Chapter 485: Judgement To Be Given

The council hall emptied slowly after that. There was no need to linger, and besides, the elders had jobs to do regarding the court to be held.

Orion was the last to leave, and he immediately made his way to the medical facility to inform Sophia of what was to come.

"You are back," Sophia said to him the moment he walked into her room. Then she paused and observed his eyes. "What’s the issue?"

"Court is to be held publicly regarding what Holly did to you," Orion informed her.

Sophia did not see what the issue was with that. But Orion sighed.

"Okay?" she asked him. "Is something the matter then?"

"Holly is going to be questioned publicly, and you too, shorty. I hate to do this, especially seeing as you just recovered and seeing as your ankle..."

"Orion," Sophia called softly. "It’s okay."

"I’m worried for you," he told her.

"And I’m not glass. I’ll be okay. Everything I told you was the truth."

"I know that."

"And I’ll repeat it in the presence of everyone, Orion. If at all, I’m worried for Holly because as much as she did wrong, I can’t... please don’t kill her, Orion."

Orion stared into her blue orbs. "I can’t promise you she’ll live after this, shorty, but I wouldn’t directly kill her."

Before Sophia could ask what he meant, Cat and Laia arrived. They heard Sophia was awake and decided to come see her.

Sophia’s eyes brightened when she saw them.

"You guys!" she said excitedly, and they immediately rushed to hug Sophia.

"We were scared for a minute there," Laia said to Sophia.

Cat nodded. "Especially after what we heard Holly did to you. Honestly, she’s a bitch."

"A mean one," Laia said with a nod.

Orion took that as his cue. If he stayed longer, then Sophia would ask questions about what he planned for Holly, and while the council was set on expulsion, Orion wasn’t going to just let Holly leave like that.

He immediately excused himself, but Sophia and her friends didn’t notice, and then he was gone.

—

Meanwhile, Brynhild and Mary were in the dungeons.

Brynhild walked beside Mary in silence. Their boots echoed softly along the stone.

Neither of them spoke as they walked.

The guards at the far end of the corridor straightened when they saw them approach.

Holly’s cell was the third from the end.

Thick iron bars sealed the front.

A narrow slit of a window cut into the far wall, letting in a thin ribbon of dying light.

Holly sat on the stone floor.

Her wrists were bound behind her back in restraints, and there was a gag in her mouth. Her wounds had begun to heal, but there were still signs that she had been hurt badly by Brynhild.

Her eyes snapped upward the moment Brynhild stopped in front of the bars.

Mary gestured once, and one of the guards immediately unlocked the cell.

Brynhild and Mary stepped inside. The air in the cell was colder than the corridor.

Holly whimpered the moment she noticed Brynhild and shifted back, as if putting distance between them would save her from whatever Brynhild could do to her.

Brynhild’s silver gaze moved around the cell vaguely, then she wrinkled her nose. She turned to Mary.

"Do you smell that?" Brynhild asked her.

Mary nodded, then wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Yes. Thank the goddess that she’ll be out of here soon."

Mary unrolled the parchment in her hands.

Her voice was calm as she spoke.

"Holly of the Nightshade Pack," Mary began, reading clearly, "you are hereby informed that your judgement shall be carried out publicly, in the presence of the Alpha, the council of elders, and the assembled members of the pack."

Holly shook violently against her restraints.

Mary continued.

"You will be questioned by the Alpha before the court and the pack."

A broken sound forced itself through the gag.

Mary did not pause.

She lowered her gaze to the parchment.

"The crimes for which you will be judged are as follows."

She lifted the scroll slightly higher.

"First, attempted murder of a member of this pack."

Holly’s shoulders convulsed.

Her head dropped forward.

Tears streamed down her cheeks and soaked into the rough fabric of her clothes.

"Second," Mary said. "Deliberately abandoning a pack member to die, when you were fully capable of rendering aid or calling for assistance."

Holly let out a muffled, broken moan.

Her body curled inward instinctively, as though trying to fold itself into the stone.

Mary’s voice did not soften.

"Third, disrespecting the Alpha of this pack."

Holly’s head snapped up. Her eyes went wide and desperate at that.

Mary didn’t even care about all that. She continued.

"For an attempted murder on the Luna of the pack is an attempted murder of the Alpha himself."

The scream that tore out of Holly was raw and violent.

Her entire body strained against the restraints. Her head shook again and again.

She tried to speak, but the gag swallowed every word.

Brynhild spoke then, her voice steady.

"You will be allowed to speak only when you stand before the court, in front of the pack, and in the presence of the Alpha."

Holly’s eyes flicked toward her. They were wide and terrified.

Mary rolled the parchment closed.

She looked down at Holly.

"If you have anyone to blame for what awaits you," she said quietly, "blame yourself."

Holly’s sobs turned hoarse.

Mary’s gaze hardened.

"You are fortunate that you are not being formally charged for crimes against the Alpha for using his name to threaten others... and for lying in his name."

A sharp, broken cry tore from Holly’s chest.

Mary just made a disgusted face at that, then turned away. Brynhild followed her, a smile on her face.

The guards immediately stepped forward as they walked out of the cell.

"Ensure she remains secured until the time of interrogation," Brynhild ordered. "Give her wolfsbane. Just give her enough to weaken her wolf."

The guard nodded immediately.

Through the bars, Holly’s muffled screams rose.

The guard entered the cell with practiced efficiency.

He knelt and forced Holly’s head back. The small vial of thick, dark liquid caught the light.

Holly thrashed weakly as the wolfsbane was administered. She gagged violently and even choked, trying to spit it out.

Her body convulsed as it burned its way down her throat.

The guard released her only long enough to shove the gag back into place.

Her sobs turned thin.

Mary and Brynhild walked down the corridor side by side as they left the dungeons.

—

Time passed slowly. The dungeons sank back into their quiet.

Holly lay curled against the cold stone, shaking.

The wolfsbane worked quickly.

Her limbs felt heavy and unresponsive.

Her wolf stirred weakly beneath her skin, a low, distant whimper echoing through her chest.

She could not shift.

She could barely move.

Hours crept by.

Aboveground, the sky darkened.

The last warmth of afternoon drained away, replaced by the cool hush of evening.

Lanterns flickered to life along the paths and buildings of the pack.

And just when stalls were closing up, the horn sounded. It was a long, single call.

The signal that summoned every member of the pack to the square.