Her Execution

SERIS~

“What is the meaning of this?” my uncle bellowed, rising from his seat. “Who is behind this?”

My world was swimming, my skin crawling from the stares of the pack. All of them sprang from their seats for a better look. A horrified gasp rippled through the crowd.

Lily was the only one who held me steady while my thoughts whirled, the false images filling my vision. Stefan Salvatore’s hands tangled through my black hair; my violet eyes were darkened with lust as I looked the enemy in the eye before the next image took over the screen with our lips colliding.

I blinked rapidly, unwilling to believe my own eyes, but it looked so real. What would Sylus think? My head snapped to where he sat, my heart stuttering in my chest.

Sylus didn’t roar with the Alpha rage I expected. He simply sat there, so painfully impassive that I would have preferred him to explode instead. His amber eyes were fixed entirely on me with a terrifying hollowness, carving past my flesh and boring into my soul. It felt like a death sentence.

Around us, the chaos escalated. Uncle Osric was purple with rage, his fists shaking as he gestured wildly at the glowing images of my supposed infidelity. “Who dared to plant this filth?” Osric’s voice cracked like a whip over the gasping crowd. “Who is responsible for this sabotage?”

The pack turned, looking for a scapegoat, for a technician, for a spy in their midst. The air was thick with the scent of bared teeth and bloodlust. Sylus stood up then, and every whisper died instantly. With his eyes still fixed on mine, he spoke.

“I did,” Sylus said.

My body went rigid, a cold sweat breaking out across my neck. My uncle faltered, confusion mirrored on his face. “But… Alpha…”

Sylus’s voice was filled with damnation. “The evidence was sent by Darkpine itself.”

Lily anchored me, and despite my buckling knees, I met his gaze. The venom dripping from his voice remained silent, but I could feel it rolling off him in waves. “So I found it fitting to reveal who Seris Sullivan truly is.”

A strangled gasp slipped past my lips. I shuddered. This could not be happening.

"Sylus, please," I choked out, the words feeling like shards of glass in my throat. "I was drugged. I was attacked in the restroom—"

"Drugged?" Sylus’s voice cut through mine, sharp and clinical. He stepped around the table predatorily. "Did the drugs force you to the balcony, Seris? Did they force you to wrap your arms around the man who killed my father?"

"No! I don't even remember being there!"

"Convenient," he drawled, stopping only a few feet from me. The Alpha aura radiating from him was suffocating, a physical weight pressing against my weak heart. "And the scent? The stench of Stefan Salvatore that I had to scrub off my own skin after I held you that night? Was that a memory lapse too?"

I sobbed, the sound pathetic and thin in the vast silence of the atrium. "I didn't... I would never..."

"You are a creature of misfortune," he whispered past his teeth, yet loud enough for every wolf to hear. "My father was right. You are the curse that bleeds us dry."

"Look at her crying," a familiar, shrill voice cackled. Rielle pushed through the crowd, her face twisted with triumphant glee. She stepped toward me, her eyes gleaming. "Finally, the truth comes out! I told you she was a snake. She’s probably been feeding him our secrets since the day she tricked Sylus into the bond."

She raised a hand as if to strike me, her wolf bristling beneath her skin, fingers shifting to large paws. "You killed the Alpha! You—"

"Enough, Rielle!" Uncle Osric’s voice thundered as he lunged forward, grabbing his daughter’s arm and jerking her back.

"Father, let me go!" she shrieked, struggling against his grip. "She deserves to be shredded!"

Osric ignored her, his eyes fixed on Sylus. "Alpha, this is too fast. There is no trial. The images could be altered!"

Sylus didn't even look at him. His eyes remained on me. "I don't need a trial for a traitor. I have my eyes, and I have my scent. My father had a condition, Seris.”

My stomach dropped. There was no feeling in his voice as he spoke. “You will be executed.”

The proclamation dropped like a hammer.

“No—” I stilled.

“I, Sylus Hawkins, reject you, Seris Sullivan, as my mate,” his voice thundered.

Heat speared my chest, my legs losing strength in an instant as I let out a howl that vibrated through my marrow. I collapsed into the dirt, the mate-bond snapping like a whip of fire against my soul. The agony was so blinding I could barely see, but I reached out, my fingers clawing at the grass toward him.

"Sylus... wait..." I gasped, the air in my lungs turning to lead. "I’m pregnant. It’s yours... I'm carrying your child."

The clearing went deathly silent. For a fraction of a second, the ice in Sylus’s gaze shattered. A flicker of something raw and stricken crossed his face, his hand twitching toward me as if the bond were fighting to pull him back.

Then, his eyes fell on the screen behind me—Stefan’s hands on my skin.

The ice returned, colder and harder than before. A cruel sneer curled his lips. "Nice try, Seris. You’ll use even an unborn life to shield your own neck?" He stepped closer, his voice a lethal whisper. "I won’t claim a bastard sired by the man who murdered my father. I, Sylus Hawkins, reject the child you carry."

The second rejection hit me like a physical explosion.

If the first was fire, this was a hollow, soul-deep rot. The mark on my neck seared, the skin blistering and turning black as the connection died. But the worst was my stomach. It felt like my insides were being shredded by a thousand claws; the tiny, second heartbeat I had grown to cherish flickered under the weight of his hatred.

I let out a broken, mangled sound, my body curling inward.

"Alpha, please!" Lily screamed, throwing herself over me as the pack began to close in. “She would never do this.”

Uncle Osric fought to reach me, his face pale with horror. "She’s dying! Alpha, look at her!"

Sylus didn't look. He turned his back, his voice cutting through my fading consciousness. "Gammas, take her to the pits and finish the job. I never want to see her fucking face. Burn her body."

Large, rough hands grabbed my shoulders, dragging me across the jagged stones. The pain in my womb peaked, a scream trapped behind my teeth as the world began to tilt. The last thing I saw was the moon, cold and indifferent, before the darkness finally claimed me.