Chapter 2

Kael's POV

It was still night when the alarm bells rang.

The howls tore across the sky, raw and frantic. I thought it was nothing at first. Maybe just some tipsy wolf seeking a fight outside the tavern. It's almost an everyday routine. They're wild ones, these wolves. But then I saw the wild torches on the lower ridge and the guards running about like a herd of headless deer.

Something was not right.

I pushed through the crowd that was gathering near the center square. Women with children. Soldiers of every armory, patrolling the edges of the clearing with swords bared. I could sense the acrid scent of fear in the air.

And then my ears caught something. “Elira. Alpha Damon's niece. She's gone.” Those were the words of a sentry.

Gone?

“What are you saying she's gone?” I snarled, moving forward on him. “She's only a child. She'd never wander off on her own.”

The guard turned back to me, flashing something in his eyes that I couldn't quite identify. “That is what we are trying to find out.”

“Trying?” I arched an eyebrow. “You lost the Alpha's bloodline and you're trying?

They didn't answer. But the way they were glancing at me, all those side looks and clenched jaws, started to make me uncomfortable. It was like they were expecting something.

Then suddenly the crowd parted.

Damon emerged out of the shadows, two council warriors at his back, his cape thwapping against the gravel. His eyes locked on mine as if he'd been waiting for me.

I stood on my toes. “Damon—”

He raised a hand and the entire audience grew silent.

“Elira is missing,” he said, voice firm but tense. “Taken, perhaps. Stolen. Or killed.”

People began to mutter. Someone whispered something about rogues. Another about Wastes-dwelling old beasts. I remained silent. Not yet.

Damon walked ahead, slow and deliberate, until he was inches from me.

“And yet,” he said, voice low now, “you were the only one not in your quarters tonight, Kael.”

I blinked. “What?”

“You weren’t at your post,” he went on, louder now, turning so the crowd could hear. “You weren’t seen during the last patrol shift. And… I’ve been informed by the scouts that your scent was traced near the western border where the girl disappeared.”

I stared at him, stunned. “That's a lie. You know that's a lie.”

“Do I, now?” he countered.

The crowd exploded. Accusations rained down upon  him from every quarter.

“You were shouting with the Alpha earlier”

“He's always been odd”

“Maybe he finally cracked up”

“I knew there was somethingfishy about him from the beginning—”

“I didn't do it!” I cried, throat raw. “You'd think I'd kill a child? Damon, say something. You know I'd never—”

But he didn't.

He just stared at me like he didn’t recognize me anymore. That was when I realised what all these was about.

“You want someone to blame,” I said through clenched teeth. “And I’m convenient. The half-blood. The outsider.”

“You admitted it yourself,” he replied. “You said you'd do what you had to. Maybe this is what you meant.”

“I said that to you,” I spat. “You know I didn’t mean this.”

The Seven Rings stepped forward now, their long dark robes dragging across the ground. They hadn’t moved until now. And somehow, that made it worse.

The oldest one raised a staff, its base echoing as it struck the stone floor. “Kael Everdeen, you stand accused of breaking pack law. Of endangering a child of alpha blood. What say you?”

“I say this is bullshit,” I snapped. “I was set up.”

“Enough.”

It was Damon. His voice was quieter now, but no less sharp.

“The law's the law,” he grunted, setting his jaw. “And Kael's broken it one too many times.”

Before I had a chance to object, the guards moved in. Two of them yanked my arms behind my back, forcing me down onto my knees.

I didn't even realize that I felt the gravel on my skin. I was too engrossed in looking at Damon, trying to read his face for something. Anything. But there was nothing there.

One of the guards moved forward unexpectedly, whispering something into Damon's ear.

Damon's lips compressed. His mouth opened and closed infinitesimally. “Where?”

“The riverbed,” the guard answered, so low that only the front row would have heard him. “Her cloak was found there. Torn. Bloody. More than a child could survive.”

A murmur spread like wildfire through the crowd.

My breath was taken. I looked at Damon. His mouth was slightly opened, his eyes reddening as his fingers curled up into a fist.

“My brothers and sisters gathered here today. Today, we shall pass judgement on one of our own.” he said, voice raised high enough so that the whole pack could hear.

“A wolf who has broken ranks, questioned our laws and of course, endangered our traditions.”

He didn’t look at me, even once.

“A wolf,” he went on. “Who has turned his back on our code of blood and honor. Even our children are no longer safe from him.”

That last part hit me hard. I had nothing to do with this yet I'm the one being punished, being called names.

“May the moon have mercy on your soul, Kael Everdeen.”

“You’re making a mistake,” I whispered.

He drew closer, lips close to mine. “Perhaps,” he said. “But it's one I'll have to live with.”

Then he spun around to confront the guards. “Take him to the Wastes. Tonight.”

There was the after dead silent hush.

Everyone's eyes were wide. Some looked away. Some shook their head as if that's always where it had to end.

They carried me through the dark-shrouded village. I said nothing. Did not struggle. Of what good did it serve?

By the time that we had reached the outskirt ledge that faced out across the Wastes, it had started snowing.

The Isle of Wastes was a broken stretch of land across the ravine. The only thing there was ash, bone, twisted beasts and ancient predators that crawled the place.

And worst, magic that hadn’t breathed since the old world burned. Dark magic.

No one ever entered the Wastes and came back alive.

The man to my left spat on the ground. “You’re lucky that we don’t gut you right here.”

“Just do it already” I grumbled.

One of the guards turned to me, a sneer on his face. “You’re not allowed back into Blackridge, omen. Not even in death.”

My fists tightened so hard, I could feel them draw blood. “I wouldn't dream of it.”

Not a second later, I was falling down the cliff. They’d shoved me without hesitation, watching as I stumbled and fell through the snow-crusted edge of the woods.

I didn’t scream as I fell. I’d already done all my screaming long before tonight.

Let the monsters have me. At least they didn’t pretend to be family.