Two

He ignored me.

Completely. As though my pleas were nothing more than the buzzing of a fly, easily dismissed and unworthy of attention.

Rough hands seized the back of my already filthy, threadbare dress. The fabric—worn thin from years of use—gave way instantly under his strength. It tore with a harsh, ripping sound that echoed louder in my ears than it should have.

Cold air rushed against my exposed back.

I sucked in a sharp breath as shame burned hotter than the chill.

In his hand, the whip gleamed under the dim courtyard light—its cruel length lined with thorns, its body made of rough, unforgiving rope. It was not meant to punish.

It was meant to destroy.My fingers tightened around the front of my dress just as the bodice slipped loose. But I was too slow. The fabric dropped, baring my chest.

A ripple of laughter moved through the gathered men.

Low. Filthy, Hungry.I clutched desperately at what little remained, my hands trembling as I tried to cover myself.

“I want her stripped bare.” Hazel’s voice cut sharply through the air, filled with cold satisfaction.

“Everything exposed.”

My entire body froze.

No… She wouldn’t., Would she?

For a brief moment, the Lycan hesitated. I saw it—the flicker of uncertainty in his stance.

But Hazel had no such hesitation.

Her heels struck the stone as she approached, each step deliberate, filled with authority and cruelty. Before I could react, her hands were on me—fierce, unrelenting.

“Please…” My voice cracked as tears streamed freely down my cheeks. “Don’t do this…”

“Let go!” she shrieked, yanking violently at the fabric I clung to. “Let go, you disgusting wretch!”

I held on.It was instinct.

Desperation.

The last fragile piece of dignity I had left.

But I was no match for her strength—or her rage.

The fabric tore away completely.

And just like that…I was exposed.

Completely.Utterly.

The world seemed to still for a moment before the laughter came again—louder this time, harsher, cutting through me like blades.

I wrapped my arms tightly around myself, trying to hide, to disappear, to become invisible.

It didn’t work.It never did.

I was a slave. I owned nothing—not even undergarments. The dresses I wore were my only covering, and now even that had been taken from me.

There was nothing left Only shame. And them Watching,Laughing and Enjoying.

Then—Crack!

The first lash struck my back.

My body jolted violently as pain exploded across my skin. It felt as though fire had been carved into me, the thorns ripping through flesh without mercy.

A strangled cry escaped my lips.

Warm blood followed almost instantly, trickling down my back.

I had been whipped before.

Countless times.My body bore the evidence—scar upon scar, mark upon mark.

But the pain…The pain never lessened.

Crack!Another lash.

Crack!And another.

Each strike tore deeper, igniting nerves, stealing breath, draining strength. My knees trembled beneath me, my body swaying as exhaustion began to creep in.

Still, it didn’t stop.It never stopped early.

Not for me.Through blurred vision, I lifted my head.

And saw her.Madam Sonia.

Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears, her face turned slightly away—as though she could not bear to watch, yet could not fully look away either.

She did nothing.She could do nothing.

It was the law of the pack.No one interfered with punishment.

No matter how cruel.No matter how unjust,By the time the thirtieth lash fell, I could no longer feel my legs.

My body gave out beneath me, collapsing onto the cold ground.

The world tilted.

Darkness crept in from the edges of my vision.

And then—Warm arms.

Gentle.

Careful.So different from everything else.

“Shhh… it’s alright. I’m here.”

Sonia.

Her voice wrapped around me like something soft—something safe.

A cloth—clean, warm—was draped over my body, shielding me from the eyes that had devoured my humiliation moments before.

“Get up and serve me, you lazy swine!”

Hazel’s voice snapped through the fragile calm.Something in Sonia shifted.

“Can’t you see she can barely move?” Sonia’s voice was sharp now, edged with anger she rarely allowed to show.

“And how is that my concern?” Hazel shot back, her tone dripping with disdain. “My engagement to Alpha Darius is approaching. Preparations must be made.”

“I am taking Seraphine with me,” Sonia said firmly. “She needs treatment.”

“I said I am not done with her!”

“Then take it up with your mother.”

Silence fell.Heavy.Tense.

Hazel looked ready to explode, her face twisted with fury—but for once, she held back.

She said nothing more.Strong arms lifted me from the ground, careful but unfamiliar.

The last thing I felt was the steady rhythm of movement.

Then darkness claimed me, Warmth.

That was the first thing I noticed when I woke.

Not pain, Not cold but Warmth.

“Don’t move, dear.”

Sonia’s voice was soft, soothing.

I blinked slowly, my vision adjusting. I was lying face-down, my back exposed as she gently tended to my wounds.

A damp cloth pressed lightly against my skin. Pain flared.

I gasped.

“Hush,” she murmured, smoothing my hair. “It will pass.”

Tears slipped silently down my face as I stared ahead, my mind drifting.

Eighteen years ,eighteen years of this life.

No laughter, No family and No future.

Only suffering and survival.

“That girl…” Sonia muttered under her breath. “One day, I might forget myself and strike her.”

“You shouldn’t say that,” I whispered weakly. “What if someone hears you?”

I couldn’t lose her.

She was the only one who had ever shown me kindness.And kindness… was dangerous.

I had learned that lesson early.

When I was four, an omega had given me food.

A simple act of kindness He lost his hands for it.

After that, no one came near me Not out of hatred but out of fear.

“I am not afraid of them,” Sonia replied quietly. “But I am tired of watching this.”

I said nothing.

Because I was tired too.

She reached for a small blade and, without hesitation, sliced her palm.

My eyes widened. “Why—?”

She pressed her bleeding hand against my wounds.

Pain surged instantly—sharp, burning, unbearable.

I screamed.

But she held me steady.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “This will help you heal faster.”

Slowly… the pain began to fade.

Her blood Healing, I didn’t understand it fully, but I knew it was rare.

Special And dangerous.

“I had to,” she added softly. “The wounds were too deep.”

Before I could respond, bells rang out across the castle Loud and Commanding.

Sonia stilled.

“The Alpha has returned.”

My breath caught.

Fear curled tightly in my chest.

A man who had never once claimed me as a family

Never once looked at me.

To him, I did not exist.

From the shadows, I had watched him stand proudly with his family—his true family.

Luna Zoran.

Kaelion.

Hazel.

I had once dreamed of standing beside them.But that dream had long since died.

“They say he lost,” Sonia murmured.

I froze, lost ?

Alpha Feal? Impossible.

“He was defeated by the Blood Moon Pack,” she continued. “By Aurelian.”

The name lingered in the air.

Heavy.

Unfamiliar.

Yet… it stirred something within me.

“The boy whose family Feal slaughtered,” she added. “He has returned.”

Not as a boy. But as something far more dangerous.

In the throne room, Alpha Feal paced like a storm barely contained.

Rage radiated from him, thick and suffocating.

Defeat.

The word clawed at his pride.

For forty years, he had been unstoppable.

Untouchable.Feared by all.

And now—He had fallen.

Not to an army.

Not to a seasoned rival.

But to a boy he had once deemed insignificant.

Aurelian.The child who had watched his family die, The child who had survived.

And now…

The man who had come back for revenge.

Feal’s jaw tightened. This was not over, Not by a long shot.