When the world tortured you too much and you were done trying to survive, all you could do was; laugh it off.

“You took a side, father.” Zuri finally calmed down enough to talk coherently, while her father was standing there as if he was going to throttle her neck. His face was so dark, his pupils turned charcoal black and his gray hair made him look so old.

At fifty-five, he had long passed his prime, and now, Zuri had the strength and skill to challenge him. She could at least slap him, but there was something about him that stopped her from even trying, or even thinking about it.

She realized that when you were raised and trained to fear something, the fear would never fully dissipate. It would cling to you, persistent and familiar, regardless of the changing circumstances.

“Why did you take his side instead of your own daughter?” Zuri felt stupid when she asked this question, but then she already felt crazy, so turning stupid wouldn’t hurt her much. “You talk about not tarnishing our family’s name, but don’t you think what he has done would drag our family’s name through the mud?”

Zuri got off the bed and faced her father. She was a head shorter than him, but she squared her shoulders and straightened her back.

Her mother trained her to be a perfect luna and that was how she would act right now.

“Even if you don’t care about me, you should care about the pack’s image. What would people say if they hear the daughter of the Alpha of the Silver Creek pack has been cheated on by an omega?” Zuri lifted her chin. “If you couldn’t care less about my feelings, at the very least you should consider how people will perceive the news when they hear it.”

Zuri balled her fists, the mate bond had been severed, and the pain from it and her miscarriage was close to unbearable, but she endured it, because that was her only way to survive this.

“The other woman is an omega, can’t you see how bad it is?” Zuri counted on this fact. The look in her eyes when she kissed Xaden, as if she was mocking her, taunting her with her victory because she could get her mate. That sight would forever be engraved in the back of her mind.

However, Zuri wouldn’t allow her to walk all over her. She was an omega and she was the luna, she was way above her and she would show her that much.

“An alpha has an affair with an omega, the lowest rank shifter.” Zuri looked her father straight in his eyes. “That’s very cheap. The man you chose for me has cheap taste.” Zuri leaned over and lowered her voice. “Just like you.”

Zuri would be foolish if she were not aware of her father’s affair with every woman that he could stick his dick into, but she was not sure whether or not her mother knew all of this.

Her mother… she had always been the perfect luna. She ruled alongside her father and took her role seriously. The image of the pack was everything. She adopted the same beliefs as her mate.

“That must be the reason why you sided with him, because you’re both the same,” Zuri said. She knew her father well enough to know that what she said would get on his nerves. His hand was shaking. “You can slap me again, but both of us know it won’t change anything. Especially the truth.”

A slap landed on her face again, this time the harsh blow knocked her to the floor, since she was standing and her back hit the table.

The pain brought tears to her eyes, as she gritted her teeth not to make even a peep.

For a while, Alpha Roland just stood like that, he didn’t move, nor did he say anything, but his whole body was trembling now. Zuri knew how much he tried not to lose control over his emotions and she kept pushing him to his limit.

If only her face was not hurting so much, she would have laughed in his face again. But, the last blow was very harsh, she couldn’t even speak, it seemed her father had dislocated her jaw with that slap.

“Karina,” Alpha Roland called for his mate in a cold voice. “Give her medicine.”

Karina immediately fished out something out of her pocket, she always kept it with her. It was a bottle of white pills. She put two pills in Roland’s open palm and watched him shove them down Zuri’s throat.

Zuri coughed and curled her body inward, but her father forced the pills down her throat anyway.

Zuri hated this. No. She hated everything. She bit down on her father’s hand. As she swallowed the pills, she could also taste fresh blood in her mouth. Good. She wanted him to endure the same pain.

“How dare you bite me!” Alpha Roland backhanded her face once again and this time, it was Zuri, who bled, but still she laughed. “Crazy!” He then turned around to face Karina, who had this impassive expression. “How could you give birth to a crazy daughter?!”

“Probably I got it from you.” Zuri laughed between each bitter word. Still sitting on the floor, she lazily wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. “If you were willing to look closely, my brother is crazy as well. He only looks normal in your eyes because of the little thing hanging between his legs.”

This would be the first time Karina showed any emotions from the moment Roland started harassing her this time around. Her eyes widened, as she glared at Zuri in warning, as if telling her to stop provoking her already angry father, because the final result of it wouldn’t be something she liked.

Zuri was talking about her first brother, the firstborn of Roland. He was indeed insane to say the least. You could say he had a peculiar taste and he was the one that gave Roland a constant headache ever since he learned the importance of his status as a firstborn.

However, Zuri didn’t even look at her mother. There was no point in looking at her when she couldn’t even help her, nor could she give her some comfort.

She didn’t even pretend trying to assuage Alpha Roland’s anger.

“You really think you are the Luna of the pack, huh? Just because you are mated to Alpha Xaden, you think you hold an important status?” Alpha Roland walked toward Zuri, just like a predator that stalked toward its prey.

The alpha took out something from his pocket and that little thing glinted under the light. Zuri knew what that was even before she could see it. Her heart leapt to her throat.

But, she was too stubborn to let her fear be known.

“It seems, you have been away from home so long, you’ve forgotten your manners about how to talk to your parents.” Alpha Roland dropped to his knees and now his face was right in front of Zuri. He grabbed her arm and they stared into each other’s eyes. “You need to be taught a lesson.”

After saying that, he stabbed the needle into her upper arm, which made Zuri bite her tongue to prevent herself from crying out loud.

Alpha Roland pulled out the needle and then stabbed her again. He did that over and over again.

Why did he choose needles to torture Zuri? The answer was simple. A wound from a needle would heal very fast, since it would only leave a prick, but the pain of being stabbed by it over and over again could drive one insane.

More so, it wouldn’t often draw so much blood, so it would be less messy than when you used a knife.

Roland didn’t want to kill his daughter. He only wanted to teach her a lesson. She was still valuable to him.

“Zuri, you should know that I didn’t want to do this, but you’ve forced my hand.”

He hurt his daughter, but he blamed her for that.

Roland covered her mouth with his palm to muffle her cries. He didn’t want anyone to know about this. “You need to be a good girl. This is what you should do as the daughter of the Alpha. You need to think of your pack. I will talk to Xaden about this and make sure you will not see it again.”

That was what Roland said, but he had never mentioned making Xaden stop seeing the omega and despite the pain, Zuri noticed the missing reassurance that she wanted to hear.

“You need to understand the situation and proceed with caution. I have taught you that countless times. You are a girl, but you are the smartest among your siblings and I trust you.” Roland kept saying the right thing, but his needle reminded Zuri of the monster he was. “If only you were a boy, I would have gladly handed over the pack to you.” Roland clicked his tongue.

Zuri’s claws elongated, but she couldn’t bring herself to stab her father. To claw him. She had the opportunity, but her fear for him triumphed over her chance to retaliate.

Right at that moment, someone entered the room and Roland stopped stabbing his daughter. He glanced over his shoulder and glared at his mate for not giving any heads up.

Zuri couldn’t see who had come and made Roland stop, but she could smell his scent in the air and a second later, she heard his voice echo inside the room.

“What are you two doing here? What happened to her?” Xaden frowned at Karina and Roland. He saw Zuri was sitting on the floor, but her body was covered by Roland’s, thus he didn’t get a clear view of what was going on.

Swiftly, Roland retrieved the needle and hid it. He pressed Zuri’s head against his chest and kissed the top of her head.

“She was having a breakdown when she learned about the miscarriage. She is very sad right now.” Roland put his hand under Zuri’s legs and carried her to the bed. “Why don’t you leave her alone for a while, we will talk to her.”

Roland tucked her in. There was no trace of the needle pricks on her hand, but the pain remained. As a shifter, you could heal very fast and a needle wouldn’t do any damage to you even if you were pricked for a whole day.

Meanwhile, Xaden walked across the room and glanced at Zuri’s pale face, it was obvious that she had been crying.

“No. I need to talk to her. I want you two to leave,” Xaden said firmly. “Leave this room now.”

There was a reason why two alphas shouldn’t be in the same room and this moment proved that.

Alpha Roland and Alpha Xaden glared at each other. They wanted to stay with Zuri. Both of them insisted on talking to her.

How sweet…

Of course, it was sarcasm. Zuri didn’t want to talk to any of them. She wanted to be left alone, but she would get herself into more trouble if she spoke right now. More importantly, the medicine that her father gave to her had started kicking in. She felt lightheaded.

She was not sleepy, but she wanted to close her eyes, as her body felt so light, as if she had turned into a feather. Her long black hair spread over her pillow. She didn’t wear any accessories, only a plain white dress. It gave off the feeling when one prepared oneself to die.

“Get out now!” Alpha Xaden growled. He narrowed his eyes, taking a glance at Zuri’s drowsy state. He didn’t think that he gave an order to put her to sleep. He made sure the healer didn’t put her to sleep, because there was an important thing that he had to discuss with her.

The pain from the rejection earlier was still there, but it was not as painful as when he rejected Faye. After all, the mate bond between them was not strong.

The mate bond between him and Zuri only existed because he marked her, but it was different with Faye, since she was his destined mate.

“She needs some rest,” Alpha Roland said firmly. He stood up when Xaden approached him. From the looks of it, he was going to throw him out of the room if he had to.

But, before the situation got out of control, Karina stepped in, she put herself between them and with her soft voice, she talked calmly.

“Why don’t we go outside for a while? Let them have a heart to heart conversation,” Karina said in a coaxing tone, she placed her hand on his chest and felt her mate’s strong heart beating.

For a moment, Roland didn’t say anything, he looked like he was going to argue with her about it and refuse, but then he nodded stiffly and walked out of the room with her.

He didn’t say anything to Zuri nor did he look at Xaden, as he walked past him and spoke coldly. “We need to talk after this.”

Xaden only let out a grunt to answer that, letting him know that he understood. After all, that conversation between them was inevitable.

After they left the room, Roland stopped walking and grabbed Karina’s hand, he turned her around and glared at her.

“What was that?!” He demanded, as he hissed viciously.

“Roland,” Karina called his name softly. “Zuri knows what she needs to do. She was only shocked, that’s why she acted out. She just learned that her mate has been cheating on her, then she lost the baby. Once she has cleared her mind, she will be fine. You don’t need to worry. She is smart enough to know what she should and shouldn’t do.”

Roland looked at Karina for a long time before he decided to trust her word, just like how he used to do. “You need to talk to her later, make sure she knows the importance of this situation.”

“I will. I know what I must say to her.”

Roland nodded. He released her hand and placed his on her waist. He was satisfied with Karina’s thoughtfulness. She knew what to do without being told.

And back in the bedroom, where Zuri was left alone with Xaden. The alpha pulled a chair and sat down next to the bed. It was obvious he wanted to distance himself from her, which made Zuri want to laugh.

If he craved a distance between them, he shouldn’t be here in the first place. She would be glad if he were far away from her right now.

“How are you feeling?” Xaden asked, his voice sounded formal, the same tone he used for business.

“Thank you for your concern, but I was better off when you were not here,” Zuri replied, she felt sluggish. The medicines that she had to consume always put her in this state. That was why she hated taking them, but then if she didn’t, she would feel even more worse than she did now.

For a shifter to have this disease seemed like a joke.

“I don’t care what you think of me right now, we need to have this discussion.” Xaden furrowed his brows. “But, you look like you are not in good shape. I will leave if you think you can’t handle a conversation.”

Zuri glanced at him, she pushed herself into a sitting position and the blanket fell from her chest, pooled around her hips. Her hair was a mess, her plunged neckline showed her collarbones and the top of her breasts, but she couldn’t care less about her appearance right now.

Meanwhile, Xaden’s eyes traveled down to her soft skin. He knew how soft it was, because he had touched her, every inch of her when they mated and he marked her.

Zuri was a beauty, something that Xaden couldn’t deny. Every man in this kingdom would love to have a taste of her, but she was his.

However, no matter how good, how beautiful her face, or how intelligent she was, she was not the woman he wanted.

It was not because Zuri was not enough, she was more than enough. They were very compatible in every way, but he simply didn’t want her. She was not the woman his heart desired.

“Let’s be done with it,” Zuri said. She lifted her chin and tried not to show any weakness. Her stubbornness was the only thing keeping her head up.

Xaden could see that. He could see how strong and determined this woman was. He admired the fire within her.

“Fine. Let’s be done with it.”

Zuri didn’t know how long she had been asleep, but the first thing that came to her mind was her conversation with Xaden.

There was nothing that was worth noting. It was just like she had expected. He didn’t care about the rejection. They were not meant to be together anyway.

However, he told her bluntly that if she tried to break the union between them, it would only put her at a disadvantage.

The odds were against her because she would lose her value. She had already been mated and marked. She was a used woman and now she had a miscarriage. All of those things would put her in a bad light, while Xaden would walk out of this scratch free.

Those things wouldn’t affect him.

‘Let’s stay in this union and my offer to you is still the same. You can do whatever you want as long as you uphold your status as the luna and not tarnish our pack name or ruin our pack’s image. We will mind our own business. Once you give birth to a son, you can live wherever and do whatever you want.’

Zuri would have laughed had she not been too tired. The medicine worked so well. It almost knocked her off and Xaden took her silence as she agreed to his terms.

After that brief conversation, he left Zuri alone.

But then, if Zuri was given a chance to talk back to him, even if she was not as loopy as she was at that moment, the final result of the conversation would still be the same.

She wouldn’t be able to get away from this.

No matter how much she despised him or denied the truth of his statement, he was right. She would be the one at disadvantage. She would be the one that would suffer in the end.

She was already suffering enough now, why would she want more when Xaden would be left unscathed?

If she had to go down, she was going to take them all down with her. She shouldn’t be the only one who suffered.

“You are awake.”

Karina’s voice snapped her back to reality. Zuri didn’t realize that her mother was inside the room. Her mind seemed to be occupied with a lot of things.

“Here, I’ve brought you your dinner,” she said. She stood up gracefully and took a tray full of food with her. She set it down on the table next to the bed, as she sat down on the edge of the bed.