The Witch Who Refused To Burn

The night sky was filled with screams and cries for help, heart-wrenching sounds that would move even the cruellest of people except the ones causing it.

Helena hung limply in the hands of her captors, her head swaying as blood dripped down her swollen and bruised face.

Her feet dragged against the rough earth, pulling on grasses and scraping her delicate skin on rocks but the two men holding her were unbothered by her injuries.

She was in more pain than she had ever experienced but the anguished screams of her people numbed her of it as she silently wept for them.

The shackles that had been placed around her neck, wrists and ankles, dug painfully into her flesh, the sharp edges of it cutting her skin and creating large wounds.

Helena knew that if she managed to escape and live to see another day, she would leave with horrifying scars that she would have to carry for the rest of her life.

But she did not want to live because she deserved to die with her people in the land they had all called home. Even if she was the cause of their suffering, she felt a selfish need to be surrounded by them when she is executed by the man she had once loved.

The air was filled with a bloody smell that made her gag and try to expel it from her lungs.

"You should have known this would happen," growled Kayden, her mate's right-hand man, "but you were stupid enough to believe in a fairytale." He spat, cruelly and tugged the arm he was holding to aggravate her dislocated shoulder.

Helena remained silent, her broken jaw preventing her from saying anything and she cursed him in her heart.

She had nothing to say to him or anyone else that was associated with the devil that was her mate.

Helena sniffed lightly, her clogged nose making it difficult to breathe and felt her heartbeat pick up at the realisation of what they were about to do to her.

She shuddered in fear then stilled herself went she heard the two men chuckle softly.

The moon grew brighter in the sky, painting the carnage and destruction around her in a warm light.

Helena stared at the earth beneath her and began to say a simple prayer to the Moon Goddess.

It was an old prayer said many centuries ago by warriors who were about to be killed by their enemy, on the battlefield, and though she was no warrior, Helena could not think of a better occasion to use it.

Her Father had taught her the words during one of their history lessons and she had latched on to them for a reason unknown to her.

Now, she was glad that she did, as it brought her comfort and security in what was sure to be her last moments on earth.

Helena whimpered when she remembered her sweet and kind Father, whose head had been ripped off his body and discarded like it was nothing but trash. She remembered how he had assured her before the light was snuffed out from his eyes, that he loved her and did not blame her even as she was the cause of all of this.

Her Father had probably never imagined she would say the prayer in the situation it was meant to be said, as he had done everything to protect her and her Brother. But it was all for nothing, because he was dead and the legacy that he had fought to build, was destroyed because by the daughter he raised.

"Here we are," muttered Kayden and she pulled away from the comfort of her mind as they dropped her on the moist soil covered in blood.

"What took you so long?" Asked a familiar voice that belonged to the man Helena had given her everything to.

She used what little strength remained to lift her head and stare at her mate, and choked on a sob when she caught sight of him.

Her Brother's pendant, a simple metal one engraved with runes that signified him as the next in line for the Alpha position, hung limply in his hand, dripping with blood.

People said love was blind but it seemed to the purple-eyed woman that love also made her stupid.

"I love that," Rigel said in a low voice that was hoarse from screaming orders, a wicked smile on his lips. "That defeated yet stubborn look in your eyes," he continued as he teasingly swung her brother's pendant back and forth.

She glared at him fiercely, her fists clenching tightly but she knew she looked pathetic, his boisterous laughter confirming it.

"What was the Goddess thinking when she paired me with a weak, stupid little girl like you?" He stared down at Helena like he was waiting for a response and clicked his tongue when he did not get one.

Rigel looked away from her battered form and turned to stare at the long pole that his warriors were stacking firewood around, a vicious smile on his face.

"The only useful thing about you, is your..." He stepped to the side in time for a small boulder to go flying past him and into a tree, crushing it to the ground.

"...magic." he finished and turned to stare at Helena whose trembling hand was outstretched and glowing a light purple that slowly faded away.

Rigel smiled with a crazed glint in his eyes as she sagged tiredly, her breathing coming out in short pants.

He knew the extent of her powers better than anyone else and knew that she had drained herself while trying to stop him, so she needed time to replenish it.

"I'm going to let that slide because you're emotional and I'm about to set you on fire," he said with a small shrug and a kind smile that she saw through.

"Hurry it up, people!" He screamed at the working warriors, "your Luna is getting cold." He laughed at the end of his sentence and his men joined him.

Helena stared blankly at the large pole fixed into the ground and shuddered at the barbaric act they were about to commit.

She choked on a sob when she felt a stab of pain somewhere and tried to heal herself with the magic that caused this disaster. The magic that she had happily used to help Rigel conquer and destroy innocent packs, thinking it would make him love her and treat her like she was worth something to him.

Once upon a time, Helena had despised her magic and saw it as a curse. Being born as a werewolf who did not get a wolf form on her twelfth birthday, had made her an anomaly and her ability to do magic had made her even stranger, causing her to isolate herself from others.

Her family and pack had been supportive and kind, pushing when she pulled away from them and creating ways to ensure she could be involved in everything but it was never enough.

Her Father and Brother could turn into majestic beasts that ran as fast as the wind while she was stuck with a power she did not know how to use because no one else had it.

Meeting Rigel and having him accept her as his mate, despite her disability, had been the crowning achievement of her life and made her lose all forms of dignity and common sense.

Rigel had cheated on her many times and had refused to mark and mate with her months after their meeting. He had claimed he was not ready for such a commitment and Helena had accepted it, like a fool.

His neglect was what drove her to carelessly agree when he asked her to aid his cause with her magic, even as she saw the evil in what he wanted to do.

He wanted to create a new world order, Rigel had preached. A world where everyone was happy under his control and worshipped them like gods.

Helena had wanted to be useful so she had agreed. She had practised and honed the use of her curse until it became another limb, learning to love and embrace it the more she used it.

Things had been simple in the beginning. Rigel planned the attacks or 'peaceful takeovers' as he had called it, and Helena was only called upon when things got tough.

Her mate's pack was a new and weak one that lacked the military strength most of the packs they attacked had but with Helena's magic on their side, they became unstoppable.

The smell of gasoline reached her nose and her breathing picked up as she watched them pour it on the firewood, coating every surface with a diligence that made her sick.

She knew none of Rigel's people liked her and that they only tolerated her because he had use of her, but she had never imagined that they would be so eager to kill her.

"Nothing like a bonfire to celebrate my most important victory, eh?" Rigel said as he crouched down beside her head and stared at the tower of wood. "This 'relationship' or whatever the hell you choose to call it, wouldn't have worked out." He informed her with a small shake of his head. "It's better it ends this way rather than dragging it out and forcing us to spend years in a sad and loveless mateship."

Helena glared at him with hatred, cursing herself for being so foolish and gullible. How could she let herself be deceived by filth like him?

She wished she could make use of her mouth as she had so many things to say to him.

"I know you hate me, Helena. I would too if I was in your place but I don't care," he confessed with a small laugh. "I am powerful now. I control not one, not two but thirty-one different packs and it's all thanks to my brilliance. I'm on my way to gaining even more territory and the only thing that poses a threat to me, are those lovely powers of yours." He patted her head, gently and she flinched away from him, shuddering when a wave of pain washed over her.

Rigel rose from his crouch as three people approached them, two of them wrestling her to her feet while one stood by with sturdy ropes in his hand.

Helena felt paralyzed as they led her to the pole and made her climb the gasoline-soaked wood.

Her arms were tied behind her back, the shackles pulling uncomfortably as they tangled up with the rope and her body was bound to the stake which was the only thing keeping her upright.

The difference in height between her and the spectators did nothing to help her feel stronger and she began crying in earnest when more fuel was added to the pile.

"Believe me when I say, I did not want things to come to this. There are so many things we could have done with your magic but you've grown emotional and weak."

Helena watched through clouded vision as he collected a matchbox from Kayden and lit a match stick, the small flame dancing, menacingly.

"To put it simply, you've outlived your usefulness," he informed her while looking into her eyes and with a careless flick of his wrist, the small flame landed on the wood.

The fire raced towards the centre with a roar and Helena closed her eyes as the flames surrounded and consumed her, her dying screams, filling the night air.