Violet sneered. She knew that Ken's decision would be in her favor after all it was not just Ken, but also her parents who hold the decision-making power.
Ariel stood there with no hope.
Ken announced, "So, I have arrived at the decision that Violet is innocent and Ariel is the culprit. Her actions and words have maligned the reputation of the Red Moon Pack, so I on behalf of the directors of the Red Moon Pack declare her as the culprit. She will be carrying out extra duties and this is just a small part of her punishment."
Ariel stood there; her eyes glued to the desk in front of her. She didn't bother being punished. All her life, she had been punished and this was nothing in front of what she had suffered.
Ken took an elongated pause and stared at Ariel with squinty eyes.
Violet was thrilled to see a dark expression descending on his face and thought, "This bitch is going to be punished gravely! Come on Ken drop the bombshell!" Her eyes were sparkling with wickedness.
Ken finally dropped the bombshell. "To make sure this heinous offence is not repeated by you or any of the werewolves of the Red Moon Academy, I will give you the black star, Ariel!"
Ariel was horrified. Her low head rose to have a look at Ken. Her motionless body a few moments ago was now back as if she was electrocuted. Ariel got afraid of seeing not even an inch of emotion in the old Ken's face.
Ariel stuttered, "No, no! You can't do this! Please, don't!" Her plea was met with no response.
The fearless Ariel got scared on hearing about the black star. The black star was a mark given to those werewolves who commit a heinous offence. The star marked the beginning of all sorts of problems in a werewolf's life.
In Ariel's generation, there were about 100 werewolves and no one received this star. She was the first one to get it. Getting a star meant inviting problems on a daily basis, losing power that you possess, and the intensity of blackness that would darken your life was something that only time could say. All the werewolves tried to keep themselves away from this mark because werewolves with stars were looked down and harassed by the pack members.
Ken unbuttoned his blazer providing him some space to breathe.
He said, "Mrs. Powell, please bring in the star box!"
Mrs. Powell nodded and left the room.
Ariel folded her hands and begged, "I am sorry, sir! Please don't punish me! Please, sir!"
While Ken was ignoring her words, Violet was laughing at her. Never in her life, has Ariel was stuck in such a helpless situation.
Mrs. Powell came inside with an ancient box of green color. She placed it on the desk. The dust particles from the box settled on the clean glass rendering it dirty. From the state of the green box with a black gemstone at the center, Ariel could make out that the box was generations old and was not used for a long time.
Mrs. Powell took a step back and Ken opened the green wooden box open. A thin black smoke was coming from the box and the smell of coal hit Ariel's nostrils. The room was getting smoky and Ariel was finding it difficult to breathe. Violet had her mouth covered with a handkerchief.
Soon, Ken took out an iron rod from the box that had a black star on the one end. As he slowly took out the rod, the fire flames went high scaring Ariel. Ariel started walking backward.
Her eyes were teary and she shook her head and stuttered, "No! No! Please don't do this to me!" She squeaked, "NO!"
Ariel almost reached the door to run away, but Mrs. Powell grabbed her. Grabbing her arm, she dragged her back to the center.
After taking out the small rod completely out of the box, Ken shoved it inside and the flames of fire were heating up the star.
For almost half a minute, the star was kept inside among the flames of fire. Next, Ken took it out and slowly made his way toward Ariel.
Ariel screamed for help, "HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME! PLEASE HELP ME!!"
Her voice was strong enough to pass through the door and might have even fallen on someone's ear, but nobody had the guts to help the she-wolf who was being bullied and tortured.
The smoke emitted by the iron rod was scaring her out of her wits and she tried to juggle herself free but in vain. Mrs. Powell outstretched Ariel's hand and there went Ken shoving the hot iron star on Ariel's hand and she screamed in pain causing Violet to close her ears.
Ariel's breathing went haywire on being smashed by the hot iron rod. After one-half minute, the rod was averted and Ariel could see the black star in her hand. Her hand got swollen on being shoved by the hot iron rod which could have killed a living being other than a werewolf. So was the torcher inflicted on her. Ariel cried. Her tears didn't melt anyone's heart inside.
Soon, Ken said, "Now, leave!" Holding her left hand which was triggered with pain, Ariel walked up to the door.
Before she could reach the glass door, Violet obstructed her.
With a sneering smile, she grabbed the handle of the door and said, "Let me open it for you, Ariel!!" She clicked her tongue, "Oh sorry! I mean dear culprit!"
Ariel glared at her, but the pain was more than the anger. She kept quiet as Violet opened the door for her and they both walked outside.
Violet poured out bitter words and had a cunning smile on, "Ariel, with this star of yours, you have invited problems to become Luna of our pack! You have reduced your chances of becoming Luna because of this black star!"
Violet deliberately pressed the wound sending pain all over Ariel's body and said sternly, "You have invited huge trouble. This one star will ruin everything in your life starting off with you being kicked out of the Luna Race and also out of the Red Moon Pack!"
Ariel was gobbling in fire from within and badly wanted to fight back but the pain was unbearable for her to punch Violet again.
Soon, Ariel started feeling dizzy. Her eyes gave her a blurry vision and her eyelids became heavy. Violet smirked and her violet eyes treated Ariel with a dark emotion before moving ahead.
Violet stopped all of a sudden as she heard a thud. Violet turned around and gasped at seeing Ariel passing out on the floor. She was stunned, "Ariel!!!"