The First Stone

MAX

I heard her words, clear as day. 'He was busy raping my sister.' The shock of her statement angers me so greatly that I call out for the guard, fully intent on unlocking this cell and ripping her apart with my bare hands. My brother had no need to rape anyone! He had more females than he could count! Why would he? No! She is mistaken, perhaps she thought he was attacking her sister and the truth was that her sister was a slut.

Suddenly, I picture myself with my teeth around her throat, taking her life like she did my brother's and the image doesn't sit well with me. In fact, my entire body rejects it. My fangs retract and my muscles relax, almost of their own accord.

As Frank, the night guard, heads my way I hold up a hand. "Never mind Frank. It's fine."

She looks at me and I swear she looks so bloody innocent that I would have believed anything else she might have said. She could have told me he was busy catching frogs near the river and she was protecting them from his clumsy hands - and I might have said, 'Well hey, you were ten, so here you go - there's your pardon.' And not for any other reason except that she is exceptionally lovely. I would have freed her. But I refuse to believe this filth. Her lies about my brother and his character!

I glare at her coldly. "Your sister was probably one of his many whores and you, being a child, were confused as to what you saw."

To my surprise, her eyes light with fiery anger and she stalks toward the bars and into the light, giving me a much more intimate view of all the wonders she possesses.

"My sister was not a whore!" she screeches at me. "Your brother raped her!"

"You are a liar!" I shout. "In fact, what is her name? I'd like to go and see her and ask her myself what happened."

Her eyes are still angry, yet they fill with a well of moisture that lends sparkle to the blue of her gaze. "She's dead. Your brother poisoned her as well."

I flinch, thinking for a moment about something I once heard my brother say when he and my father were discussing Internal Defense class. One of the many courses of study a future Alpha is required to take. "Gamma Corlis wants to wipe the entire population of Shiftless from the Rim. He thinks we should poison them," is what I heard him tell my father. I remember thinking how excited Drake looked at the thought of mass murder. It wasn't one of his finest moments. Even my father was unimpressed.

I study the girl and for the first time I realize I don't even know her name. "My brother would never have poisoned a fellow member of this pack. Maybe a rogue, or maybe someone like you, the Shiftless, but even that is not likely. Drake never had need to rape anyone and I’m sorry that you insist that he would. It seems you are determined to die tonight. So be it." As I walk away from her, I step backward, watching her carefully for the last time. Then I stop, noting that she appears relieved to see me go. For whatever reason, it bothers me.

"What is your name, Shiftless?"

She lifts her chin proudly. "Blanca Ceuran."

Ceuran. The name is familiar. Her parents are still alive.

"And your sister's?"

Her chin quivers and I staunch the strange urge to still it with my hands.

"Her name was Reanna," Blanca says. "And she was Shiftless, too."

BLANCA

When Frank and Talbot , the night guards arrive to fetch me, they are much too early and they take me directly to the showers. After allowing me to wash myself they escort me back to my cell, where they force me back onto my mattress and open my legs. I won't let it bother me this time. The pair of them have been taking turns violating me since I turned sixteen. A birthday present is what they called it. So being as this is the last night they'll be able to make a victim of me, I'm not at all surprised. Even though they are both equally matched in size, Frank has always been the more brutal of the two and when his turn comes he makes sure to leave a lasting impression.

Finally, it's close to midnight and time to go. I put on my dress and plait my long hair into a four strand braid, or box braid, which has always been my favorite and am surprised when Talbot presents me with a pair of flat black ballet slippers.

"The Alpha had them sent over for you," Talbot says.

I nod gratefully and we head up a set of stairs I haven't climbed in eight years. I'm giddy when I see it and unable to prevent the smile that spreads across my lips.

Talbot laughs and says, "I've never seen anyone this happy to die before."

I ignore him, because he just doesn't get it. It's not about death, it's about freedom. It's about leaving a world that always saw me as nothing and moving ahead to whatever comes next.

The first thing I notice when we step out into the night is the crickets. Their song, once annoying, is now music to my ears. The moon up above shines bright with forgiveness and for a moment I tremble, hoping the Goddess is watching and will guide my steps tonight.

The air is balmy and warmer than I expected for late fall so I take a minute to study the open space that is studded with trees, enjoying the feel of the wind across my cheeks. The air smells so fresh that I start to wish I'd lied about how I killed Drake. Wondering if I could have come up with something that might have seen me set free. After all, I could sense that was what the new Alpha wanted to hear. He wanted me to tell him something that he could excuse as a child's folly and maybe I might have been tempted to give him that, if the sheer power of his command hadn’t ripped the truth out of me.

But it's too late now. My time is up.

The prison is two miles from town square. The courtyard where all executions and sentences are carried out, is right in the middle. I am surprised to see there is a car waiting to take me to my doom. Such a shame, I wanted a few more moments surrounded by nature.

When the car cruises to a stop behind the square, I can see the place is packed with onlookers. It seems every member of the Shadow Wolf Pack has shown up to see me beheaded. I wonder if my parents are here.

Taking a deep breath when I see the guillotine set up on stage, I settle my nerves and scope out the higher ranking wolves behind a table on the dais. It appears Max is not the only new face of leadership. There is the old Beta's son, Jared, sitting in the Beta's chair next to where Max should be seated... but I don't see him. Before I have a chance to check the other side of the stage where the Elder's table is located, I am shoved out of the backseat and onto the large stone steps.

The hateful chanting is immediate. A roar rises in the crowd when I am pushed up the steps to the back of the guillotine and although I thought I was prepared for this, their thundering hate is frightening. There are so many people screaming I can hardly hear myself think.

"Murderer!" They scream.

"Shiftless whore!"

"Time to die bitch!"

And that's when I see them. My mom and dad. They're near the front of the pack, close to the stage, and despite that I should hate them, tears of longing fill my eyes. They look just like I remember.

Mommy... I search her eyes for any hint of the mother I once thought loved me, I mouth the words, "Mom, I love-"

But I don't get to finish that sentence before the first stone hits me in the face and I drop to the ground with a broken heart.