A Futile Revenge

“No, no!” I screamed, fighting the iron grip on my biceps. “No, you have to believe me. I never – Cass, please, you have to believe me!” I screamed, looking at my mate.

I heard a whoosh. My heart went into free fall before my world went still. He didn’t believe me. I looked around at all the eyes fixated on me. No one did. No one believed me. The silence in the room rang in my ears. It was loud. Deafening.

“Cass, I – I would never –“ The silence still rang in my ears. My voice sounded like it belonged to another woman. It couldn’t have been mine. “I would never poison April.” The silence shattered with the glass in my mate’s palm.

“You dare – How dare you speak her name?” My mate hissed at me. His red eyes glowed in the dimly lit hall. They brimmed with hatred.

“Cass –“ I looked around a second time. I did not want to believe it. How could I? How could I believe that everyone turned their backs on me when I needed them the most?

“You will address me as Alpha Cassius Raven.” He stepped forward. I moved back but I was met with a wall of warriors blocking me. He took a breath, his chest heaving. Distress, pain, anger, and murderous intent brimmed in his eyes as he gazed down at me.

“For the attempted assassination of my true mate, I, Alpha Cassius Raven, sentence you to death by poison. The same poison you fed my beloved.” He spat the words with venom.

The spell of silence in the room broke with an uproar. People spoke all at once, someone laughed, and another clapped. I went weak in the knees but the warriors held me upright.

“Take her away.” The words from my mate’s lips were directed at the men holding me hostage.

“Cassius Raven, what is the meaning of this?” A voice boomed from the doorway. We all turned to look at the white-haired man walking into the hall.

“F – Father.” I sighed in relief. I had never been happier to see my father. He turned to me with a sharp look that made me falter. “Father, I swear, I swear I didn’t do it! I am being framed! I would never – I would never –“

“Silence!” Cassius commanded. The sound of a pin dropping would be too loud in the ensuing silence that followed the Alpha’s command. “Rufus –“ Cassius turned to address my father but he was cut off mid-speech.

“What is this nonsense?” My father’s voice boomed, his back and shoulders stiff as he addressed the Alpha. “How dare you accuse my daughter of trying to kill your true mate? What motive does she have to do that?” He demanded.

“Jealousy,” someone in the audience shouted.

“Isn’t it well known that the Luna is a wicked and jealous woman?”

“Hasn’t she been playing all sorts of tricks to chase out April, Alpha Cassius’s true mate, from the pack?”

All sorts of questions broke out in the ballroom. It seemed quite obvious but it fully dawned on me then. I was the villain; the wicked woman who could not stand that her mate had found his destiny.

“Why would she be jealous of a mere omega when she is already the Luna?” My father’s voice bellowed in the room. “Cassius, you promised before the goddess and this pack to cherish my daughter as long as she is alive to rule by your side. Why would she be jealous of another woman when she has your vow?”

“What importance is a vow between two people when the true mate comes into the picture?”

“How can Alpha Rufus side with his daughter when she has been caught red-handed?”

More murmurs broke out in the hall. They condemned me. They condemned my father for siding with me.

“Father –“ I called out for him. I could not bear to see his pride shattered like this because of me. I hated to hear the way people spoke of him as if he were a mere man and not the Alpha of Legends.

“Rufus –“ Cassius’ voice had a cold edge to it.

“Cassius.” My father squared his shoulders and looked the Alpha in the eye. “Tell your warriors to unhand my daughter. She is innocent of this allegation.”

“Is this, perhaps, a plot by your family?” The Alpha’s voice went low, exuding a weird calmness despite the charged atmosphere. “Did you and your wretched daughter plan to kill my mate to secure her spot as my Luna!?” The crowd gasped at the force behind the allegation. They stepped back as he stepped down from the podium, his eyes fixated on my father.

“Father –“ My stomach twisted at the look in my mate’s eyes.

“You dare to besmirch my daughter and my family?” My father growled. “Even a fool knows better than to serve a poisoned glass of wine herself in this teeming crowd.” The air around my father and my mate charged.

My father was the last person I expected to defend me at such a time. We never had a good relationship and he often scolded me for being a ‘silly little girl’ yet, he was the only person in this crowd vouching for my innocence.

“Father –“ My guts twisted. I did not like the feeling washing over me

“My daughter is innocent of this allegation. Someone here is framing her.” My heart shook, stopped for a second, and pounded faster. “Did you plan this with your true mate to humiliate my child?”

“Father!” It happened in the blink of an eye. The sword that was part of Cassius’s official accessory whipped at my father and slashed his throat. “Father!” I screamed, starting forward. The warriors holding me did not let me go.

“No, let me go! Father –“ I fought against my captors as my father fell to the ground, blood spurting out of his throat. “My father! I – Father !” I screamed. My eyes blurred, my heart pounded, my world tilted on its axis.

“Take her away. Her execution will be in seven days.” Cassius wiped his sword of my father’s blood and turned. The hall, hitherto silent in the face of death, went into an uproar. People cleared out of Cassius’s way, others ran from the hall as I was dragged away, screaming and kicking.

“Let me go!”

The sound of iron doors slamming resounded in the dungeons as the warriors threw me into a dirty cell, stripped of dignity.

“Let me go! I am still your Luna! I command you to let me go!” I raised my head to glare at the warriors manhandling me. “I – Liam? Lucas? Even you two?” I looked at the twin warriors who had served as my guards since I was sixteen. Their shifting gazes fell on everything but me as they walked away.

My laughter escorted them out of the dark dungeons; loud, cold and mirthless.

Loud laughter tore from the depths of my stomach. I leaned forward, bracing myself with my hands on my knees as I shook with laughter. I cannot recall the hour the sound of laughter metamorphosed into violent sobs and cries for help.

~ ~ ~

On the seventh day after the incident; the day of my execution, my head maid came into my cell with her head bowed, a bucket of water in one hand and a lavish dress in another.

“Luna Persephone.” She curtsied, her head remaining bowed.

“Raise your head,” I called out with what was left of my voice. “The time has come, hasn’t it?”

“Luna –“ Sylvia trembled as she stepped forward. “I – I –“

“It’s okay, Sylvia. You don’t have to say anything. I will go peacefully and quietly. I won’t be a nuisance to anyone anymore.”

“Luna –“ Her eyes quivered, tears gathering in them. “I – I am sorry.” She bowed again.