Chapter 2 — The Execution Grounds
1403 Words
Chapter 2 — The Execution Grounds
Rain hammered against the stone courtyard as Aria Sterling was dragged toward the execution grounds.
Her white Luna dress was soaked through, clinging to her trembling body. Mud splashed across her bare feet, but she barely noticed.
She could only hear one thing.
The beating of her heart.
Run.
Silver's voice echoed inside her mind.
We have to run.
Aria looked around.
Guards surrounded her from every direction. The enormous gates of Silvermoon's fortress were sealed. Beyond them stood hundreds of pack members, watching silently beneath black umbrellas.
The entire pack had come to witness her death.
Her death.
For something she hadn't done.
"Please," Aria whispered.
The guards continued walking.
At the center of the courtyard stood the execution platform.
A silver blade rested on a wooden table beside it.
Aria's stomach twisted.
She stopped moving.
"I won't."
One guard grabbed her arm.
"Move."
"No."
She pulled away.
"I won't die for something I didn't do."
The guard tightened his grip.
"You're making this harder."
Aria looked toward the crowd.
"Someone framed me!"
Her voice rang across the courtyard.
"I didn't poison the elders!"
Nobody answered.
Then she saw Chloe.
She stood beneath a large black umbrella beside Gideon.
Chloe's expression was sorrowful.
But Aria saw something else.
Satisfaction.
The realization sent a cold shiver through her.
She planned this.
Aria's eyes narrowed.
"You."
Chloe's expression changed.
"Aria..."
"You did this."
Gideon stepped forward.
"Enough."
Aria looked at him.
"Ask her where she got that necklace."
Chloe instinctively touched the necklace around her throat.
Gideon frowned.
"That's my mother's necklace."
"It was in my jewelry chest yesterday."
Chloe's eyes widened.
"I received it from the Alpha."
Aria stared at Gideon.
"Did you give it to her?"
Gideon hesitated.
That hesitation told Aria everything.
"You've already chosen her."
"Aria."
"You chose her before this trial even began."
Gideon's face hardened.
"The sentence has been passed."
Aria shook her head.
"No."
She looked toward the surrounding guards.
Then toward the forest beyond the walls.
The mountains.
The river.
There had to be another way.
The head executioner stepped forward.
"Luna Aria, kneel."
Aria looked at the silver blade.
Then at Gideon.
He stood motionless.
The man who had once promised to protect her now watched her execution like a stranger.
Something inside Aria went completely still.
She would not die here.
Not for Chloe.
Not for Gideon.
Not for a lie.
The executioner reached for her shoulder.
Aria moved.
She drove her elbow backward into his chest.
He stumbled.
Before the other guards could react, she kicked one in the knee and sprinted.
"STOP HER!"
Chaos erupted.
Pack members screamed as Aria raced across the courtyard.
She ran toward the western gate.
Two guards blocked her path.
She changed direction.
Another guard grabbed her dress.
The fabric tore.
Aria stumbled but kept moving.
"Get her!"
She reached the edge of the fortress.
Beyond it was the mountain trail.
And beneath the cliffs—
the river.
Aria ran.
Branches struck her face as she entered the forest.
Behind her, wolves howled.
The guards were transforming.
She could hear paws pounding against the wet ground.
Faster!
Silver pushed forward.
Aria ran harder.
Her lungs burned.
Rain blurred her vision.
She didn't know where the trail ended.
She only knew she had to keep moving.
A wolf lunged from the trees.
Aria ducked.
Its claws tore through her sleeve.
She stumbled forward.
Another wolf appeared.
Then another.
She was surrounded.
Aria backed toward the cliff edge.
The wolves slowly advanced.
Behind them, Gideon's voice echoed through the storm.
"Aria!"
She looked up.
He stood at the edge of the forest, soaked by rain.
For a moment, their eyes met.
"Stop," he called.
Aria laughed bitterly.
"You want me to stop?"
"There's nowhere to go."
She looked behind herself.
The cliff dropped into darkness.
Far below, the mountain river roared through the rocks.
Gideon took a step forward.
"Aria, don't."
Something in his voice sounded different.
Fear.
Not for her.
For what she might do.
Aria's eyes filled with tears.
"Now you're afraid?"
"Come back."
"You had your chance."
"I can protect you."
"No."
She shook her head.
"You couldn't even believe me."
Gideon moved closer.
"Aria, please."
That word nearly broke her.
Please.
After everything.
She wanted to believe him.
She wanted to run into his arms.
But then she remembered the silver blade.
The council.
Chloe standing beside him.
Her husband's silence.
Aria stepped backward.
Gideon's eyes widened.
"Don't."
She looked at him one final time.
"If I survive this, Gideon..."
Her voice trembled.
"...I'll never be yours again."
Then she stepped off the cliff.
"ARIA!"
Her body disappeared into the darkness.
Gideon reached the edge seconds too late.
He looked down.
The river swallowed Aria in an instant.
"Search the river!"
The guards rushed toward the banks.
Gideon stood frozen.
His wolf howled inside him.
Mate.
He clenched his fists.
"No."
Mate.
"She's dead."
But his wolf refused to accept it.
---
The river carried Aria through darkness.
Cold water surrounded her.
She couldn't breathe.
She couldn't think.
Her body struck something beneath the surface.
Pain exploded through her.
Silver screamed inside her mind.
Wake up!
Aria tried to move.
Nothing happened.
The current dragged her deeper.
Her lungs burned.
She reached toward the surface.
Her fingers broke through the water.
Then another wave pulled her beneath.
Her vision faded.
Images flashed through her mind.
Her wedding.
Gideon's smile.
The first time he called her Luna.
The night he promised she would always be safe.
Then the execution blade.
Chloe's smile.
Gideon's silence.
Aria stopped fighting.
Maybe this was easier.
Maybe dying was better than returning to that place.
But Silver refused.
No.
Aria heard the voice faintly.
We survive.
We survive.
Her eyes opened.
Something bright flashed beneath the surface.
A strange golden light.
Then everything went black.
---
Hours later, Gideon stood beside the river.
The storm had become violent.
Search teams had been working for hours.
Nothing.
No body.
No sign of Aria.
Then one of the guards shouted.
"Alpha!"
Gideon turned.
The guard was holding something.
A torn piece of white fabric.
Aria's dress.
There was blood on it.
Gideon's face went pale.
"Where did you find that?"
"Downstream."
Another guard approached.
"We found more."
Gideon took the fabric.
His fingers trembled.
His wolf became silent.
Completely silent.
"Search no further," Gideon whispered.
The guard looked confused.
"Alpha?"
Gideon stared at the raging river.
"She's gone."
Behind him, Chloe arrived.
She placed a hand against his back.
"I'm sorry."
Gideon didn't respond.
For the first time since becoming Alpha, he looked completely lost.
Chloe leaned closer.
"She made her choice."
Gideon's jaw tightened.
He looked at the river again.
Then he turned away.
"Tell the pack their Luna is dead."
---
Far downstream, beneath a moon hidden by storm clouds, Aria's body washed against a rocky shore.
She lay completely still.
Blood stained her torn dress.
Her breathing was so faint it could barely be heard.
Then headlights appeared through the trees.
A convoy of black vehicles stopped near the river.
Men dressed in dark suits stepped out.
One of them immediately noticed the woman on the shore.
"Boss!"
A tall man stepped from the largest vehicle.
He wore a black coat, his dark hair slicked back by the rain.
The men around him immediately lowered their heads.
"Don Dominic."
Dominic Lupo looked toward the river.
Then he saw her.
He stopped.
Something ancient awakened inside him.
His wolf rose violently.
MATE.
Dominic's eyes widened.
He walked toward Aria.
For the first time in decades, the most feared Lycan in the South African supernatural underworld looked genuinely stunned.
"Who is she?"
One of his men shook his head.
"We don't know."
Dominic knelt beside Aria.
He carefully checked her pulse.
Weak.
But alive.
His wolf growled again.
MATE.
Dominic lifted her into his arms.
"Get the medical team."
"Boss, we don't know who she is."
Dominic looked down at the unconscious woman.
Neither did she.
Not yet.
But whoever had tried to kill her had made one mistake.
They had failed.
Dominic stood.
"Nobody touches her."
Thunder exploded across the sky.
And as the convoy disappeared into the darkness, Aria Sterling vanished from the world that had condemned her.
The Luna of Silvermoon was officially dead.
But Ghost had just been born.
To be continued...
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