Chapter 38
Ella's POV
Ruby's head slammed against the stone slabs, over and over.
I watched blood stream down from her forehead, but she kept kowtowing, kept crying out: "Please, my lady, he's my only brother—please spare him—"
Just last night we'd buried her child beneath the oak tree. She'd used those same hands to dig through the hard earth, her nails splitting completely, blood seeping into the soil.
Now those hands clutched Jack desperately, as if holding onto her last hope in this world.
Victoria waved her hand with a cold laugh: "Secure this little thief's hands."
Two guards immediately stepped forward, clamping Jack's hands tight with wooden shackles.
The child was only twelve, his small body trembling violently in the restraints, sobbing until he could barely breathe.
Ruby tried to rush forward but was blocked by another guard. She could only kneel on the ground, forehead pressed to the stone, her voice hoarse to the point of being nearly inaudible: "Please... please..."
"The one with the blade, come here." Victoria said unhurriedly.
A guard holding a sharp blade stepped forward. The blade reflected cold light in the sunlight.
My heart was about to leap out of my chest—this wasn't a threat, wasn't intimidation. They were really going to cut off a child's hand.
Just as the blade was about to fall—
I saw a flash of silver.
The scissors she used to sew dolls were now gripped in Ruby's trembling hand, thrusting toward Victoria's chest.
Time seemed to freeze.
Everyone was stunned. Even the guard preparing to execute stopped his motion, blade held in midair, staring in confusion at what was unfolding before him.
Victoria, battle-hardened, seized Ruby's wrist in one swift motion and twisted hard. I heard the sound of bones cracking. Ruby cried out in pain, the scissors slipping from her hand and clattering to the ground with a sharp ring.
"Lowly Omega!" Victoria's voice was full of fury. "You dare attack nobility! According to pack law, this warrants execution!"
Her right hand ignited with that eerie purple flame.
No—no no no—
"Be consumed to ash!"
The purple fire lunged at Ruby like a starving beast. I heard her earth-shattering scream, saw the flames instantly engulf her body. She collapsed to the ground, skin rapidly charring in the intense heat, hair burning to cinders, her entire body writhing and struggling—
"Ella—!" She used the last of her strength to shriek, "Take Jack—run—!"
I stood frozen in place.
Just last night she'd wept in my arms, saying she'd never dare make those little dolls again because each one would remind her of the child who could have lived.
After I'd slit my wrists, it was she who stayed awake all night watching over me, telling me again and again, "Don't fight them head-on, just survive." She risked everything to hide disguise potions for me, to sew that doll I gave the princess.
In my most desperate moment, it was she who held my hand and said, "You must go see the white sails and sea at Free Haven, then come back and tell me about it."
She endured every humiliation for her sick grandmother and young brother, suffered undeserved calamity because of me, yet never once complained.
She was the only person in this manor who truly cared for me.
Now she was being burned alive by Victoria right before my eyes...
Jack struggled desperately in my arms, crying out to save his sister, but I held him too tightly—he couldn't break free.
I could only watch helplessly as Ruby convulsed in the flames, watch as her eyes looked toward me—
In that gaze was fear, despair, agony, and even more, reluctance to leave her brother behind.
"Victoria, you've gone too far!" Kane's roar came from the courtyard entrance.
By the time he rushed in, Ruby no longer existed. Only a pile of ash remained. The wind blew, scattering those ashes like the dolls we'd buried beneath the oak last night, like the bloodstains, like the child who was never born—as if she'd never existed at all.
"Too far?" Victoria elegantly dusted off her hands. "I merely executed a slave who attempted to assassinate me. According to pack law, that is my right."
I felt something burning in my chest.
That rage was scorching hot like magma, surging and roiling through my veins.
My vision began to blur. A strange ringing filled my ears. In the depths of my spiritual world, those rotting thorns melted in invisible flames, the bound crimson wolf broke free of some of its chains, raising its head to howl—
My temples began to burn. I looked down at my hands. Fine red wolf fur was growing from my fingertips.
Some primal wildness swelled within me, tearing at my sanity.
I charged forward, moving so fast it startled even me.
I picked up the silver scissors from the ground—Ruby's scissors, the scissors of her desperate final struggle—and thrust them toward Victoria's heart.
I would kill her!
I would make her pay for Ruby, pay for that unborn child, pay for every life she'd trampled—
Victoria laughed coldly. Purple flames transformed into chains that wrapped around my body.
The searing pain nearly made me pass out, but I gritted my teeth, gripping the scissors with all my strength.
Ruby died in these flames. I couldn't—I absolutely couldn't let go—
"Another assassin." Victoria looked at me with interest, purple fire dancing in her hand. "According to law, she must be executed!"
"Let her go!" Kane's voice came from the distance.
A flash of jealous fury crossed Victoria's face.
The purple flames surged violently, ravenously devouring my skin—
But something strange happened.
The flames consumed my clothes but couldn't burn through my skin.
The purple fire slowly changed color on my body, transforming into pure crimson red—like the sunset when Ruby buried her child, like the last light in her eyes—
My pupils flooded with complete red light.
In the depths of my consciousness, I heard a low, authoritative voice, as if emerging from the deepest part of my soul:
"Are you ready to receive my arrival, Ella..."
I opened my mouth, but the voice that came out wasn't my own:
"I am your wolf—my name is Ignis."