Episode2
1288 Words
"Let her loose," he said.
Alpha Rylan Blackthorn’s voice echoed across the silent square.
Nobody stirred.
The ropes around my wrists burnt into my skin, but nobody dared to move.
The wind itself seemed to stop.
Damian clenched the sword in his fist.
“Alpha Rylan,” he said, forcing a polite smile, “there must be some misunderstanding.”
Rylan didn't even glance at him. "I don't tolerate people making me repeat myself.
He said quietly.
Too quiet.
The kind of calm that precedes disaster.
I looked in between the two men.
My brother was tall and everyone in Silvermoon respected him.
But alongside Rylan...
Suddenly he seemed less.
The crowd shifted restlessly.
Whispers spread like wildfire. "Did he really say...mate?" "That's impossible." "She doesn't even have a wolf."
"A killer can't be blessed by the Moon Goddess.
The voices merged together and my head began to hurt.
Friend.
The word was still ringing in my head.
It couldn't be real.
Not after all.
Not since I lost my wolf three years ago.
Not after I became the pack's greatest shame.
Finally, Rylan turned to Damian.
“I’ll ask once more.”
His dark eyes were inscrutable. "What is my mate doing tied to an execution post?"
Damian’s smile disappeared. “Because she murdered our parents.”
My breath hitched.
I have heard these words for years, though...
They still sting.
But Rylan didn't change his face. "Did you see her do it?"
Damian stopped.
It was done in a second.
But Rylan saw. "So that means no."The evidence was obvious.
"Proof?""Her side was where the bodies were found."
“And?”
Her hands were drenched in blood.
Rylan folded his arms. “Anything else?
Quiet.
The elders behind Damian exchanged nervous glances.
My heart began to beat faster.
No one had ever dared to challenge Damian.
No one.
Rylan stepped backwards. "If blood is enough to prove guilt...
His voice grew colder.
“… then every warrior that emerges from a battle alive is a murderer.”
The crowd fell quiet.
I looked at him in surprise.
He was protecting me.
What is that?
He didn't know who I was.
Damian coughed. “Alpha Rylan, this was three years ago.”
“I wanted proof.
The elders judged her.
Rylan's eyes ranged over the old wolves.
"Have any of you seen the murders?"
There was no reply.
An elder lowered his head.
Again he did not look at her.
Something in my chest went tight.
For the first time ever…
Someone was asking the questions I had implored people to ask.
Rylan looked back at Damian. "No witnesses, then?"
Damian gritted his teeth.
"She admitted it."
My heart stopped. "What?
The word slipped out before I could stop it.
I looked at my brother.
“I never made confession.”
He looked me in the eye.
Cold. "You said you didn't remember."
“That’s not a confession!
My voice wavered.
I woke up covered in blood! I asked what happened! Nobody answered me!
Memories came flooding back.
Smoke.
Shouting.
Hands clutching me.
Yelling.
Someone hitting me.
Then Damian was above me...
Looked at me as if I was guilty already. "I kept asking where Mother and Father was.
My eyes were filling with tears
But no one would tell me.
The square was painfully still.
Angrily, I wiped my face.
I was not going to cry.
Not in their sight.
Not again.
Rylan looked at me, wordlessly.
He looked at my face with his eyes.
As if he were looking.
"What was the last thing you remember before you woke up?" He said softly.
I shut my eyes.
Blackness.
Broken shards. “I..."
My head was pounding.
I remember Mother smiling.
A thought shot through my mind.
She combed my hair.
Laughing.
"You would make a great Luna someday."
The memory was fading.
And another one.
A noisy squabble.
Father screaming.
Someone slammed a door down.
Then...
Nothing.
“I’ve got a headache.
I put my fingers to my temple. "I don't remember."
Rylan took another slow step to me.
His scent came to me.
New rain.
Pine trees .
Something hot.
For reasons I don't know why...
It was a comfort to me. "You do not lie."
Damian laughed harshly. "You've known her for five minutes.
I've known liars all my life.
Damian felt like he’d been slapped.
The Alpha of Silvermoon froze in place.
I’m not going to have some outsider second-guess my judgement.
Rylan finally looked at him for real.
Their eyes locked...
The air pressure was getting almost unbearable. "I don't care what you think."
His voice was low. "I believe in the truth.
There was a low murmur from the crowd.
Nobody talked to Damian like that.
No one.
Suddenly, an old wolf stepped forward. "E-Enough.
Everyone’s eyes were on him.
It was Elder Marcus.
The elder member of the council.
He bowed his shaking hands. "Alpha Blackthorn... maybe we should have this conversation inside?"
Rylan didn't move. 'Why?
Marcus swallowed. "There are... delicate matters.
Rylan narrowed his eyes. "So there are secrets." "No!
Marcus answered too fast.
The silence that followed was louder than any scream.
Rylan saw.
I saw it.
Even the crowd noticed.
Damian's face clouded. "Marcus."
The warning in his tone was unmistakable.
The old elder bowed his head immediately.
I'm sorry, Alpha."
My stomach knotted.
Something wasn’t right.
Oh, so wrong.
For years I believed there was nothing else to learn.
Now....
Everyone was scared.
Scared of saying too much.
Rylan's questions. Afraid of
Scared of me.
Why ?
Rylan grabbed at the ropes about my wrists.
All the warriors in the square froze.
Damian started to move forward. "You can't."
Rylan didn't even glance at him. "I already am."
With a haul...
The heavy ropes broke like paper.
My arms fell to my sides
Blood returned to my hands, pain stabbing through my fingers.
I rubbed my sore wrists delicately.
I had forgotten how it felt to be free.
It took a moment.
"Guards," Damian's voice echoed through the square.
Scores of warriors ringed us in.
Guns trained on Rylan.
To me.
The crowd went gasping.
My heart was pounding.
And would Damian really dare to face Alpha Blackthorn?
Rylan turned slowly.
He glanced at the warriors.
Then grinned.
It was not a warm smile.
It was the smile of a man who had already decided the matter. "You have drawn weapons.
His voice was still level. "Against me."
No warrior stirred.
But I saw something.
Their hands trembled.
They were scared.
Not of war.
Of the man who stood beside me.
Damian raised his chin. “Silvermoon owns her.”
"No." Rylan looked at me.
His eyes locked on mine.
She is nobody's.
Something clicked inside me.
No one ever said those words to me.
Not one time.
Before anyone else could say anything—
Silence was broken by a scream.
All turned to face the pack gate.
A young scout came running into the square, all covered with blood.
He dropped to his knees. "Alpha!"
Damian rushed forward. "What happened?
The scout gasped for breath. "W-We were ambushed..
The crowd went apeshit. "By who? Damian asked.
The scout was scared. "Hooded wolves.
“They slaughtered everyone on the eastern border.”
My blood turned to ice.
Damian frowned. “Why attack now?”
The scout's eyes drifted slowly over to me. "They weren't looking for land.
His voice shook violently. "They kept asking the same question.
The square was silent.
"What question? “Rylan asked.
The scout gulped.
Then pointed right at me. "They wanted to know.
He drew a shuddering breath.
"...if the Hidden Luna of the Alpha was still alive.”
- Writer
