001

Scarlett's POV:

I was seventeen years old, kneeling on the frozen stone floor of the Silvermoon Pack's great hall, my hands bound behind my back with silver chains that burned against my skin. The chains were meant for criminals, for traitors, and every small movement sent a fresh wave of agony through my body. But the physical pain was nothing compared to the weight of the eyes staring at me from every direction. The entire pack had gathered to witness my fall, and they filled the massive hall like vultures waiting for a corpse to stop breathing.

"Scarlett Hayes."

Alpha Magnus's voice boomed across the hall, and I flinched. He was a massive man with graying hair and cold eyes, and he stood on the raised platform at the front of the hall like a king passing judgment on a peasant. My father stood beside him, his face carefully blank, and my heart shattered all over again because I still could not believe he had done this to me.

"Look at me when I speak to you," Alpha Magnus commanded.

I lifted my head slowly, my neck aching from the effort, and met his gaze. I would not cry. I refused to cry.

"You have been accused of treason against your Alpha and your pack," he continued, his voice dripping with disgust. "Evidence has been found in your chambers. Letters detailing plans to overthrow me. Plans to assassinate my son."

"I didn't write those letters," I said, my voice cracking despite my best efforts. "I would never betray my pack. I would never—"

"Silence!" Alpha Magnus roared, and the sound echoed off the stone walls. "The evidence is undeniable. Your own father brought it to my attention."

I turned my head to look at my father, the man who had raised me, protected me, loved me. His face was still blank, but I saw something flicker in his eyes. Guilt? Shame? I could not tell, and that uncertainty cut deeper than any knife.

"Daddy?" I whispered, hating how small and broken I sounded. "Tell them the truth. Please. Tell them I didn't do this."

He did not look at me. He stared straight ahead, his jaw tight, his hands clasped behind his back. The silence stretched between us, heavy and suffocating, and I felt something inside me crack.

"Your father has already given his testimony," Alpha Magnus said, a cruel smile twisting his lips. "He confirmed that you have been acting strangely for months. That you have been meeting with rogues in secret. That you have been plotting against this pack."

"That's a lie!" I screamed, the words tearing from my throat. "He's lying! I would never—"

A guard struck me across the face with the back of his hand, and my head snapped to the side, the taste of blood filling my mouth. The crowd murmured, some in approval, some in shock, but no one spoke up for me. No one defended me.

"Damon," Alpha Magnus called, and my heart stopped.

No. Not him. Please, not him.

Damon, the Alpha's son, stepped forward from the shadows. He was tall and handsome, with sandy blond hair and warm brown eyes that I had once believed were full of love. He was my fated mate. The Moon Goddess had chosen him for me, and I had believed with all my heart that we were destined for a beautiful life together.

Now, those warm brown eyes were as cold as winter.

"Scarlett Hayes," Damon said, his voice flat and emotionless. "You have been found guilty of treason against the Silvermoon Pack and against your Alpha."

"Damon," I breathed, tears finally spilling down my cheeks. "You know me. You know I would never hurt you. Please, you have to believe me."

"I know you," he said slowly, "and I know the darkness that lives inside you."

"What? No, that's not true. I love you. I have always loved you."

He flinched at my words, and for a moment, I saw a flash of something in his eyes. Pain? Doubt? But it was gone as quickly as it appeared, replaced by cold resolve.

"The Moon Goddess made a mistake," he said, and each word was like a knife in my chest. "She bound me to a traitor, but I have the power to correct that mistake."

"No," I whispered, shaking my head frantically. "No, please, Damon. Don't do this. Please."

"I, Damon Blackwell, son of Alpha Magnus Blackwell, do hereby reject you, Scarlett Hayes, as my fated mate."

The words hit me like a physical blow, and I doubled over, a scream ripping from my throat. The bond between us, the golden thread that had connected my soul to his, snapped with a force that made the world go white. I felt it break, felt it tear, felt it die, and the pain was unlike anything I had ever experienced. It was worse than the silver chains. Worse than the guard's blow. Worse than my father's betrayal.

It was the death of my last piece of hope.

"Please," I begged, crawling toward him on my knees because I could not stand. "Please don't do this. I love you. I would never betray you. Please believe me."

Damon looked down at me with something that might have been pity, but it was buried so deep beneath the cold mask that I could not be sure.

"You are nothing to me now," he said. "You are nothing to this pack. You are nothing."

"Please," I sobbed, reaching for him with my bound hands. "Damon, please."

He turned away and the guards grabbed my arms and dragged me toward the doors. I fought them with every ounce of strength I had left. I kicked and screamed and clawed, but it was no use. They were too strong, and I was too broken.

"Daddy!" I screamed, twisting in their grip to look back at my father. "How could you do this to me? I'm your daughter! How could you?"

He finally looked at me, and I saw the truth in his eyes. He was not sorry. He was relieved. He had sacrificed me to save himself, and he did not regret it.

"I have no daughter," he said, his voice carrying across the silent hall.

Those four words shattered the last piece of my heart.

The guards threw me out of the hall and into the cold night, and I landed hard on the frozen ground, the impact knocking the breath from my lungs. The doors slammed shut behind me, and I lay there in the snow, bleeding and broken and alone, the echoes of my screams still ringing in my ears.

I was seventeen years old, and I had lost everything. My pack, my family, and my mate all in one night.

I lay there for what felt like hours, the cold seeping into my bones, my tears freezing on my cheeks. I wanted to die. I wanted the earth to open up and swallow me whole. I wanted the pain to stop, but it did not stop.

And as I lay there in the snow, something inside me began to change. The grief hardened into anger. The betrayal forged into steel. The love I had felt for my father and for Damon twisted into something dark and cold and dangerous.

I would survive this. I would survive, and I would make them pay. Every single one of them.