THE LUNA HE EXECUTED CAME BACK

They pulled me. No chaperone. Did not call. Pulled through the halls I once ruled like a piece of unwanted meat. My bare feet scraped on the jagged stone floor, leaving smeary trails of crimson behind me. The iron chains that bit into my wrists were cold, so cold they felt like they were burning. Each time the guard jerked my hand, a lightning bolt of agony shot up my shoulders, making my breath catch in a ragged sob I wouldn’t let out. I would not grant them that pleasure. Not today. Never.. . It was hot in the Great Pack Hall. The air was heavy with the conflicting smells of five hundred wolves, sour sweat, acrid fear and the metallic taste of bloodlust. I saw them as I was dragged past. Members of the Silver Hollow Pack. My folk. Some looked away, their necks exposed in shame. Others looked at me with a dark, jagged hunger for my downfall in their eyes. I tipped my chin up, my long hair matted with dirt, and stared straight ahead. Even with the chains, even with the blood, I was still their Moon. “On your knees, traitor!” snarled a warrior, his gravelly voice exploding right by my ear. I didn’t budge. I stood as a statue of ice. The chains gave a savage yank and I went down. My knees slammed against the stone with a sickening c***k. Pain, white and blinding, flared, but I kept my spine straight. A warm trickle of blood was running down my shin. I was delighted with it. The physical pain was a distraction from the black hole of betrayal that opened in my chest. At the far end of the hall, the flickering torchlight illuminated the throne of the Alpha. And there he was. Kael Draven. My friend. My husband. My killer. He watched me in a silence that seemed to carry more weight than the mountain above. His posture was stiff, his large, scarred hands clamped to the armrests so hard the old wood groaned. His crimson eyes, eyes that used to soften when they looked at me in the dark, were two chips of frozen glass. No anger. No quarter. A dreadful blank distance. The distance hurt worse than silver chains. Look at me, I yelled in my head, sending the words down our mental link. Look at me, Kael! Speak! Speak! Tell them they are wrong! The link was a wall of frozen stone. He'd shut me off. “Now the council shall hear the charges.” The Beta’s voice boomed. Beta Silas. He stood on Kael's right, looking smug enough to puke. I could smell the oily satisfaction ooze off him. He liked this, this mechanical destruction of the woman who had seen through his lies. “Seraphina Vale, Luna of the Silver Hollow Pack,” Silas started, his voice ringing to the ends of the rafters. “You stand charged with high treason. Specifically, the poisoning of the Alpha Council at the Winter Summit. A collective gasp, a physical wave of it, rippled through the hall. My heart pounded in my ribs like a trapped bird. I stiffened. “Moreover,” Silas leaned forward, his eyes glinting with malice, “you are accused of the ultimate betrayal. Carrying a child that is not our Alpha's. A bastard heir who would steal the throne. The hall blew up. Growls tore through the air, vibrating in the floorboards. Cries of outrage. Cries of "w***e!" and "Traitor!" rained on me like stones. The breath escaped from my lungs. My hands went to my stomach instinctively and the chains jingled on cue with the trembling. My pup rolled inside me, a tiny, faint flutter of life, confused by the sudden rush of my adrenaline and terror. I realized they're using the baby, a cold dread settling in my bones. They’re not only killing me. They are killing an innocent. I turned my eyes to Kael. Surely this would kill him. Surely he would protect his own blood? He said nothing. He did not snarl. He did not flinch. There he sat, a marble king, watching his wife lose her dignity. “That's a lie,” I told him. My voice was not loud, but it had the authority of the Moon Goddess herself. The room was deathly silent. Silas smiled a thin smile. It was the look of a predator who has already snapped his jaws. “We have evidence, Seraphina. Two warriors stepped forward and dumped a little wooden box at my feet. The lid flew open, sending dried, dark green herbs scattering across the grey stone. My nose twitched. My heart did a little flip. “Wolfsbane,” whispered someone in terror. I looked at the herbs. My head was spinning. I was the main healer of the pack. I knew every leaf, every root. This wolfsbane was wrong, the stems crushed, not sliced, the drying process sloppy and crude. I thought desperately, I would never make it like this. Anyone who knows my work would see the cheating. --And these," said Silas, unrolling a heap of parchments. Letters I exchanged with an Alpha of the Black Moon Pack. Detailed plans for the summit assault. Evidence of your… nighttime activities.” He threw the letters. They floated in the air, and landed in the pool of my own blood on the floor. I looked at the writing. That was awesome. Slanting Stylish. It looked exactly like mine, except for the 'S' curl. I looked up, scanning the crowd, and my eyes found a face near the pillars. Elara 4. My stepsister. Her lips lifted in a small, almost imperceptible smirk. To the crowd she looked sympathetic, but her eyes danced with triumph. I felt like somebody had hit me. You did this. I made myself breathe. “It’s a fake,” I said, looking at Kael. "The herbs were sown. The letters are forgeries, You know me, Kael. You smell like me. You know I'd never-" Silas snapped. "Enough!" “The vial had your scent on it. Your private seal authorized the guards to depart the storehouse. “It’s the plain evidence.” My seal. I put my ring in my jewelry box. A box Elara could only get into. I glanced back at Kael. Now he was leaning forward watching me with an intensity that made the air shiver. For a moment I saw it, a flash of doubt. The shadow of the man who swore to burn the world down to keep me warm. Hope flickered in my chest like a dying ember. "Kael," I whispered, every law of the trial broken. Please. You know me. The room was silent. Kael rose slowly. The motion was smooth and powerful and terrifying. He gave off power in suffocating waves, the smell of cedar and thunder heavy in the hall. When he looked at me, really looked at me, the mate bond throbbed painfully behind my ribs. “I heard the council’s decision,” he said, his voice a low rumble vibrating in my teeth. Yes, I thought. Save us. “And I will not interfere. The words fell like a silver blade into the heart. I flinched, my whole body pulling back as if he’d struck me. The hope didn't die, it was incinerated. He wasn't just letting them kill me, he was choosing to watch me die. Silas let out a sigh of pure relief. “Then by authority of Alpha, the sentence is—” “Wait!” I yelled. I raised my chin, so they wouldn't see me break. If you’re going to kill me for a lie, then look at the proof one more time. Inhale it. “Really smell the herbs! The executioners drew nearer, their axes with silver edges shining in the torchlight. And finally fear gripped me, with its icy fingers, not for my life, but for the little soul inside me. My pup twitched again, a small fluttering movement. I’m sorry, little one, I thought, my heart breaking into a million jagged pieces. I wanted to be enough for the both of us. The pieces of the puzzle finally clicked into place as they pulled me toward the middle of the hall, toward the execution block. The time. The council’s supper. The way Silas had pushed for a speedy trial. This was more than a betrayal. It was a purging. I glanced at Silas. His scent was laced with anticipation, and a dark oily triumph. I realized that you didn’t just want me dead as the executioner forced my head onto the cold, stained wood. You wanted me out of the way so you could have it all. The silver blade hung over my neck. I looked into Kael’s eyes once more. He looked as if he were vibrating with repressed power, his face a mask of agony he was trying to hide. “Today if I die,” my voice thick with the taste of blood, copper all over, “it doesn’t end here. See you in the next life Kael And I will be your death.” The executioner lifted the blade. The silver sang a lonesome upper note. And then the world went red.