Yolande Pov
"He's dead."
The words hit me before I even opened my eyes. I knew who they meant because there was only one wolf who mattered to me in this entire world and yesterday I had finally found him. My mate, the one the moon promised me. The one who made me feel like I wasn't just surviving anymore but actually living.
I scrambled to my feet and the dirt beneath my paws felt wrong. Everything felt wrong, the air smelled like death and fear and something else I couldn't name. Wolves surrounded me in a circle and their eyes were full of hate.
"Where is he," I said. My voice came out broken. "Where is my mate."
Nobody answered. They just stared at me like I was something disgusting they found rotting in the forest. Then the circle parted and I saw him, my beautiful mate lying there with his throat torn open and his blood soaking into the earth.
I ran to him. I didn't care about the other wolves or their stares or anything except getting to him. But strong jaws clamped down on my scruff and yanked me backward.
"Don't touch him," Alpha Crane growled in my ear. "You've done enough."
"I didn't do anything," I screamed. I thrashed against his grip but he was too strong. "I would never hurt him. He's my mate, the moon gave him to me."
"The moon made a mistake," someone in the crowd said.
"She killed him because she wasn't satisfied," another voice called out.
"Rogue blood," a third wolf spat. "Should have known she'd bring death."
My legs went weak. They thought I did this, they actually thought I killed my own mate. The one wolf in this world who looked at me like I mattered, like I was worthy of love.
"Bring her before the council," Alpha Crane said. He released my scruff and two larger wolves took his place. They dragged me through the pack grounds while everyone watched. Some of them snarled, others just looked away like they couldn't stand the sight of me.
The council den was dark and cold. Alpha Crane took his place at the center with Delta Marcus on his right. The Beta's spot on his left was empty but then Beta William walked in. His face was tight with worry.
"This is a mistake," Beta William said before anyone else could speak. "Yolande would never harm her mate. I saw them together yesterday, she was happy for the first time since she joined our pack."
"Happy enough to kill when she realized he wasn't good enough for her," Delta Marcus said. His voice was flat and cold. "Rogues don't understand the sacred bond. They only know violence."
"That's not true," I said. My voice shook but I forced myself to keep talking. "I loved him, I waited my whole life for him. Why would I kill the only good thing I ever had."
Alpha Crane's eyes narrowed. "Because you're rogue born. Your blood is tainted and you don't feel things the way true pack wolves do."
"That's insane," Beta William stepped forward. "Alpha please, give her a fair hearing. Investigate what actually happened instead of just assuming."
"There's nothing to investigate," Alpha Crane said. "She was alone with him, he's dead. She's covered in his blood."
I looked down at my paws and he was right. My mate's blood was all over me, but not because I killed him. Because I held him when I found him this morning, I tried to wake him up even though I knew he was already gone.
"Someone else did this," I said desperately. "Someone who wanted to frame me please. You have to believe me."
"The only thing I have to do is protect this pack from threats," Alpha Crane said. "And you are a threat."
"Alpha wait," Beta William said. His voice was urgent now. "At least give her time to prove her innocence. Question the other wolves. Search for evidence, this is too important to rush."
For a moment I thought maybe Alpha Crane would listen. Maybe he would see reason but then he shook his head.
"My decision is final," Alpha Crane said. "Yolande of no pack you are hereby banished from these lands. You will leave immediately and if you ever return we will kill you on sight."
"No," I whispered. "Please no."
"Take her to the border," Alpha Crane told the guards.
They dragged me out of the den. Beta William tried to follow but Delta Marcus blocked his path. I heard them arguing behind me but their voices faded as the guards pulled me farther away. Through the pack grounds again where everyone watched, the forest where I used to run with my mate. All the way to the invisible line that marked the edge of pack territory.
"Go," one of the guards said. He shoved me forward. "And don't come back."
I stumbled across the border into rogue lands. Behind me I heard them howling, like my banishment was something to be proud of.
I looked up at the sky where the moon was just starting to rise. She was pale and distant and completely silent. The same moon who promised me a mate, the same moon who watched while they accused me of murder and threw me away like garbage.
"You did this," I said to her. My voice was barely a whisper but I knew she heard me. "You gave him to me just to take him away. You let them blame me for something I didn't do."
The moon didn't answer. She never did.
I turned my back on the pack lands. On the only home I'd known since my own pack died. On the grave of my mate who I would never get to say goodbye to properly.
As they pushed me into the wild I swore the moon herself would one day answer for what they did to me.