Chapter 1 Accused

• Kira’s POV
• “Happy birthday, my dear Kira,” my mother's cheerful voice pierced through my sleep, jolting me awake. Blinking my eyes open, I found her seated beside me on the bed, her warm smile lighting up her face. Her sea-blue eyes—the same ones I inherited—sparkled with excitement.
• “Happy fourteenth birthday, my darling,” she said, her smile widening. I returned her smile as I sat up in bed, rubbing my face.
• “Good morning, Mother,” I greeted, my voice groggy from sleep.
• “Good morning, my darling. Are you excited to get your wolf?” she asked. Her question made my stomach tighten with nervousness, something she noticed immediately.
• “You don't have to be scared,” she reassured me gently. “If your wolf doesn't come today, you'll still have another chance on your eighteenth birthday, when you might also find your mate.” Her comforting words eased my nerves, and I nodded.
• “Now, dress up and come downstairs. Your father and I will be waiting for you.”
• “Alright, Mother,” I said, nodding as she kissed my cheeks before leaving my room.
• Once she was gone, I stood in front of the mirror, smiling at my reflection. Today was my fourteenth birthday. If I were lucky, I’d finally meet my wolf. I was both excited and anxious. The fourteenth birthday is one of the most important milestones in the werewolf clan. It’s the day we shift for the first time, meet our wolf, and begin communicating with them. I had been dreaming about this moment for weeks and couldn’t wait to experience it.
• Taking a deep breath, I stepped away from the mirror and bathed. Afterwards, I slipped into the new dress my mother had bought for me.
• As I dressed, a strange unease settled over me. It was as if the air carried a warning, but I shook it off, telling myself it was just nerves about meeting my wolf.
• After styling my hair into a neat bun, I headed downstairs.
• I found my parents seated at the table in the dining room, waiting for me. They both smiled as I entered.
• “Happy birthday, Kira!” they chorused in unison.
• “Thank you, Mom and Dad,” I said, leaning down to kiss my father’s cheek and then my mother’s.
• “Are you excited?” my mother asked, her tone warm. I nodded with a shy smile.
• I was about to sit when suddenly the door burst open. Four warriors from the pack house stormed in, their sudden presence freezing us all in place. Confused, I furrowed my brow, but before I could ask what was going on, two of the warriors seized my father while the other two grabbed my mother.
• My father growled fiercely, his eyes flashing dangerously as he came close to shifting into his wolf. “What is the meaning of this? Are you insane?” he roared, his voice shaking with barely contained anger.
• Simeon, the head of the pack warriors, stepped forward. “Beta Morris, Alpha Phillip demands your presence.”
• My confusion deepened. Something didn’t feel right.
• “I demand to know what this is about!” my father roared, his voice carrying the authority of a Beta despite the chains around his wrists.
• My mother, who seemed confused and worried, spoke. “What is going on? Why are you grabbing us like criminals?” she asked, but the warriors didn’t respond. Instead, they began to drag my parents along with them.
• Something was very wrong, and the uneasy feeling in my gut only grew stronger.
• I followed the warriors out as they dragged my parents away. Luckily, the pack house wasn’t far from our home; it was just a few blocks away. Worried, I walked behind my parents as they were being dragged. I noticed the confused looks of the pack members we passed by on the way. Like me, they seemed confused, seeing their Beta and his mate treated like criminals.
• Suddenly, the pack bell rang, and my breath hitched. Whenever the bell rings, it signals an emergency, requiring all pack members to gather in the hall immediately.
• With a racing heart, I met eyes with my mother, and she stared at me with panic in her eyes. Just like me, she felt something was wrong.
• “Kira, run,” she whispered urgently. “Something isn’t right.”
• My heart raced. Run? From what? I couldn’t leave them. Not now. Not ever.
• I shook my head in refusal. “I’m not leaving you,” I said, my voice trembling with fear.
• As we neared the pack house, the air felt heavier, suffocating. My legs trembled, and a voice in my head screamed at me to run, but I couldn’t leave my parents.
• By the time we reached the pack hall, the atmosphere was suffocating. The moment we entered, everything seemed to slow down. The room was packed with wolves, their faces etched with fear and grief. Whispers and muffled cries filled the room, but my attention was immediately drawn to the center of the room.
• There, on a stretcher, lay Luna Vivienne. Her body was still, unnaturally pale, her round belly heavy with the child she had been carrying. Blood stained the soft fabric of her dress. My chest tightened as I took in the horrific sight, my breath hitching painfully. She wasn’t just the Luna—she was family to all of us, a kind, loving woman who made everyone feel seen and cared for.
• Standing beside her was Alpha Phillip, our Alpha. His face was carved from stone, his jaw tight, and his eyes blazing with barely contained anger. I’d never seen him like this.
• My parents were shoved forward, and I followed. The crowd parted as the warriors dragged my father and mother toward the front of the hall. I followed a few steps behind, my feet moving on instinct, my mind struggling to piece everything together.
• Then I saw them.
• Two men knelt on the ground, their wrists bound in heavy iron chains. Their faces were bloodied, their clothes torn. Bruises and cuts on their skin.
• “What’s happening?” I whispered, my voice trembling.
• “Kira, don’t look,” my mother said quickly, her voice strained, but I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t tear my eyes away.
• Alpha Phillip raised a hand, and the murmurs in the hall fell silent.
• The room remained silent, every breath held as Alpha Phillip stepped forward. His eyes burned with anger and pain as he surveyed his pack.
• Alpha Phillip’s loud, commanding voice echoed through the hall. “Last night, my Luna and I were taking a stroll near the pack's border when an arrow came out of nowhere and struck her,” he announced, and cries filled the hall once more. But he held up his hand, silencing them.
• “The warriors pursued the attacker while I rushed my Luna back here for treatment, but… she didn’t make it. The arrow was poisoned."
• Some wolves clutched each other, tears streaming down their faces, while others stood frozen, their eyes wide with disbelief.
• Alpha Phillip drew a shaky breath, his chest rising and falling as he fought to maintain his composure. I could see the raw pain etched on his face, but he refused to let it consume him. An Alpha does not show vulnerability, even in the face of unimaginable loss.
• “The guards captured these men,” Alpha Phillip continued, pointing to the two chained figures kneeling on the floor. “After threatening them with death, they revealed the truth. They told us…” His voice trailed off, a dangerous pause hanging in the air as his furious gaze landed on my father.
• “They confessed that my Beta orchestrated the plan. He hired these assassins to kill me and my Luna. Beta Morris and his mate are traitors, spies for our rival pack!”
• Gasps rippled through the crowd, followed by whispers of disbelief and shock. My heart clenched, my mind racing to process his words. My parents, traitors? It couldn’t be true.
• “No!” My father’s voice thundered through the hall, cutting through the noise. His wolf growl was barely restrained as he fought against the warriors holding him. “This is a lie! I have been loyal to you, Alpha Phillip, from the day I took my first breath. I would never harm you or the Luna !”
• My mother stepped forward, her blue eyes blazing with anger and desperation. “Alpha, we’ve served you faithfully for years! Whatever those men have told you is false. We would never betray you or this pack.”
• Alpha Phillip’s expression darkened, his jaw tightening. “Loyalty? Is that what you call it, Beta Morris? Then how do you explain this?”
• With a sharp nod, one of the warriors stepped forward, holding a bloodstained scroll. The warrior handed it to Alpha Phillip, who unfurled it for the entire pack to see.
• “This,” Alpha Phillip began, his voice laced with anger, “is a contract between my Beta and the assassin. It clearly states the terms of payment for the death of my Luna and me. Signed and sealed by Morris Grayson.”
• The crowd erupted into cries of shock and anger. My father’s face twisted with disbelief.
• “That’s not mine!” he roared, his voice hoarse with anger. “You know me, Phillip! You know my handwriting—compare it! This is a setup!”
• Alpha Phillip raised a hand to silence the crowd once more. His eyes were sharp and furious as he stared at my father. “Do you think I haven’t already done that, Morris? The handwriting matches. The seal is yours. And we found this…”
• He motioned to another warrior, who stepped forward with a diamond pendant. Its hilt was engraved with intricate designs I recognized all too well. It was my mother’s, a family heirloom passed down through generations.
• “This pendant,” Alpha Phillip continued, “was found in the assassin’s possession. They claimed it was an advance payment from you.”
• My mother’s face paled as her hands trembled. “That necklace… it was stolen weeks ago! We reported it to the pack warriors. You must remember!”
• Alpha Phillip’s expression softened briefly, but his demeanor quickly hardened again. “Convenient excuse,” he spat. “You’ll say anything to save yourselves now.”
• Tears pricked my eyes as I stepped forward. My voice shook, but I forced it steady. “Alpha Phillip, please. My parents wouldn’t do this. They love this pack. They love you and Luna Vivienne. Please believe them.”
• His gaze softened slightly as he looked at me, but his grief and anger quickly overshadowed it. “Kira,” he said softly, “I understand this is difficult for you. But the evidence is undeniable. Your parents betrayed us.”
• “No, they didn’t!” I shouted, my desperation bubbling over. “Someone’s framing them! You have to see that!”
• “Enough!” Alpha Phillip’s voice cracked like a whip, silencing the room again. “I have given my judgment. Beta Morris and his mate will pay for their treason with their lives.”
• The warriors began dragging my parents toward the center of the hall, where the executioner waited, axe gleaming in his hands.
• “No!” I screamed, rushing forward, but a guard stepped in front of me, blocking my path. “Please, don’t do this! They’re innocent!” I cried out.
• My father’s voice boomed over the commotion. “Kira, listen to me!” His eyes locked on mine, filled with love and desperation. “No matter what happens, remember who you are. You’re strong. You’re brave. And you’ll find the truth and prove us innocent.”
• My mother’s tear-streaked face turned to me as well. “We love you, Kira. Never forget that.”
• “Execute them. Their heads will be buried along with my Luna,” Alpha Phillip ordered, his voice cold and commanding.
• My father growled. “We deserve a trial! This is unjust!” he yelled, but his words fell on deaf ears.
• The warriors continued dragging my parents toward the executioner’s block. My legs felt like they were glued to the ground, my voice caught in my throat as I watched the people I loved most in the world being led to their deaths.
• This couldn’t be happening. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.
• My mother’s desperate shout broke through the chaos, sharp and filled with anguish. “Kira! Don’t look! Turn away, my love!”
• Her voice cracked, but it wasn’t enough to break my paralysis. My feet were frozen, and my breath was shallow as if my lungs were being squeezed. Tears streamed down my face as I darted my gaze around, looking for some way to stop this—some way to wake up from this nightmare.
• The crowd seemed blurred, their faces blending into a sea of grief and rage. But then my eyes locked onto them—the triplets. Alpha Phillip’s sons.
• They stood on the opposite side of the room, their faces pale and their red-rimmed eyes swimming with unshed tears. They were mourning their mother, their gazes dark and heavy with grief. But when their eyes met mine, something shifted.
• Instantly, their sorrow turned into something scary, something colder. Anger. Hatred. And a promise I could feel in the marrow of my bones.
• The unspoken words in their piercing gazes were loud and clear: You will pay for this.
• I wanted to scream, to tell them this wasn’t true, that my parents weren’t guilty, but no sound escaped my lips.
• A heavy thud brought me back to the painful reality, and I turned my gaze just in time to see my father being forced to his knees. His head was placed on the block, and the executioner raised his axe high into the air.
• “No!” I screamed, my voice breaking, but the sound was swallowed by the sobs and gasps of the crowd.
• My mother’s voice rang out again, desperate and pleading. “Kira, look away! Don’t watch!”
• I tried to obey—I really did. I wrenched my head to the side, but something made me pause. My gaze was drawn back to the triplets. They hadn’t moved, their eyes boring into me with an intensity that made my stomach churn.
• And then it happened.
• With a sickening sound, the axe came down. My father’s head rolled to the ground, and the crowd gasped.
• “No!” I choked out, my knees buckling beneath me. My vision swam as the executioner turned to my mother.
• She didn’t resist. She stood tall and proud, her chin high despite the tears streaming down her face. As they forced her to kneel, she turned her head to find me one last time.
• “I love you, Kira,” she mouthed.
• The axe was raised again.
• This time, I squeezed my eyes shut, unable to watch. But the sound of the axe cutting through flesh was unmistakable, and it would haunt me forever.
• I felt the world spin, my legs giving out beneath me as darkness rushed in.
• The last thing I saw before I lost consciousness was the triplets, their eyes still locked on me. The hate in their gaze was seared into my soul, promising that this was only the beginning of my nightmare.