Chapter 3: Sentenced to Death
1281 Words
Arielle's POV
I lay on the cold stone platform, broken and bleeding. The rejection mark on my chest throbbed with dark energy, pulsing with pain that made it hard to breathe.
But worse than the physical pain was the way everyone looked at me.
Like I was a monster.
The entire pack stared at me with fear and disgust in their eyes.
Seraphina was still on the ground where she'd fallen, clutching her arm and whimpering softly.
Then I saw it.
A tiny smirk flickered across Seraphina's face. So quick that if I hadn't been staring directly at her, I would have missed it. Her eyes met mine for just a second, and in that moment, I saw the truth.
She was lying.
She wasn't hurt at all. She'd pretended to fall. Pretended that touching me had burned her. She'd done it on purpose to make everyone think I was dangerous.
But why? Why would my best friend betray me like this?
Before I could process it, a man pushed through the crowd.
Beta Councilman Marcus Mooncrest. Seraphina's father.
He was a tall man with dark and cold eyes that had always made me uncomfortable. He'd never liked me much, always looking at me with suspicion even before my father died.
"Seraphina!" he shouted, rushing to his daughter's side.
"My baby, what did that beast do to you?"
Beast. He called me a beast.
Marcus knelt beside Seraphina, examining her arm with exaggerated concern. She whimpered and leaned into him, playing the role of injured victim perfectly.
"It burns, Father," she sobbed.
"She touched me and it felt like fire. The curse, it's real."
Marcus's face darkened with rage. He stood slowly and turned to face me. His hand went to the dagger at his belt.
"How dare you," he snarled, pulling the blade free.
"How dare you try to hurt my daughter, you cursed beast!"
Fear shot through me. He was going to stab me. I could see the intent in his eyes, the hatred that made his hand shake as he raised the dagger.
I tried to move, tried to get away, but my body was too weak. The rejection mark had drained all my strength. I could barely lift my head.
Marcus advanced on me, the dagger held high.
"You should have died with your father! You should have been the one torn apart in those woods!"
The words hit me like physical blows. He was glad my father was dead. He wanted me dead too.
Just as Marcus reached me, just as the dagger moved toward my chest, another hand shot out and grabbed his wrist.
Kieran.
My former mate, the one who had just rejected and marked me, now held Marcus's wrist in an iron grip. The dagger froze in midair, inches from my body.
Hope flickered in my broken heart. Even after everything, some part of me still hoped that Kieran would protect me. That he would realize this was wrong. That maybe, just maybe, he would change his mind.
I looked up at him with my violet eyes, silently begging him to help me.
Kieran's face remained cold and emotionless as he stared down at me. Then he spoke.
"Don't kill her here," he said flatly.
"She should be thrown into the Haunted Forest."
The hope inside me died completely.
Gasps rippled through the crowd. People exchanged horrified glances. Even Marcus lowered his dagger slightly, surprise crossing his face.
"The Haunted Forest?" someone whispered.
"No one comes back from there."
"It's a death sentence."
The Haunted Forest was the cursed woods beyond pack territory where rejected mates were sent to die. The trees were twisted. Shadow creatures lived in the darkness. Feral wolves hunted anything that moved. It was said that the forest itself was alive, feeding on the pain and despair of those trapped within it.
No wolf had ever entered the Haunted Forest and survived.
Elder Morrigan stepped forward, her ancient face creased with concern.
"Alpha Kieran, are you certain? The Haunted Forest is... no one ever comes out alive. Perhaps there is another way—"
"I'm sure," Kieran cut her off, his voice hard and final.
"She deserves it. She's rejected, she's cursed, and she's dangerous. The Haunted Forest is exactly where she belongs."
Each word was another knife in my heart. He meant it. He really meant it.
I shifted, my wolf form finally giving way to my human body. The change was painful with the rejection mark burning across my collarbone, but I needed to speak. I needed to understand.
I lay naked on the cold stone, my long black hair covering me. The rejection mark was visible now, black vines spreading across my pale skin like poison.
"What did I do?" I whispered, my voice hoarse from screaming. Tears streamed down my face.
"What did I do to deserve this?"
Nobody answered. They all just stared at me like I was something unnatural.
"I didn't ask for this," I continued, my voice breaking.
"I didn't ask for my father to die. I didn't ask for my wolf to be different. I didn't ask to be your mate. What did I do that was so terrible?"
Kieran's expression didn't change.
"You exist," he said simply.
"That's enough."
The cruelty of those words made me want to die right there.
"Guards," Kieran called out.
"Take her to the forest boundary. Throw her in and seal the barrier behind her."
Four large warriors stepped forward. Their faces were grim but determined. They grabbed me roughly, their hands like iron around my arms.
I tried to struggle but I was too weak. The rejection mark had drained everything from me. I could barely move.
"Please," I begged, looking around at all the faces I'd known my whole life.
"Please, someone help me. I didn't do anything wrong."
But nobody moved. Nobody spoke up for me. Not one single person said this was unjust.
The guards started dragging me across the Blood Court. My bare feet scraped against the rough stone. My body was too weak to stand, so they just pulled me along like a sack of grain.
I looked back desperately at the crowd. At the pack that was supposed to be my family. At Seraphina, who was still being comforted by her father, that tiny smirk still playing at the corners of her mouth. At Elder Morrigan, whose eyes were sad but who did nothing to stop this. At Kieran, whose cold blue eyes watched me being dragged away without a shred of emotion.
"Please," I whispered one more time.
But the only answer was silence.
The guards dragged me down from the Blood Court temple. My back scraped against the stone steps, each impact sending jolts of agony through my body.
We passed through the crowd. People stepped aside quickly, not wanting to get too close to me. Some spat at me as I passed.
Children cried and clung to their mothers.
I was no longer one of them. I was no longer a member of the pack. I was nothing but a cursed beast being disposed of.
Everything blurred together, torchlight and faces and darkness.
Somewhere in my fading awareness, I heard Kieran's voice one last time.
"Let this be a lesson," he announced to the assembled pack.
"This is what happens to those who are cursed. This is what happens to those who threaten our bloodline. Arielle Blackwood is no longer one of us. Her name will be forgotten. Her existence erased."
The guards dragged me further away from the Blood Court. Away from the torches. Away from the crowd. Into the darkness beyond.
Tab 4
- Writer
