Chapter 5

Three days later, the door to the Silver Room finally opened.

The blinding light made me flinch.

My skin was a mess of burns from the silver, each one a reminder of the hell I’d just endured.

A guard stared at me, his face blank, as I crawled out.

"Time's up," the lead guard said coldly. "The Alpha wants to see you."

I staggered to my feet, every wound screaming in protest.

I wasn't taken back to my rooms. I was escorted directly to the Alpha's main house.

Fabian was standing by the window. He didn't even turn to look at me.

"Have you made up your mind?" His voice was colder than the Silver Room. "Confess, and I might show mercy. Refuse, and you'll sacrifice your power to the wards. This is your last chance."

I bit my lip, my body trembling with pain and rage, but I said nothing.

"Fine," he said with a slight laugh. "Perhaps seeing her family will bring her to her senses."

I was brought to the dining hall. The long table was laden with a feast, all for Gloria.

Golden roasted venison, fragrant fish soup, crystal-clear honey, and blood-red moonberries.

My portion was a bowl of watery gruel.

" Gloria, you're still weak," my mother said with fake concern. "You should only eat something light."

Gloria sat at the head of the table while Fabian served her himself.

"This venison is perfect, my love. Try some," he murmured, his voice a soft caress as he placed the tenderest cut on her plate.

"And I had this soup made just for you. It's good for your recovery."

I silently ate my tasteless porridge. It tasted like my life.

"Sister, why aren't you talking?" Gloria asked with concern. "If you just apologize to Fabian, I'm sure he'll forgive you."

Her words were poison, each one a little push toward a confession for a crime I didn't commit.

I lifted my bowl and took a sip.

Strange. The soup had a bitter taste.

"This soup is…?"

"What's wrong with it?" my mother asked.

"Nothing." I shook my head and kept eating.

But a few minutes later, I started to feel dizzy.

My limbs grew heavy, my blood felt sluggish, and it became hard to breathe.

I knew this feeling.

Wolfsbane.

An herb that could paralyze a werewolf's system.

I looked at Gloria in shock. She was busy talking to Fabian, but a flicker of triumph crossed her eyes.

I tried to stand, but my legs wouldn't work.

"Not feeling well?" Gloria asked, feigning surprise. "You look a little pale."

I opened my mouth to speak, but my tongue was numb.

Just then, Gloria "accidentally" knocked over her soup bowl.

The scalding liquid splashed directly onto my arm.

A scream tore from my lips. This wasn't just hot soup. It was laced with liquid silver.

My skin sizzled, the smell of burning flesh filling the air.

I fell from my chair, writhing on the floor in pain.

"Oh my gods! Gloria!"

Fabian rushed over in an instant. Not to me, but to Gloria.

"Did you get burned?" he asked, anxiously checking her hands.

"I'm fine, my hand is just a little red," Gloria said, her eyes welling with tears. "It's all my fault, I'm so clumsy…"

"It's not your fault," Fabian said, kissing her fingers. "I'll have the healer look at it right away."

He scooped Gloria into his arms as if she were made of porcelain. As he strode past, he shot me a look of pure disgust. "You still haven't learned your lesson," he warned, his voice dripping ice. "The execution is still on."

Then they were gone.

Leaving me alone on the cold floor, the silver-laced soup continuing to eat away at my skin.

My parents followed them out, not sparing me a single glance.

I don't know how long I lay there before a young healer finally arrived.

"Gods, you're so badly burned!" he gasped. "Any later and the wolfsbane would have stopped your heart!"

He quickly tended to my wounds, injecting me with an antidote.

"Who gave you wolfsbane?" he asked angrily. "This poison is enough to kill a werewolf!"

I didn't answer. It wouldn't have mattered.

As the healer finished treating me, his expression grew more and more serious.

He checked my pulse again and again, studying the color of the blood around my wounds, his brow furrowed.

"Strange…" he muttered.

"What is it?" I asked weakly.

He looked up, his eyes wide with a mixture of shock and awe. "When I was cleansing the silver poison, I had to probe your wolf soul… Gods, I have never encountered a soul so pure, so powerful."

I stared at him, confused.

The healer took a shaky breath, his voice trembling with awe and terror. "You don't understand. Your soul... it's the purest I have ever seen. For them to do this to you... they're not just punishing you. They're digging their own graves."

He looked at me, his eyes wide with horror. "You must escape now! They're trying to rip the soul out of this pack, and they're going to burn us all to the ground."