped my chin, forcing me to expose my neck. “Any last words?” he asked, then snickered in my ear. “Oh, I guess not.”

I couldn’t believe this was all happening. I couldn’t believe Carl was this monster.

Carl pressed the knife to my throat. “Goodbye, Alyssa,” he said sweetly, shredding my heart to pieces. “I won’t miss you,” he smirked, his eyes shining as if the powerful future was just within his reach. I closed my eyes and a sense of calm washed over me. In killing me, Carl would give me a gift. I would know peace with my son and Kalen. We would be together again. Carl sliced into my neck when a roar broke through the room.

“Get your hands off her,” a deep, sharp tone demanded.

My eyes shot open and my heart stuttered to a stop. I would’ve recognized that voice anywhere. I dreamt of it often. But…it couldn’t be. He was dead.

Carl’s smirk froze on his face. Every trace of his smug assurance evaporated in the moment. “You... you’re alive…” he croaked with astonishment.