Rei, once known as Queen Reina, opened her eyes slowly and found herself in the dungeon of the palace she once called home. She sat up with a groan, feeling like her body was on fire from the inside out. As her senses were returning to her, memories of what occurred also came flooding back.

After the accusations were made by Shaela, she and Ryan were placed in silver shackles and thrown into the dungeon. Based on how she was feeling, she also suspected that they'd been drugged to keep them unconscious. This fact bothered Rei, because there was no reason to keep them unconscious other than to keep them from reaching out to Aislinn.

With a quick glance around the room, Rei saw that Ryan was in the same cell as her and was still unconscious. Additionally, she saw a bored-looking guard was ignoring her and reading a book. So, she decided to check on Aislinn first, since she suspected that's what they were stopping her from doing originally.

"Aislinn, sweety? Are you alright?" She asked through mind-link.

"Mom! Oh my goddess, you're okay?! Where is Ryan? I've been so worried! Has Gwen found you? What's going on?!" Came Aislinn's excited reply.

Rei winced a little at the energy and volume of Aislinn's response; but, her relief was so strong to know the girl was okay that she didn't bother telling her to tone it down. "I'm fine, Ryan's okay, too. Where are you? What happened to you? Why would Gwen have found me?" She asked, trying to follow Aislinn's thoughts.

"I saw you were in trouble, so Gwen was supposed to find you and help you. Are you safe now? I'm alright now, I'm with the King. We are headed back to the Royal pack now" Aislinn explained, her tone and tempo slowing down a bit once she realized that Rei was struggling to follow her thoughts.

"We'll be okay" Rei replied vaguely, relieved to hear that both Darius and Aislinn were safe and together. "I'm glad you're with the King, and both safe. He's okay? You're okay? What happened?"

"Yeah, I think we're okay. He's carrying me so we get back to the Royal Pack faster with his wolf. How come I still can't reach Ryan?" Aislinn demanded, anxious to hear his voice again, and to get his word that he's alright.

At that moment, though, the guard got up and walked towards the cell. Deciding she needed to be aware of her surroundings, and focused, Rei said a quick good bye to Aislinn and looked up at the guard. Unsurprisingly, she didn't recognize him as a wolf who had once protected her two decades before.

"Time to go" he said, unlocking the cell.

Rei looked over at Ryan, concerned that he hadn't woken up yet. She looked back at the guard with a frown. "We can't go anywhere without my son" she argued.

"Don't worry. You're both headed to Hell together" the guard scoffed.

"We haven't even been judged yet! We're innocent!" Rei insisted, watching as the guard looped a plain steel chain through some hoops that allowed him to lead Rei and Ryan by their shackles.

"Like I haven't heard that before" the guard spat, tugging the chain which caused Rei to topple forward. Beside her, Ryan's unconscious body was dragged forward a bit.

"You bastard! At least let me carry my son" she growled.

"Better move fast then" the guard said with a smirk, turning to walk away at a brisk pace.

Rei tried her best to grab Ryan and carry him; but, with the silver sapping her strength, she just couldn't keep up with the guard and manage to carry her son. It didn't stop her from trying to keep him from being dragged the entire way to the gathering room.

At the large, double-door entry to the room, Shaela's guard stood waiting. In silence, the prison guard handed the lead chain to him, then opened the doors for him.

"Move it" Shaela's guard growled, pulling the chain even harder than the other man had.

Rei stumbled forward, but didn't give them the satisfaction of letting out a sound. She merely followed as instructed into the hot, stuffy room where people were packed in from wall to wall. Ignoring them, she tried to keep her panic down as she realized that this was far too many people to witness a simple trial. Even if it was for treason, most people would wait to attend the sentencing.

In that moment, she realized why Aislinn had been so concerned. There would be no trial, this was an execution.

With new strength finding her from the adrenaline flooding her system, she hauled Ryan up and began trying to rouse him as they were dragged. Shaking, slapping, yelling at him, whatever she had to try to get him to wake up.

None of it worked.

Finally, Shaela's guard stopped where the room parted to make way for a low stage before the crowd. He gave one final tug to pull Rei back to her knees, and attached the chain to a section of the floor. "Bow to the temporary King" he sneered at her while he was on her level.

With a start, she whipped her head up to see who the man had been referring to, and her blood froze in her veins. There, on the podium where the guard was now joining him, stood her former mate.

Derek.

Thaila, who was weakened into silence from the silver, saw her mate and let out a howl of pain from within Rei's mind. Meanwhile, Rei's heart beat quickly and she found it hard to breathe, staring at the man she expected to spend her life with. The man who broke her mind, body and soul.

The man who was overseeing her execution.

Likely ordered through mind-link to be silent, everyone in the room became quiet at once as Shaela's guard stepped forward on the platform. With a loud, commanding voice, he spoke so that all in the room could hear him clearly. "You, Ray Storm, and your son, Ryan Storm, are charged with kidnapping our King, his Royal Highness Darius Lupinus. This is treason, and comes with the penalty of death."

Rei was watching Derek, who stood uncomfortably on the platform. Despite how much he'd hurt her, her heart hurt for him as she watched how distressed he and his wolf were in front of the crowd. She wanted so badly to go and pull him into her arms, and offer him comfort and support. Hearing the charge against her and Ryan, though, Rei snapped out of her daze enough to plead her case.

"My son and I are innocent! My other son has gone missing as well, likely facing the same danger as our King! Please, you must focus your attention on the real culprits!" Rei pleaded, her voice ringing out with more strength than she actually had.

"And what proof do you have to support your claim of innocence?" The guard demanded.

"Proof? What proof do you have to the contrary of our innocence?!" She demanded. "We were in the hallway when you and—"

"Silence!" The guard ordered with a threatening growl. "The King's mother, the King's doctor, and the nurses on duty have all given statements against you and your two sons. Your son, Ash, was back to full health, and our generous, benevolent King was visiting him to discuss an agreement they had made. You and Ryan stood guard while Ash used stolen drugs to attack the King, and escaped by threatening to kill the King if the staff did not cooperate" he explained, more to the room than to Rei.

"That's—" she began to try to argue; but, the guard steamrolled over her words.

"You have confirmed that you have no proof to the contrary. Correct?" He demanded.

Rei gritted her teeth, trying to think of what evidence she could muster against their bullshit story. Unfortunately, given that the story was all a sham, even if she had evidence to offer, she knew it wouldn't help.

"I have no evidence that your story is a crock of—" she began, but was once again cut off.

"Then you, Ray Storm, and your son Ryan Storm, are hereby found guilty of treason! And the punishment is immediate execution!" The guard bellowed, causing the room to erupt into chatter.

"You can't sentence my son to death! He's not even conscious to defend himself!" Rei tried to argue weakly.

Ignoring Rei, the guard turned to Derek and dropped to one knee. "King Derek...Please carry out the sentence. You are our leader, and we look to you to uphold justice!"

Derek looked at the guard, his anxiety at its peak as he knew his wolf was eager to spill blood. His fear was that once unleashed, he'd spill more blood than just those intended. He was shifting his weight from side to side, his eyes flickering from green to gold. Eventually, he shifted his attention first to Ryan, then Rei. He held Rei's gaze for a moment, allowing her to stare into those green eyes that could once see into her very soul, until his wolf finally won out and those eyes changed to gold.

Within moments, Derek was shifted into his wolf, who began to prowl slowly towards Ryan and Rei.