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Chapter Two — The Luna’s Killer

Ivanna’s POV

“No, I didn’t!” I finally got my voice back and snapped out of my daze. But it seemed like it was already too late to defend myself.

The soldiers were glaring at me, and their limbs were itching to grab me and cut me in two. Why did June say that? Why did she accuse me of Luna’s death?

“Yes, you did,” June said firmly. “She died after drinking the juice you brought. Quit lying, Ivanna. We both know you killed her. It was you. It couldn’t have been anyone else.”

“I didn’t!”

“Shut the fuck up, you lying bitch!” June yelled in my face, delivering a hard slap to my cheek. What?!

“How dare you slap me?” I asked, looking at her with eyes as wide as saucers. She was an Omega. She never addressed me without a ‘Miss’ attached to my name. She never had enough boldness to look me in the eye. Now, all of a sudden, she had enough guts to hit me.

I expected the soldiers to do something, but they didn’t move. And somehow, I was too weak to hit her back.

Alpha Dean walked in with another entourage, and every one of us quickly bowed. “What’s going on here?” He asked in his hoarse, authoritative voice.

“It’s the Luna,” one of the soldiers replied.

“Why? Where’s my mate?”

“She’s dead, Alpha. Look.” He pointed at where the Luna was lying lifelessly.

“Eleanor!” Alpha Dean let out a wild yell and bent beside her. I could hear his guttural sniffles, and it made my toes curl in fear.

More tears left my eyes, and goosebumps covered my skin like a coat. I was silently hoping and praying that June wouldn’t repeat the narration she gave a while ago. I prayed she wouldn’t tell the Alpha that I had killed Luna. Because I didn’t. I had no reason to.

“What happened to her? What happened to my mate?!” Alpha Dean shouted.

“She was poisoned, Master,” June replied. Merciful goddess, please don’t let her say my name. Please.

“Poisoned? Who would dare poison my mate in my house?!”

“It was her!” June pointed at me. “It was Ivanna, Master. She gave the Luna poisoned juice. I saw her. I was the only one here with them.”

“No…” My lips quivered as I fought for a logical explanation. “I didn’t…”

“Arrest her!” Alpha Dean ordered fiercely. “Go get her family too. She’ll pay for killing my mate.”

“Yes, Alpha,” the soldiers replied. I got dragged out of the room. And while I repeatedly screamed my innocence, the Alpha wasn’t ready to pay attention to me.

In the evening, my parents and I were lying at the Alpha’s feet, at the Pack’s meeting ground, ready to be beheaded.

“Alpha, please, my daughter is innocent. She was framed,” my father begged. The pack members were watching us, and I could feel their glares and spiteful stares directed at us.

“By whom?” Alpha Dean asked. “The maid was there when she fed her the juice. Your daughter isn’t innocent. She killed my mate, and she has to die!”

Alpha Dean was inflexible about my parents’ pleas, and it didn’t help that the Pack members were angry, and they kept asking for my execution. I couldn’t believe it. Didn’t they used to love me a lot? How could they easily believe that I was a murderer? Why couldn’t they give me the benefit of the doubt?

“Please, Alpha. Let my daughter go. She’s just a kid,” my mother pleaded in tears.

“Then die in place of her,” he howled.

“We will happily die in place of our daughter. Please pardon her.”

“Okay, if that’s what you wish. Grab the Beta and his wife and put them on the execution stand.” He commanded. The soldiers did as they were told. “From here on, I strip you of the Beta post. You’ll die as a traitor and your generation will be tagged as traitors forever. Execute them.”

They were both dragged and forced to bend their heads.

“No. Please. Don’t kill them. I beg you!” I pleaded hysterically.

“We love you, Ivanna. You know we do. Never stop fighting, dear child. You’ll be fine. We promise!” Mother shouted out to me. And then her head was cut off. And Father too.

I screamed out in horror, falling on the ground, crying my lungs out. There was no consolation for this. No way I could be quiet. Not when my parents were lying headless and lifeless.

“Shut up, Ivanna, before I send you to hell!” Alpha Dean growled with hatred.

“Kill her. Avenge the Luna’s death!” Everyone chorused. I could feel their rage, their anger. They all wanted to tear me apart.

“I am pained by the death of my Luna, but I must honor my promise. Ivanna won’t be executed. She will be demoted as a maid. She will work as a maid for the rest of her life. Starting today, she will no longer bear her real name. From here on, she will be called ‘The Luna’s Killer’ and she will be treated as such.”

Everyone cheered to my misery, but I was still just sitting motionless, as my tears poured down.

“Throw her back into the dungeon!”

“Yes, Alpha!”

I got dragged away, but I couldn’t stop looking at my parents’ bodies. They got thrown into a bonfire and it was the icing on my misery.

I could never give them the proper burial they deserved. I could never say my final goodbyes. Because they were gone. Literally. My parents were gone. Forever.

Everyone threw stones and hard objects at me as I got dragged away. I got locked up in the dungeon and no one came for me. I had neither food nor water for weeks. It felt like I was forgotten.

I grew more and more breathless each day. Weak. Almost dying. And then one day, someone came for me.

“Open the cage.” The voice was bold and dry. The soldiers opened it and a tall, muscular guy walked in.

Almost breathless with my eyes dim, I couldn’t see his face. He squatted in front of me and then his green eyes rang a bell in my head.

“Ro— Rocco?”

“Hello, Ivanna,” he said with zero empathy and a venomous tone that had me shaking more than earlier. “Would you love to come home with me?” He stretched out a hand.

I took it. With no hesitation. I grabbed his hands, relieved that finally, someone was here for me. Someone believed in my innocence. And it was the guy I’ve loved all my life.

“Please, take me with you,” I responded, in tears. But he wasn’t fazed. And he was giving me a cold stare. Still, he helped me to my feet and carried me out of my cage.