Callista.The castle is silent as if a storm is about to be unleashed on it. As we return, black curtains are already being hung along with black banners bearing the crest of the Rexellen pack on them.Haden and the Beta sneak me into the tower. I’m once again in my old room, which looks the same as I left it. It feels surreal being here, doesn’t even feel like a place I had stayed in. I suddenly recall my room in the Leighwen pack home. Everything that made me Callista was there, probably trashed now that I’d successfully been chased off. This room feels so sterile in comparison, even though it’s hundred percent better than sharing quarters with the maids. At least I have the privacy to break down properly here.“You’re covered with blood from head to toe, it cannot be comfortable at all.” The Beta says, voice paternal and kind. “Take a shower, please, take as much time as you need. I can’t imagine how difficult this is going to be for you. Your previous clothes are in the wardrobe,

Callista.“I didn’t kill her,” I reply, trying not to be afraid. Stick to my truth, Haden told me, stick to my innocence. That was what I was planning to do. If I were to die, I’d die innocent.“I called her parents just moments ago.” Says Theon, sounding far too calm. “They were absolutely heartbroken. They asked me how I let that happen to their daughter after they trusted you both with me.”“I didn’t kill my sister,” I fight against the tears and repeat. Stick to my innocence. I need to stick to the truth. “I had no intention of anyone getting hurt.”Theon goes on like I didn’t speak.“I told them it had been sudden, and I’d told her to stay with the pack. But she’d been too worried. About her sister,” He looks at me, with an expression of a damned man. “Her sister wasn’t even her own sister, really. A girl who’d mistreated her for years, a girl who just recently broke her nose, a girl who tried to seduce her mate.”Is it possible to be so angry at one’s mate? It has to be because

Callista.It doesn’t take long for the funeral to end.“I changed my mind,” Theon’s voice comes, and I look up at him. The crowd had returned to their places, and the time had come for my judgment. I’ve stood tall through the funeral, and now the time had come to repeat it through whatever it is to come.His face is as hard as ever. No trace of forgiveness can be found there. I don’t think any criminal who faced the Alpha King before had been quite looked at this way.My sister’s pyre smoked behind us, ash flying in breeze into the air, filling the whole place with the stink of smoke. My eyes must be red from standing so close to the pyre. I hope I don’t look like I’d been crying.I don’t speak but wait for him to continue.“I’m not letting you mate with my brother.” He replies.I blink at him, trying to connect that sentence with everything going on now. I’m confused, and a little hopeful. Was that the punishment he’d wanted to give me? Was he reconsidering his stance after hearing h

Theon.I’m sitting behind my desk, with my head hung, facing Kellin’s wrath.It’s the least I deserve.“An eighteen-year-old girl!” My Beta thunders, angrier than I’d ever seen him before. “You tried to play with an eighteen-year-old girl’s life. She’s just reached adulthood. She’s not even old enough to drink yet. She should be going to school, not getting caught up in this fucked up situation! And you tried to make a criminal mate with her.”I don’t answer. What can I say to that? The words are harsh, yes, but they are true. I did that. If not for my wolf, I’d have even succeeded.“Bastard.” My wolf snarls inside my head, from behind his usual barrier. It had taken me great effort to break from his hold. Sensing that she was in danger, my wolf had used his maximum power to push me behind the barrier and take control of my body, effectively saving Callista from the prisoners.Prisoners who I’d released on her, who’d descended on her like wolves with prey.I really was a bastard. How

Callista. “We meet again, Callista.”I sit in front of Elias Rexellen in a separate room, staring at the older wolf with equal degrees of fear, pity, and curiosity. I didn’t think I’d get to meet up with him again, at least, not like this.Elias looks alright for a feral wolf. His ankles are still bound to the wall with heavy chains, but he looks showered and groomed, and above all, clothed. He’s wearing a special mask, which was not faulty this time, I made them check that multiple times. He’s weak, I can clearly see it from his hunched posture and the pallor of his skin. If there’s one wolf in this pack that I truly feel for, it’s him. We are both similar in the sense that we’re both imprisoned in this tower because of one man, and neither of us really wants to be here.And neither of us has a choice in this whatsoever.We’re occupying a sitting room in the tower, below both of our rooms. As always, the fireplace is well-lit, and there’s a cup of tea in front of both of us on the t