"The Vaelens are hereby sentenced to death by the gallows for treachery." I watched from a corner as they dragged my mum and dad, hands bound with chains, to the front of the field, but there was no sign of remorse in their eyes. "Any last words?" One of the voices rang out, and I fidgeted as his eyes glued onto me once for longer than usual. "If we had the opportunity, we would do it again. The King is making a mistake by going against other packs unnecessarily." My mum ye,lled and I could feel a lump in my throat as I heard the words protrude out of her mouth. If only they could be so humble as to beg for their life, I might have been able to get on Talon's good side so he could talk to his father. But there was no remorse. It made me wonder if, for some reason, maybe they were right, but now wasn't the time to make assumptions. "Very well then. Proceed!" The gamma order, and they dragged them up to the podium while his eyes settled on me. I saw him whisper into the ears of another warrior with his eyes still fixated on me where I stood in front of the crowd, tears slipping out of my eyes. "Come with me." I felt a cold tap on my shoulder, and I jerked, swiveling to see the same guard that the gamma had whispered something into his ears. "Why?" That was the only words that could come out of my mouth as he began binding my hands with chains and dragged me towards my family. "No! No, I did nothing. My family is already paying for their sins, why do I have to be punished as well?" I screamed, trying to wiggle out of the chains, but the more I tried, the more it dug into my skin making the surface red with blotches. "The Vaelens are traitors, and you are one of them. You should be sentenced." He whispered into my ear, and I kept struggling harder in the chains. "No! No, you can't do this." I yelled, but it was quite visible that I was overpowered and had absolutely no say. "Talon. Talon, please!" I yelled to the Alpha, who was also my mate, but his face remained stoic and cold, clearly letting me know that he had no choice in the matter. I kept struggling, thrashing out, and throwing a tantrum as I wiggled against the chains till I was able to slip away and run in the direction of Talon and his father, the Alpha. "Please, please, you have to spare my life. I didn't do anything wrong. My parents are traitors, but you can't judge the sins of the father unto the children." I begged on my knees, sniffing as tears blurred my vision as I turned to stare at Talon again, but this time, he wasn't even looking at me. His whole attention was on the field in front of me. "I would never do anything to hurt the royal household, you know that, Talon. I'm your mate, you have to believe me." His father stared at the exchange without a word, but I knew he was considering me when the guards came to drag me away, and he stopped them with a cool finger gesture. "The blood of the Vaelen runs through your veins, girl. And it is one flooded with treason." He pointed out, and I sank my head into the floor, tears no longer able to flow out of my eyes. "Please, please, just spare my life. I didn't commit anything, and I would never. Talon is my ma, te, and I'm loyal to him. I don't mind working as the palace maid for as long as you wish just to spare my life." I pleaded. Somewhere deep inside of my heart, I wished I could plead for the life of my parents the same way I was pleading for my life, now, but even I knew that was never going to work. The Alpha had his heart sealed in that direction. I turned to stare at my mom, who looked at me like she was pleading for forgiveness. Treason against the royal home was on another level, but my parents even led a rebellion and would have helped another pack win against my pack. They believed the Alpha was no longer ruling well enough and needed to be dethroned, and that was their only option. Talon bent slightly towards his father and whispered something into his ear, and I swallowed hard as his father's eyes dilated. He is my mate and he is speaking on my behalf, I knew it. He acted like he didn't care on the outside, but deep down, I knew that all filled in there was warmth and love that he tried hard to bottle up. "What's your name, girl?" The Alpha questioned and I answered immediately, almost biting my tongue. "Naeris!" I answered. "Naeris." He nodded, sitting upright in his chair. "Very well then, Naeris. You will be spared but must work as a maid in the royal home until I say otherwise." Relief flooded my heart as I prostrated one more time in gratitude and flashed Talon a warm smile and mouth a 'thank you' "Let the execution continue." The Alpha announced, and I shut my eyes tightly as I heard my mum let out a tiny, shrill scream in death, same as my father and brother. I gritted my teeth as my eyes were already swollen in tears, and I made a silent vow. My parents were traitors, but what if they were right? And if they were right, Talon's father would pay for all of it; I would make sure of that. The rest of the pack, including Talo, had no say but the Alpha? He would surely pay for wiping off the entire legacy of my family, even though he spared my life. That would be the mistake he made. Grief flooded me as I opened my eyes to see the guards chopping up their heads to hang on the city walls, and I chattered my teeth together to prevent myself from screaming. Breathe Naeris, Breathe. Please, restrain yourself, Naeris. "Talon," I whispered when I suddenly felt it so hard to breathe and felt myself falling. I needed someone to hold me; my vision was waverering, and darkness came in flashes. "Talon." I was standing close to him, so I stretched out my hands to reach out to me, but he stepped awaysuddenlye I was a plague before turning to stare at me. "Talon, what's wrong?" I tried to put on a smile, but his face showed in every angle that he was serious. "I, next in line to be Alpha Talon Voss, reject you, Omega Naeris Vaele, as my fated mate." My mouth dropped open in shock as the pain suddenly hit me, like my heart was being pulled by strings in different directions. "Talon." I coughed out as I placed my hands on my chest, heaving deep breaths in and out, but the pain was too overwhelming for me as I fell to my knees. "You know more than anyone that you are unfit to be my mate, let alone to be my Luna. You're weak and also the daughter of traitors. You should be grateful your life was spared." I was tongue-tied as I stared at him in shock. My vision was completely blurred, and I could only himhhim but only hear his words, which cut deeper than a knife could ever go. And then, darkness settled in as I felt myself falling to the ground while my entire body went numb.