269- Trial by Fire
POV Elowen Grimwald:
“I don’t know, my aunt Nala told me to bring you here,” he replied.
“She said you’re Alpha Aldren’s whore witch,” another one added.
I went into shock, only to be jolted awake by a shiver of fury that tore across the surface of my skin. The entire puzzle assembled itself in my mind; the disgusted looks I had received from the others were her doing.
“And where is your aunt Nala now, Timoté?” I tried to mask my irritation as I scanned the faces around me, searching for that bitch.
I didn’t have to look for long.
As if she knew she couldn’t approach, Nala stood at a considerable distance, her eyes fixed on me.
A sardonic smile cruelly curved her lips. The mocking laughter from her and another she-wolf beside her pierced me like sharp blades of utter revulsion.
Who did that omega think she was? Why wouldn’t she stop provoking me?
My state of mind only fueled the fury inside me. My caged wolf shook as never before and, for the second time, seemed to be taking control.
My anger grew like fire under a fierce wind, beyond my ability to contain it.
Suddenly, the central bonfire—until then extinguished—erupted into towering flames. Cries of surprise and fear mingled with the sharp crackling of the fire as it began to spread.
“Watch out!” I screamed when I saw two pups far too close to the blaze.
I ran toward them. My heart seemed to stop as I watched, horrified, the flames licking the air.
With my bare hands, I tried to smother the fire already catching onto their clothes. I ignored the pain of the burns scorching my palms, too desperate to let them be hurt. They were only innocent pups.
“My son!” The mother of one of them rushed forward in suffocating panic, grabbing her child and pulling him away from the flames.
I tried to move the other, but she was yanked from me. The she-wolf’s gaze toward me shifted from sheer panic to fierce accusation.
“You did this, you witch!”
Among those rushing to help, a murmur of widespread shock exploded around us.
I trembled from head to toe, facing all those accusing stares. Taking advantage of the turmoil, Nala raised her voice so everyone could hear.
“Look! She’s a cursed witch! She used magic in front of all of us!”
She smiled in satisfaction as she shouted that madness, as if it were nothing more than a filthy trap she herself had set.
No!
The chorus of accusations grew as I tried to explain. “Witch!”
“Kill her!”
“I’m not… I’m not a witch! No…”
I stopped screaming the moment I realized that the more I cried out my painful truth, the more violently the flames danced—nearly setting the entire village ablaze.
“AH!” I screamed, feeling a sharp sting in my abdomen.
I looked down at the ground rising in dust and… stones. They were stoning me.
The words died in my throat as more rocks began to fly—higher and faster—toward me.
Pain. Desperation.
By instinct, I hid my face behind my arms, trying to shield it. Each impact of the jagged stones was a crushing shot of torture.
The rocks sliced painfully into my skin, forcing me to curl up on the ground.
“Aldren…” I murmured his name through tears, pressing my face against the damp earth.
The salty drops mingled with blood as I cried out the name of the only person who could save me from that injustice.
The chaos was only interrupted when a crowd of guards appeared.
Their bodies formed a barricade around me. Their hands were raised in a signal to cease fire.
“Stop, or you will all die!” The command was irrefutable. For a moment, the rain of stones ceased.
What remained in the air was only the sound of my sobbing. Of my pain.
(...)
POV Aldren Valmorin:
I hurried to administer my injectables to those on the brink of death. Besides the dozens of wounded, the cabins had been looted and partially destroyed.
I refused to believe that a band of the undead would do something like this without reason. There was something else at play.
But I didn’t care. I wanted to finish everything quickly and return to Valmorin. To my Elowen.
Orion knelt on the ground at the edge of a bed, one arm covering the body of Franchesca—the omega with long brown hair and a freckled face he had fallen in love with.
The journey had been exhausting, yet I did not plan to rest for even a second. Something inside me told me I needed to return. And that I needed to do it fast.
Discovering that there was no phone signal in that ruined village only made things worse.
After tending to all who required urgent care, I entered a larger, less-damaged cabin with my men to settle the payment. Though it was the biggest among the ruins, it carried the scent of despair and defeat.
Among the Tharnak, we gave the female’s family to her partner if the male belonged to another pack, but some alphas insisted on treating their people like merchandise.
Like bargaining chips.
“I’m sorry, Aldren. I have great respect for who you are, but our situation is critical. Bargaining with you was my only way out. I believe the gods held back the negotiation because they knew we would need you now,” said Alpha Paneko, leader of the Lúri pack.
He was tall, wearing a worn T-shirt and faded pants. He had a long, unkempt beard, weathered skin, and a protruding belly. He sat in his old armchair while I remained standing.
All of the men who had survived shared the same sloppy appearance, proof that the people always followed the example of their leader.
I raised a finger, signaling my men, who obeyed by placing the backpacks at the feet of the alpha’s armchair.
“Here it is—everything you asked for. Orion will remain in the company of some of my guards until the promised family has recovered enough to endure the journey.”
His graying brows lifted, and he scratched his bristly chin.