LARA'S POV

"What do you mean you didn't kill him?" Alpha Jerry stood over his brother's still body on the floor, his voice a low, dangerous rumble that shook the very air. He knelt, his large hands checking his brother's pulse, his gaze sweeping over Max's empty eyes. He looked up at me, his face a mask of terrifying fury. "What have you done to him?" he cried, burying his head against Max’s chest. I could only shake my head, tears streaming down my face. My pleas were silent, stuck in my throat, but Henry’s voice filled the void, poisoning Jerry's mind. "She must have done something to him," Henry insisted, his words dripping with venom. "Max was strong yesterday; he couldn't have just died." "Get this evil woman out of here and throw her in the dungeon," Henry ordered the guards, who had rushed in the moment they heard the Alpha's scream. I was dragged away like a common criminal, the chains on my wrists and ankles biting into my skin. I was thrown into a cold, dark pit, and the heavy cover slammed shut above me, plunging me into complete blackness. I didn't know how long I would be there or if I would ever be free. At that moment, I didn't even care, as long as I could see Alpha Jerry's face one more time before I died. Then I heard her voice, a chilling sound from the world above. "Your birth made Mom very sick," Eveline said, "and that sickness led to her death." "Bring my cursed sister out," she commanded. "I need to look into her evil eyes." The pit's cover groaned open, and I was pulled from my suffocating prison. "Dad, Mom, and now your husband—they all died while with you," she began, her words like sharp blades. "You are cursed, and I don't know why you're related to me." She spat on my face, a final act of utter contempt. She pointed a finger at me, her face twisted with malice. "Pray that Alpha Jerry doesn't hate me because of your bad luck." Eveline had always been obsessed with Alpha Jerry. A picture of him hung in our house, a cruel reminder of her relentless ambition. I had never stopped to wonder why she liked such a heartless man. Jerry had been away fighting a brutal war between the Blue Moon Pack, the Sunlight Pack, and our own, the Glitters Pack. We had won, and he had returned a hero. Henry had begged Max to postpone the wedding until Jerry's return, but Max refused. I knew why. I had told him that if he so much as laid a finger on me before we were wed, I would kill myself. The fear of that made him agree to wait. For that reason, he insisted the wedding must go on. "Can I go?" I asked Eveline, my voice a hollow whisper. I couldn’t stand her presence for another moment. The pit felt more peaceful than being with her. "You can go," she snarled, "but you'd better pray to the goddess that Alpha Jerry marries me, or I will kill you myself." She was about to push me back into the pit when she added, "The funeral is tomorrow. It breaks my heart that I have to stand next to you during the cleansing ceremony." A date was already set. I wished I could see Alpha Jerry again. The last time he walked past me, I had felt a strange, undeniable connection. He was my fated mate, but I pushed the thought away. It was impossible. Eveline wanted him, and I was the widow of his dead brother. I had asked the goddess countless times why I was created, but I had never received an answer. My sister roughly shoved me back into the pit. That night, Henry came to the pit to speak to me. I had always known he liked me, but not in the way he wanted. We had been childhood friends until he ruined our friendship by asking for sex, which I refused. "Only I can save you," he said, his voice a low hiss, "but you have to agree to marry me." I'd rather die than be with him. I told him as much, and without a second glance, I jumped back into the pit. The next morning, a black silk gown was thrown into the pit. A servant ordered me out, and I climbed the old, creaking stairs, my hands and feet chained. I was dragged like a criminal, and the crowd screamed, "Here comes the murderer, the evil and cursed woman!" I had cried so much for Max that my eyes were dry. There was no point in crying; it wouldn't bring him back to life. "Take one last look at the body, as our custom requires," a chief said. Despite his politeness, I could see the pain in his eyes. I nodded and moved toward his body, the tape on my lips silencing my voice. In my heart, I prayed that he would somehow tell his brother I was innocent. "Please, appear to him in a dream and tell him I am innocent," I pleaded silently. "She is taking too long! Get her out of here!" Henry said, and I was dragged out of the room, my body scraping on the floor. Outside, a crowd was waiting with stones in their hands, their eyes red with anger. I tried to speak through the tape, but it was just a low hum no one could understand. "We don't need to cleanse her; she should be stoned to death," Eveline urged the crowd, encouraging them to kill her own sister. How could she hate me so much? The first stone hit me on the forehead, and blood streamed down my face. Another hit my back, and then my face again. I lost count of the blows and stopped trying to dodge them. It was useless; they never missed. "Stop right now! Let the girl be," a voice ordered from a distance. The familiar voice froze the crowd, and a sudden silence fell. I looked up and saw Alpha Jerry walking toward me. "I don't think she killed my brother," he said, his words cutting through the tension like a knife.