Condemned
1522 Words
Thalia
The next day, I woke to the rattle of keys.
A sharp pain tore through my head. For a moment, I couldn’t move. I couldn't think. All I could do was drag air into my lungs.
The silver bit deep into my wrists and ankles, sending sharp pulses through me with every small shift. It clung so tightly that even the slightest movement hurt.
I stayed curled on the floor, trembling, waiting for the pain to ease enough to breathe properly.
A warrior pulled the gates open and dragged me into the pack house through a side entrance, so the guests from the party wouldn’t see.
My wrists were still locked in silver cuffs. My bare feet scraped the ground, already sore from injuries.
What was left of my silver sequined gown hung from me in dirty, torn pieces.
I could barely walk, but they kept pulling me forward.
“Please…” I begged, my voice hoarse from crying. “My legs hurt.”
They didn’t care.
They never did.
They threw me forward, and I dropped to my knees in front of them. The silver cuffs bit deeper into my skin. I hissed in pain.
My father stared down at me, eyes hard and unreadable. My mother stood beside him, her expression cold as ice. Two elders sat to his right, watching in heavy silence.
“Sunshine,” he said.
The word tasted like poison.
“Father…” My voice cracked. “Please… I don’t want to die—”
“You don’t want to die?” His laugh cut through the air, sharp and bitter. “You think you deserve to live?”
“Father—”
He slapped me across the face. The force snapped my head to the side, and the sting exploded across my cheek before I even had time to react.
“Don’t call me that! You don’t get to use that word.”
His face loomed inches from mine, eyes blazing.
“Alpha…” My voice broke as tears slid down my face. “I didn’t do anything. I swear.”
He stared down at me, his expression cold and disappointed. Those same eyes… the ones that once held pride for me… now felt like judgment.
“You pathetic little filth,” my mother snapped, stepping forward. Her designer heels clicked sharply across the polished floor, stained with Raleigh’s blood. “After what your cursed wolf did to my baby, death would be too merciful.”
“No!” My voice broke as I shook my head. “I would never hurt Raleigh. You have to believe me.”
“I believe you,” a calm voice cut through the tension.
Relief hit me like a blow. My head snapped up, my eyes locking onto Mavin.
“Mavin…” I breathed. He was here—he hadn’t abandoned me.
He dropped to his knees in front of me, hands hovering like he wasn’t sure he had the right to touch me. Then his fingers brushed my tears away.
My chest clenched.
“What have you turned into?” he murmured. “You turned into a Lycan… and you hurt your sister.”
A chill crawled down my spine.
“Mavin—”
“I see it,” he said quietly, his eyes fixed on mine. “The fear. The envy. You’re trying to hide it, but it’s there.”
His voice shifted—slightly harder now.
“But you need to tell them the truth.”
“Was it your Lycan that hurt Raleigh… or did you poison her?”
“No.” My head shook immediately, desperate. “No, no… you have to believe me. I didn’t do anything to her.”
My breath started to break apart.
I reached for him—
The cuffs snapped tight and dragged me back. Pain exploded through my wrists. Blood slid down my arms.
“I’m innocent!”
The words came out broken, raw.
“Enough lies, Thalia,” he said. “Everyone saw it. Raleigh collapsed right beside you. The vial was found there.”
His voice was calm now. Too calm.
My stomach dropped.
“You poisoned your sister out of jealousy. Raleigh awakened her wolf at eighteen, and you never got over it.”
“Jealousy?” I whispered, like I couldn’t understand the word. “Of what? I was happy for her. I’ve always been happy for her.”
Valeria stepped forward, her face twisted with hatred.
“Mother, please believe me…”
But she didn’t even look at me.
Something in my chest tightened painfully.
“You’ve never liked your sister,” he continued flatly. “Everything you said about her… it was resentment you tried to disguise.”
Then he stepped forward again.
In his hand was a small glass vial.
Dark residue clung to the inside.
“I found this near Raleigh,” he said, lifting it for everyone to see. “A vial containing poison. Only someone who wanted her dead would have used it.”
He looked at me like I was nothing.
No love. No pity. No hesitation.
Just judgment.
My mind couldn’t keep up anymore.
This was the man who had proposed to me six months ago. The man who once said he loved me.
My voice cracked.
“Have you forgotten everything you said to me?” I whispered. “You said you loved me…”
His expression didn’t change.
“Stop pretending,” he said coldly. “Own up to what you’ve done.”
Something inside me broke completely.
I froze, staring up at him.
The world tilted.
I couldn’t breathe.
“Why…” I rasped. “Why are you doing this?”
“Enough!” my father roared.
“Father, please—I’m being framed,” I begged, crawling closer on my knees despite the silver biting into my skin. “I would never hurt Raleigh. She’s my sister. When I shifted, I was in so much pain—I didn’t attack anyone. I don’t know anything about that vial.”
Alpha Theron rose slowly.
“First,” he said coldly, “you shifted into that forbidden creature with blood-red eyes. Your wolf is cursed.”
His gaze locked onto me.
“And second—you proved exactly what we know about that abomination you’ve become. Raleigh collapsed right beside you, and the vial was found at your feet. That is not a coincidence.”
“I didn’t attack her!” I screamed. Tears and snot ran down my face. My wrists were bleeding now from straining against the cuffs. “Why won’t any of you believe me? I’m your daughter… Mother…”
Valeria laughed bitterly. “I gave birth to you—and that was my first mistake.”
I turned to Mavin again, desperate. “Mavin, tell them. You know me. You said you loved me. Please…”
He stepped closer and crouched down until we were eye level.
For a second, hope flickered.
“I thought I knew you,” he said quietly, “but I was wrong. Raleigh was right about you all along.”
My heart broke.
I couldn’t breathe through it.
“You said it would be our wedding next… right after my birthday. We were supposed to be planning it.”
I strained against the chains, reaching for him.
He stepped back.
A cruel smirk twisted his lips.
“Thank goddess it never happened,” he said coldly. “I couldn’t imagine living with a cursed mate.”
Each word sank deeper, hollowing me out.
The door opened.
Raleigh entered slowly, supported by two maids. She looked weak and pale—but her eyes were cold when they met mine.
“Sister…” she said softly, her voice trembling with hurt. “Why did you do this to me? I’ve always loved you. You’re my twin sister.”
Something inside me snapped.
I broke.
Sobs tore out of me, my whole body shaking.
“I didn’t… I didn’t do it…” I shook my head violently, tears blurring everything. “Please… Raleigh…”
“Thalia Whitlock,” Theron said in his Alpha voice, loud and final, “you are hereby branded an abomination and a traitor to the Shadowfen Pack. You will be locked away in the underground cell. No visitors. No mercy. You will remain there until we decide if you live or die.”
“No!”
The scream ripped out of me as I dragged myself forward.
“Father, please! Don’t do this… I’m begging you! I don’t understand what’s happening to me!”
The warriors seized me from behind.
I kicked. I struggled. I fought until my strength started to fail.
“Father! Mavin! Raleigh! Mom—please don’t do this to me… I’m innocent…”
But no one moved.
No one stopped them.
They dragged me down the dark hallway toward the underground stairs, my cries breaking into raw, useless sound.
The last thing I saw before the stairs swallowed me was Raleigh standing beside Mavin.
Her hands were gently intertwined with his.
She wasn’t shaking anymore.
She was smiling.
- Writer
