Chapter 3: SINS OF THE SISTER

The moment she uttered those words, I felt the blood drain straight out of my face.

"No."

That was all I could say.

But the moment I saw the guards walking toward us, I screamed louder.

"Noooooo! Please take me instead. Let my sister go. I’m the one who pushed Gale. Not her."

I pushed Amy behind me as she wept.

I could feel how tightly she was gripping my skirt. Her tears were already soaking through the fabric as I moved from one corner to another, trying to hide her behind me.

Luna Elizabeth’s smile was the worst thing I had seen all morning.

"I know," she said sweetly. "And that’s rather the point, don’t you think?"

I shook my head aggressively, the tears I had fought so hard to hold back now streaming down my cheeks as I pushed Amy further into the corner.

But Luna Elizabeth crouched down slightly, just enough to get to Amy’s height.

I could hear Amy sobbing.

I wanted to hug her and tell her it was alright.

Luna Elizabeth gave her that evil smile she always wore.

"You see, sweet girl. Your sister doesn’t listen when I punish her. She is stubborn. Proud. Thinks she is still someone, even now."

I held my hand protectively against Amy’s face.

"Now, I’ve done my best for you girls. I’ve tried to protect you. Even though I hate humans like you... I did my best. Despite the fact that you’re both a dirty stain on our pack."

I could feel Amy flinch.

I didn’t like her hearing those cruel words.

She didn’t need to hear all of them.

She was much too young for any of this.

"But I’ve learned that your sister listens quite well when it’s you that’s hurt instead."

Amy’s fingers dug into the fabric of my skirt.

"You can’t," I said, and I heard my own voice crack. "She is only seven. She is a child. She didn’t do anyth—"

"She stole!" Luna Elizabeth fired back at me.

"In other packs, the hands of thieves are cut off! You should be grateful that I’m not an extremist!"

She turned toward the guards.

"Guards!"

The guards advanced toward us.

Amy began to shake violently, her sobbing and whimpering now more audible than ever.

"Alex, please don’t let them take me," she pleaded.

I went down on my knees at Luna Elizabeth’s feet.

"Please! I beg you! I am sorry. I would never ever do such a thing again! I’ll never disrespect either of you, nor will Amy make a mistake like this again. Please just let her be."

I looked up at her through my tears.

"Take me instead!"

I didn’t want to believe that she was that cruel.

That no matter how much she hated me or my mother, who had died long ago, she would do such a thing to a child.

She couldn’t be capable of such evil.

I watched her face soften, and for a split second, I believed that she would let us get off the hook.

"Well then, Alex. If you put it that way," she finally said.

My heart eased.

But then her lips curved, and I knew instantly.

"The guards can reduce the strokes of the cane from ten to nine. I’m quite sympathetic, after all."

My heart crashed just as quickly as it had eased.

"No! No!" I wept.

"Take them both to the kitchen yard," she instructed with a snap of her finger. "Let’s see how stubborn she still is after that."

Amy was forcefully ripped away from me while another guard held me back from grabbing my sister.

"Don’t fucking touch me!" I screamed as I scratched and kicked at the guard. "Let me go!"

"Alex, please don’t let them beat me," Amy sobbed between words.

I watched in horror as my sister was dragged out of the pantry and toward the kitchen courtyard.

I was hauled behind her, still scrambling and kicking.

Biting.

Growling.

Screaming.

I fought with everything within my power.

But nothing changed.

I was pressed down by two other she-wolves while my sister was made to kneel.

I kept screaming and begging for mercy, but none of them had anything to say.

By now, a small crowd had gathered.

Pack members came out to witness the scene.

I saw faces I recognized.

People who had been loyal to my father.

People my father had granted mercy to.

Some who had even worked for Amy when she was much younger.

They all stood there watching.

They hated us.

Hated us for being humans to the point that they had no sympathy left in their hearts.

Amy was still sobbing, but much quieter now.

Our eyes locked.

"Look at me, baby," I wept encouragingly. "Look at me. It’s okay."

The first stroke landed.

She screamed.

I screamed with her and struggled to break free, but I was pulled back.

Words came out of my mouth.

Screaming.

Insults.

Pleading.

Everything my voice could manage.

Then the second stroke came.

The third.

The fourth.

Amy’s screams had now become smaller.

Broken with a mix of hiccups and whimpering.

My heart shattered.

I turned my face away.

"Make her watch!" Luna Elizabeth ordered.

One of the guards grabbed my face and pushed it toward Amy so aggressively that I thought my neck would snap.

By the sixth stroke, I believed Amy would die.

Her frail body didn’t seem strong enough to take any more.

By the time the whip went up in the air for the seventh, a loud voice came from the crowd.

"STOP!"

It was Gamma Brennan.

I hadn’t seen him in almost a year.

He had been Father’s Gamma before he died.

After Father’s death, he had rarely ever been in the pack.

He was one of the people I had assumed would protect us.

But he never did.

Until now.

The crowd went quiet.

"Who dares interrupt this—"

Luna Elizabeth suddenly went quiet.

Brennan walked up to her without sparing me a glance, without uttering a word.

Once he was by her side, he whispered something inaudible that I could barely hear.

She looked furious, but his face remained straight.

She turned her face away and sighed heavily before finally saying,

"Let this be a lesson to you."

She glanced at me, still being held down by the she-wolves.

"You’ll learn never to steal from me or disobey my family, because the next time, I wouldn’t be so merciful."

She waved her hand, and the guards let Amy and me go at the same time.

Amy fell to the floor.

The moment I hit the ground beside my sister, I scooped her frail body into my arms.

The crowd began to disperse.

Their entertainment was over.

"I’m here, baby," I whispered into her hair, rocking her as my hands trembled.

"I’m here. I’m so sorry. I’m never leaving you again. I promise."

Amy didn’t respond.

She simply clung to me, silent.