Chapter 5

Freya’s POV

The memory of that night faded as I was yanked back to the present—standing in the Crescent Court with silver chains binding my wrists, my sentence pronounced, my fate sealed. The taste of bitter injustice filled my mouth as I watched Thorne's impassive face. Three weeks had passed since Kaelin's trap, and here I stood, condemned for a crime manipulated into existence.

The Wild Guardians tightened their grip on my arms, preparing to escort me from the courtroom to begin my journey to the Silver Shackle Prison. In mere hours, I would be on my way to the Forgotten Wilds, stripped of everything I had ever known or loved.

A desperate clarity struck me. This might be my last chance—my only chance—to speak to Thorne alone, away from the watching eyes of the pack, away from Edward Brooks's influence, away from Kaelin's manipulations. A last opportunity to make him see the truth.

"I want to see Alpha Thorne alone!" I shouted, struggling against their grip. "If you don't, I'll make sure all of Moon Bay knows he convicted an innocent wolf! That he violated the Moon Goddess's justice!"

My outburst earned me a hard cuff to the back of my head from one of the guards, but I noticed Thorne pause at the doorway behind the dais. His shoulders tensed beneath the robes, and his head turned slightly, one ear tilted back toward my voice—an unconscious wolf gesture of attention.

"You think anyone will listen to you?" one of the guards sneered as they pushed me down the corridor. "A Riley runt headed for the Wilds? In three years, if you even survive, you'll be nothing but bones and matted fur. Weak little she-wolves like you don't last a month out there without a pack."

I bared my teeth at him, feeling my canines lengthen despite the silver restraints. "I'm stronger than I look."

Something in my eyes must have unnerved him because he took a step back. The other guard laughed.

"Wait," came Thorne's voice from behind us. There was a tightness to his words I hadn't heard in the courtroom.

The guards stiffened, then bowed their heads. "Yes, Alpha."

My heart lurched in my chest, a sharp spike of hope cutting through the despair that had been drowning me. I turned my head, trying to see past the guards to where Thorne stood at the end of the corridor. Our eyes met briefly across the distance. His face remained impassive, but there was something in his gaze I couldn't name—a flicker of the wolf I had once known, perhaps, or just my desperate imagination.

The guards' grip on my arms loosened slightly. I seized the moment, turning fully toward Thorne.

My wolf, who had been cowering within me since the sentencing, suddenly perked up with interest. "He's listening. He's giving us a chance." I tried to temper her optimism with human caution. This might be nothing more than Thorne wanting to scold me privately for my disrespect, or to warn me against spreading "lies" about Kaelin.

"Five minutes," I pleaded, no longer shouting but letting my voice carry clearly through the corridor. "Five minutes to speak to you alone. That's all I'm asking. After everything we were to each other, don't I deserve that much?"

Whispers erupted from the courtroom observers who had followed into the hallway. Mentioning our past relationship so openly was taboo, especially now that I stood condemned. But I had nothing left to lose.

Thorne's jaw tightened, and I saw his chest rise with a deep breath. For a terrible moment, I thought he would refuse, would turn away and leave me to my fate. Then he gave a single, sharp nod.

"Bring her," he repeated, more quietly this time. Then he turned and walked away, his robes sweeping behind him.

The Alpha's judgment chamber was nothing like the public courtroom. Where the Crescent Court displayed power through grand architecture and formal proceedings, this room spoke of personal authority. The walls were lined with books—law texts and pack histories. A massive desk of dark wood dominated the space, and behind it stood the Alpha himself, his judge's robes discarded to reveal an impeccably tailored charcoal suit.

Without the silver-lined robes, his true presence filled the room even more intensely. My wolf recognized his dominance immediately, shrinking back inside me despite my human determination to stand tall.

"You've always been foolishly brave, Freya," he said, his voice quieter now that we were alone. His fingers drummed once on the desk—that same tell from before. "Or perhaps just foolish."

"Why did you convict me?" I demanded, ignoring the proper protocols. "You know I had no reason to attack her. We were about to announce our engagement. Why would I jeopardize everything I'd worked five years for?"

Thorne's jaw tightened, a muscle working beneath the skin. His eyes briefly closed, and when they opened again, they were harder than before. "You still don't understand, do you? Your motive is irrelevant. The fact remains that Kaelin Brooks was attacked. Your claws left those marks on her arm. Multiple witnesses saw you standing over her."

"She provoked me!" I stepped closer, ignoring the warning growl from the guard at the door. "She told me she was pregnant with your child. She said horrible things about my family, about us. She wanted me to attack her—it was all part of her plan."

Thorne closed his eyes briefly, his expression pained. "Freya, it doesn't matter why you did it. The law is clear. Attacking a werewolf during a documented phase episode is forbidden under any circumstances. Even if she provoked you—which I'm not saying she did—it wouldn't change your guilt."

I laughed bitterly, the sound hollow even to my own ears. "So that's it? You throw away everything we had because of one moment when I lost control? When she deliberately pushed me to that point?"

"What else am I to do?" He paced behind his desk, his movements too precise, too controlled. "Ignore pack law? Ignore my responsibilities as Alpha and judge? The facts are clear, Freya. You attacked her. Your claws left those wounds."

"And that's all that matters to you? The physical evidence? Not the context, not the manipulation, not the five years we spent together?" My voice cracked on the last words, betraying the hurt beneath my anger.

His expression flickered, momentarily uncertain before shuttering closed again. His hands clenched at his sides, then deliberately relaxed. "My personal feelings cannot influence pack justice. Surely you understand that."

"Personal feelings?" I echoed. "Is that what I was to you? A personal feeling to be set aside when convenient?"

His eyes flashed with irritation, and for a moment, real emotion broke through his mask. "Not all of us have the luxury of following our hearts, Freya. Some of us bear responsibilities to our packs, our bloodlines."

The words stung more than they should have. I flinched visibly, and his eyes tracked the movement, a flicker of regret passing so quickly across his face I almost missed it.

"What about my family?" I asked quietly. "Why haven't they been allowed to see me? Where are they?"

Thorne's expression grew even more guarded. "Your family's situation is... complicated."

My heart stuttered. "What does that mean?"

"I'll be presiding over your father's trial for pack treason next month." His voice was utterly devoid of emotion, but his eyes wouldn't meet mine. He stared at a point just past my shoulder. "The evidence is quite compelling."

My eyes widened in horror, and I felt my wolf surge forward in protective rage. "Treason? My father? Why? Why are you doing this to a family that was once allied with yours? We were friends—our families were friends!"

Thorne's expression remained impassive, but his breathing had quickened slightly. "The Rileys betrayed that friendship long ago. Your father merely continued a family tradition."

I lunged forward, stopped only by the chains at my wrists. My eyes shifted, human blue giving way to wolf amber. "You're lying! My father is loyal to Moon Bay, to the pack system. He always supported your family!"

Thorne didn't flinch at my outburst, merely watched with clinical detachment. Something in his stance seemed almost reluctant as he said, "Take her to the Silver Shackle Prison." His voice dropped, almost imperceptibly softer. "Make sure she's properly fitted with a moon-silver suppression device before transport."

As the guard grabbed my arm, I locked eyes with Thorne one last time. "Whatever you think my family did, you're wrong. And someday, you'll realize how wrong you were about me, too."

Something flickered in his golden eyes—doubt? Regret? His fingers twitched at his side as if he might reach out. His throat worked as he swallowed. I saw pain there, and confusion, before the Alpha persona snapped back into place.

"Goodbye, Freya Riley," he said softly. "May the Moon Goddess have mercy on you in the Wilds."