Chapter 1: Burnt Alive

Tonight, we execute the murderer who took the lives of innocent wolves.

"You stand accused of practicing dark magic and cursing our pack's children," Elder Thompson announced to the angry crowd. "How do you plead?"

"Please," I whispered, my voice barely audible. "I didn't do anything wrong. I'm just a healer."

The pack members who once thanked me for saving their lives now threw mud and stones at me.

"Witch!"

"She cursed my baby!"

"Kill her before she destroys us all!"

Tears streamed down my face as I searched the crowd desperately. I found Damien standing at the front, his arm wrapped around my sister Lydia. She was crying, pressing her face into his chest.

"Damien," I called out, my voice breaking. "Please, you know I would never hurt anyone."

He looked at me with cold eyes. "I thought I knew you, Sera. But the evidence doesn't lie."

"What evidence? I don't understand any of this." I was sobbing now, my whole body shaking. "Please, just tell me what I did wrong. I'll make it right."

"It's too late for that," Lydia said softly, lifting her tear-stained face from Damien's chest. "Oh, Sera. I tried to help you, but you wouldn't listen."

"Help me? Lydia, please, tell them this is all a mistake. You're my sister. You know I'm not evil."

She shook her head sadly. "I know what I saw. The way the children got worse after you treated them."

"I was trying to save them!" I cried. "Everything I did was to help them get better!"

But in the end, it all backfired

---

Two Months Ago

I'd been working for eighteen hours straight when the first child died in my arms. Little Marcus, only three years old, was covered in strange black marks that no medicine could heal.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to his parents, my tears falling onto his still chest. "I tried everything. I don't understand why nothing worked."

His mother collapsed, wailing. His father just stared at me with hollow eyes.

"You're supposed to save them," he said quietly. "That's what doctors do."

That night, I went home broken. Damien was waiting for me with warm soup and gentle hands.

"It's not your fault," he murmured, pulling me into his arms. "Sometimes there's nothing anyone can do."

The second child died a week later. Then the third. Each death hit me harder than the last. I stopped eating and stopped sleeping. I spent every waking moment in my clinic, desperately searching for answers. But to no avail.

I should have seen the signs. The way he and Lydia would stop talking when I entered a room. Lydia's willingness to help with "clinic organization" was commendable, despite her lack of medical training.

But I was too focused on the dying children to notice my life falling apart.

The night I discovered my pregnancy, I was so happy—finally, some good news in the middle of all this darkness.

I ran home to tell Damien.

I found the house empty. A neighbor mentioned seeing him head toward the pack house with Lydia for an "emergency meeting."

When I got there, I heard voices coming from his office. Moaning.

I pushed the door open slowly. What I saw destroyed everything I believed about my life.

Damien was on top of Lydia, both of them naked, lost in each other. Her legs were wrapped around his waist as he moved inside her.

"I love you," she gasped against his lips. "I've always loved you."

"I love you too," he replied, kissing her neck. "I should have chosen you from the beginning." “I’m glad I finally got a way to get rid of her. Killing those people and blaming her was the best idea.”

I dropped the pregnancy test. It clattered on the floor.

They both froze and turned toward the sound. When they saw me, Lydia screamed and grabbed for her clothes.

"Sera!" Damien jumped up, not bothering to cover himself.

"How long?" I whispered.

“Long enough that I wish I had never mated with you.”

And did you just say you killed those? I asked, shaking.

“That’s none of your business, and pretend like you heard nothing.”

Tears filled my eyes as I ran from that room. My own family hated me this much, to the extent of framing me? What did I ever do wrong?

Behind me, I heard Lydia say, "What are we going to do? She might expose us.

"Don't worry," Damien replied. "I'll handle it."

Three days later, they found the evidence of dark magic in my clinic.

"I didn't put these here," I told Elder Thompson. "I don't know where they came from."

"The handwriting analysis confirms these are yours," he replied.

I wanted to tell him, The Alpha and Lydia did all of these, I wanted to scream and expose every one of their lies, but who would believe me over them?

---

Present Day

"Do you have anything to say before we carry out your sentence?" Elder Thompson asked.

I looked up at Damien through my tears. "I still don't understand. Why would you frame me up? All I did was love you.”

My voice cracked with desperation. "Please, Damien. I'm carrying your baby. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

It means nothing to me. I can't let personal feelings interfere with justice. You’re a murderer, and the pack doesn’t tolerate such. Therefore, you must pay dearly.

Damien's jaw tightened, and step back.

Elder Thompson stepped forward with the torch. "It's time."

They pushed me closer to the fire. I screamed as the fire touched my clothes. I felt my unborn child's life slipping away with mine. Through the fire and smoke, I could see Damien watching with cold satisfaction, Lydia pressed against his side.

"YOU WILL ALL PAY FOR THIS!" I screamed as the fire consumed me. "I SWEAR ON MY CHILD'S SOUL - I WILL COME BACK FOR EVERY ONE OF YOU!"

The last thing I saw before darkness took me was Damien's face, still showing no remorse.