Chapter 2 Accused

Callista’s POV With a booming slam, the door flung open, revealing the palace guard. Ahh! What would make Alpha Damian summon us to come out in the witching hour? Lots of questions were running through my mind. “Get up, dunce wolves,” the palace guard ordered harshly. Without thinking much, we both didn’t hesitate to get on our feet as we were led out by the guard. Walking out of the room, all the pack members had gathered in the middle of the pack house. We call it the assembly ground. It is where we always gather whenever Alpha or Beta has important messages to pass along. “What’s happening?” I asked curiously with my mouth wide open. I looked into Dahlia’s eyes, our gazes piercing into each other. She gave me a ‘why would I know look’ which made me divert my gaze from her. As we approached the standing pack members, my heartbeat increased, pounding as if it would explode. “Walk faster!” Enforcer Azura shouted at us. As we got to where the pack members were, I could see they were circular, but what’s happening? As I walked through the crowd, I saw someone lying on the floor, but I couldn't fathom who it was, making me fight my way to the front of the pack members. Damn! Lying lifelessly on the floor was Beta Cassius's sister, Imogen Ironclaw. Just as I was having different thoughts running through my mind, I heard Alpha Damian’s voice. “Who killed her?” Alpha Damian questioned us inquisitively. Gazes travel from one person to the next, all looking at each other suspiciously. “Answer me, now!” A deafening roar erupted from Alpha Damian’s throat, shaking the ground we all stood on. Everyone was standing shakily, and I could see we were all in fear because no one dared to face Alpha Damian’s wrath. "I enjoy watching you all cower in fear. It's all you're good for," Beta Cassius spat coldly at us. He was in a rage. I have never seen him look so fierce. “Since you don't all want to talk, I know what to do,” he said, paused, and shifted his gaze to a guard standing nearby. “Call Shaman Lyra Silvermist," he ordered the guard. I could hear murmuring from the pack members at the mention of Lyra Silvermist. She is the shaman of our pack—a very powerful shaman at that. She has powers ranging from foreseeing the future, reading someone's destinies, healing, shape-shifting, divination, and weather manipulation. That’s all I can remember. In a jiffy, shaman Lyra Silvermist walked through the crowd. She bent down and kneeled beside the lifeless body. Yes, I remembered one of her superpowers. She can carry out the ‘Native Autopsy'; that’s what we call it in our park. She could detect and ascertain the cause of death of a dead body. Within a few minutes, Shaman Lyra Silvermist stood up and walked majestically toward Alpha Damian, squaring her shoulders like an arrogant peacock. “She was poisoned.” She paused and looked back in our direction with a smug look on her face. “She ingested a poison made from wolfsbane." Lyra Silvermist added, bowing her head to Alpha Damian. Everyone was shocked, as gazes traveled from one person to the other, who would have had the audacity to poison Alpha’s only daughter. That’s so cruel. If an Alpha’s daughter can be killed, that means even a lowly-ranked Omega like us is at risk. “Who served Imogen her last meal?” Cassius' question jolted me back out of my thoughts. Why is he asking that? Does the person who served her have something to do with her death? Isn’t the person who cooked the food supposed to be summoned? I was asking these questions, but no one could give answers to my questions. “Are you all deaf?” he asked with a contemptuous tone. “It’s Callista,” I heard Enforcer Azura respond immediately, causing a million laser-like glares to fall on me. “Did you?” Cassius barked coldly, staring in my direction. I could sense he was burning with rage. "I... I didn’t kill her, sir,” I stuttered shakily. “Then, who did?” he asked with a contemptuous tone. “She did." I heard a familiar voice; it was Dahlia's. My jaw dropped, my mind flustered in disbelief, and the only person I confided in was speaking against me. I raised my head and stared directly into her eyes, making my gaze pierce into hers. She gave me a wicked smirk, which made me divert my gaze away from her. “Wicked witch!." I heard a mature feminine voice from behind me. “That was how she killed her mother, a useless late bloomer,” another member commented. Hearing that I had killed my mother made hot tears trickle down my soft cheeks and chin. My heart aches, my shoulder shakes, and my legs tremble. I felt like I could fall if I continued standing on my feet. I regret being born into this cruel world. How would I kill someone I never set my eyes on? Why do bad things keep happening to me? Why was I even created? The tears didn't stop; they kept flowing freely like a river, even though I was trying to hold them back, but I couldn't. I felt like I was stabbed, realizing it was Dahlia who framed me. “You think the crocodile tears you are shedding will move me, huh?” Cassius' question snapped me out of the daze I was in. I don't know what to say to him. Nothing I would say can save me from getting punished. Anyway, I am ready for the worst; isn't it just to get beaten and locked up? “Beta Cassius, Callista even cheated on you with Gamma Maximus." The glares on me were so intense that they could pierce through a tiny piece of paper. “Shut up!” Beta Cassius scowled at Dahlia as soon as she said that; maybe he didn't want other pack members to know he was dating an Omega not fated for him. Is she mad? When did I ever make out with Gamma Maximus? And why is she saying to everyone's face that I am dating Beta Cassius? “Cassius, didn't you tell me you had nothing to do with this weakling Omega?” Alpha Damian asked Cassius with a disappointed tone. “Y…yes si'' Cassius was cut off before he could finish what he wanted to mutter. “Now you see the real devil she is. She killed your sister; sort it out!." Alpha Damian scowled defiantly at Cassius and stormed out of the podium they were sitting on. As soon as Alpha Damian left, Cassius walked up to where Gamma Maximus was sitting. Smack, he handed him three thunderous slaps. “Lock him up inside the dungeon," Cassius ordered the guards, without hearing Maximus's part of the story. I felt pity for him, though, because nothing happened between us; it was all cooked up. Cassius strode down the small staircase to where we were standing. He stopped immediately as he got to where Dahlia was standing. “Throw her into the cell,” he ordered the guards fiercely, pointing towards Dahlia. “Next time, you mind what you spill," Cassius added, as the guards came down and took Dahlia roughly away. Cassius walked up to where I was standing; his facial expression displayed rage, irrationality, and fury. I have never seen the man whom I have found myself to love since my thirteenth birthday look so ruthless. Everything happened so fast. I found my body dangling in the air, my leg shaking, his grip on my neck, my face widening, and my voice caught in my throat. His grip was fierce, and like that of iron, I tried to pull it off with my hands, but I couldn't. Life is slowly draining out of my body as my eyes begin to close slowly. Thud! My body wobbled on the floor, some distance away from him. I coughed, and I knew it was blood. I could feel the presence of my wolf within me; it growled and was trying to fight, but it couldn't. It felt weak. My body aches, making the tears that had stopped earlier flow freely to my cheeks. Other pack members laughed loudly, making tears flow down my face. “You're a waste of space. Our resources are better spent on the stronger ones rather than you." I tried making a connection with my wolf,but she isn’t listening to me. “I break all ties with you today, Callista Stone, Omega of the Wolfsong Dominion pack. I hate that I love you.” My heart ached like a forgotten melody as he spoke those heart-rending words. Gazes fell on me; some looked with pity, while others looked with scorn. I could see Cassius felt betrayed, but there was nothing I could do to prove my innocence. "I…I didn’t kill her; the moon goddess can bear me witness,” I uttered defendingly as tears trickled down my cheeks and chin. He paused, tilted his head, and a smirk appeared on his lips. “Take her deep inside the woods and execute her; go and never return!” Cassius snarled in anger and left the assembly ground. What? He asked me to be killed. What have I done to deserve all this mistreatment? Even though I hated coming into this world, I never wished to leave it so soon and suddenly, not even for what I knew nothing about. *** Deep inside the woods, the two guards walking me out of the palace suddenly turned into wolves.