Chapter Three

Thessara's Pov

I was pushed up immediately by two knights while I felt their claws digging into my shoulders, as they held me up.

“Remove her fangs,” one of the council members commanded.

My eyes widened, in terror as I crashed against the knights . “No….no, please! Don’t do this, I beg you!” I screamed, flailing against the knights. “I have done nothing to deserve this! I swear on the Moon, I am innocent! I never harmed Asher, I'd never….”

“Silence!” an elder’s staff hit the floor. “Not another word from you, traitor.”

“But I'm your Luna!” I shouted, trembling. “I’m you Luna! you can not do this to me.”

Growls rolled through the crowd, drowning my voice, as someone shouted “Kill her!”  “kill the traitor!” another howled. Then immediately the whole hall rose against me howling in disapproval.

Another knight came before me, his hands priming my jaw open, before his claws digged into my cheeks. Pain traveled through me as my fangs were torn out, blood flooding my mouth. I screamed, from the misery as my voice traveled through the chamber, but it was swallowed by the pack’s howls of approval.

“See!” the she-wolf elder barked at the crowd. “See what becomes of a traitor. This is the fate of a false Luna!” The crowd all howled at me murmuring their approval.

Blood poured down my chin, as I trembled, while staring through the blur of tears at the faces before me. Wolves I had served, protected, even loved, every one of them looked down at me as if I were some filthy thing.

And Eira. My Eira. My sister in all but blood. She stepped forward, only to spit at my feet.

“Whore,” she muttered.

I sobbed, my whole body shaking. “Why… Why are you all doing this to me?” I cried trembling. “I have done none of these things you all accuse me of.” But the elders turned away from ignoring my pleas as I was dragged out, and pulled to the pyre where I saw Asher's body laying.

I was struck again by the sound of our bond snapping in my chest and the memory of his final breath making my heart bleed. An elder raised his staff and called out into the night.

"Asher Bloodclaw, Alpha of this pack. We give his body back to the Mother, untarnished by her squalor."

He said as the  pyre was immediately lit,  flames engulfed him. I watched helplessly, as I continued to sob, feeling hollow as his ashes floated into the sky.

Then the same elder raised his staff again, voicing.

"Reynolds, one of our only true Bloodclaw's knights. The moon designates you as her executioner."

My eyes widened, in terror as I crashed against the knights, my knees striking to  the floor as I raised my voice pleading with them.  "Please, don't take my life! “I'm innocent, I did not send those rogues. Please, I swear don't take my life, at least show mercy to my baby!”

I cried pleading with them as Reynolds pulled out his blade. "A traitor's womb is incapable of producing an heir." He said drawing back his sword.

My entire body strained as I gasped and twisted against the guards. "It's Asher's child! This child belongs to Asher! You'll kill his blood…”

The elders gave a grim nod as one said. "Therefore, it must be killed."

Reynolds draws back his sword further, making the world freeze for a moment. Tears fell from my eyes and my breath caught in my chest before his blade went deep into my stomach, I let out a miserable scream, my blood gushing from me onto the floor as agony tore through me and fire burned down my womb. Then the knight's breath came hot against my ear as he twisted the blade, closing in. "You'll finally find your place under the dirt, Luna." He said as I collapsed forward, gripping my stomach with shaking hands as I felt the warmth of my child's life evaporating alongside mine. The guards released me and I fell to the bloody floor as the pack's snarls and jeers became a hollow echo as my vision became blurry.

Above me, I stared at the moon, tears traveling down my face as I pathetically pressed my palm weakly to the pool that was spreading beneath me. "Asher…” I whispered hoarsely, my voice breaking as darkness closed in on me.

****

I gasped, my lungs filling painfully as my eyes flew open, on a large bed with a white sheet wrapped around my body.

And as I struggled to sit up, the movement sent a wave of dizziness through my head, bringing my stomach to a turn.

I laid back down willing the pain to stop as I looked around the room again.

The pale white walls of the room I seem to be in and the bright lights above me felt odd, including the tool alongside me which was thumping away in a most nosy manner.

“What's this place...” I thought, confused.

It wasn’t the stone of Bloodclaw’s hall, and certainly not the earth of Asher’s pyre.

Everything looked strange, from the den of strange, luminescent boxes and strange devices that beeped and sounded like a company of some annoyed specters, to a  lengthy thing that took center of the floor in the room, covered by a white sheet that moved like leaves on an autumn wind. And against the wall stood a tree maybe, its branches with bags of fluid, even this  small glowing square was on the wall, throwing some strange light throughout the room. Coils of wires and tubes can also be seen running out across the floor, like some creature's tentacles, and not to forget the strange watery thing running along my hand.

This was not my pack healer's hut.

Terror welled up inside me. “where was I and was I not supposed to be dead?” I thought, bitterly, my hands traveling to my stomach, as I remember the council’s cold eyes. The pack’s howls of hatred. Eira’s betrayal. The healer who refused to meet my gaze. My maids, the taste of my blood filling my mouth as they ripped out my fangs, stripping me of everything that made me wolf.

And then… Reynolds. His smirk. His sword. The tearing agony as his steel plunged into my womb. And the moon above me, watching me as I bled out. As I lost everything. So how… How was I still alive?

“Claire.”

I froze, at the sudden sound of a voice, and the sound of footsteps approaching bringing me back to the reality of the strange room. A man soon appeared beside me, tall and lean. His skin, beautifully smooth as the river rocks beneath the bright rooms lights, and his hair dark as the night of the forest.

Humans.

My eyes widened in shock as I  stared at him frozen on the bed while gazing at his unmistakably cold handsome face, to his beautiful blue eyes then to the white clothes he was wearing which called to me, like the song of the hunt then back up to his face.

I had never seen one up close, face to face in my entire life and I thought they were supposed to look like monsters. That's what the council described them as. I had only grown up seeing their cities on the horizon, their skyscrapers in the sun. My father was the only one who ventured into their city which had cost us everything.

Claire," he said again, making the hairs along the back of my neck wobble, as he took another step forward.

I recoiled immediately, the creak of the thin mattress below me making noises as my hands scrambled for something to defend myself with.

He took another step, "Hey, hey…easy." he drew closer. "you had an accident.

don't move too much…..you'll tear your stitches."

"What, who are you? and what are you talking about?" I croaked, rolling deeper into the bed so my back hit the coldness of the wall.

He came closer swiftly, breaking the distance between us and catching my wrist to keep me pinned.

“Claire,” he breathed, “Please. You’re hurting yourself.”

I struggled against his grasp, my breath coming in shabby bursts.

"Who are you? What do you want from me? I said as I fought against his hold, my fingernails biting into his skin. "Relax Claire.” He said, trying to hold me down.

“You had an accident, remember. On your way to pick July. You've been in a coma for months now.”

He took another step closer, his words pushing into the space between us.

“Accident…what accident  and July…Claire ..I don't understand, these..these people who are they?  I echoed faintly confused.

He brought my hand up and placed it on my chest.

“Me…me?” I asked, confused.

He gave a short nod. “Yes. Claire Hale. My wife.”