Chapter4
1386 Words
Chapter 4
Cold Death
Maurice's POV
“Please… please just let me see him once.” I begged, gripping the cold bars until my palms burned.
The guard did not even look at me. “ Sir Jasper said no visitors.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and my voice cracked. “Please, I need to talk to him just once because he is my husband!”
The man’s jaw tightened. “You are no Luna anymore.”
Those words stabbed me deeper than any blade. I sank to the floor, pulling my knees to my chest. My eyes felt heavy from crying. The cell stank of damp stone and blood, but worse was the silence; it was thick, heavy, and cruel.
Father’s face haunted my blood the way his body felt the sound of my scream.
I pressed my forehead against the bars. “He did not deserve that.” I whispered.
“He didn’t…”
I froze when footsteps echoed down the corridor. It was familiar and my heart jumped. I stood up quickly, brushing my face with shaking hands.
“Jasper?”
He appeared at the end of the hall, tall as ever, dressed in black but there was no warmth in his eyes, there was no sorrow, just calm indifference.
“Finally.” I breathed, clutching the bars.
“You came.”
He stopped some steps away. “You should not have asked for me.”
“What do you mean?” My voice wavered.
“They think I killed my father, Jasper you know I did not you know-”
“Enough.”
The way he said it froze me. His tone wasn’t angry, it was cold and distant.
“Why are you talking like this?” I whispered.
“You promised we would face everything together you-”
“I promised nothing.” He cut in, eyes like stone.
“You were convenient, Maurice that is all.”
The ground under me seemed to tilt. “What?”
He sighed, almost bored. “Your father trusted me through you, I gained that trust. Through you, I got this pack. You were a means to an end.”
I shook my head slowly. “No. No, that is not true you loved me you said you did.”
He did not even flinch. “I said what you wanted to hear.”
Something broke inside me and my vision blurred. “You used me…”
“Don’t act surprised.” He said softly.
“You were naive and easy to fool. I took what I needed now you have served your purpose.”
Rage exploded inside me, my chest burned, my hands trembled so hard that my claws started to push through my skin.
“Say that again.” I hissed.
He gave a small smirk. “You heard me.”
My wolf snapped bones cracked as I shifted. My clothes tore apart and my scream turned into a growl. I lunged at him through the bars, my claws reaching for his throat.
He stumbled back, his eyes widening, but before I could tear him apart, the guards rushed in.
“Stop her!” One shouted.
They fired silver chains through the bars. The metal burned as it hit my fur, but I did not stop. I slammed against the gate, snarling, eyes locked on Jasper.
“You killed my father!” I roared through the mind link.
“You murdered him and made me the monster!”
“Hold her down!”
The guards tightened the chains, forcing me to the floor. The silver burned into my skin, the smell of seared flesh filling the air. I screamed but did not break eye contact with him.
Jasper stepped back, straightening his shirt like nothing happened. “Lock her tighter, she has lost control.”
“Bastard!” I spat.
“Coward!”
He turned without another word and left.
The guards looked shaken, one muttered. “Elders need to hear this.”
When they left, I collapsed against the floor, trembling. The air felt too heavy to breathe. Hours passed or maybe days I could not tell anymore.
Then the door creaked open again.
Footsteps are lighter this time than a voice. “Oh, Maurice…”
Selena.
I lifted my head up slowly as she stood outside Selena. ” I rasped. “Why are you here?”
She smiled, slow and cruel. “To visit my dear friend.”
The way she said friend made my stomach twist. She looked around the cell, her nose wrinkling. “This place suits you dark, cold… forgotten.”
“What do you want?”
She tilted her head. “Nothing much I thought you deserved to know the truth before you die.
My heart skipped. “What truth?”
She looked down at Ivan.
“Ivan, my son, Jasper’s son.
The world stopped.
“What?” My voice was barely a whisper.
She smiled wider. “Yes, Maurice, while you played Luna, we played lovers. For years. Jasper’s heart was never yours. It was mine.”
I stared at her, shaking my head slowly. “No, you lying you-”
“Oh, don’t look so shocked.” She interrupted.
“You were always so proud so perfect but guess what? The new Alpha blood runs through my son. When Jasper takes his place as Alpha, Ivan will be next.”
Her words tore through me like knives. I looked at the boy. He hid behind her leg, shy, innocent. He did not even know what kind of cruelty his mother was spreading.
“Why?” I whispered.
“You were my friend….”
Selena’s expression hardened. “Because I deserved everything you had and now I do.”
She turned to leave but paused at the door. “Oh, and one more thing Jasper will announce our union tomorrow you will be forgotten soon enough.”
I sat there long after she left and my hands were shaking uncontrollably. My mind felt like it was splitting apart.
Father, Jasper, Selena all of it lies betrayal.
I screamed until my throat went raw.
********
In the morning, the guards came for me.
“Move.” One barked.
I did not fight, my body was weak, my soul already gone. They dragged me through the halls, out into the cold daylight.
The pack was gathered in the courtyard. Dozens of faces I once knew faces that now looked at me with hatred.
“She killed Alpha Xander.” Someone shouted.
“She is cursed!” Another one yelled.
The elders were standing near the podium, grim and silent. Jasper was there too
Selena beside him, holding her son.
I wanted to scream, to tell them the truth but what was the point? No one would believe me.
“By the council’s decision.” The eldest elder said.
“Maurice Xander is hereby stripped of her Luna title and condemned for the murder of her father.”
The crowd roared, stones flew the first hit my shoulder. The second my face pain exploded everywhere.
I fell to my knees, blood dripping down my skin.
“Stop.” I gasped.
“Please-”
But they did not stop every stone from carrying hatred. Every shout carried betrayal.
Through the blur of blood and dust, I saw Jasper and Selena standing side by side.
Her hand in his smiling, watching something inside me died right then.
My vision blurred, my heartbeat slowed, the world grew distant.
My breath hitched the pain and faded into nothing. I fell forward, the world spinning into black.
“Maurice?” One of the guards muttered, kneeling beside me. He pressed his fingers to my neck there were no pulse
“She is gone.” Another said.
“Let us be done with it.”
“Elders said to toss the body into the sea and end
it.”
And then they lifted me like a rag doll, dragging me through the mud, down to the cliffs beyond the pack grounds. The sky was gray and the waves crashed below.
“May the sea wash her sins away.” One murmured, and they threw me over the edge.
The water was so cold that it burned, then there was silence.
And darkness.
- Writer
