Lord.
Higher.
Charles.
His voice echoes throughout the hall. That deep sound is so ingrained in my mind that I squeeze my eyes shut to gather myself, to stop my racing heart from bursting and stopping all together. I haven’t heard it in so long, but I remember it well. I remember it laughing as I cried, mocking me as I screamed, taunting me about my mom and dad dying, giving me false comfort only to take it away in an instant, I remember it making me always wonder when he visited me which side of him I would get, until it was only ever pain.
Memory after memory rushes through my mind, causing my knees to weaken, and I’m unable to stand the force of them. My hand reaches out to the barrier to steady myself, warning sparks of pain come from it that shoot through my palms. I slowly peel my eyes open, keeping them on the ground and the chain there as I breathe. Just breathe, Rhea. I look to my left, seeing Josh’s glare at him, knowing everything that he had done. He moves to the edge of his barrier closest to me, eyes full of hate and anger and concern on my behalf. I shake my head subtly when he glances at me, then turn my head to the right to look at Kade. His spine is straight, fists still clenched at his sides as he looks in front of him, ignoring Josh and I entirely.
Kade might know these seated males are Highers, but he doesn’t truly know who they are. It’s the same with his parents and siblings. It’s the same with fucking everyone. I’ve told him all his life to keep away from them if there was ever a time he was near them. It looks like that’s been completely ignored by the smiles on our blood family’s faces. What the fuck did they say to him and does he really have his memories? Because if he did, he wouldn’t be acting like this. He wouldn’t have said the things he did to me. He would be tearing them all apart.
I breathe deep and manage to straighten myself, I have to get him away from them. He can’t go back to his family, and he can’t be in the clutches of the Highers. With that thought, I raise my eyes and look forward, determination running through me.
“Alpha Darius, present why these three wolves are on trial. You have spoken to me briefly, but let the rest of the room know,” Lord Higher Charles says, waving a hand toward the seated people in the hall and relaxing back in his seat, but I feel his eyes on me. It’s like fire licking at my feet until it burns me alive.
I look across the dais and see the other Highers removing their hoods, expressions neutral on their faces. I look at each one, looking for a familiar face, but Edward is nowhere to be seen. Where is he? Does he know I’m here? He has to. I look further across the five Highers. Two seats are empty, but the five seated can still cast their votes when it’s time.
“These wolves have been found traitors to Vrohkaria, some more than others. Kaden,” Darius begins, nodding in his direction, and I tense. “He may be innocent, but he may have also aided Rhea in her treason, which I will get to last. I spoke with Kaden’s family who are currently guests here. They saw him being taken to the healer’s wing, and his mother was in hysterics as soon as she saw him. His mother, Selena, informed me he was taken as a pup, and he was never seen again. They searched and searched for him, but he was never found. It was around the same time their niece and an orphaned male went missing from the Aragnis pack. It turns out, Rhea and Joshua are the ones who had stolen him in the night.” He points to us, loathing in his eyes and I swallow. “Joshua aided them in leaving, making sure they were undetected with Kaden, but two of the Aragnis pack guards saw them.” I gulp at the memory of killing one of them that tried to stop us, the other guard retreating as a blade went through their friend’s heart, running back to announce us escaping. “All three were thought to be dead after they murdered a guard on their way out of pack territory, and they weren’t seen again.” The Highers all shake their heads at Josh and I, noises of disgust coming from them as the crowd murmurs.
“Alpha Paul, can you confirm for the room that what Alpha Darius has said is in truth?” Lord Higher Charles asks, turning his head toward my uncle.
I refuse to look at him.
“It is true. My niece caused great harm to us as a family when she was taken in by us when her mother and father went missing.” I grind my teeth, that’s not fucking true. “We gave her a home, and she repaid us by giving us nothing but trouble when she lived with us. But we never thought she would steal our son.” His voice rings across the hall, strong and sure of his words. “Please go easy on my son. I’m sure my niece has filled him with nonsense over the years. The healer confirmed she had blocked his memories. They have only now been restored to him. He has lost so much time with us already.”
“Did you know that your cousin had blocked your memories, Kaden?” Lord Higher Charles asks him, and I look over at the boy I raised since he was seven years old.
“No, I didn’t know anything until the healer unblocked them. All she and Josh ever told me was to stay away from our old pack and that it wasn’t safe.” He turns his head, looking me dead in the eye. “She never let me leave where we lived, never let me go into other parts of Vrohkaria. I thought she was just being protective, but now I know how wrong it was. She was keeping me from my family as some sort of sick punishment for them.”
“Carzan,” I whisper, shaking my head at him, pleading. “That’s not true, don’t listen to them. You know me.”
“My niece is clearly trying to manipulate him, even now, Lord Higher,” my uncle interjects. “She brings great shame to the Aragnis pack, and the Kazari family—”
“Keep my family name out of your piece of shit mouth you… Arghhh!“ I scream, caught off guard by a sudden pain shooting through my whole body. I press both hands against the barrier, panting as the pain fades away just as quickly as it came, listening as the crowd shouts in outrage at my words.
He doesn’t deserve to have my mom’s name. None of them do.
“You will act civilized in my hall!” Lord Higher Charles booms at me, and I let out a growled breath. Hating him, hating them, hating what they did. Hating them all so deep in my bones I would snap their necks in an instant if I could. Lord Higher Charles waits for the hall to calm again before he speaks. “That’s enough from you at the moment, Kaden. Thank you. Joshua, did you or did you not take this woman and Kaden away from your pack territory without first applying to change packs, and then waiting for confirmation to that proposal.”
“It’s not that fucking simple! Unghh!” The barrier around Josh glows briefly as he falls to one knee in pain, and I realize he just got hit with whatever I did just moments before.
“It is a simple question to answer, Joshua.” Charles snarls. “Yes or no.”
Josh looks up at me, still on one knee, and I see in his eyes what he’s about to do. The resignation and determination in his eyes. He opens his mouth to speak, but I beat him to it. “I forced him,” I cut in, ignoring Josh’s shocked eyes. “I made him believe that we could go to another pack and start a life together. With him being orphaned and my family line, he knew it would be impossible for us to be mated in the Aragnis pack as the current Alpha would deny it. He had a soft spot for me since we were kids. So I told him that for us to have a life together, we would need to leave with Kaden. We couldn’t tell anyone we were leaving as with the pack being of my family line, it was forbidden for me to do so.” I feel all eyes on me as I finish, but I hold Josh’s eye, pleading with him to stay quiet. He swallows hard before dropping his head forward, his chest rises and falls as he takes deep breaths before slowly getting back to his feet.
“Is that correct, Joshua?” Lord Higher Charles demands, and at Josh’s slow nod, he hums to himself. “Seems you are quite the manipulator. You still, however, have committed more crimes,” he tells Josh, and I look over at Darius, his eyes boring into Josh’s before looking me over with distaste. “Let’s move on. I’ve heard enough on this particular crime, and I will take into consideration what has been said.”
He waves a hand to someone off to the side, and I hear the creak of a door opening. A murmur spreads across the hall as a tall, blond male approaches the front of the dais, dragging a lifeless Sarah behind him. I hold in my reaction to seeing her. The tall male stops at the first step, guiding Sarah to stand next to him.
Lord Higher Charles takes in Sarah’s disheveled appearance and shaky frame before looking to the male beside her. “Alpha Christopher, your daughter was taken from her home over three months ago. Has she told you where she has been?”
Shock courses through me. She’s this Alpha’s daughter? Fuck.
“Yes, Lord Higher.” Alpha Christopher bows his head respectfully. “My daughter has told me she was taken and brought to a place she had never been before and couldn’t leave. She was kept prisoner. She had extensive injuries from trying to fight off those who took her, and she was unable to get out of bed from those injuries, practically bedridden.” Josh growls deep and low beside me, and I shoot him a warning look to stay quiet.
He’s lying through his teeth, we know that. We don’t know how this will play out though, and if Josh shows a reaction to her, I don’t know what will happen.
“Is that true, dear?” Lord Higher Charles addresses Sarah, who stays looking at her feet, fingers twisting around each other. She eventually nods her head once, and my heart cracks even more.
I know she’s scared, and that’s my fault. I said I would protect her and keep her safe. Now she’s in the hands of those that hurt her. She’s petrified. Did he beat her before she walked into this room? Threaten her? I don’t know, but whatever he did made her just lie to everyone in this room and confirmed what Alpha Christopher just said. I glance at Josh and see his face drop before he smooths it out into a neutral expression. But I know her words caused him pain.
“We are glad you have returned Sarah. You are safe now. You can have all the time you need to recover and proceed with your arranged mating with Patrick Kazari.” Lord Higher Charles smiles down at her, and I swear I stop breathing as a stillness comes over Josh.
I look over at my scum of a family, watching as a convincing, gentle smile spreads across my cousin Patrick’s face as he looks at Sarah. It slips as she is taken from the room again, being rushed out a door and out of sight. That’s when his blue eyes come to mine. Malice gleaming in them, and I bare my teeth. He grins, licking his lips, and I shiver.
“Alpha Darius, please continue,” Lord Higher Charles commands, and it brings my attention to him.
“Rhea caused the deaths of six Elite trainees when we were in The Deadlands searching for Sarah. She admits to their murder, but she also had Sarah hidden in her home where we went to get our injured Elites healed. We asked her and showed a sketch of Sarah. She and others stated she had no idea who she was and told us she was probably dead if she ventured into The Deadlands. They clearly lied as we found her healing from injuries in a room in a cabin. Her pack also didn’t tell the truth when we went around and asked them about her. They are all guilty of that crime, and hiding that they had created a pack.
“More lies and manipulations,” Lord Higher Charles murmurs as the rest of the Highers mumble their agreements.
Darius walks closer to the steps at the bottom of the dais, and I watch his every move as he pulls out the crystal he held in Eridian. “This crystal was given to me by Higher Aldus.”
That has to be the man that was in Eridian, that caused all of this with that crystal. How did a Higher get there? I scan the Highers in their seats, but none of them speak.
“Yes, you said as much when we briefly spoke. Unfortunately, Higher Aldus had to attend an urgent meeting that cannot be missed so he had to be absent today. He did confirm he handed the memory crystal to you after he traveled to meet with Maize to check on the progress of your search for Sarah,” Lord Higher Charles states. Maize informed a Higher where we were living? Fury runs through me. “He also confirmed he found it in the place where these traitors were living.”
A memory crystal? Found where we were living?
“The memory crystal showed me Rhea performing some sort of ritual,” Darius continues, his eyes coming to mine as I shake my head. “That ritual cursed Vrohkaria and brought the rogures to cause havoc across the lands, slaughtering and tearing villages and towns apart,” he tells the room, turning the crystal over in his hands.
Shouts echo around me as my wide eyes look from Darius to the crystal, and then back again. “That’s impossible. It’s not true,” I shout at him, my chest heaving at the thought. My words are ignored as people curse at me, letting me hear their words of how I should pay for my treason. Hanged, stoned and whipped over something I didn’t do. My panicked eyes turn to Josh, his mouth moving, but no sound reaches me. They’ve blocked sound from escaping the barriers, not letting us be heard until they want us to be.
Darius passes the crystal to Lord Higher whose eyes go dull as he holds it, sparks coming from the object. “What Darius has stated is the truth. This is a grave crime you have committed against Vrohkaria. You have committed treason against us all, against your own kind.” Charles passes the crystal to the other Highers, waiting until they have all seen this apparent memory of me bring the rogures upon us as I shake my head. “You are a disgrace to our kind. Tell me.” He leans forward in his seat, dark eyes penetrating mine. “Why did you cause the lands to be plagued?”
“I didn’t,” I grind out, and Darius shakes scoffs at me, his anger penetrating through the barrier.
“The evidence is damning,” Lord Higher Charles barks, the sound sharp enough to rattle my bones, making me feel like a little girl again. Defenseless. Weak. “You cannot deny what we have seen with our very own eyes!”
“Can you deny what I’ve seen with my own eyes? What had been done to me?!“ I scream back at him, my chains rattling as I bring them up and bang on the barrier. His eyes turn hard as pain rattles through me again, a warning to not say any more. I grit my teeth as he keeps a neutral expression on his face. A perfected facade.
“Why would the Highers and I take anything that you say as true? Why would anyone?” he says, and I grind my teeth. “You have lied and manipulated. You ran away from your pack, stole a child and blocked his memories. You killed Elite trainees and took a person of interest, kept them hidden whilst also failing to inform us that you had formed a pack. On top of all that, you have performed a ritual and brought savage creatures to Vrohkaria that slaughter and kill anyone they come across,“ he spits. The Highers murmur in agreement as more shouts from the people around the hall lash out at me while the Elites growl, glaring down at me.
“I didn’t perform any fucking ritual. I have no idea what you are talking about!” I glare at Darius. “What you saw is wrong. What you all saw is wrong.”
“Memory crystals cannot be changed,” Darius tells me. “They cannot be tampered with.”
“That is a lie because it obviously has been,” I grind out, my body shaking at the implication of what they are saying, but I didn’t do it. “I didn’t do it.”
I would never do such a thing, even if I knew how.
“You’re lying again, Rhea,” Darius snarls. “Your sins are put out before you, and you don’t even have the decency to tell the truth.”
“I am telling the truth,” I shout. “I know nothing of a ritual. Know nothing about how the rogures came to be! They kill everything and anything. What reason would I have to do that when we are all in danger from them?!”
“That’s what you’re going to tell us,” Lord Higher Charles says, and I scream. My body feels like it’s being hit with raw electricity as my back arches from the pain coursing through me. I fall to my knees, chained hands on the floor as I feel blood trickle out of my nose. “Tell us why you cursed the lands and how we can stop it.” I stay quiet, panting through the lingering pain when it hits me again.
I fall on to my side, my whole body shaking, and I bite my lip on a cry as my blurry eyes find Kade. He’s finally looking at me again, finally giving me his blue eyes that I have seen every emotion in. Except hate. That’s how he’s looking at me right now. His eyes are full of hate, and a strangled sob escapes me at the sight, but I quickly quiet as the violet glow fades from the barrier and the pain slowly subsides.
“Thirty lashes, maybe that will loosen her tongue,” a different Higher says, and the crowd all cheers and shouts their approval. I stumble to my feet, my hands clenching as I glare at them all while my body aches.
I bring my hands up and wipe the blood from under my nose when the chain attached to the one linking my wrists together suddenly pulls me downward. I’m thrown to the ground, my knees hitting the floor, and I hiss. I pull at my hands, but they are locked in place on the floor, I’m immobile. I can’t stand, I can only stay on my knees as the barrier around me blinks out.
I lift my head, watching as Maize approaches the Highers with a whip in her hands. She bends at the waist, presenting it to them. Lord Higher Charles tilts his head, looking over at me before he turns, his gaze landing on Darius with a sadistic smile on his face. “As Alpha of the Elites and with Rhea extending your search, therefore keeping you from protecting our lands, I think you should do the honors.”
