Dark Times

Chapter Eleven

The guards led me down to the dungeons, keeping an extra close eye on me. Not because they thought I'd pull something, but because the Alpha had asked them to do so. He thought I didn't know, but very little escaped me. I'd been awake during the early hours of the morning when he'd finally decided it was safe to leave the outside of my room. My guard escorts for the day had come to see him, at which point, he'd told them he had a lot on his plate for the day. He said they'd been personally selected to keep an eye on their future Luna until the execution began, at which point, he'd be taking over.

They glared at the prisoners that dared to look at me. They picked up on their knowing smirks, though the guards didn't know just what they were smirking at.

Until further notice, I planned to keep it that way. Today, everything was set to change.

I stood back as the guards opened Peter's cell for me. They refused to let me out of their sight, opting to enter the cell with me, which meant I'd have to be extra mean.

"Wakey, wakey, rise and shaky." I kicked his side with the tip of my shoe, not too hard though. After the food I'd slipped him the other day, some of his usual red colour had returned to his cheeks, and he didn't look so thin and bony anymore. Werewolves were renowned for surviving the odds as it was, but rogues? Rogues could survive anything. "Get up rogue," I snapped. "You've got a busy day ahead of you."

"What time is it?" He asked groggily, a playfulness in his eyes that the guards didn't catch. A spark of relief, too. Today, the captivity would be over. I needed to shake my paws out too.

"Time to die. Fret not, I got you some food. Consider this your last meal."

I threw the bread at him. Grabbing it, he wolfed it down, sighing in bliss.

Everything was set and ready to go. I'd given my backpack to Trish, who'd taken the chains out of it and handed them to Igor. Everything was perfect. Now we just had to put the plan into action.

"This isn't so bad," Peter said, his shackles clattering as he pushed ginger hair out the way of his eyes. "At least I get to see the face of an angel before I die."

"Smile of a devil too." I turned to the guards who were both very much on edge. "Will you undo these shackles for me?" They nodded. I watched them pardon Peter of his chains before they each grabbed him by an arm.

"So I'm going to brief you on today's plans, rogue, and I expect you to listen. I really don't like repeating myself."

The guards gave him a jostle, as if to emphasise my point.

"Okay, first thing's first, we're going to hype up the crowds with a council speech. You know the typical bringing someone to justice kind of skit. Then you're gonna come out, people are going to boo and we'll give you the chance to say your last words. We'll kill you during your speech and then voila! You're dead. End of the line for you."

"Sounds like a pretty well thought out plan."

I shrugged. "It's standard procedure. Any questions?"

"What time will this be happening?"

"Sometime around one. Now, these lads-" I pointed to the guards that held him. "-are going to take you up to the stage now, where you'll wait for the next few hours. We've got a few more details to finalise, but then this is happening. Understood?"

He nodded. Pleased, I turned to the guards. "Take him to the stage. Keep him there. Don't hurt him, don't let him go."

"Yes Luna."

"And don't call me that."

"But Luna," One of them said, gulping. "We've been given strict instructions by the Alpha not to let you out of our sight."