CHAPTER 7 - BREAKING POINT

The trial began at dawn, but they did not tell me that. I only knew because frozen morning light filtered through the tiny window of my cell, casting long shadows across the damp stone floor. No one brought me food or water. No one came to explain what would happen. They left me in the dark, shivering and alone, like I was already dead.

My lips were cracked from thirst. My body ached from sleeping on cold stone. But worse than the physical pain was the complete isolation, the suffocating feeling that I had been erased from existence.

When the guards finally came, they dragged me upstairs without a word. My legs were weak from lack of food, and I stumbled repeatedly, earning rough jerks on my arms that made my shoulders scream in protest.

The pack gathering hall was full. Every member of Silvermoon Pack had assembled to witness my judgment. The moment I was hauled through the doors, the whispers started—vicious, cutting, designed to wound.

"Look how pathetic she is."

"I heard she cursed three warriors who tried to question her last night."

"My sister said she found dead birds outside Aria's window arranged in pentagrams."

None of it was true. All of it would be believed.

Zack sat on the Alpha's platform, flanked by Marcus and the pack elders. His face was carved from stone, showing nothing as I was forced to my knees in front of the entire assembly. I tried to meet his eyes, to find some trace of the mate bond we had felt yesterday, but he looked through me as if I were invisible.

Elder Thomas stood, his weathered face grave. "Aria Moonstone, you stand accused of practicing dark magic, consorting with rogues, and threatening pack security. How do you answer these charges?"

"I am innocent," I said, but my voice came out as barely a whisper. No one heard me over the murmurs of the crowd.

"Speak up!" someone shouted.

"I am innocent!" I tried again, louder this time, but it sounded desperate even to my own ears.

"The evidence suggests otherwise," Marcus said smoothly, standing to address the pack. "We found dark magic residue on items in her room. Several pack members reported strange behavior. And the ritual murders occurred the same day she revealed unnatural powers."

"I did not—those items were planted! I never—" My protests were drowned out by angry shouts from the crowd.

"Liar!"

"Dark witch!"

"She should be executed!"

Magda, the elderly healer, stepped forward with reluctant steps. "I examined the girl yesterday as requested. There is death magic clinging to her aura. Strong death magic, as if she has passed through the veil between life and death."

Because I had. Because I had been murdered and sent back. But I could not say that without sounding insane.

"Please," I begged, looking directly at Zack. "Alpha, you felt the mate bond yesterday. You know I am yours. Would the Moon Goddess give you a dark witch as a mate?"

Zack's jaw tightened, the first sign of emotion he had shown. For a brief moment, I thought I saw conflict in his golden eyes. Then Marcus leaned over and whispered something in his ear, and Zack's expression hardened again.

"The mate bond can be faked with dark magic," Zack said coldly. "I will not be manipulated by a witch wearing my mate's face."

The words shattered something inside me. Tears spilled down my cheeks, and I could not stop them. "I am not faking anything. I am Aria. I am your mate. Please, you have to believe me."

"Why should he believe you?" Selene stepped forward from the crowd, her face the perfect mask of concern. "You have been lying since you arrived. Hiding your powers, pretending to be weak. How do we know anything you say is true?"

"Because I am telling the truth!" My voice broke on a sob. "I have never practiced dark magic. I do not know who killed those rogues or why they left that message. I am just an orphan trying to survive!"

"An orphan with Luna bloodline powers that appeared overnight," Marcus countered. "An orphan whose very presence brought death and darkness to our pack."

Elder Thomas looked troubled. "Alpha, perhaps we should investigate further before—"

"The investigation is complete," Zack interrupted, standing. His Alpha aura pressed down on everyone, forcing silence. "Aria Moonstone, I find you guilty of practicing dark magic and threatening pack security."

"No," I whispered, the word dying in my throat.

"You are hereby banished from Silvermoon Pack, effective immediately. You have one hour to leave pack territory. If you are found within our borders after that, you will be executed on sight."

The crowd erupted in approval, their cheers deafening. I knelt there, broken and shaking, unable to process what had just happened. Banishment was a death sentence for a wolf as weak as me. Rogues would kill me within days. Starvation would take me if they did not.

Guards hauled me to my feet, already dragging me toward the exit. I looked back one final time, desperate for Zack to change his mind, to show some hint of the connection we had felt.

But he had already turned away, discussing something with Marcus as if I had never existed.

Jennifer stood in the crowd, tears streaming down her face, but she said nothing. No one spoke in my defense. No one offered help.

They threw me out the main gates with nothing—no food, no water, no supplies. Just the clothes on my back and a death sentence hanging over my head.

I stumbled into the forest as the gates slammed shut behind me, and finally, completely alone, I collapsed.