"Could you please disregard my father's orders this once? You don't have to strip me! Just wash my face with water so I can open my eyes again," I implored as my feet touched the bathroom floor.
"We never intended to follow his commands. We won't do that," one of them assured me, and I let out a sigh of relief.
I had never expected anyone to show me even a glimmer of compassion. They promptly poured a full bucket of water over my face and handed me another to rinse off the stew splatter that had covered it.
I quickly washed my eyes thoroughly until I could finally open them again. Though the stinging pain persisted, I was overjoyed that I could see.
I turned to the guards with a grateful smile and was about to thank them when I heard the bathroom door creak open. Betty stood in the doorway with an angry expression.
"You defied my father, the Alpha!" Her voice echoed through the walls, and the bodyguards immediately fell to their knees, pleading with her not to report them. They were all visibly terrified, trembling uncontrollably.
"Do you see what you've put them through? Death! No guard disobeys the Alpha; you've jeopardized their lives!" She shouted, and I stood there, transfixed.
"Please, Betty, just this once. Spare them, I beg you. You can punish me, but don't drag innocent lives into my miserable existence."
"Nothing will prevent me from reporting this to my father! I'm glad to have a witness here!" She declared, and I noticed Gemma standing beside her, smirking and taunting me as she entered, her royal robe swaying elegantly.
Anger surged within me as our eyes locked. It was my mother's finest robe, a symbol of her status as the Luna, adorned with sparkling gems and exquisitely designed. Seeing this demon, Gemma, wearing it as Luna filled me with frustration, but I could only simmer in sadness because there was nothing I could do.
"Please, Luna, we..."
"Strip her now, and we'll all watch!" Gemma ordered, cutting them off as she giggled and draped her arm around Betty's shoulder, her gaze filled with smug satisfaction.
"Nothing will ever deter me from informing my father! I'm relieved to have a witness here!" She exclaimed, exhaling sharply. I glanced beside her and noticed Gemma, who was strutting in with a royal robe, snickering provocatively at me.
A surge of anger coursed through me as our eyes locked. The robe, a symbol of my mother's dignity as Luna, was adorned with sparkling gems and exquisitely designed, making it truly exceptional. Seeing this demon, Gemma, wear it as if she were the Luna frustrated me, leaving me with nothing but a sense of despair.
"Please, Luna, we..."
"Strip her now, while we all watch!" Gemma ordered abruptly, interrupting them with a gleeful tone as she draped her arm around Betty's shoulder, wearing a smug expression while staring at me.
My brow furrowed in disbelief, questioning whether I had heard her correctly. Perhaps my ears had misinterpreted the sound, or my brain had failed to process the message accurately. It couldn't be true.
"Do it now," Betty chuckled, pulling out her phone.
The guards, acting impulsively to save their lives, stood up and turned towards me, their stern expressions indicating that they wouldn't heed my pleas this time.
"We're sorry, but we have no other choice," one of them muttered as they advanced.
"Betty, are you really going to...expose my naked body?" I stammered, witnessing her aiming the camera of her phone at me.
Tears pricked my eyes and streamed down my cheeks as I pulled my feet back, praying it wasn't what I was thinking.
Gemma broke out laughing, and Betty smirked and gave me that smug smile.
"My friends at school would love to see your naked body! Maybe it will persuade some boys in my class to have you for a night, poor princess," she groaned mockingly, a sneer on her face. I almost puked because what she just said sounded terrible and nasty.
"Don't you dare!! Don't ever touch me!" I warned the royal guards, but their eyes merely glazed over as they continued as if I hadn't said anything.
I attempted running, but I couldn't get more than three steps away before being tackled and smashed against the wall. The three guards were now vicious and deaf to everything I said. Two grabbed my hands and legs with their massive arms, pinning them so tightly that I couldn't move them.
The last one grabbed the top of my gown and ripped it apart as I screamed, showing my bra.
"No! Stop!" I screamed, but my pleas fell on deaf ears. The nightmare continued unabated as my gown was mercilessly torn apart, leaving me exposed to just my underwear.
Gemma and Betty erupted into another round of scornful laughter while recording the humiliating scene.
"This will be the perfect viral video and a fitting punishment for the harm you've done to our pack! Dad will certainly relish this," Betty giggled sadistically, her words piercing my heart like sharp daggers. Her laughter haunted me like a relentless specter in the night.
The men were callously stripping away my clothes, and I knew they would soon move on to my bra. My head throbbed, and my heart clenched with overwhelming rage as I struggled in vain to free myself.
I squeezed my eyes shut, teeth chattering in terror at the impending ordeal. It would be a colossal disgrace, and I feared my life would never be the same again. How could I ever face them after the world witnessed my humiliation?
My palms clenched into fists, but I remained powerless as the two burly guards pinned me firmly against the wall.
Initially hesitant to remove my bra and panties, Betty's impatience won out.
"Quickly, strip her of her undergarments and get this over with. I need a captivating video, or you can choose to face my father's wrath. She's no longer the Alpha's daughter; she's now a slave. Treat her accordingly!" Betty's cruel command reverberated in my ears, leaving me gasping and shaking my head vehemently.
"No! No!! No!!" I continued to plead and scream at the top of my lungs as tears streamed down my cheeks like unrelenting rivers.
The sensation of their hands on my exposed skin was not only irritating but also deeply repugnant for someone born an Alpha like me. It shattered my heart into countless pieces. My eyes remained wide open, painfully aware of Betty's camera pointing at me. It felt like an undeserved punishment for every transgression I had committed.
As I imagined the entire pack watching this video, I couldn't help but wonder what would be left of me. I'd become a laughingstock, even among the youngest pack members. These horrifying thoughts swarmed my mind, and my wolf, unable to contain itself, began to stir within me. But I knew I was no match for anyone.
Despite having undergone my first shift, my wolf turned out to be the weakest, vulnerable even to the lowest-ranked Omega—a fact that had earned me my father's disdain as his daughter. I had taken his mate's life, yet I could never come close to an Alpha's strength and powers.
"Hit her if she tries to resist! Show no mercy to a heartless killer like her, or you'll be implicated as her accomplice!" Gemma chimed in, offering a wicked smile to Betty, who responded with laughter before departing, after scrutinizing me as if expecting something more from me.
At that very moment, with a surge of combined strength from my wolf, I managed to free my right hand, which had been held by one guard, and I swiftly landed a powerful punch and headbutt on the ones in front of me.
Perhaps I shouldn't have done that. Maybe I should have stayed calm and accepted my cruel fate. My actions triggered an intense rage from the royal guards, and before I could blink twice, they unleashed a barrage of heavy blows and kicks upon me.
My entire body throbbed with pain, my lips were already bleeding, and someone delivered a brutal kick to my face. My stomach burned with excruciating pain, rendering me incapable of screaming as I whimpered under the relentless assault.
"Leave her for now, but fetch a wolfsbane whip so I can give her a few lashes before I head to school," Betty ordered, sending a shiver of dread through me. I vividly remember the searing pain it inflicted, and the thought of enduring it again was unbearable.
The bodyguards abandoned me, writhing in pain on the ground. I knew that the agony I currently suffered was nothing compared to what awaited when Betty wielded that wolfsbane whip. I doubted I could survive, so I had no choice but to beg for my life.
Rising to a kneeling position, I began pleading with Betty. She dropped her phone only to pick it up again, recording me as I begged for mercy while she laughed heartily. But I cared little about the shame, even if it continued to break me. My life was the most important thing at stake.
"Please, Betty, stop this torment. Please. I never mistreated you or wronged you in the past. We were never enemies. Why turn against me just because you're in a higher position now? I beg you, please stop..." I whimpered, tears streaming down my face as my disheveled hair covered my eyes.
My stomach twisted and burned with a combination of pain and hunger, and my pounding head added to my misery. The soreness from the earlier beating inflicted by the bodyguards throbbed from various parts of my body.
"I take immense pleasure in watching you cry helplessly. It brings me joy and satisfaction. It makes me feel even more like the Alpha's daughter..." She grinned and discreetly stashed her phone behind her back.
Just then, a guard returned carrying a whip that sizzled ominously, soaked in wolfsbane. A mere touch would rend my skin, not to mention the agony of being whipped by it.
"You may leave," she told the guard with a smile, but he hesitated, appearing to have a message to convey, albeit with evident fear.
"Why are you still standing there?" Betty snapped, her gaze intimidating, and he trembled as he approached and leaned in to whisper something in her ear. His eyes were wide with fear, and I couldn't discern the content of his message.
Betty listened, and whatever he said made her recoil and gasp audibly, her eyes widening with the same fear that had gripped the guard.
"Lycan?" I heard her mutter softly.
I was perplexed, watching the scene unfold and wondering what the guard could have disclosed to elicit such a reaction from Betty. Even the whip slipped from her hand in shock at whatever he had told her.
My lips parted, ready to inquire about the mysterious revelation, but then, something strange and wholly unexpected occurred.
My nose caught a scent—an intoxicating aroma that embodied everything beautiful my mind could fathom. It was a scent of vanilla and sandalwood, with a citrusy note that engulfed my soul and enveloped me in its intense warmth.
"Mate!" my wolf howled in my mind, a realization that struck me like lightning.
