~JADE~I don't even think I remember when the trial started. No. I shook my head mentally; this wasn’t a trial because there wasn’t even anything to try here. This was some twisted judgment-day shit going on. This ceased to be a trial from the moment my own mate didn’t even believe me or try to fight for me. After accepting Hunter’s rejection, I walked out of that tiny office space with my heart in the pit of my stomach. Was it naivety because he was the first man I ever loved and I didn’t see things I probably should’ve noticed? Looking back at everything that has happened throughout the two years of our relationship, I guess I was just too naive to see things for what they really were. Hunter was always territorial and possessive, and one time when I complained about it to my mother because he was being too restrictive, she told me that was normal for Alpha wolves and their mates. She said wolves were territorial, so it made sense. I used to get all happy when Hunter would beco

~JADE~ The whip whistled through the air as it came down on me, cutting through my skin effortlessly with a bitter sting that only became harsher with each lash. I had to stop counting somewhere along the way, unable to focus on anything else aside from the fire hot pain that seared through my body with every merciless stroke of the whip. My vision blurred with welled up tears; despite the tears raining down my cheeks, more waterworks welled up in my eyes, and it wouldn’t stop pouring. All my attempts to simply dissociate from this very moment seemed futile. All I could think of and feel was the pain on my back, my arm, and every part of my skin that the whip lashed onto. Despite my tears, the only satisfaction I didn’t give Hunter or the audience that gathered around was the sound of my cries. I bit back every moan, swallowing around every choked sound of anguish that threatened to spill out of me. My body flamed in agony, and each blow from the whip propelled my frame forward

~JADE~Levena whined softly as my thoughts reached her: ‘We don’t need them. We’ll be fine.’ My wolf grumbled, attempting to reassure me. ‘They’re casting us out, like we never mattered. They’re treating us like we were never a part of this pack, like we weren’t family. How can we be fine, Lev? I am pregnant; we’ll be alone in the woods with no one.’ I reminded her; perhaps she’s forgotten all about the pregnancy that I lied about. ‘We will find help; we will find a new pack; the goddess knows we are innocent, and she’ll never leave us stranded. She’ll send help.’ She replied with conviction, and I shook my head. The goddess watched me all these years while I suffered under my aunt’s brute force and did nothing. Shouldn't the goddess have predicted that I'd be discarded by my mate? Yet she still went ahead and made Hunter my mate. ‘I have no faith in the goddess Levana. I doubt if she even exists, because all she’s done is watch me suffer; she never came to my aid, and I don’t see

*4 MONTHS LATER*~HUNTER~“You cannot know better than your parents. Hunter, come back here right this instance!” My mother’s voice carried a resounding boom along the walls of my childhood home as I stormed down the stairs. “Hunter!” she yelled, “your father isn’t done talking to you. If you take another foot off those stairs.” The threat in her voice hung thick and unwavering, and I knew better than to test the theory of what would happen if I chose to ignore her. I turned on my heel, facing back the way I came, and Mom stood at the top of the staircase. I might be an Alpha, but my mom has always been scary, despite being an Omega. That woman will always give me a run for my money, and she can be pretty scary when she wants to be. “Go back to your father,” she muttered, hands on her hips.“Mom…” I began to say, but she waved her hand, cutting me off.“I have no interest in what you have to say, Hunter. You’ll climb back up these stairs and make your way to your father’s office li

~JADE~ I look around the large, empty meeting room as the supposedly pack Alpha and one of the men who found and brought me here whispered to each other. I can barely pick up what they’re saying, but I think I heard a few words that don’t sit well with me. Perhaps I heard them wrong.“What pack did you say you’re from, again?” The Alpha asks, and I immediately cast my gaze back to him.“Blackwood Pack,” I respond with haste.The Alpha shares a look with the second man; I don’t know if he is the beta or a guard. “That’s a long way from here.” The man mutters, to which the Alpha nods in agreement.“Yes, I know, but I promise I mean to trouble. I just want a place to stay until I deliver my baby, and I’ll be out of your air before you know it, please.” I begged, repeating what I said when the patrol guards found me outside their pack territory.I’ve been wandering the woods for the past seven months, running away from rogues and everything that tries to kill me, fighting when I can and