CHAPTER 1

Veldana POV

"He is guilty! The law cannot be compromised! My Husband is dead and you stand there doing nothing." You could see the pain in her eyes as she spoke in an estranged voice, her voice breaking slightly as she begged for justice. 

The voice of a grieving woman always pierced the heart too easily—this was no different scenario. I shut my eyes and hoped the cup would pass by me. I didn't want to be in that room at that time.

"Woman! Hold your tongue! We only know that the vehicle was from the Alpha's manor, we cannot say categorically who was driving." Dean wasted no time to clamp on her. Not every elder was swayed by tears and drama and Elder Dean was always the black and white hammer of justice in ‘Cold colony Pack’.

"Alpha," he bowed to the man that sat quietly watching the display—Dean awaited his judgment and verdict on the matter.

"There was an eye witness." The Alpha's words were cold, a well practiced script. My heart dropped to my stomach. 

"Veldana saw the person," his eyes didn’t meet mine. The room fell silent—the fate of everyone hung on my shoulder yet I remained rooted in my spot.

“Veldana, name the wolf you saw behind the wheel.” I was the prey.

Elder Dean’s voice cut through the silence, my chest tightened and I felt the eyes of the entire council on me. For a second I couldn't breathe, I wanted the goddess to open up the ground and swallow me whole instead.

But she wouldn't...

They said judgment day was for the Lord or the goddess or whichever deity ruled but the lump in my throat told me it was mine.

 The chamber smelled of anxiety and sweat, I was the hammer of justice.

"It was an accident, he had no intention to do it." My voice was barely above a whisper. I hoped that my explanation would lighten the tension, lift the punishment, appease or comfort the broken woman but none of that happened.

"Manslaughter or murder I don't care. My husband, the Beta, is dead." The wife of the deceased was no longer looking pitiful, her eyes burned with rage knowing the perpetrator was known.

Alpha Cephalon Duskbane, my father sat above, his shoulders broad, his expression carved from stone, and behind him sat Elira, my stepmother, her lips pressed into a smile that warned me what would happen if I defied her.

My knees trembled, the back of my shirt soaked in cold sweat. I turned my head slightly, catching steel grey eyes. He was still my mate, still the man who had held my hand under the stars and told me we could survive anything, still the wolf whose bond tied to mine no matter how far apart we stood in pack ranking. He waited, his shoulders squared, as if daring me to stand beside him.

I remembered the night too clearly.

It was Aric. My brother, no, my father's son, my half-brother, the heir my father adored. He had been the one driving instead. 

Goosebumps spread across my skin like a film as I recalled the night.

Elder Dean asked again. “Veldana, daughter of Alpha Cephalon, you are sworn to the Moon’s truth. Tell this council who killed Beta Ronan.”

Aric had grabbed me by the arms, his words slurred but sharp. “Say nothing, please. If you open your mouth, I’ll make sure you regret it.” Then he fled the scene, leaving Ronan’s blood stained on the vehicle.

Minutes later, Maurice had run onto the road, confusion written all over his face, but it didn't take long for people to gather, the Alpha had arrived too and the lie started spinning. 

I had tried to beg my father to reason with him that Maurice was innocent, but he hadn’t listened—he felt I was trying to cover up for my mate. I couldn't tell him the real culprit when he inquired about it from me. He dragged me into his study, his hand crushing my arm. “You must say what you saw Veldana.”

I’d fought back tears, shaking my head, whispering that Maurice was innocent, that he didn’t deserve it but Elira was a snake, before my father took me away, she had taken me on a walk to the west wing. 

With practiced moves and her hand clutching a silver blade. She pressed it against my mother’s throat as she lay helpless in her sickbed, her body weak and unmoving after years of illness.

“One wrong word,” Elira had said calmly, her smile plastic “and she won’t live until dawn.”

I couldn’t fight them—Elira and her son. My mother’s life hung on my silence. My half-brother’s future, no, the future of the pack depended on my lie. That was what they had told me.

So when the elder pressed me again, I forced the words out, my voice shaking, my heart tearing in two. “It was him." I didn't look at anyone, my head low, father had said to say what I saw.

"A name," Dean wasn't a very patient person. I could feel the stares of the chamber pierce through me.

I looked at where Aric stood by my father, something inside me snapped, either way was betrayal, to my mate or my mother.

"Maurice Veyr. He was the one behind the wheel.” The words rolled out of my tongue and Dana, my wolf howled within me in agony. 

The chamber broke into whispers. Gasps echoed around me. The guards moved, tightening the chains around Maurice, they dragged him forward.

He didn’t resist, didn’t plead. He turned his head toward me, his gaze cutting me open. There was no love there anymore. No bond. Only betrayal and rage. I had destroyed him.

“Maurice Veyr,” Dean's voice was devoid of emotions, “you are sentenced to three years in the dungeons for Manslaughter.”

The gavel struck. The judgment was sealed. Cases as sensitive with trustworthy witnesses didn’t require trial.

I staggered back as if the sound had struck me, my nails digging into my palms until blood welled beneath them. The silver chains clattered as Maurice was led away. I wanted to run to him, to scream the truth, to throw myself in front of the council, but I saw my father’s eyes watching me from above, cold and unyielding.

When Maurice was dragged past me, I felt like a bucket of cold water was poured on me, he looked straight into my face—steel grey eyes judging me. His lips parted slightly, and I knew what he wanted to say, but he didn’t give me the words. His silence was worse. It was a rejection I could feel in my bones.

The doors slammed shut behind him. He was gone.

Aric brushed past me in the corridor outside, his voice low, his smirk hidden from the others. “You did well, sister. You saved us all. Remember who your family is.”

All I ever did all my life was be the lamb, within me, something kicked and instinctively my hands protectively covered my belly—I had also betrayed my child.