IVY’S POV
My mother's word echoed in my mind. Run. My legs budged and I began to move away, still staring back at the angry crowd. My heart was beating so fast I thought it might burst.
"Where are you going, little traitor?" someone yelled behind me.
I stumbled backward, trying to get away from all the hate-filled faces. But just then, two of the Alpha's guards moved forward through the crowd. People started pushing and shoving to get closer.
"Move! Let us see them die!" a woman screamed.
The crowd gathered around, making me lost between angry marching feet as they charged forward. People were throwing more stones at my parents. I got knocked around by elbows and shoulders. Someone stepped on my foot so hard I cried out.
"Get out of the way, girl!" a man shouted, pushing me aside.
I was too small, too weak. The crowd was like a wild animal, hungry for blood. I couldn't see my parents anymore through all the bodies pressing forward.
Then Alpha Crane's voice boomed over everything else.
"SILENCE!" he roared.
Everyone stopped moving. The only sounds were heavy breathing and my quiet sobs.
"Traitors," Alpha Crane said slowly, his voice carrying across the entire pack grounds, "are meant to be beheaded."
My blood turned to ice. The world started spinning around me.
"No," I whispered. "Please, no."
"Beheading them is my judgment!" Alpha Crane declared.
The crowd erupted in wild cheers. People were clapping and shouting like they were at a celebration.
"Yes!"
"Kill them both!"
"Finally, justice!"
I froze at the judgment. My whole body went numb. With tears streaming down my eyes, I turned around to see my parents one last time.
My father was still fighting against his ropes. "You're making a mistake!" he shouted. "The prophecy will come true whether you believe it or not!"
"Shut up!" someone in the crowd yelled back.
My mother looked right at me. Her blue eyes were full of love and sadness.
The guards raised their silver blades high in the air. The crowd held its breath.
"Dad, Mom, no!" I screamed.
The blades came down so fast I could barely see the last light in my parents' eyes before it ended. I watched as their heads rolled to the ground, lifeless and still. Blood pooled in the dirt beneath them.
A scream tore from my gut. It was the worst sound I had ever heard, and it was coming from me. I began to shiver at the reality before me. For a moment, I thought it was all a dream but now it wasn't. The blood was real. The bodies were real.
They were dead. My parents were really dead.
"No, no, no!" I sobbed, falling to my knees. "This isn't happening!"
The crowd was cheering even louder now. Some people were laughing and patting each other on the back like they had just won a great victory.
"That's what traitors deserve!" Mrs. Henderson shouted.
I saw the guards look my way. Their cold eyes locked onto me like I was their next target.
Panic shot through me like lightning. I began to run, my little legs carrying me to nowhere. I didn't have a plan. I just knew I had to get away from this place, away from the blood and the cheering and the smell of death.
"Stop her!" Alpha Crane commanded.
"Don't let the traitor's daughter escape!" someone else yelled.
I pushed through the crowd, trying to find a way out. But there were too many people. Too many hands reaching for me.
"Got her!" a guard shouted.
Two strong pairs of arms grabbed me before I could take another step. They lifted me right off the ground.
"Let me go!" I screamed, fighting with everything I had. "Let me go!"
"Stop struggling, girl," one of the guards growled. "You're only making it worse."
They dragged me forward, past my parents' bodies, past the blood soaking into the ground. For a split second, I thought they were going to kill me too. I thought Alpha Crane would order my head to roll next to my mother's and father's.
I was crying, screaming, and struggling against their grip. My throat was raw from all the screaming, but I couldn't stop.
I sobbed. "Please don't kill me!"
The guards didn't answer. They just dropped me to the floor in front of the crowd that had just witnessed my parents' beheading. I hit the ground hard, scraping my knees on the rough stones.
Alpha Crane stepped forward. His massive shadow fell over me like a dark cloud. His yellow eyes burned with anger and disgust.
"She is the daughter of those traitors," he announced to the pack. His voice was cold and final. "She also has to bear the consequences of her parents' betrayal."
Silence filled the air. Even my cries became whimpers as I waited for his judgment. Everyone was staring at me like I was some kind of monster.
"What will you do with her, Alpha?" someone called out.
"Kill her too!" another person shouted.
"She's just a child," a woman said quietly, but others quickly silenced her.
Alpha Crane raised his hand for quiet. The power in that simple gesture made everyone hold their breath.
"So this is my judgment," he said, looking down at me with those burning eyes.
I closed my eyes and waited for him to order my death.
"Take Ivy Thomas, daughter of Thomas and Sarah Thomas, to the forest prison."
Some of the women looked petrified at the judgement, while some had looks of sympathy on, and others satisfied. I had heard whispers about the forest prison my whole life. It was a place where people went and never came back.
It was a place worse than death. The reality hit me hard and I also let out a gasp as I turned to lock eyes with the man who had just passed my judgment.