The Alpha's Luna Of Vengeance

LILIAN's POV “Any last words, traitor?” Hector, my husband and mate asked, with so much venom in his voice, but none of that was compared to the burning hatred in his eyes, as he stared at me with arms crossed, and his face stone-cold. It hurts. It hurts to see the same eyes which always looked at me with so much love, and lips that whisper promises against my skin now watch me like I was nothing. Less than nothing. “Hector, please,” I choked out in a cracked voice, and hated how desperate and pathetic I sounded. “I didn't–” “Enough!” Hector cut in sharply, shutting the words in my mouth, as he Alpha commanded me. “You were found guilty of treason, Lilian. The evidence is irrefutable.” Evidence? I laughed. Bitterly, and in a broken voice, as tears slid down my cheeks. Anyone with eyes could see that evidence was fabricated. All the witnesses that were brought to the stand all had inconsistent stories, which were clearly lies. But all that didn't matter now. Hector had made up his mind, and there was absolutely nothing to be done to change it. Hector turned to Raven, my best friend, the one who had brought evidence of my supposed treason to the pack. Letters in my handwriting that I had not written. Signed documents I had never seen before. "And by the laws of the pack," Hector continued, his jaw set. "The one who helped bring the accused to justice will light the pyre." He nodded at Raven, who stepped forward, a burning torch in her hand. Her eyes were streaming with tears, a handkerchief held over the lower half of her face. “Raven, tell them I'm innocent,” I pleaded with her desperately, as she might be my only lifeline. But my pleas fell on deaf ears. Instead, she bent over to light the pyre, not sparing me the dignity of a glance. The handkerchief over her face slipped slightly–a mistake, or intentional, I couldn't tell. But the cold satisfying smirk on her lips chilled me to the bones. Then it all began to make sense—not completely, but one thing was certain. Raven had a hand in whatever evidence was being used against me. Aside from Hector, she was the only one who had free access to my quarter's, my office, basically my entire life! I opened my mouth to scream out my analysis, but I could barely get a word out, as Raven lit the pyre, and a cry of pain deep from within my soul tore through my lips as my body went up in flames. ****** A gasp tore through my lips, as my eyes flew open. Smoke. The sky above me was thick and heavy with smoke, the air reeking of blood, death, and decay. Was I sent to hell? I'm no saint, but for one who was wrongfully accused and killed, I expected to at least be in paradise–wherever that was, but instead I was being sent to the stinkiest part of hell? Great. Just what my soul needed. I tried to move, but my body screamed in protest, every muscle aching terribly like I'd been trampled by a stampede. Yep. This is definitely hell, and I'm sure I passed out here from being tortured by the devil. I forced myself upright despite my aching muscles, and my hands landed on something soft. Too soft. I looked down, and my heart nearly leaped out of my throat, as staring back at me was a corpse. Burnt beyond recognition, mouth frozen in silent scream. I scrambled backwards, panic clawing at my insides, and a scream on the verge of breaking out, but I quickly slapped my hands over my lips. Now's not a good time to be screaming. Especially since I had no idea where I was, or how there's blackened, twisted, piles of burnt dead bodies around me. 'Sidra," I called out to my wolf, desperate for her presence.. 'Sidra...' 'Here,' my wolf whispered back. I felt my wolf's reassuring presence then, though she was as confused as I was. ‘Where are we, Lilian?’ Sidra managed to ask. Before I could respond, voices cut through the smoke. “-check for survivors!” “There won't be any. This place burned for two days straight.” The voices were accompanied by the sounds of heavy footsteps. I tried to stand, but my legs buckled. The world tilted, and I hit the ground hard. “Wait—someone is over there!” someone called in a tone of great surprise. In seconds, I was surrounded by a large group of heavily armed men. “She's alive,” one of them said, his voice filled with disbelief as they all looked down at me. “How's that even possible?” Another muttered in surprise. For a long moment, I stared at them and they stared back. Then the man in front barked, "Who are you? What is your name?" I opened my mouth to answer, but the name that fell out of my lips wasn't mine. “Lalita.” What? No– “Lalita,” I repeated again, like my tongue had a mind of its own. And my voice. It's…different. Or maybe that's a side effect of getting burnt alive, even though I'm yet to understand if I'm truly alive or if this is another section of the afterlife. ‘Lilian, what's happening?’ Sidra asked, her fear mirroring mine. I tried making what little sense I could of what was happening, but my thought process was interrupted by one of the men. "How are you here?" he asked, grimacing as he shifted and stepped on a pile of bones which immediately crumbled to dust. "Are you part of the rogue settlement here?" asked the first man. I managed to get on my feet again. “I… I think so,” I said, in a voice that's barely above a whisper. “Think so?” Another of the armed men scoffed. “Either you are or you aren't.” Before I could respond, the air shifted. Heavy. Oppressive. Like the weight of a storm about to break. Then he stepped into view. Tall. Commanding. Silver-streaked black hair falling just past his shoulders, and eyes—goddess, those eyes–motlengold that seemed to see straight through me. Power radiated from him in waves so potent it made my knees weak. He's an Alpha. No question. And the moment our gazes locked, Sidra went wild. MATE!” My breath caught in my throat. No, goddess no. This couldn't be happening. Not now. Not like this. He looked at me, and not a single flicker of acknowledgment showed in his expression. Just cold, assessing calculation, as he studied me like I was a threat. “Report,” he said in a gruff voice that sounded like the most beautiful sound in the world. Damn the mate bond. And damn the goddess for whatever game she's playing right now. I wasn't dead. That much was established the moment I hit my head hard on the ground. “We just found her here. She seems to be a rogue, but she doesn't smell like one, nor does she have any known Pack scent,” one of the men answered. The Alpha turned to me, his eyes still holding that cold, calculating gaze. “How did you survive a fire that burned for two days…” he paused and gave me a quick, inconsiderate once-over. “With not even a single burnt mark?” I parted my lips to speak, but nothing came out. How could I explain something I didn't understand myself? And did he just say this place has been burning for two days? What in the goddess's name was happening?! “I don't know,” I finally managed to say, as I could feel his eyes on me, as he waited for my response. “I can't..I can't remember.” "Any other survivors?" he asked, his eyes scanning the areas which were littered with different burnt bodies. What horrible thing had happened here? "None. Just her," one of the men with beards answered. The Alpha nodded his head slowly, and his gaze swept over me, briefly, for merely a second If I can even call it that. ‘Mate is angry,’ Sidra pointed out, and I couldn't agree more. Was he angry that I was his mate, or is there something else behind his anger? “It is getting late. Let us go,” the Alpha said, as he turned around to leave, and my traitorous weakling of a heart aches at the thought of him leaving. Damn the mate bond! Damn this curse bond a million times over! I don't even know him, yet here I was feeling like someone whose lover was breaking up with them. Jeez! What was the goddess thinking when she gave us the bond in the name of a blessing? This is a curse. A sick twisted curse. I parted my lips to say the rejection words, but the bearded man's words cut it before I could get any words out. “Alpha, what do you want us to do with her?” he asked carefully. Amongst all the men present, he was the only person that looked at me like I was an actual person, and not some vermin not worth breathing the same air as them. The Alpha stopped in his tracks, then turned slowly to look at me–the longest he's done since he arrived. How cute. “We're on the brink of war,” he said coldly, his eyes not leaving mine. “We don't have time for strays with convenient amnesia. Especially ones who survive the impossible.” Okay. That was mean. Real mean. What happened to empathy? I understand that we're in really difficult times, but we're wolves first. Before being, whatever our Pack, or no Pack, makes us to be. “Alpha Zian,” the bearded man called out again, his tone having a certain edge. “It's almost sundown. With how weak she looks, she won't survive the night alone out here– “Not our concern Alaric,” my mate, whom I've come to learn is Alpha Zian, cut in at the bearded man whose name is Alaric. “We could at least have a healer look at her. Once it's determined she's fine, we can have her be on her way by morning,” Alaric said in one breath, not backing down. Bold. Stupidly bold, but still bold regardless. And if my guesses are right, based on this new information I just got, I think I might have an idea whose Pack’s Alpha my mate is. But let's not jump into conclusions yet. I don't really know which part of the world I'm in, or if I'm even in the same timeline as when I died. Alpha Zian stared hard at Alaric for a really long second, before his cold gaze shifted to me. “Please reconsider,” Alaric said in a voice that's barely above a whisper. “One night,” Alpha Zian said tersely. “And if she turns out to be anything more than what she claims to be. You'll be held responsible.”