Chapter 1

~Lyrielle~

“Burn the witch! Burn the witch!” The voices of the werewolves that had gathered at the execution grew as my Family and I were dragged to the arena. Rough hands shoved me forward, and I winced in pain as the ropes around my wrists and ankles scratched my flawless skin, leaving behind a huge scar.

As we walked by, the werewolves pressed in close, their faces twisted with rage. They threw things at us, especially me. A rotten apple struck my cheek, its sour juice mingling with the blood trickling from a gash on my forehead. Another hit my shoulder; then, a stone grazed my temple.

“Whore!”

“Murderer!”

“Die, you filth!”

I lowered my head in shame as I couldn't bear to meet their eyes, which once shined warmly when my Family and I walked the Capital streets. Everyone knew how noble my Family was. My father, Alpha Han, had been the pillar of our pack. He was known as a kind, tireless leader who’d earned their love. But that was gone now, erased by the accusations branding us traitors.

Behind me, I heard the clink of chains and the shuffle of feet—my father, my mother, and my brother were all dragged to the same fate of humiliation all because of me.

“Go to hell!” a voice screeched. It was sharp and piercing. Something hard, a rock, hit my forehead, and I tasted iron as blood trailed down to my lips. Blinking through the sting, I traced the sound to a small boy in the crowd. Just like everyone else, his face was contorted with hate. He couldn’t have been more than ten, yet he spat at me disgustingly, just like the grown-ups. “Burn in hell, witch!” he yelled, hurling another stone at me.

Tears pricked my eyes as I looked around to see if anyone was different, but there was none.

Why me? Why this fate when I had done nothing wrong to deserve it?

“Nothing?” Cara, my wolf, snarled in my mind. “I warned you, Lyrielle! I begged you not to let him chain us to that marriage. If you’d resisted Eiraeth’s schemes and waited for our fated mate, we wouldn’t be here about to die!”

She was right. It was all my fault.

I let the tears spill as I glanced back at my Family. My father’s once proud shoulders were slumped under the weight of the shackles around him, and my mother’s eyes, once filled with pride, were hollowed. My brother Kael met my gaze for a fleeting moment, and I saw a fainty, sad smile flickering on his lips. It was the same one he had given to me years ago when he’d bandaged my knee after a tumble in the woods. Now, they were all condemned because of me.

It began two years ago with an invitation to the royal ball. That night, the Alpha King’s gaze landed on me, and knowing how influential my father was, he proposed a union between me and his second son, Prince Eiraeth.I told him we weren't mates and I couldn't agree to this. But he said he loved me, that it was love at first sight, and after three months of his relentless pursuit, I finally believed him—and said yes.

I could have refused. It went against the Moon Goddess’s laws, binding me to someone who wasn’t my fated mate. But in the end, I let Eiraeth persuade me.

He made me believe that we could be destined mates. I foolishly step into this marriage.

Two years into our marriage, during our anniversary celebration, I met him—Prince Arineth, the first prince and my fated mate. The moment our eyes locked across the crowded hall, the mate bond snapped into place, and it was so powerful that I couldn't deny it. Prince Arineth was everything I had always wanted in a mate. Tall and broad-shouldered, with storm-gray eyes that pierced through me, masculine allure that made my pulse race. He was everything, but to everyone else, he was nothing. Everyone in the capital and other packs knew he was the king’s bastard son, half low-born and a weapon used in war and scorned by the court.

The Alpha King doted on Eiraeth, the golden second prince, born of a noblewoman, while Arineth was left to rot on the battlefield. I could have claimed him if he was someone powerful, but I was already married to Eiraeth. Fated mate or not, I couldn't abandon the path I’d been coerced onto.

“Please, reject me, Alpha Prince Arineth,” I’d begged him that night, my voice trembling as I stood before him outside the balcony of the royal mansion. “Your brother is the one I’m bound to.”

His jaw tightened, those gray eyes blazing with hurt and fury. “We’re fated, mates, Lyrielle! You’re supposed to announce it to the king, to everyone—”

“No!” I’d cut him off, shaking my head fiercely. “I’m married to Eiraeth. I love him.” That was a lie, bitter on my tongue. Eiraeth was a pompous ass, and I hated his guts, but he was the key to the throne and he made me believe that we were fated. Arineth, who seemed to be perfect, would never wear the crown because he was a bastard. “If you don't reject me, then I will. I, Lyrielle Caerwind, daughter of Alpha Han Caerwind of the Stone pack, reject you, Alpha Prince Arineth Velthryne, first prince of Mecianda and son of Alpha King Eldwin Velthryne, as my fated mate.”

“I accept your Rejection,” he responded and vanished soon after. The last I heard about him was that he had been sent to the borders to fight rogues threatening the kingdom.

The night before my Coronation was when it all happened. It was supposed to be a celebration night before I claimed my place as the crown princess, but instead, it became a night of betrayal and ruins.

I jolted awake to a deafening scream tearing through the room. My heart pounded as I tried to sit up, but a heavy arm pinned me to the bed, wrapped tight around my waist—a man’s arm. Panic surged as I saw Prince Daveth, the third prince, lying beside me. My eyes widened in shock as I stared into his eyes. There was no way he could be in the same bed with me. Prince Daveth and I had grown close friends in the months leading up to the wedding because he was kind, unlike his brothers, but being in the same bed made no sense. I would never do something like that.

“What the hell are you doing with a man in your bed?” The roar came from the doorway. Prince Eiraeth stood there, his face a mask of rage, flanked by the royal Family and mine. I rushed to cover myself, my nightgown barely clinging to my body, but what I didn't realize was Prince Daveth’s cold body. It wasn't until I tapped him to wake up that I realized he was gone. Prince Daveth fell to the ground naked and lifeless.

The Luna Queen rushed in, her scream piercing the room as she grabbed me by the throat. “You killed my son! My poor Daveth!”

“I didn’t—I swear!” My voice cracked. “I…” My head throbbed, and my tongue had a lingering bitter taste from the wine we’d shared earlier. It was the last thing I remembered. How I got on the bed with him was a mystery.

“Shut up, you bitch!” Eiraeth yanked me from the bed, his grip bruising my hand as he flung me to the floor. “I should’ve believed the rumors—your whoring around with half the capital! Sleeping with my brother the night before your Coronation, then killing him to hide it!”

“No!” I shook my head, tears blurring as I searched the faces around me. Disgust stared back even from my own Family. My mother’s lips pressed tight, my father’s eyes averted, and even Kael looked away. “I didn’t do this! Please, someone—”

No one listened.

And it didn’t end there. Within hours, my father was accused of treason, a fabricated plot to usurp the throne with Arineth as his puppet king. The royal announcer’s voice still echoed in my ears as he read our sentences in the dank cell: “Alpha Han, guilty of slandering the king and conspiring against the crown, is sentenced to death by beheading. His wife, lady Mirabella, and son, Lord Kael, are sentenced to death by hanging. As for his daughter, Lady Lyrielle, she is hereby sentenced to death by fire for the murder of Prince Daveth after an illicit affair. Prince Arineth, who had conspired with Alpha Han, is revoked from his title and exiled to live in solitude forever.”

The sentence happened two months ago, and now, here we were at the execution ground, which reeked of smoke and sweat alongside the crowd’s relentless screams. The guards hauled my father forward, first placing his head on a platter. I tried to turn away because I couldn't watch, but a soldier gripped my jaw, forcing my eyes open. “Look, you criminal!” he barked. “See the consequences of your actions!”

I bit my lip until it bled, my fists clenched as the executioner raised his sword. My mother and Kael screamed for them to stop, but their voices were muffled by the guards holding them back. My cry lodged in my throat, silenced by dread. The sword fell, swift and merciless, severing my father’s head.

Blood sprayed across the dirt, flecking my face. Immediately, I felt the bond between us snapped, and a hollow ache ripped through me. I was supposed to scream at that moment, but I didn't; instead, I laughed, a sharp, broken sound that escaped my lips.

The crowd went still at my reaction and then erupted in murmurs.

“She laughs at her father’s death! Witch!”

“Shame! Shame!” They changed, but that didn't stop me as I continued to laugh.

I didn't know if Madness, grief, or both made me react that way.

Next came my mother and brother. Kael's gaze found mine again as the guards dragged them to the gallows. He smiled at me as the noose was tightened around his neck. “I love you,” he mouthed.

My mother wouldn’t look at me, and I knew that she blamed me for what had happened to the Family. I wanted to look away again, but the guard's grip was still on my face, forcing me to watch as the ropes jerked, how they thrashed, and then immediately went still. Their necks broke, and I felt the bond between us shattered. This time, I screamed.

A raw howl tore from my chest. It didn't come only from me but also my werewolf Cara. She struggled against the ropes and lunged at the guards, desperate to break free, but then suddenly, the guard holding me hit me on the head with the hilt of his sword, and everything went silent, including the world. No snarls, no chants, just the dull thud of my heartbeat.

This was my end. If I hadn’t let Eiraeth cajole me into becoming his mate and chasing the Luna Queen’s crown, my Family would still be alive.

Would it have been different with Arineth? I thought as His face flashed in my mind—those stormy eyes. The pain I’d carved into them when I’d rejected him. I’d been so cruel, so blind.

“Is this my fate?” I whispered, tilting my head to the sky as I stared at the sunset.

“Burn her! Burn her!” The chants returned, and it was louder.

The guards stepped forward, raising the flared torches towards me. They threw it into the pyre at my feet.

I braced myself as I could feel the heat already prickling my skin. My heart started racing as the flames flickered to life.

The flames engulfed me immediately, biting into my skin. I let out a deafening scream as it felt like a thousand knives were piercing my skin. It was so cruel to die in that way, but it was my fate. I had brought it on myself.

My body started convulsing as the flames ravaged my skin. This was my end. I looked at the sky again and let the last year stream down my face.

And then suddenly, everything stopped.

The world froze. The flames stopped suspended in the air like amber caught in time. The crowd’s snarls locked on their faces, their arms mid-throw, torches hovering inches from the wood. The guards stood as statues and were not moving. Even the wind ceased.

The only sound in the silence was my ragged gasps. I was the only one who could move.

Loud Footsteps sounded from behind me, deliberate and slow. I turned and saw a figure emerge from the crowd—a tall silhouette draped in a dark cloak, the hood covering their face. They walked through the frozen people until they reached me. A gloved hand reached out and untied the ropes around my wrists and ankles. The bindings fell away, and I staggered forward, almost falling, but they caught me.

The figure lifted its head, the hood slipping back just enough to reveal a familiar jawline and a flash of storm-gray eyes.

I stared in shock; My breath hitched when our eyes met. “Prince Arineth,” I whispered.

“Death is an easy punishment for you, Lyrielle,” he said in a low, threatening tone that made me wonder what he meant, but before I could ask any other questions, I felt my vision darken, and the blackness swallowed me whole.