His Mate, His Prey

PACK COUNCIL HALL••• *** [Violet] The room was silent. Not the kind of silence that meant peace, no—the kind that preceded a death sentence. After all, for a mere female, killing the pack's Alpha was unheard of. I could feel their eyes on me—the Elders seated in their high chairs, the warriors standing like statues along the walls, the pack members filling the hall. They weren't waiting for justice. They were waiting for a show. And Theodore—the man I had once loved, the one who had begged me to take the blame for him, because I was a female and packs were forbidden from killing females. Because he claimed to have killed for me and was going to die if I didn't—was standing centre stage. Anyone else would have laughed in his face and called him a madman. He hadn't just begged me to lie. He had indirectly asked me to die for him. But this was Theodore. The man I loved and cared for since childhood. My best friend who had once promised me forever. That Theodore. "I never thought she would do it." His brown eyes, once so familiar, so warm, were now filled with something that almost looked like regret. Almost. "She told me she was going to kill Alpha Leon as a warning to the others. I... I thought she was joking." His voice was trembling. The onlookers broke into murmurs. "A Luna candidate plotting murder?" "Wasn't she raised by the alpha? How dare she accuse him of attempted assault!" "This is treason. She should be executed!" "But she's a female, the law doesn't allow her death. So why not make her into the pack's breeder?" Theodore exhaled, rubbing his face like a man torn between loyalty to his pack and his feelings for a woman. Like he was struggling with what he had to say next. "I wanted to believe she was just angry—just upset that she wasn't chosen as Luna instead of his blood daughter Eloise. But then... then uncle was found dead. And Violet..." He turned to me, his gaze suddenly fearful. "She begged me to help dispose of the body. I was afraid, seeing our alpha surrounded by so much blood. And—and—" "Lies!" I shrieked in disbelief, having heard enough of his made-up tale. "You were the one who killed Uncle!" I felt veins popping up my forehead as I tried to move, but two warriors quickly sprung forward, holding my arms at each side. "Lies! Madness! This fool begged me to—." PAH! Before I could finish my sentence, a sharp sting came and before I registered the slap, my head snapped to the side, my cheek burning from the impact. The late Alpha's sister stood before me, her hand still raised, tears streaming down her face. "How dare you!" Her voice cracked, tears escaping her eyes, "he loved you like a daughter!" The warriors tightened their grip on my arms as I struggled. But it was too late. Not when I had already taken the blame earlier. Not when I'd already admitted to killing the alpha just like Theodore had asked— What a fool I was. I knew what would happen the moment I confessed. I knew I would be punished. But I thought—I believed—that Theodore would stand by me, that I would simply be cast out of the pack and he would come along. Because he loved me. Because he had protected him. After all, I hadn't exactly lied about the late Alpha being a pervert punk trying to get into my pants. "Drag that woman out of here, brand her with the slave crest and throw her to the deepest cell while we discuss her fate!" The chief elder instructed and the warriors heeded the command. "Violet!" The voice of a young girl called and I caught a glimpse of my kid sister being blocked at the door as she struggled to catch a glimpse of me. Her face was red and I had instructed that she not be allowed into the courtroom. Because I didn't want to worry her. Because I couldn't risk her being cast out alongside me, hence losing the pack's protection. 'Oh, Amber...' I bit my bottom lip until it bled out, my eyes stinging at my own foolishness as I struggled despite knowing that it was futile. "Let go of me!" I screamed. "Theodore! Theodore!" I turned. This had to be some sort of sick nightmare. But now, as he descended the stage, as his hand reached for someone else—someone trembling, delicate—I knew. I had been played. Eloise. She was sobbing into his chest, her red hair a perfect contrast to his dark suit. Theodore held her close, whispering reassurances. He didn't even glance at me. Coward. And then, as if the Goddess wanted me to suffer just a little more, Eloise lifted her head, just enough for me to see the smirk lining her lips as she exchanged glances with the chief elder who nodded in her direction. Then everything suddenly made sense. This was planned. Eloise. The sweet, gentle daughter of the Alpha. The one who had been jealous that an outsider was chosen as a Luna candidate alongside her. The one who had the right bloodline but not the skill. And Theodore had helped her. No, the Moonfall pack had helped her. How else could Theodore have taken down the Alpha all by himself? Claiming that he could no longer ignore the alpha's s****l advances on me? They wanted me gone. And like a fool, I had played right into their hands. They weren't just imprisoning me. They were erasing me. The silver branding iron was already being heated above the magical runes as they dragged me up the stage for everyone to see. "I didn't do it! I'm telling you!" I snarled, thrashing as they struggled to keep me steady. "You don't have to do this!" I screamed, my gaze snapping to Theodore. His jaw clenched. He couldn't even look at me. Coward. "You promised me!" My voice cracked as they forced me to my knees. "You swore—!" I thrashed, my knees scraping against the cold, hard floor. The warriors struggled to keep me still, their fingers digging into my arms with bruising force as I tried to shift, but they lifted a knife to my throat in warning. "Please!" I twisted my head towards the Elders, towards the familiar faces in the crowd. All of which I had grown up with. Some of which had treated me like a daughter. None of them met my eyes. "Don't do this," I rasped. "You know me! I would never—" The chief elder raised his hand, and the mumbling crowd fell silent. The iron glowed red-hot behind me, its heat already scalding my skin. "She has already confessed," he said coldly. "Now brand her!" I never got to finish. The iron pressed against my lower back and then—Pain. Mind-bending agony. I screamed out at the top of my lungs, the smell of burnt skin permeating my nostrils as I lost the will to struggle. Through the haze of pain, I caught glimpses of the crowd. Some faces were twisted in satisfaction. Others flinched, unable to watch. Theodore? He was holding Eloise closer, his jaw tighter, his expression unshaken. And then—darkness followed. __________ They say love fades like a flower left to wither. At first, it clings to life, waiting for its master to return, to care for it. But if the master never comes, the flower dies—becoming food for the weeds that grow in its place. The weeds thrive, spreading like a plague. And by the time the master does return, the garden is unrecognizable—corrupted. But if love fades, was it ever love at all? And if the flower must die so the weeds can thrive... then, I must become the weed. And someday in the future, I would return to lay waste to the Moonfall pack. I swore it.