Three Graves

That evening she was dragged from her cell, blindfolded, and thrown into a horse drawn cart. She shivered throughout the ride from cold and the uncertainty of not knowing how she was going to die. It would probably be by beheading, the standard execution for traitors.

There was silence except for the wind in her ears, then she began hearing raised voices. They were distant at first, until soon she was in the middle of the noise. Her blindfold was taken off and she flinched when she saw she was standing in the town square surrounded by a mammoth crowd. Men, women, children, it was as if everyone in the pack had come to see her die.

She recognized many faces. Marta, whose son she had cured from fever. Old Brian, whose broken leg she had set after a hunting fall. A little girl she had once carried through the snow when her mother collapsed. She looked at them desperately, searching for one sympathetic gaze. But all she got were hateful stares.

"Traitor! Killer!" They yelled hurling mud at her as she was dragged from the cart. Then Jerry stepped forward, his dark eyes blazing. He held a dagger in his right hand. He was going to severe their mate bond.

"Jerry please listen to me. I am innocent!" She begged. "Let me explain."

The howls of the spectators drowned her pleas and the ritual began.

"Sharon! Before our Goddess I sever the bond that ties you to me. You are no longer my mate and no longer mine. From this day I cast you out from my heart."

Sharon collapsed in agony. Seeing her a look of pain came to Jerry's eyes, but he forced it away. No matter how much he loved hershe had killed his mother. They would be no mercy for her.

The ritual complete the guards dragged her to a stake.

"They are going to burn us!" Hela screamed.

Sharon began struggling but she was too weak. She was bound to the stake with chains and straw put round her. Jerry stood watching stone faced. Besides him stood a grinning Mona and a smirking Judy.

"Judy! I thought we were friends!" Sharon cried.

"I can't be friends with the woman who killed my mother. I have seen the evidence against you, you snake." Judy spat at her.

"Jerry! Please! I love you! Remember how much you love me! I didn't kill your mother!I swear! I am being framed!" Sharon wailed desperately.

"Could there be truth in what she is saying?" Jerry's wolf, Glen, asked.

Jerry hesitated, considering his words.

"Why are you hesitating? She killed our mother and she should pay." Judy told Jerry impatiently.

Convinced, Jerry approached the pyre.

"Jerry please just hear me out." Sharon begged. "You know me. Do you think I am capable of murder?"

For a moment Jerry's eyes softened, and he looked doubtful. Then his eyes hardened and he lit the straw.

The flames caught quickly and the crowd cheered. Through the smoke and flames she could see everyone jubilating, then she caught sight of Gaia who stood away from the crowd, crying bitterly.

"Are we just going to accept this injustice?" Hela demanded.

Sharon again scanned the faces of those watching her torment. They were faces of people she had loved and trusted, now they had turned against her. At that moment something broke inside her. Her despair turned to anger. She raised her face to the moon and cried,

"Moon Goddess! If I must die, then let this not be the end. Let me come back and right this injustice. I will pay any price. Even my soul!"

Then suddenly the flames rose higher, as if fed by an invisible hand. Sharons piercing screams echoed into the night as the fire consumed her completely, leaving behind the burnt blackened chain.

A mummur of fearful surprise ran through the crowd. Death by burning had happened before, until Sharon had persuaded the Alpha to ban them, but never had they been nothing left of the condemned. They had never just disappeared. Alpha Jerry stood staring at the spot where the woman he had once loved had been.

"I still think you were too rash," Glen said soberly.

Jerry was beginning to think so too.

"She has paid for her evil." Mona said gently taking his arm.

He pulled away and walked off without a word. Embarrassed she followed. So did the nobles. Then the crowd began to disperse. Very soon the square was empty.

Sharon was gone, but her story was just beginning.

********************

Sharon opened her eyes and there was silence and a strange sense of peace. The air smelt of flowers and she wondered where she was. Then she saw she was lying in a sliver boat floating on silver blue sea. She sat up in alarm and was surprised to see all her bruises and scars were gone.

"Easy my dear, you don't want to upset the boat." A soft, wind like voice, whispered from above.

The Moon Goddess! Sharon bowed her head in reverence.

"Where am I?" She whispered.

"In between worlds on your way to the afterlife child."

Sharon's breath caught. "My Goddess you saw what they did to me. I am innocent of all I was accused of."

"I know. Your heart is pure. What was done to you was unjust, that is why I am granting your wish and giving you the option of returning."

"What?' Sharon exclaimed.

"Yes. Rebirth. A second life in a new body. You will carry every memory of your betrayal, so that when the time comes you will make them pay."

Sharon's chest tightened. Finally! A chance for revenge.

"But as it is often said in another land, a person who seeks revenge must dig two graves. One for themselves and one for their enemies."

Sharon's fingers curled into fists. "I plan to dig three. One for myself, one for my enemies, and one for the friends of my enemies! Send me back my Goddess! I will make them all wish they were never born!"

"Very well. To make it bearable for you I will lock your past life from you until you are ready for your revenge."

A blinding white light shone around her, seeping into every opening in her body.

She felt like she was suffocating, then she began to scream, intense and high-pitched.

"It's a girl!" The midwife said in excitement.

There were tears of joy as she was lifted into the arms of her new mother.

"She is beautiful," her new father said. "What should we call her?"

"How about Sharon? After the late Luna? It was her herbs that help me get pregnant." The woman suggested.

"But she turned out to be a murderer." The husband reminded her.

"Okay, Saraphina, after your mother."

"Yes. Perfect." He kissed the babies forehead gently. "Welcome Saraphina." He whispered.

The Moon Goddess looking down on them smiled. "I will see you soon Saraphina." She muttered.