The Lycan King's Queen

Avery’s POV “Stop! Stop, please!!” I yell, fighting against the two strong men holding me back. “He is innocent. You cannot have him hanged without a trial.” I scream at the top of my lungs. My eyes stay on my father, who is bleeding badly and not healing as they drag him to the center of the death field. “He is a traitor and will be treated as one,” Alpha Maddox says, his voice loud and clear. The whole pack gathers around the scene, looking on but saying nothing. “My father is not a traitor, and you know it. He has been loyal to you, fighting beside you in battle, and this is how you repay him?” My auburn hair sticks to my face as sweat runs down my freckled skin. My dress is ripped at the shoulder from the men tugging at me. My Alpha stares at me with cold eyes, then turns to the men who stand ready, waiting for his order. “Hang him,” he says, folding his arms over his chest. My father’s nearly lifeless body is hoisted up roughly. They tie his wrists to the stake. Two men stand beside it, holding flame torches in their right hands. Their faces are covered with black cloth, as tradition requires. “No. No, no, no.” I chant as I run to him, but I can’t stop anything. “Alpha, please,” I drop to my knees in front of Alpha Maddox, “I will do anything you ask. I will pay for my father’s crime. Please don’t take him from me. He is all I have.” I sob. “Oh, you have a price to pay too. Just not yet.” He turns to the crowd. “Let this serve as a warning. Anyone who disobeys my orders or betrays me will face an even worse fate. I am your Alpha and your god.” The crowd stays quiet. Some look at me with sympathy. Others have blank expressions. “Avery,” my father’s weak voice calls to me. “Papa, Papa.” I get up from my knees and run to him. “I’m here, Papa. You will be okay.” “I didn’t do it.” His voice is barely audible, but I hear him. “I know, Papa. I know.” “I love you. I will watch over you from up there, my fierce little princess.” The tears running down my face grow heavier. “Don’t talk like that, Papa. You will come home with me tonight.” I look around, hoping someone will stop this. I spot Evans, my mate. He is watching from the balcony with no emotion on his face. I gather my green, now dirty dress in my hands and run toward the balcony. “Evans, baby,” I call. “Please talk to your father. I know he will listen to you.” I use my sleeve to wipe my face, but it only smears more dirt. “I can’t,” he replies in a flat tone. My eyebrows lift. “What do you mean, you can’t?” My voice breaks. “Your father deserves everything happening to him, Avery. In fact, he deserves worse. He’s lucky my father is being merciful.” I shake my head. My knees buckle, and I fall to the ground. I stare at the man I love, the man who held me two nights ago, whispering how he would protect me and everything I love. “If I were Alpha, I would keep his head beside my throne.” My heart pounds hard in my chest. I stare in disbelief. My father’s screams tear through the air. I slowly turn my head away from Evans and look back. Fire wraps around my father’s body. He twists and thrashes in pain. I stay frozen, my soul feeling like it is leaving my body. “Papa.” I whisper. The word barely leaves my mouth. I reach out toward the burning stake. The fire is so bright I can barely see his shape. Black smoke rises into the sky. Soon, the screaming stops. The area falls into silence. “Papa.” I say again. “It’s getting late, and I’m hungry. Come upstairs when you get hungry.” Evans says, then walks away through the door. One by one, the crowd begins to leave after Alpha Maddox walks off. I crawl on my hands and knees to the stake, now blackened from the fire. My wolf stays silent. She feels the same pain I do. My face is wet with tears, my eyes are swollen and heavy but no sound comes from me. With shaking hands, I reach for the warm ashes on the ground. My fingers brush a few of his bones. I close my eyes and raise my head to the sky. I scream loudly, a deep, broken scream. I lose track of how long I sit there, staring at what is left of him. My chest feels like someone has ripped my heart out with their bare hands. I feel alone. The only man who ever loved me is now ashes and bones. “Avery,” a young servant walks up to me. “The… the Alpha seeks you in his private chambers,” he stutters.