Chapter 2

Wynter POV: *My name fell into the chamber not like a stone, but like a single flake of ash presaging a firestorm.* *The ambient noise in the tribunal was instantly vacuumed away, leaving only the crackle of burning candles in the high iron chandeliers and the sound of someone's sharp, indrawn breath.* *The silence was a palpable thing, a heavy cloak smothering the assembly.* Wynter. That was me. The useless Omega. The disgrace of the pack. The sister who was exiled and thrown out into the cold. An Omega was the lowest rank in our society. We were meant to serve, to clean, to be the bottom of the food chain. But I was worse than a normal Omega, because I was hated. I saw Elara's hands start to shake. She gripped the wooden edge of the jury table. For a tiny second, a crack appeared in her cold mask. She closed her eyes. I felt a sudden, familiar pull in the air. She was opening the Mind-Link. The Mind-Link was our telepathic bond. It was a sacred bridge that connected the minds of pack members. A mother could always reach her child through it, as long as they were alive. I felt her mental energy reaching out, searching for me in the dark. I let my soul touch the edge of her Mind-Link. *The moment I did, the connection flooded not with warmth, but with the cold, stagnant memories she had left in the link over the past three years.* *You are a curse, Wynter.* *I wish you died at birth.* *Do not ever come back to shame your sister.* *Her thoughts were not words but barbs of ice, piercing my spirit.* *In return, I let the memory of my last moments-the suffocating despair, the bite of the cold-bleed through the bond. I wanted her to feel it. But Elara's face only twisted in disgust. She did not feel my death; she felt only what she perceived as my own deep, venomous resentment toward our family.* I pulled away from the Mind-Link, shivering violently. *The smooth surface of the Moon Goddess's Mirror first rippled as if touched by water. Then, a noise like a swarm of bees erupted from it, and hundreds of furious messages instantly crowded the crystal screen.* "Wynter is faking it!" a voice roared through the crystal. "She is just trying to get attention again!" "Remember when she pushed Ivy off the Cliff of Sighs? That evil Omega is full of tricks!" I looked at the glowing mirror, feeling a heavy weight crush my chest. They still believed that lie. I remembered standing on the cliff with Ivy. She smiled sweetly at me, told me she wanted to make peace. Then, she grabbed my arm and threw herself backward off the edge, pulling me with her. High-ranking Warriors saved us. But Ivy pretended to be dying, coughing up blood, and pointed her trembling finger at me. Hearing the angry voices from the mirror, Elara's face hardened. The tiny bit of doubt in her eyes vanished. She violently snapped the Mind-Link shut. *The severance was so abrupt it felt like a physical door slamming against my soul.* "You foolish girl," Elara muttered under her breath, completely ignoring my soul crying right in front of her. "Still using dirty tricks to ruin your sister." Elara looked up at Kael. Her eyes were full of absolute confidence. "Wynter stole our pack's treasure before she ran away," Elara said loudly. "She is greedy and selfish. A Rogue could never kill her easily. She is probably hiding and spending our gold." *Kael offered no rebuttal, merely parting his chapped lips to reveal canine teeth flecked with blood. The laugh that followed echoed under the vacant dome, a coarse sound, like sandpaper scraping against the stone walls of the court.* "Gold?" Kael wiped a tear from his eye. "You stupid woman. When I found her in the exile lands, she was starving." Elara frowned. "She was living in the Sunless Forest," Kael continued. "She had nothing. I watched her drop to her knees in the mud, begging a merchant for a single piece of dried meat to feed a sick wolf pup. She acted like a true, pathetic Omega." The hall was quiet again. "She had no treasure," Kael said softly. "She only had this." *Kael gestured with his chin towards a guard. "In the evidence pouch you took from me. Find the small silver chain." The guard hesitated, his gaze flicking to the Chief Judge, then reluctantly rummaged through a leather bag on the evidence table before pulling out a thin, tarnished chain.* Hanging from it was a cheap, cracked moonstone. Elara's breath stopped. Her eyes widened as she stared at the bracelet dangling from *the guard's gloved fingers.* I looked at it too. It was my only possession. It was a coming-of-age gift Elara had bought for Ivy. But Ivy hated the cheap stone and threw it on the floor. Elara had picked it up and tossed it to me like garbage. I had worn it every day since. Elara's chest heaved. Her perfect posture broke for a second. "Send a messenger to Ivy!" Elara ordered a Warrior standing nearby. "Right now!" A few minutes later, the crystal mirror buzzed. An image of Ivy appeared. She looked beautiful, wearing a soft velvet gown. "Mother," Ivy's sweet voice came from the crystal. "Do not listen to the Rogue. Look at this." Ivy held up a piece of paper. It was a supply list. "Wynter took these supplies," Ivy lied smoothly. Then, a magical illusion played in the mirror. It showed a girl who looked like me, drinking expensive wine in a sunny southern pack. Elara breathed a huge sigh of relief. The tension left her shoulders. "See?" Elara sneered at Kael. "A cheap trick." Kael's eyes turned completely black. His wolf was coming to the surface. "You want to believe that fake magic?" Kael growled, his voice vibrating through the stone floor. "Fine. But I am telling the truth to the entire continent right now." He leaned forward, his chains pulling tight. "Wynter spent her last days protecting orphans in the dark. And your sweet Ivy came to the forest, and peeled *the hide from her spine* while she was still breathing."