- CHAPTER FOUR -

SLOANE

Two months of living in this stone fortress had bled together into a quiet paranoid fog.

Then the fever took me.

For three days, I'd been trapped in my quarters, my half human immune system drowning in a brutal, burning heatwave that turned my bones to lead. Pureblood wolves bounced back from sickness in hours. I just lay under thick wool blankets, shivering, my throat raw and my skin slick with sweat.

"I really should see a healer," I groaned as I tried to sit up but failed miserably.

Suddenly, a sharp slam echoed through the outer corridor, followed by the footsteps of heavy boots.

I sat up too fast. The room spun wildly, the stone walls tilting. Shouting echoed from the floor below, a harsh, furious voice cutting through the quiet morning.

"Get your hands off her!" A woman's scream shattered the noise.

"Let go of me!" Another voice screamed.

Mom.

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed. My knees buckled the second my bare feet hit the cold floorboards, but I caught the edge of the nightstand before I went down. I grabbed my wool robe, wrapped it around my nightgown and dragged myself out into the hallway.

The air in the corridor was freezing, biting at my lungs. Down in the great hall, the noise was deafening.

I stumbled down the curved staircase, my hands gripping the wrought iron banister just to keep from falling. My vision frayed at the edges, hot flashes searing through my skull but the sight waiting at the bottom of the stairs cleared the haze instantly.

The Great Hall was packed with high ranking enforcers and pack elders. In the center of the floor, surrounded by four heavy guards, stood my mother.

Heavy iron cuffs bound her wrists behind her back, her dress was torn at the collar, her hair wild and disheveled.

Elder Vane stood three paces in front of her, holding a thick parchment ledger with a broken wax seal.

"Anya of the Valerius Pack" Vane's raspy voice boomed across the marble floor, carrying the sharp edge of triumph. "By order of the Pack council, you're stripped of your title, your protection and your standing."

"What is this?" I choked out, my raspy voice swallowed by the crowd. I shoved past a towering enforcer at the foot of the stairs, my feet dragging against the stone. My head pounded with every heartbeat, but I kept moving until I reached the edge of the circle.

"You can't do this - She's Luna!" I shouted.

Elder Vane turned his head slowly. His small, bloodshot eyes narrowed as he looked at me, his lip curling in disgust.

"A Luna can still betray," the elder snapped. He held up the ledger, pointing a thick finger at the line of dark ink at the bottom of the page. "Four nights ago, three rogue scouts breached our eastern perimeter. They slaughtered two sentries at Post four. The clearance passes used to open the iron gates bore her personal Luna seal."

"That's a lie!" Mom screamed, thrashing against the iron cuffs holding her wrists. Her eyes were wide, fixed on me. "I didn't sign those passes, Sloane! I didn't open the gates! I would never betray this Alpha or this pack!"

"The seal does not lie." Vane growled.

My chest heaved. I looked past the circle of elders, past the guards, straight toward the raised dais at the front of the hall.

Raul sat on the high stone throne. His face was cold, his green eyes dark, dead and completely unreadable.

"Raul!" I cried out, stepping forward, though two guards instantly raised their pikes to block my path. "Tell them! Tell them it's a mistake. You know she didn't do this! My mother would never betray you!"

Raul's gaze cut to me. For a single second, his eyes lingered on my face and my trembling hands. But the mark he had left on my neck three months ago stayed quiet under his crushing, cold aura.

"The clearance bears Luna's mark," He said, his voice flat. "The pack law is absolute. Treason against the Blackridge is answered in blood."

My stomach dropped. "You bastard," I whispered, turning around to face everyone. "You all set her up!"

"Silence the half breed." Vane commanded. A guard shoved me backward by my shoulder. My weak knees gave out, and I hit the floor hard, the impact jarring through my spine. I pushed myself up onto my hands and knees, my breath coming in ragged, painful gasps, watching through a blur of fever tears as Vane stepped closer to my mother.

"The trail is concluded," I heard Raul say, his voice booming over the quiet crowd. "Anya is sentenced to death by the blade. Execution will take place on the dark moon. Three days from now."

"No! No!" I screamed, pushing myself off the floor, but a guard stepped in front of me, his hand pressing against my chest, pinning me in place.

Two guards yanked my mother around, forcing her toward the narrow dark stairs leading down to the dungeons. As they dragged her past where I stood, she turned her head toward me.

"I'm sorry." She weeped as the guards continued to drag her away.

"My judgment has been passed," Raul declared, causing everyone to turn to face him. "Dismiss."

"Of course, Alpha." Everyone bowed in unison, and slowly they all filed out.

I stayed on my knees, my eyes to the floor as I cried uncontrollably. I suddenly stopped when a heavy shadow fell over me.

"Get up."

I refused.

"I said get up-"

"I hate you," I spat out. Now looking up at him. "I hate you so much."

He said nothing and knelt down to my level, then used his index finger to lift my chin up but I dodged his touch. He frowned, then stood up right and left, leaving me all alone in the center of the Great Hall.