I couldn’t hear them anymore. My ears were ringing. My chest burned like I had swallowed hot searing coal. My nails dug into the floor.
"I didn’t know..." I gasped out, my voice shaking. "I swear I didn’t know..."
"Lies!" Allison’s voice sliced through the noise. She walked forward slowly, her eyes gleaming with victory, and her smile was lopsided. "She’s been hiding it all along. She had been hiding what she truly is all this while, she even wanted to deceive my mate into believing she was his mate. A half-breed abomination. Do you need more proof than what’s right in front of you?"
She turned to the crowd, lifting her hand toward like she was showing them so kind of creature.
"What are you waiting for?" she yelled, her voice rising. "Kill her!"
No one moved at first. But the growls started again, deeper this ti. Low and dangerous.
Their eyes turned red. Their claws curled like they were ready to strike.
They were waiting for soone to say the word.
I tried to move back, but my legs didn’t cooperate. I dragged myself across the floor, my dress soaked in blood, my wings twitching with every little movent. My whole body was shaking. I didn’t even know where to run.
All I could do was look up at Damon one more ti. Maybe he’d stop them. Maybe he’d rember what we had. Maybe he’d rember .
But his face didn’t change.
He didn’t move or say a word.
And that silence was what broke the most. I stared at the angry and hateful crowd, and a bitter smile ford on my lips. ’What is the point of trying to explain myself to creatures who believe I’m an abomination. It’s not like I can change what had happened today.’
My eyes lingered on Damon, and the pain from the rejection squeezed my heart. I smiled bitterly at him. "Since you all are adamant on killing ... why don’t we play a ga?" I shakily pulled myself up. Blood covered as if I had been reborn in it.
’If I’m going to die, I’m going to die on my own terms.’
Allison’s smile faltered. "You think you can trick us?"
"I’m weak to the point I can die anyti, why don’t you give a chase?... It will be more thrilling for you." My words were barely a whisper. "But to give you that thrill you have to give a half an hour headstart."
’Yeah, I know it sounds stupid, with little to no chance of surviving. At least it was better than being mauled to death here... And I want to see if Damon would be able to watch the werewolves hunt . We had a deep bond even before the mate pull. I won’t accept his rejection yet... I want him to drive him crazy to the point he will lose all his sanity.’
"No, you don’t have the right to negotiate with us." One of them growled in his wolf form.
"I’m not negotiating..." I spat out blood, I was turning pale from the amount of blood I was losing. "I’m only enforcing the law... The law of hunting as punishnt for a traitor... and I happen to be one."
The room went completely quiet. Even the growls faded. Every werewolf in the hall stared at ... so with confusion, so with smug little smirks, and others with unreadable expressions. But one thing was clear: they were listening. The law of the hunt hadn’t been brought up in years.
I wiped the blood off my mouth with the back of my hand, saring it across my cheek, then forced myself to look up. "You want blood?" My voice ca out rough, barely steady. "Fine. Then take it."
Allison scoffed, her lip curled in disgust. "You’ve completely lost it. You don’t have a say in this." She glared at , I knew all she wanted was for them to end as quickly as possible.
My eyes were already heavy, but I shifted them toward her with all the strength I had left. "You’re the one who wanted a show," I said quietly. "Let them chase . Let them drag the filthy half-breed through the woods like prey. Isn’t that what you wanted?"
A murmur rippled through the Alphas. So of them exchanged excited looks. A few turned toward Damon, waiting for him to speak. But he remained unmoving like a statue.
Elder Dominic finally spoke, his voice calm but firm. "The law permits a traitor to request a fair chase before execution. And that is half an hour. If she survives until dawn, she is to be spared." He looked around the room. "But no one has ever made it that far."
"She won’t last five minutes," Allison snapped, her eyes narrowed with hate.
Elder Dominic turned to , his gaze softened slightly. "Ember, you have been of great help to us during the flood. Why don’t you plead for a quick death?"
"I’m not asking to be spared," I said, my voice lower now, but clear. "I just want to run."
Elder Dominic nodded, then turned to Damon, who still hadn’t spoken a single word. "Alpha. Do we honor the law?"
Every head in the room turned toward him.
I t his cold gaze, and my heart ached from his betrayal. It was so easy for him to dispose of .
He blinked slowly and finally answered. "Let her run."
His voice didn’t carry any weight. It was just cold, and empty, and detached like none of this mattered, like I didn’t matter.
’So this was his decision... after everything we have been through.’
"Give her thirty minutes," he added. "Then hunt her down."
The silence that followed felt so suffocating and overwhelming as every eye lingered on , burning with hunger like a hungry wolf they were.
My knees buckled slightly, but I mustered all my strength, grabbing the edge of a pillar to keep myself upright. My hands were shaking from both fear and pain.
The wings behind twitched faintly, dragging like dead weight. My dress clung to my skin, torn and heavy with dirt and blood.
The werewolves snarled at as I walked through their midst.
I wanted to look at Damon for one last ti. ’No looking back.’ I muttered in my head.
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