Rhydian's POV

Maddy and my parents are the only ones who came out of this unharmed. Bryn's still sick; when Ingrid thought that Carys had dobbed her in, she grabbed Bryn in the night and left him for dead in a cave. Jana's neck is purple with bruising, Carys too, but at least she got her medicine back. As for me, I have a sprained wrist. We were all really lucky that Tove and Beca are scared of my parents. As soon as they arrived with the pack yesterday, they stopped fighting and we managed to get Ingrid off of Carys.

It was terrifying, I thought she was dead. And suddenly we were back in that hospital room watching her bleed out. Jana managed to wake her eventually, but she was a mess. She won't stop blaming herself.

Bryn's too sick for us to take him home yet so we're stuck out in the wild. And there's going to be a sort of trial, a hearing, and Carys wanted to make sure Ingrid, Beca and Tove wouldn't get away with what they did. Alric is now officially Alpha again, everyone's okay with that. We skipped the ceremony; it was supposed to be a big celebration, but no one was in the mood.

Maddy grabs my hand, taking me by surprise. "The hearing's about to start, you still want to go? Because we don't have to, I'm sure your parents will tell us about it after." We walk back towards camp.

"Yeah, I think we should. We need to be there to support Carys, she might have to speak to Alric about what happened in front of the Elders and the rest of the pack. He might want us to speak too, the more we can do to help, the better," I kiss her and put my arm around her. "I'm sorry about our fight, I didn't mean what I said."

"It's okay, you were upset, I understand."

Everyone gathers in the centre of camp, anxiously waiting. I think back to the time I was the one being sentenced, I was only at the Kronock for a couple of hours before mum came and let me go, but I know how awful it is. They could be exiled too, and I've been a lone wolf before, it's just as bad. But it's hard to feel sorry for Ingrid, Beca and Tove.

The pack are all riled up waiting for the hearing to start. Maddy and I stand at the back with Carys and Jana. Bryn is sleeping in the tent with one of the pack healers looking after him. Mum and dad are crouched at the front. Everyone is chanting and cheering away as Alric walks over with Aran. Aran has Beca and Tove by their collars, their arms are tied behind their backs with thickly woven vines. He kicks them to the ground. The crowd of bloodthirsty wolfbloods cheer again, but we just watch them try to keep what little dignity they have left.

Alric brings everyone to silence, and we can hear them whimpering. "No need to explain why you're here. You've both admitted to your crimes. You both have been revoked of the privilege to defend yourselves."

The pack starts shouting again, things like 'Exile' and 'Kronock' and even 'Kill'. The old Alric might have wanted to kill them too, but he's better than that now. He silences everyone again and begins pacing back and forth, thinking very carefully about how to deal with them. I know what he's thinking; they're strong, they could be useful in the future, but does he want to keep Wolfbloods around that might turn on their own pack? Carys nestles her head into Jana and she takes my hand. When Alric looks at her, she squeezes my hand. She's terrified of the tiny chance he might let them off with a warning, but at the same time I know she doesn't want any harm to come to anyone.

"I sentence you both to the Kronock, for 2 weeks." Some of the crowd cheer, some protest, wanting worse for them. Carys just sobs. Beca starts howling and screaming at the top of her lungs. "No one is to talk to them, or bring them food or water, if they sky wills it, they will drink rain!" The crowd cheer again. "If they survive, we will gather to decide their fate once more."

Aran pulls them off of the ground. Tove cooperates, she doesn't look at anyone, not even Beca who just keeps screaming. Aran drags them past us, and Carys backs away from them, trying to avoid eye contact.

"Carys! I'm sorry! Please don't let him take me there, I can't take it! I can't!" Beca's hysterical. "I'm not strong enough!"

I walk right up to her, face to face, "So, you can torture my sister for being tame, but you're scared of the Kronock? You call yourself a Wolfblood," I growl in her face and she cowers away from me. I feel no sorrow for her, not after all of this.

"Rhydian leave it," Carys yanks me back. "I don't need your protection, they'll get what's coming to them."

Aran pulls the girls off into the woods to tie them to the Kronock.

Alric comes to us. "Are you alright Carys?" He's grown rather protective of her now that he's realised how much she means to Jana. "You don't have to be here for this."

"Yes, I'm fine. I just want to get it over with, so we can figure out how we're going to get my brother home. And she needs to be punished." At that moment Aran comes back with Ingrid tied up. She was sent to the Kronock for the night until the trial began, if she wasn't mental before, she is now. With a sick smile on her face, she doesn't take her eyes off Carys, who can't take her eyes off of the ground. Aran drags Ingrid into the middle and throws her down.

"I think it's safe to say that this was an attempt at the lives of two former heirs," Alric says. Everyone goes crazy, some people have to hold others back from attacking Ingrid themselves. I could kill her right now. But that wouldn't do Carys or Bryn any good. I look back at Carys, Jana's holding her, her head buried in Jana's auburn hair. I can hear her crying. Her recovery was going so well, I worry that all of this has brought her right back to square one.

"Execute her!" Mum shouts. I didn't expect her to want her dead, but I agree, so I can't judge. I don't say anything. I see dad whisper to mum, calming her down. She's red with fury. The crowd's opinion is split, some shouting 'Kill' and some shouting 'Exile'. But at least no one thinks she should get away with just the Kronock. The majority want her dead. Some of them are convincing others to vote to kill. I'm not exactly surprised by this, it's a good thing that they're all trying to be on the same page. It's hard for me to admit that it's wrong to want someone dead, but anyone in this situation would feel this way. At least I think they would.

"I did it for the pack!" Ingrid shouts. The crowd silences, Carys lifts her head off of Jana's shoulder and looks slowly up at her. "She's too human." Something about her reminds me of the old Alric. I glance at him and he looks back at me with regret. Like Ingrid, he used to fear his humanity. Now the only thing he fears is losing his pack, his family, his daughter. It's so quiet out here, you could hear a pin drop. "She's a disgrace to our kind, and you're letting her come in here and taint our pack. Just like Rhydian did, and just like Jana did. Yet you keep bringing them back too."

"I'm done," Carys says, as she walks off to the river. Jana tries to follow her. "I'm fine, Jana."

"That's right, run away!" Ingrid shouts at her, but she doesn't even look back. Aran kicks her to the ground. I walk past the crowd and stand over Ingrid.

"She didn't do anything to you, or this pack. Your problem with her has nothing to do with her humanity, does it? It's your lack of humanity." She looks at the ground in front of her. That's probably the first time anyone has managed to shut her up. I look back at Maddy and Jana. They want justice, maybe even revenge. We all do. I walk back over to them.

"If I didn't have a duty to protect this pack, I'd string you up and execute you myself. But I will not turn us into murderers," he pauses with a sigh, "Exile!" The pack cheer and crowd around her. Leaving Alric and my parents watching as they carry her off into the distance. Usually they just send off the wrongdoer right then and there, but I think everyone wants to make sure she's as far away as possible. I can hear her screaming. Now all anyone can think about is finding Carys to tell her that it's finally over.