The Shattered Princess

e was only silence. The room was dark

wn heart beat and shallow breathing. No movement

o empty and cold. A place she didn't belong to, but

r. Her work was not done.

he side of the bed and tried to stand. But the moment her feet touched the floor, her knees buckled, and the sound of skin hi

so long, that her muscles w

floor she was on was dead quiet. The lights were dimmed to the glowing luminescence of a candle. She st

s eerily empty. There was no one within close vicinity. No doctors nor nurses near

oice rasped, d

y all forms of lubrication in her throat. Ayla licked her lips but found no relief. She needed comf

e followed the sound, wondering why so many heartbeats were in one area. W

e louder the voices gr

what he's say

ce points to that.

ean immediate

her voice breaking with des

bunal, L

the meeting hall, she caught sight of the court. The vast room

es her, her mother had a look of anguish in her eyes, but her face betrayed no strain. She saw her unc

, her grandparents, who held rigid and cold e

r. She could hear each one of their heartbeats lou

gentle rhythm to them. United. One body, many souls. It was beautiful.

," a voice said, harsh and unyiel

lnerability. It was rare for him to speak up. As the runt of his family,

he never has been, and she neve

t a threat?" Her uncle said. "She took out

another voice added. "We all felt it. T

what she could do. How could we even

old and disdainful. "Are you hiding a child of Lycaon?

as if to shield himself from the pack's collective gaze. She saw h

"Please, she's my only daughter. My child. She is no

ned unreadable, but the weight of

her father's voice, knowing the entire pack was enjoying his humiliation. But she also didn'

red. "If the tribunal decide to terminat

s of this pack," her mother pleade

incess, Danna," Tau sne

er princess? Confusion twisted in Ayla's che

open, she stepped into the hall. The creak ech

eyes locked on her frail form, but Ayla's f

sped, rising from her

eel the suppressed sobs in her mother's chest as she held back her tears. She re

, her voice shaking with relie

. Sol rose from his seat. The room shifted, an invisible weight pressing down on everyone present.

one of them muttered,

tiffened in his seat, his gaze narrowing as he studied his youngest son. For the first time, true power radiated from Sol-raw, unyielding, and

ickly returned to his daughter. He strode across the hall with pur

ng, collapsed into them, the strength she had managed to gather weak

ce the court, his gaze fierce. His brothers, once so scornfu

arrival of the tribunal in three days," Sol announced, his v

nd. Sol bowed his head to the Alpha King then left the hall with his wife by his side and his

yed besides their uncles, watching th

King remained seated, his expression unreadable

w lay in the hands of the gran