June 11 2026, 4:45pm
Her self-esteem did not return easily, and if she is being completely honest with herself, then she would admit that it did not even come back at all.
For the next couple of minutes— maybe seconds— she stood under the scorching sun, staring at the retreating frame of the man who had just embarrassed her until she didn’t have a shred of dignity left. But despite the burning rage in her chest, she couldn’t say a word or bring herself to move... not when she knew that this was her end.
Not when she knew that no matter what she did, or what they did, the outcome would be the same:
Her death.
Her eyes filled with tears at the thought, streaming down her face silently. She did not know how long she stood there, crying, hurting all over and wondering why the moon goddess had decided to turn her back on her like this, but next thing she knew, she was being dragged like cattle and being forced to move her stiff legs.
"Do you not know that the Alphas are waiting!" A sharp feminine voice hissed into her ear. "Why would you decide to keep everyone waiting at this crucial point in your miserable life?!"
The words the lady said were like sharp blades, twisting deep into her chest and puncturing whatever was left of her already tattered dignity. While she shoved Nyx’ara forward from her left, another girl— probably mute— shoved her from the right, leading her back into that room she had barely escaped from. That room which filled her blood with terror.
The throne room fell eerily silent as she was roughly pushed through the crowd and shoved to the floor in front of the Alpha kings. But this time, there was something different.
There was a girl— dark-skinned, perfect in every way and beautiful. Extremely beautiful— seated with the kings, straddling the lap of one of them with long blonde hair and sky blue eyes.
The force of the push made Nyx’ara’s bones protest but she did not cry out or flinch. Not when the hundreds of people gathered around watched and judged.
Just like they had judged her three years ago.
"You may lift your head," A deep voice suddenly said to her, jolting her out of her thoughts, and when her eyes lifted in the direction of the sound, her breath hitched in her chest.
It was the one she recognized as the eldest king, and she knew this because of his hair... his sharp blue eyes and the staff he held by his side like a support system.
Draven.
He drawled; "You may speak."
But she refused to say a word, not when she knew that her stutter would embarrass her and that there was nothing left to say to vindicate herself.
I mean, does she tell them she didn’t kill their sister and risk putting Berlin in danger?
Does she plead? Beg that she was wrong even though she had no excuse to justify why she had pushed the innocent girl?
A gloved hand gripped her chin, forcing her gaze upward until she was met with the same set of golden eyes that had stolen her breath only moments ago— and the one who had touched her breasts.
The eyes were cold.
Merciless.
"You don’t look remorseful," he murmured but she could only smile.
She didn’t smile because she found anything amusing but because she had learned long ago that monsters hated being laughed at.
Against her wish, broken words slipped out of her mouth. They scraped painfully through her sore vocal cords, burning all the way to the tip of her tongue as she seethed; "I have a-already w-wasted three years of m-my life s-suffering for a-a crime I didn’t commit." She said,
The eldest king’s jaw tightened.
His brothers shifted uncomfortably behind him, each radiating enough Alpha dominance to suffocate the room.
"You expect us to believe you’re innocent?" One of the four asked. She paid no attention to him but to the black raven perched on his shoulder.
She shrugged. "No."
Her voice was quiet. Lifeless. Truth be told, it felt as though she had lost all the good fight in her and now, she simply wanted to die.
"I e-expect the t-truth to outlive your h-hatred. I e-expect you to k-kill me knowing f-fully well t-that you never got your r-revenge."
For the first time since she walked into this room, uncertainty flickered across their faces.
It disappeared almost instantly.
"The sentence stands," the eldest declared, shocking her.
She frowned. "Y-you have already p-pronounced my sentence?" She asked, but no one responded.
And then the bombshell dropped. "You will bear our heirs."
"You will be burdened with the task of bearing children belonging to the same bloodline of the girl you killed... and that is all you will ever be. The living womb of our children... not their mother."
For a moment, she could swear that she didn’t hear him correctly. That she had probably gone mad, so mad that she had begun to hallucinate. His words made the room erupt in murmurs; But amidst it all, her heartbeat stumbled.
My heart didn’t fail her because she feared them— she does, but that’s not the point here. It failed her because she immediately understood that death, to them, would have been mercy.
This...
This was revenge.
Before the courtroom cleared out, one of the younger kings, the one with the raven (Keiran), descended the dais until only a breath separated him from her, and with him being so close to her, her body thrummed violently. Sparks flew in places they should never fly and her wolf, barely there, reacted so strongly that she could swear that she had gone mad.
He tilted her face toward the moonlight spilling through the stained-glass windows and murmured under his breath; "I should hate you."
His voice was dangerously soft. It sent chills down her spine but she did not respond.
"So why," he continued softly, his thumb brushing the purple bruise beneath her jaw, "...why does every instinct in me tell me to protect you?"
Something about those words made her heart convulse. Their eyes locked for one impossible heartbeat, but before she could make sense of what that meant, he let her go and walked out of the room without sparing another glance at her.
Next was Mister Golden Eyes, Rhys, the one whom she was sure hated her the most. He walked with the precision of a predator stalking its prey but stopped when he was a few yards away from her.
Her body trembled when he let his eyes rake over her body so slowly, she feared he could see into her soul. And then he drawled;
"I will not protect you..."
She was never expecting him to...
"I will kill you, and I will make sure you suffer a fate ten times worse than what you made my sister go through, whether you’re my mate or not."
Mate?
What the hell does he mean by the word ’mate’?
She stared up at him like a lamb wishing for its death, but before she could muster enough courage to ask him why he thought they were mates, he walked away.
Then the next followed afterwards without sparing her a glance. Draven.
And then the last... the one with a woman. Azriel.
He simply stared at her and smiled, but something about that eerie smile sent chills down her spine. His eyes bored into her skin for a moment too long before the silence was finally broken when he said;
"I look forward to meeting you... later."
That should sound polite right? RIGHT?!
It didn’t. Instead, it sounded like a threat wrapped in velvet.
Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the pure disgust soaked in contempt in his eyes and then she lowered her head just as he walked past her.
She dared not look back.
Not at him and definitely not at the girl hanging on his arm like an accessory.