Sera's POV
The silver chains burned my wrists like fire.
I couldn't stop shaking as two guards dragged me across the packhouse floor. My knees scraped against the cold stone, but I barely felt the pain anymore. Everything hurt too much already.
"Move faster, traitor," one guard growled in my ear.
Traitor. That word stabbed deeper than any knife.
The great hall doors slammed open. Hundreds of eyes turned to stare at me—my pack, my family, my people. Except they weren't mine anymore. The hatred in their faces made my stomach twist into knots.
"There she is!" someone shouted. "The Luna who tried to kill us all!"
"Murderer!"
"She poisoned the children!"
No. No, no, no. I wanted to scream the truth, but my voice died in my throat. They wouldn't listen. They never listened.
The guards threw me down at the center of the hall. I crashed onto my hands and knees, gasping. My long brown hair fell around my face like a curtain, hiding my tears. I wouldn't let them see me cry. I wouldn't give them that.
"Sera Moonwhisper." Alpha Lennox's voice boomed from his throne above me. My mate. My husband. The man who promised to love me forever. "You stand accused of attempting to murder pack members through poison. How do you plead?"
I lifted my head slowly. Lennox sat on his throne like a king—tall, powerful, with those ice-blue eyes that once looked at me with love. Now they were cold as winter frost.
"I'm innocent," I whispered. My voice cracked. "Lennox, please. You know me. I would never—"
"LIAR!"
I flinched as Marcus, the Beta, stepped forward. He held up a small glass vial filled with dark purple liquid. "We found this in your chambers, Luna. Nightshade poison. The same poison that made twelve children sick last week."
My heart dropped into my feet. "That's not mine! I've never seen that before!"
"She's lying!" a woman screamed from the crowd. "My son almost died because of her!"
More voices joined in, shouting, cursing my name. The noise crashed over me like ocean waves, drowning me.
"Silence!" Lennox raised his hand. The hall went quiet instantly. His power as Alpha filled the room, pressing down on everyone. On me.
Then I saw her.
Vivienne stood near the front of the crowd, her perfect blonde hair shining like gold in the torchlight. Her green eyes were wide and wet with tears. She pressed a hand to her heart, looking so sad, so hurt.
But I saw it. Just for one second, when no one else was looking, her lips curved into the tiniest smile.
My blood turned to ice.
She did this. Vivienne, my best friend since childhood. Vivienne, who I trusted with everything. She set me up.
"Lennox!" I tried to stand, but the chains pulled me back down. "It was Vivienne! She's been lying to you! She wants to be Luna! She—"
"ENOUGH!" Lennox's roar shook the walls. Power rippled from him, forcing my head down. I couldn't even look up anymore. "I have heard enough of your lies, Sera. You have betrayed this pack. You have betrayed me."
Something in his voice made my heart shatter into a million pieces. He really believed it. He truly thought I was guilty.
"The evidence is clear," Marcus continued, his voice smooth as silk. Too smooth. "The poison was in her room. Three witnesses saw her near the children's wing that night. And Luna Sera has been... unstable lately. Hasn't she, Alpha?"
Unstable. They made me sound crazy.
"I saw her talking to herself last Tuesday," someone called out.
"She's been acting strange for weeks!"
"Always sneaking around at night!"
Lies. All lies. But mixed with just enough truth to sound real. Yes, I'd been restless at night. Yes, I'd been stressed. But I never hurt anyone!
"Vivienne," Lennox said softly. "Come forward."
No. Please, no.
Vivienne walked up the steps to the throne, moving like a dancer. So graceful. So perfect. She knelt beside Lennox's throne and took his hand.
MY hand. That was supposed to be MY place.
"Tell them what you told me," Lennox said gently.
Vivienne's tears flowed freely now. "I'm so sorry, Sera. I tried to help you. I really did." Her voice shook. "But you've been so jealous lately. Ever since... ever since Lennox and I started spending time together. You said terrible things. You said you'd make everyone pay."
"That's a LIE!" I lunged forward, but the chains held me back. "I never said that! Lennox, she's manipulating you!"
But Lennox wasn't looking at me anymore. He was looking at Vivienne with such concern, such care. The way he used to look at me.
My wolf howled inside my chest, clawing to get out. She wanted to fight. But I had no strength left.
"The sentence is clear," Marcus announced. "For the crime of attempted murder, for betraying the pack bond, Luna Sera Moonwhisper will be stripped of her title and executed by wolfsbane poison."
The world stopped spinning.
Executed.
They were going to kill me.
"No," I breathed. "Lennox, please. Our mate bond—you'll feel it when I die. You'll know I'm innocent—"
"I rejected that bond the moment you betrayed us," Lennox said quietly. His words cut deeper than any blade. "You are nothing to me now."
The pain hit me like lightning. Our mate bond, already weak from his rejection, snapped completely. I screamed, clutching my chest. It felt like my heart was being ripped out while it was still beating.
Guards grabbed my arms and forced me to my knees. Someone held my head back. I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.
Marcus appeared in front of me with a golden cup filled with dark liquid. Wolfsbane. Enough to kill any werewolf in minutes.
"Please," I whispered one last time. "I'm innocent."
No one answered.
They poured the poison down my throat.
It burned like drinking fire. I choked and gasped, but they held my mouth closed until I swallowed it all.
Then they let me go. I collapsed on the stone floor, my body already starting to shake. The poison worked fast. My vision blurred. My lungs couldn't get enough air.
Through the haze, I heard Lennox's voice, tight with emotion. "Stay with me!"
Was he... crying?
But then I saw Vivienne behind him. Her tears were gone. She smiled at me—a cold, victorious smile that showed me the truth.
She won. She took everything from me. My mate. My pack. My life.
As darkness swallowed me whole, one thought burned through my dying mind:
If I ever get a second chance... I will make them all pay.