"I want you to come with me to meet someone."

Those ten words were the beginning of my demise. In the past week, Phoebe has been hellbent on proving to me that she has changed. She told the maids to bring me breakfast, clean my room, and attend to my every need.

I didn't trust her, but defying her offer of friendship was only the worst for me. Today, she walked into my room and made her way to the wardrobe, where she picked out a pair of trousers and a blue blouse. Then she told me we were going out. We were going to meet someone she believed I'd like as if she would know what I liked.

I didn't know why I was sitting in this diner so close to the border of the region of Stryde, hours away from home, but I wanted to leave. Yes, life at the staff's quarters wasn't the best, but it was good until Phoebe began intruding on my privacy.

Being out here spelt trouble, and I couldn't wrap my fingers around exactly why. I didn't have to; I was out with Phoebe, which was trouble enough.

After speaking to the tall, handsome, red-haired man in his late twenties with a full beard, who kept peeking at me in a not-so-subtle way, they walked over to where I sat at the diner. The tall, red-haired man had a creepy smile on his face that made my skin crawl.

"Axel, this is Catherina Grey, my sister, and Catherina, this is Axel Hightower." Phoebe introduced us.

Axel stretched his hand out to me. "It's so nice to meet you. Lady Phoebe has been telling me all about you."

I hesitated before handing him my hand, and he brought it up and kissed the back of it. His beard tickled my skin, but not in a good way, and I quickly drew my hand away.

Axel chuckled and glanced at Phoebe, "She's a shy one, isn't she?"

"Until she knows you better." She assured him as though she knew me at all.

I wanted to leave, every fibre of my being wanted to, but I couldn't. Upsetting Phoebe would be upsetting Teho, and I knew how that would go.

"I am going to leave you two to talk," she said, patting Axel's back and smiling at me before exiting the diner.

I almost rose and followed her, but Axel sat across me and spoke. "Lady Phoebe tells me you have yet to find a mate; it's the same for me, so who knows, you might be my mate. My wolf El is growling from within in excitement!" He revealed and licked his bottom lips.

My body crawled in disgust, but I ignored the vileness I sensed in him because I didn't want to cast judgment too soon. "I gather you're not from Kalm; you don't sound like us," I said. I knew this because once, when I was acting Luna, I met different people from different backgrounds in Kalm, and I had never seen him or heard his accent before.

He leaned back against his chair, and his eyes flickered with fascination, "I'm not from Kalm; I'm from Stryde. I'm surprised because you're the first one I've come across here to figure that out. Phoebe said you're a simple girl, but I think there's more to you, and I like that. It's exactly what I need in a mate."

If Mr red-hair-no-sense here knew even a little about mate bond, he would know that wasn't how it worked. Was this Phoebe's way of making up for the years of abuse and maltreatment? By shipping me off to someone who clearly lacked a sense of reasoning?

I rose to my feet, but he took hold of my hand, "Hey, where do you think you're going?" He asked.

I yanked my hand out of his hold, "I'm going to find Phoebe." I said and walked out of the diner. He followed behind, but I gave him no more of my time or attention.

I found no trace of Phoebe or the car we drove here in as I came outside; instead, I saw a fleet of patrol trucks driving towards the diner at full speed.

Good, I almost thought. Then I realised a fleet of patrol trucks is only dispatched when a criminal is on the loose. I wasn't a criminal, and that meant I was with one.

I turned to Axel, only for him to pull me to himself and kiss my lips passionately before running off. I stood stunned and lost with what to do. The fleet of patrol trucks split in two, and a half followed the direction Axel ran through, and the other half sped towards me. I still didn't understand what was happening but knew I was trapped in it.

I saw an enforcer with his gun aimed at my head behind the truck that drove towards me, and I feared for the worse but dared not move.

"Get down on your knees and put your hands behind your head!" The voice of Gerald Smith, the senior enforcer, said through the loud radio speaker on top of the patrol truck as it got closer. "I repeat, get down on your knees and put your hands behind your head!"

I had so many questions, but I knew a silver bullet would go through my skull the next second if I didn't do as commanded.

"Please, don't shoot!" I complied with the instructions and dropped to my knees, holding my hands behind my head and lowering my head. The cars stopped, and the district enforcers ran down and then toward me.

I was trembling, and when they came to where I stayed knelt, enforcer Gerald placed the silver handcuffs around my wrist. "For siding with the known rebel to take down alpha Teho, ruler of the region of Kalm, you're under arrest for the crime of treason." He spelt out my offence.

My heart sank at the sound of the crime. Treason! The only offence apart from murder punishable by death in Kalm was treason.

Tears welled up in my eyes, and I shook my head. "No, no, no, you're mistaken. Listen to me, please. You have it all wrong! I came here with Phoebe, my sister; she knows Axel," I tried to explain, but my attempt at reasoning fell on deaf ears.

I looked around but found no trace of Phoebe, and I realised this was her plan. She had told Teho not to soil his hands up with my blood because she had drafted a plan that would bring about my death, and this way, they would have to sit back and watch.

Gerald signalled to his subordinate, who came and dragged me towards the black truck with a few enforcers still in it, but they didn't put me in the car. Instead, they chained my handcuff to it and made me walk. It was part of the punishment for treason: humiliation parade.

As part of the parade, I was made into a public spectacle, subjected to abuse, mockery and name-calling.

Gerald would make a public announcement in every town we went through, calling me a traitor to my land and people, which would bring the inhabitants out of their houses.

This announcement continued and the dwellers of Kalm came out to curse, laugh at, and stone me. I stopped crying after the second hour because it only made the people rage even more. I showed no emotion, and with every stone thrown at me, I acted as though it didn't hurt.

I knew a few faces, men and women, who I had related to when I was acting Luna. Now, they stared at me with hatred and disgust.

"Shame on you!" an older woman snarled at me and spat on the ground to show her disgust.

I couldn't blame them. This was the punishment for treason, and knowing how Kalm had suffered at the hands of the rebellion, their outrage was expected. Yet, I wasn't the monster they had made me out to be these past few days.

"Traitor!" A middle-aged woman yelled and threw a stone at me.

Ina growled in frustration from within, fed up with the humiliation, and she took over control, pushing me onto the back so that I couldn't stop her. She launched at the woman, pushing her onto the ground and getting on top of her. The silver cuffs broke off the chain and did nothing to subject Ina's strength, and this was my first time witnessing such. The silver cuffs were strong enough to withstand the strength of an alpha, but Ina broke it off as though it was nothing.

The woman lay underneath, trembling, and I could smell her fear at Ina's sudden attack.

"What are you doing? You are only going to make things worse! What have you done, Ina?!" I yelled before taking over control.

I pulled back from on top of her, and she scrambled away. Looking up, I found the eyes of the people standing around the town square, both young and old, and it was now filled with horror.

"She's a monster!" a man yelled, and they ran forward to attack me. I took a sharp breath and prepared for the worst.