Chapter 1 1. From Luna to criminal

Hope's POV

"Please don't do this," I choke out.

"Kneel," Keith, my mate, repeats, the word cracking on his tongue.

My body crumples, and I drop in the center of the council room. The force of the wooden floor reverberates in my knees and thighs. The sealing charm affixed to my back burns, making it impossible to move.

It is nothing compared to the reminder of how it was placed there.

Trickery. Deceit.

Words I would have never thought to place alongside Keith.

When we were invited three days ago to a royal banquet to honor Princess Lilith's coming of age ceremony, I had no idea it would end up like this. That I would go from esteemed guest, Luna of the Lotus pack, to a criminal.

The Alpha King and his Luna Queen remained quiet, but I could feel their animosity, their conviction. To them, my guilt was absolute, and nothing would stop them from seeking justice for the harm done to their daughter, Princess Lilith.

I search Keith's familiar face looking for the male I had grown to love, but in his place is a shadow of who I thought I knew. I see the ambition in his eyes now-the need to prove himself mixed into the blue irises that once made me feel whole.

His eyes flash, his wolf rising to the surface. A pained expression crosses his face, and for a fleeting moment, hope blooms in my chest.

He's going to stop this. He won't let them hurt me. He knows I'm innocent.

In a flash, it's gone, smoothed over by regret and grim determination... by distance.

My wolf whined in response, confused by what the human half of our mate was doing.

"Keith, you know me," I plead through the ache in my chest. "I'd never do something like this. I-"

"Alpha Keith," the Alpha King interrupts from his throne. "If you're unable to fulfill the command, Dane will complete the task for you."

"I'd be happy to exact my King's orders," Dane rumbled.

I keep my eyes on Keith, refusing to look the Alpha King's beta in the eyes. I don't need to see the eagerness in them.

When I was first accused of attempting to murder Princess Lilith, Dane's demand for justice was the loudest. We might be wolf shifters, but a broken neck would kill us just as any human.

When Princess Lilith had mysteriously lost her footing and tumbled down the stairs, a staircase only the two of us were on, calls of foul play were uttered amongst the gathered packs.

Luckily, the fall down the stone steps of the corridor didn't end her life. Instead, the hit to her temple knocked her clean out. After a day of unconsciousness, a healer had declared her blind when she woke, her optic nerves permanently damaged thanks to the blow she took.

A soft whimper sounds from behind Keith-her whimper.

I know I shouldn't look. My wolf warns me against it, but my traitorous eyes lift despite my best efforts.

Lilith sits on a smaller version of her mother's throne. Her ruined eyes are milky, unseeing, yet trained in my direction as if she can sense me.

The Alpha King growls a warning at me. "Avert your eyes, taitor."

The Queen rubs her daughter's arms and whispers comforting words to her as Lilith trembles as if the thought of my attention is something to be feared. My wolf growls at the fake display of vulnerability.

She might be a victim, but I'm one too, and she knows it.

Why? Why would she lie?

What does she have to gain from this?

"I didn't do it!" I shout. "I demand a truth seeker. They will assert my innocence."

"Hope, don't," Keith warns.

His words are like a physical blow. First, he sides against me, now he won't allow me my due process. Did I ever really know him?

"Do you think I'm a fool?" the Alpha King cuts off my reply. "There is only one truth seeker in the seven packs, your cousin, Allicent. Am I supposed to believe she would stand against you, whether or not you are wrong? No. We have already spared your dignity and given you a private trial due to Keith's family's standing, but I will not allow you to walk away from this."

My wolf rises to the surface, battering at the magical chains preventing me from moving, from shifting.

"If you dare to question a truth seeker's vows to the goddess, then you're a fool," I growl, fueled by the grief splintering in my chest.

Dane lunges forward, his fingertips inches from me, before two warriors slam into him, restraining him.

"I should have your tongue!" He yells, all semblance of composure gone. "Devious bitch. Have you no respect, no decency? You don't deserve the grace the royal family has gifted you."

He spits at me, and Keith surprises me by taking a step towards him, a rumble emanating from his chest. He's defending me, like he still cares.

"Stand down, Dane," Keith's eyes narrow in challenge.

"I don't take orders from you," Dane hisses.

Dane looks like he might try to break the warrior's hold, but Lilth 's voice halts his movement.

"Hope," Lilth starts, ignoring the squeeze of her mother's hand that is probably meant to stop her from speaking to me directly. "I forgive you. For your anger, your jealousy. I know how hard it must be for your wolf to adjust to a new hierarchy. It's only natural that she would feel aggressive towards a dominant, fertile female so close to her mate's heat." The soft way she spoke did nothing to take the edge off of her words. But no one in the room seemed to hear the venom in her words. Unease settled in my gut as she continued. " That's why I put a stop to the call on your life. Our animal halves can be difficult to control. So please, in the name of the goddess, just accept your wrongs so we can all move forward."

My wolf growled, raged at the condescension in her voice.

This was what she wanted, I realized, to be the benevolent princess in the face of the jealous, visiting Luna.

And I walked right into her trap.

Who would believe my word over the Princess? Foolishly, I believed my mate would.

But the question of why remains.

"Enough!" The Queen shouts, rising to her feet. "This spectacle is over. Alpha Keith, the potion."

The order was clear. I was out of time.

Panicked, I gazed at Keith. I tried to pull away, but my body was useless beneath the hold of the spell. His hand flexes around a small bottle, a war raging between his flashing eyes.

"Alpha Keith," the Queen commands again at his hesitancy. When he doesn't move, she trots down the dias toward him, reaching for the vial. "I'll do it myself."

"That won't be necessary," Keith says, snapping out of momentary hesitancy. "She is my mate. I will discipline her."

The sting of betrayal cuts deep.

This is something I couldn't have prepared for. To have the person, my person, the other half of my soul, offer me up on a platter to those who would harm me.

To take up the task of doing it himself.

I can't breathe.

My wolf howls in anguish as he kneels in front of me.

Tears stream down my face.

"Please ..." I sob, unable to believe this is real.

"Hope..." Keith says in a strong voice, as if I mean nothing. "For the crime of attempted murder of Princess Lilith..."

" ...if you ever loved me... please...don't..."

"The crown had decreed justice by measure for measure."

I don't bother searching the room; no one will put a stop to the madness.

I met Keith's eyes. The shuttered blue was unrecognizable as he peered down at me. The world moved in slow motion.

His strong fingers secured my chin.

The vial is lifted in the other hand.

The pop of the quark as it's released.

Then Keith's voice floods my mind through our mate bond.

I'm doing this because I love you.

He pours the amber liquid into my eyes. I try to squeeze them shut, yelling at the scoring heat engulfing my face. It's useless, the burn soaks through the thin flesh of my lids, and my mind goes quiet.

It feels like my eyes are being carved out from the inside. The pain builds and builds until I can no longer recognize the sound of my voice.

The world goes black.

****

I hear the wind before I feel it. It caresses my skin as it rushes past, cool and sharp. The leaves rustle above me, and the earth smells like rain and pine.

Exhaling a breath, I take peace in the silence. In the knowledge that I'm alone.

I rarely am these days, even if my company is the warriors stationed at my door.

After my sentencing, we returned to the Lotus pack. The pack tried to rally around me, not knowing the full story of my blindness. While I was grateful to them, I also resented that kindness.

If they knew what really happened, would they follow in the footsteps of their Alpha and decide I am guilty?

Would they still treat me as their Luna, or would I disgrace them?

Keith's lie is the only reason I haven't been challenged for the position of Luna.

My mind goes back to the conversation we had before we came home.

"We'll tell the pack there was an accident."

I scoffed, fingers digging into the sterile sheets of the healing room. The burn from the position had faded, taking my sight with it.

There was a blessing in this curse. At least I didn't have to look at Keith anymore.

"I'm doing this for you," he continues after a moment. " It was why I had your trial remain private, so that others won't judge you for your mistake."

"The only mistake I made was mating you."

There is a change in the air as silence stretches between us.

I can feel his anger like a sun ray beating against the surface of the water.

It has nothing on the storm building inside of me.

When he finally speaks, his voice carries the detachment I've come to associate with since the trial. "Hate me all you want, but I am still your mate and your Alpha. When we return to the Lotus territory, we will inform them that during the gathering, a group of rogues attacked both you and the princess, which resulted in your blindness. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Alpha."

I tuck my legs under me, remembering the way the sun used to rise here-how the light would dance alongKeith's fur as we ran and make it look like spun gold.

It's funny how the absence of sight does nothing to erase the images your mind has already consumed.

Some days, I wish my memories would reflect the absence of my vision.

Hope.

Keith's voice enters my mind. Where it was once a comforting tether, it is now an invasion. I tense my body, bracing myself for another betrayal.

Where are you? He asks when I don't respond.

My wolf growls, her guard up. Though my sight has been ruined, my sense of smell and instincts have amplified, allowing me to learn a new way of experiencing the world.

Just breathe, I remind myself.

Hope? The irrational ringing in my head scrapes along my mental walls.

The cliff, I snap. In the forest.

His thoughts go still. It's almost as if I can see him standing straighter, tighter, sharper.

Come back.

It's an order. I'm done taking those.

No.

Now is not the time for one of your tantrums. Go home, now.

Something in his voice wavers, tremors of anxiety ghost the irritation. The sound brings back thoughts of the old Keith, and my anger rises.

Does my sentence contain me in my room? You already took my sight and denied my request to go home. I won't give you my peace as well.

This is your home, he asserts.

Not anymore.

This isn't a game. You could get hurt-

I'm already hurt, I stand and shift. The familiar feeling of my bones breaking and realigning grounds me in a way I desperately need. My paws feel the stone beneath them, and I shake out my fur. You made sure of it.

I'm coming to get you. Don't move.

I ignore him.

Please-just wait.

I freeze at the panic in his voice.

I've never heard him sound like that.

Then-I feel it.

An impact knocks me to my side.

Hard.

My body crashes to the ground. The earth dips, falling away from my scrambling claws. Gravity takes me before I can shift and try to catch hold of rogue roots.

Before I can scream.

Hope! Keith's voice rips through the link as I fall.

Wind roars in my ears.

My name echoes in my head.

But I don't answer as the impact of the stone steals my consciousness.