MAYARI

THE EXECUTION THAT FAILS

This exactly is the rule of the pack, exactly how perceived defiance ended... with face pressed down into dirt, hands bound and shackled by men who needed to make rules to make themselves feel powerful.

"Now be careful there, shall we?" I say hoarsely. "If you tie the noose any tighter, I might actually die."

I am laughing, but no one is laughing back or even laughing with me. They haul me to my feet with such urgency that said "the faster they get this over with, the better it would be for everyone".

They proceed to drag me through the trees like a plague they could not bear to touch. When we finally come to a stop at the clearing just at the edge of the forest, torchlight flared and I see them in the distance.

The Moon council, looking exactly like the stories had described. The same seven figures, the same silvery black robes, the same air of entitlement and superiority, the same elder with ice in his eyes stood at the center. He looks at me like he had finally won a game I had no idea we were playing.

I catch a glimpse of the relief that flashes across his face even before his face returns to that same stoic expression that gave very little away. It takes everything in me not to snarl and spit at him in disgust.

"She resisted when we tried to bring her with us", of the hunters is saying, as if this is some kind of friendly visit that I had refused to oblige.

"Of course, she would," the elder replied calmly, all his attention on me now "She always does."

"Get down on your knees child," the elder orders, turning to face me even as the other men are already forcing me to kneel in the snow.

Wetness seeps into my clothes in the places where my knees connected with the snow. My blood still dripping steadily from my ankle, sizzling faintly where it hits the snow. The moon hangs above us, full and bright, a present witness to the event of the night.

The elder takes a step forward in my direction.

"Mayari Moonsbane." The sound of my name on his lips causes the hair on my hands to stand.

“You stand before the council today, accused of the murder of the heir of the Valkyria pack."

I lift my head slowly, the chains around my hands and feet rattling violently from the intensity of the rage that is currently coursing through my body.

"I killed no one and you know it," I spit. "But then again, my words mean nothing to you, do they?"

There is a ripple of murmurs from the surrounding wolves. I can feel the surge of fear, excitement and hunger and it makes my stomach churn with the need to hurl the last poor meal I had.

"Do not lie to me child. The marks found on the body were exactly like yours," another council member is speaking now. "Partial claws, an incomplete shift, all indications point to you and you still deny it?"

"Now, isn't that quite funny," I reply looking around me with a calm that belied the storm that raged deep within me. "Because while your sole heir lay at death's door, I was three valleys away bleeding out from being caught in a silver trap.” I look down pointedly at my ankle that is still bleeding very profusely.

Silence follows as all eyes instantly go to my ankles as well. The elder, the one with ice in his eyes, only smiled.

"Lies told conveniently do not become truth just because you speak them out loud and with such conviction."

Oh, there it is. I cast a quick glance around the clearing… looking at the wolves who will not meet my eyes not from compassion that they felt at the injustice I am about to suffer, but from fear of the curse I am made out to be.

"You only need someone who would take the fall for you. Someone, anyone really that you can blame," I said softly, already resigning to my fate. "And what better scapegoat, than the one cursed by the moon herself." A bitter and hysterical laugh escapes my lips at that moment.

The elder makes no move to deny my reasoning.

"A lone wolf brings nothing but a destabilization to the order carefully crafted by pack laws," he replies, the conviction in his voice impossible to deny.

"Moreso, a female wolf who refuses to submit to the hierarchy would only further destabilise that order.”

He casts a quick glance at me before looking away just as quickly.

"You are a lone female wolf, you exist out of control."

What he truly means by his words is that I exist outside what the council could own.

I feel his words burn in me hotter than the silver that bound my wrists.

"I see it now. You're a coward. You're afraid," I'm laughing again, the sound of it totally berserk even in my own ears. "You do not fear what I have done, you fear what I would not let you do."

After hearing my words, his smile slowly vanishes, until all that is left is a murderous look in his eyes.

"Bind her fully," he orders, all but snarling at me.

They drag me by my feet to the execution circle. I am forced to my knees, the runes beneath them flaring to life as though welcoming me.

The air around me grows frigid, the weight of it like a log placed across my chest, preventing me from breathing properly. The moon above us glints like a sword freshly sharpened, slicing through the clouds in bright silver strokes.

My execution is not a quick procedure…just get it over with. No, it is meant to serve as a warning, a deterrent to anyone who may choose to defy the power of the Council.

Just as the elder raises his silver blade, the Moon pulsates with a restless tension.