"I will peel all your flesh off your bones if you do not start cooperating, Omega! Do you swear that you are going to say nothing but the truth ?" Anthony, the pack's head warrior, releases a frustrated growl from where he stands over me.
I wish I had it in me to be frightened. I have lost every feeling of fear, anger, hatred, and rage boiling inside me. All I want is to be sentenced to death. I just worry about how I would die.
If only they can be merciful enough to use a gun.
My stare drills holes into my mother's body where she sat beside her husband. I have a lot of questions I want to ask her.
If Emily has been living under the same wing as her, she must have obviously crossed paths with her more than once.
Does she not recognize her beloved daughter, or is she also in on this? Has she intentionally deceived and punished me all these years just because I was born different? Just because I'm human?
The questions keep playing in my head as we wait for the arrival of Leo.
He's now the Alpha of Oceania and so the one to pass the final verdict on me.
I don't even want to imagine what's keeping him late.
The chains at my wrists and ankles are beginning to chew through my skin, the metal rusting with my blood.
My left eye is swollen shut, and I can taste metal in my mouth. In the far corner, my mother's figure looks tense, her brows furrowed deep with worry.
But she could just tell her Alpha husband and Anthony that her daughter is mute. Hence can't answer his question.
I glare at her with my one good eye making sure that if this happens to be my last moment, the image of her maltreated daughter would forever hunt her.
"Enough, Anthony! She can't hear or talk. She's Mute" Leo walks in and blocks Anthony's next attack.
He shake his head at me. "You can't even defend yourself, and you want to be my Luna?"
I stare at him with burning reproachful eyes.
Emily steps out, and the crowd paves the way for her as she walks toward me with a sword. "Did you think after all these years of living in your sister's shadow you would escape without being punished just because you are mute?"
She seems to have ranked up so high that the elders and Alpha aren't questioning her audacity.
All I can see are hordes of foolish and selfish werewolves.
Is everyone stupid enough that they can't see she is Emily? I mean, her face doesn't look so much different from eleven years ago. Or maybe the whole pack had conspired to get rid of me.
But even that is absurd. They could just poison me or kill.me without making it this dramatic.
She smiles at me as her silver sword hits my stomach
It spears into my stomach, and I stumble backward as the searing force seems to strike every nerve in my body. A taste of bile rises in my throat.
Emily advances and thrusts the blade deeper, striking my organs. I hiss out a breath and fall to my face.
My vision blurs when the sword is jerked from my flesh.
Instinctively, I place my hands over the wound, but the flow of blood seeps through my fingers and hits the ground.
"Heal," Emily commands. "Show us you are the wolf you claim to be, or admit you are the parasite we've always known you were."
I scoff, so this was it. A wolfless Omega should fucking heal? Is she serious right now?
I feel pain everywhere. Blood trickles down from my nose, and there is an awful metallic taste in my mouth.
She is even more brutal than Anthony. To think she is my flesh and blood. Tsk.
There are tears in my eyes, but I won't let them fall. I am on my knees, but I won't beg.
I am ready to accept the freedom that comes with death… only if they would give that easily.
The pack healer advances toward me. She places her hands on my stomach, and my wounds stop bleeding instantly. My flesh starts to patch up as well.
They are keeping me alive just to prolong the torture.
I am still in awe, wondering when I ever offend Emily. I have only loved her all my life. I've only cared for her as my younger sister. I never got jealous that she was the normal shifter everyone loves so why all this?
"Normally, a shifter could at least do that much. But oh well. I will leave your judgment to Alpha Leo." She comes in front of the Dias and bowed to the royals
I am pathetic, and I should just run from here, but when I look at the huge men at the exit and the chains on my legs, I give up that idea.
The pack watches as if I am acting the Passion of Christ for all of them.
Leo takes over. The tip of his sword raises my chin so I can meet his gaze.
I knock the sword off my face and roll my eyes at him. But that only earns me a gut-wrenching punch before he starts his speech.
"I see everyone is here now," he projects toward the crowd. "We are all finally gathered here today to bear witness to the trial of… of Late Emily's sister. Remember our treasured girl who had to die a child because of the jealousy of her sister. Yes, the murderer wasn't killed. She was kept alive, for she was still a minor."
His eyes scan the faces of everyone around before finally landing on me.
"Do you swear by the Moon Goddess, under the silver sky, to speak nothing but the truth throughout this trial?"
I pretend not to have read his lips and refuse to answer.
"Someone get me a pen and paper," Leo orders.
It is hurried over to him, and he writes the words down, bending a little to push my head up so I can look at his writing.
I nod anyway. My eyes meet his brown pair, and a shiver runs down my spine.
How I wish to pluck them out and feed them to the dust.
Anthony snickers in front of me, and I swallow hard, trying not to break down. He probably realizes why I never answer him.
"You are charged with the murder of Emily parker. " He leans in closer, his breath hot against my face, whispering so only I can read his lips. I'm sorry it has to come to this"
He pulls back, his face a mask of amusement. "How do you plead?" he says sndvwrites.
Everyone's eyes fall on me… including my mother's nervous gaze. I still have my question to ask her, and until I get my answer, I am not giving in.
I take the pen, my fingers shaking—not from fear, but from a rage so cold it feels like ice in my veins. My hands are stained with my own blood, leaving red smudges on the white page as I carve the words into the paper until the nib nearly tears through.
"NOT GUILTY."
Leo draws closer, leaning forward to stare me down. He folds the paper and tosses it aside like trash.
"The evidence we have all gathered proves otherwise. You not being able to heal also proves you are a threat. By the power bestowed on me as the Alpha of Oceania. I hereby sentence you to death by hanging..""
"Tomorrow, you will be executed for your crimes. Your body will hang from the gates as a warning to the rest of your kind."
He spits on the ground by my feet and turns to leave, Emily trailing behind him. I let my lips quiver; the tears stinging my eyes finally spill over as I watch them walk away.
Suddenly, he stops in his tracks. His legs tremble as he struggles to take a step back.
I look up to see the elders standing frozen, fear clouding their eyes.
Anthony fumbles with his radio, frantically calling the rest of his team for backup.
I am still wondering what is happening when I see a man that towers over other by eight full inches walking towards me with non- chalant grace.
His long sturdy viking legs stop in front of me as he lifts my chin.
"There you are," he whispers, his face melting into a buttery smile