My Beta Mate Locked Me in the Ice Prison for His Mistress

##Chapter 1

In the council chamber, noon sunlight streamed through the towering arched windows onto the long table.

Outside, the heat was oppressive, leaving even the patrolling guards gasping in the sweltering air.

I looked up at my assistant standing by the formation control panel—Mary Bates, a female Omega whose sickly sweet jasmine pheromones drifted faintly through the air.

"Lower the ice formation temperature by one degree," I commanded.

She bit her lip, putting on a look of distress: "Princess, I... I'm very sensitive to cold. Could you... consider my situation?"

My clan guests—all Alpha chieftains from various tribes—were sweating profusely, their fur reeking in the council chamber. If we didn't lower the formation temperature, several elderly elders might suffer heat stroke.

"If you're cold, put on more clothes," I said coldly. "You can't expect everyone else to suffer heat stroke because of you."

Her face paled, but she finally pressed the formation and lowered the temperature.

The next day, Damion Gilliam came to find me.

He was my mate, a Beta from an outside clan who now helped me manage a small portion of Silver Moon's affairs.

"Do you know," he approached me with a dark expression, "because you lowered the ice formation temperature, Mary developed chills and fever last night, her pheromones went chaotic, and she's still receiving IV treatment at the medical hall?"

I raised an eyebrow: "78°F made her pheromones unstable? Then she should have stayed in her den instead of entering the council chamber. This is a place for tribal affairs, not a greenhouse for you to coddle her."

Damion fell silent for a moment, then suddenly showed a faint smile: "You're right—survival of the fittest, natural selection. Kate, you've worked hard. Come, have a drink."

I took the cup and drank it down. The next moment, my consciousness felt like it had been struck by a heavy hammer, sinking into endless darkness.

Cold. Bone-piercing cold shot up from my feet straight to my heart.

I opened my eyes to find myself locked in the Extreme Cold Moon Prison—a place within the clan for punishing traitors and serious criminals. The cold would seal wolf form, suppress bloodline, and prevent even howling.

Outside the cell, Damion held Mary in his arms, looking at me through the ice-sealed silver steel bars with the tone of someone judging prey about to be hunted.

"Mary endured the ice formation for five hours," his eyes flashed with cruel amusement. "Let's see how long you can last in here."

"Yes, sister," Mary smiled sweetly, but her voice was sharp as claws scraping bone. "If you're cold, just put on a coat."

I looked down to see several thin garments carelessly thrown at my feet, covered with frost.

At the same time, the giant crystal orb overhead lit up—every member of Silver Moon City could watch my every move in the prison through its projection.

Floating spirit messages appeared in the air like scrolling comments:

[Oh no, is our princess going to fall?]

[She brought it on herself for oppressing Omegas—karma at last.]

[Looks pitiful, but we can't help her. After all, it's her own mate doing this.]

I laughed coldly, calmly pulling a communication stone from my robes and activating a runic pattern.

"You have thirty minutes," I said to the voice on the other end, "to come get me."

Damion's eyes flashed with surprise, quickly replaced by disgust.

"Stop pretending. Unless you publicly kneel and apologize to Mary, swearing never to trouble her again, otherwise—"

He raised his hand, manipulating the formation to suddenly intensify the prison's cold, "you'll stay here until your bones freeze and crack."

I couldn't help but laugh: "So you're my mate, yet you'd hurt me for her sake?"

Mary's eyes reddened: "It doesn't matter. Who am I to complain? She can do whatever she wants to someone as lowly as me."

Damion was furious: "Kate, your noble birth doesn't give you the right to trouble Mary! You won't leave here until you've stayed for ten hours."

Looking at Damion's cold, ruthless expression, I suddenly thought of all the things that had happened over the years.

The day after we got together, Damion brought Mary back to our tribe. His care for her far exceeded his care for me.

On our anniversary, she got drunk, and he abandoned me to find her.

He frequently came home late, often secretly using communication stones behind my back, laughing and chatting with someone on the other end.

The tribe's speculation about their relationship grew, but he never proactively clarified anything.

Thinking back now, he must have already fallen for her then, while I foolishly continued to trust him.

Seeing my lack of response, his tone grew even colder: "Mary didn't even have a coat back then. Guards, strip off her coat!"