Chapter 2 Crucify Her

Lyla’s pov “Who’s that?!” Jason yelled, his face void of emotions. “It’s Beta Derek.” Jason smiled before telling him to come in. “You’re right on time, Derek. Tell Lyla here what you did to her father” Jason continued, a soft smile playing on his lips. I took turns to look at Jason and Derek, completely scared of what Derek’s next words will be. Derek looked a little uneasy as he stared at Jason, surprised at his last statement. “You can tell her.” Jason wiggled his hands in the air, his face stoic. “The deed has already been done, she knows everything” Jason smirked. The calm-looking Derek immediately changed his form, laughing mischievously as he turned to me. “Should I start from when I first poisoned him or when I strangled him with my bare hands because he was taking too long to die?” Derek laughed mockingly and Lucia joined him. How could they be this heartless! Derek reported to the elder’s of the park that my father died of a heart attack and no one queried him as he was the head beta and the most trusted servant of the Shadow pack, unknown to everyone that he killed him? I fell flat to the ground, hot tears streaming down my cheeks like a volcano eruption. These were the people I called family. How far does the betrayal even cut, who else was involved in this?! With so much rage in my heart, I held Derek by the collar of his shirt, my eyes were blood red with veins popping out of my head. “I’ll make you pay for this, Derek!” I cleaned the mucus that was sliming down from my nose. “I’ll make all of you pay for everything you did to me, you watch out!” I cried out, my fist clenched but they weren’t threatened. It was like a giant being threatened by a toddler. They were giants and I was the toddler. “You should be more concerned with yourself than these empty threats Lyla. You will be dead by the time the moon falls tomorrow.” Jason laughed, he grabbed the glass of water on the table, sipped it and continued. “The guards will be here in 3, 2,…” before Jason finished counting, some palace betas stormed his chambers. They were there to arrest me. They dragged me to counsel like a common criminal and Jason did nothing to stop them. He watched in uttermost satisfaction. The videos were everywhere and I had no proof. It was just me and my unborn baby against the pack. While they dragged me away, my pregnancy test results fell from my hand and it was immediately trampled upon by the agitating crowd and I couldn’t reach for it. For ten nights I was locked in the dungeon, the same place they locked high ranking murderers and thieves with no food and water. I cried till there were no more tears to spill, I feared gravely, not even for me but for my child. All my efforts to prove my innocence fell to the ground. I tried running away several times but there was no escaping for me. Jason made sure of that. He instructed over fifteen guards to watch me and they made sure that I didn’t see the light of day, talk more of having a chance to run away. My stomach was hurting really badly, I had not had any good meal since I was apprehended. All these were Jason’s doing. Everything began to make sense to me, my father’s death and how I met Jason, even the time he convinced me to hand over my pack to me. On the night that my father had died, he was with beta Derek when I went to visit him. He seemed like he wanted to tell me something but Derek immediately interrupted him, saying that he was too weak to talk and that the doctor said he should rest. I noticed an unusual expression on Derek’s face but I read no meaning to it. The moment I opened the door to leave, I bumped into Jason. It was as though he was eavesdropping on our conversation. He shoved my suspicions away with claims that he had come to escort me to my chamber. I looked at his hand and noticed something in it, a small bottle. It was like a concoction but I paid no attention to it. How was I so careless! The day for my hearing came and all the elders assembled in the palace court. Jason spoke first, expressing his grief after he saw the video of his wife with another man in bed. “I never thought she could betray me like this.” He said, his eyes red, but it was all fake. Everybody in the court attested to watching the video. “She’s a shameless whore and we need to put her in her place so others will learn.” Someone echoed from the crowd. Other witnesses spoke, and they all spoke in favor of Jason while Lucia just sat down crying. But it was all fake. No one dared to confront Alpha Lorenzo about this, everyone dreaded him. The only person who knew the undoctored truth of what happened on my birthday celebration when I went to greet Alpha Lorenzo, was my personal maid, Hannah. So when she was called out to tell her own part of the story, I felt a little relieved. At least someone will be on my side. “I was with Luna for a while when she suddenly departed from me and went into the guest room where Alpha Lorenzo stayed.” Hannah’s confession stabbed me even harder. “That’s a lie Hannah, even you?!” I choked out, I couldn’t stand Hannah’s betrayal. She had been my maid since I was twelve, how could she? “Jason is a traitor! He framed me up! He’s not who you think he is! He killed…” Derek landed two heavy slaps on my face and I immediately fainted. I was already too weak, everything was happening too fast and there was no one to save me, even the moon goddess had forsaken me. The punishment for my offense was death by hanging and from the way the court hearing went, I definitely was going to die by moon fall tomorrow, just as Alpha Jason had said it. I was taken back to the dungeon while they waited to kill me. It was time for me to go, I could feel it. For a moment I thought to tell Jason of my pregnancy, but of what use would it be? After all, he was after my life. There was no strength left in me again, at this point, dying was not just the best option for me but the only option. Even if they spared me, I would still be a laughing stock in the pack. The next day, the guards took me to the park's graveyard where I’ll be hanged to die a painful death. They tied my hands and my neck with a big rope, connecting the rope to the top tree branch, as they waited for the final command from Alpha Jason to release the rope. “Release!” Jason commanded with no mercy and they let go of the rope. I struggled to breath but there was no escaping from these gigantic ropes wrapped round my neck. Oh! Lyla! So this is the end? I prayed that the moon goddess would find me worthy of another life and I swear, I’ll make them pay! All of them! My body slowly gave in to the strength of the rope and gradually, darkness erupted me and I gave up the ghost. ******* The next day, Lucia had stepped out of the house to do her morning ritual as usual when she found a roughly tossed envelope on the floor. She anxiously opened it, it was Lyla’s pregnancy test results. “Lyla was pregnant?” She screamed, using her right hand, she covered her mouth. The feeling of guilt washed over her for a moment but she shook it off. Her parents told her about the story behind her birth, how her mother’s life was constantly threatened before they finally killed her, so knowing that she had just done the same thing to this poor child, made her feel guilty. With the test results in her hands, she hurriedly went to the graveyard where Lyla was killed but couldn’t find her body. Fear gripped over her as she quickly ran to inform alpha Jason. “I’m just coming from the graveyard Jason, Lyla’s body is nowhere to be found!” She Explained, her voice raspy and breathy. “That’s impossible!” Jason groaned angrily, he told her that he wanted to see things for himself, so they quickly went back, with alpha Jason in the front. They both got there but still couldn’t find her body. He immediately informed the guards and they searched everywhere but still couldn’t find her. It was then that it dawned on him that there was trouble on the mountain!