SHE'S WORTHLESS

CELESTE POV

I was pulled out of the elder chamber by the guards, my hands bound with silver shackles, and so were my legs.

The crowds followed me back outside, cursing and yelling at the top of their voices.

While I kept walking with my head down. I didn't know where they were taking me to. Perhaps I should burn off my pack house mark first, making me an outcast, Elder Morgana had said, before punishing me as they deemed fit.

I wondered if I'd be executed like my father. Forced to gulp down whiskey, and while I was intoxicated, my head would be severed from my body.

That would be dangerous to me and my baby, but it might be the easiest way to die. At least I wouldn't feel any pain while they were at it.

Yet, I still believed this was a dream. I wanted to wake up from the horrible dream, letting out a relieved breath that it was just a nightmare and nothing serious. But the pain from the silver shackle burning through my skin reminded me everything that was happening was real.

"Walk faster, you traitor spawn," I was shoved inside a building by one of the guards.

It was the blacksmith's dwelling place. The blacksmith forged and repaired weapons for the pack's warriors, ensuring they were well-equipped for battle. It wasn't just for the warriors alone. The hunters, gatherers, and even craftsmen were included.

I had been here on several occasions, running errands. But each time, the heat from the furnace was hotter than the last.

"She's here," one of the guards with me said to the head blacksmith, Benjamin Robinson. A man in his early forties, maybe with balding hair and wrinkles at both sides of his eyes.

Benjamin took one glance at me, shaking his head. "Are you sure this is the best direction to go?"

"It is," the guards answered at the same time.

"A verdict has been passed on her. It's the final judgment by the six elders and the alpha. Her pack house mark should be removed first, " the guard with me said.

"The Alpha, huh?" Benjamin murmured, tilting his head. "Who am I to refuse the order from above?"

He chuckled lightly, before beckoning to them with his index finger.

He lifted An iron with a long handle made of wood that was previously being heated.

I swallowed thickly, my eyes going wide as he lifted it toward me.

I darted away from him, running towards the entrance, but the two guards were swifter. One gripped me by the neck, while the other, pulled my hand, almost tearing it from my shoulder.

The one gripping my neck released it and stepped in front of me.

His hand lifted, and struck me in my cheek, "Dare run once more, and you're going to have the most painful death ever!" he threatened.

Due to the force with which he had hit me, my teeth bit into my lower lip, drawing out blood.

Tears brewed in my eyes, flowing freely down my cheeks. My cheek stung, and my ear rang for a few seconds.

"Please," I pleaded as I was dragged by to where Benjamin was. I realized he had put the branding iron back into the furnace.

"I swear by the goddess to do as you desire. I can be your personal slave, whatever you wish me to be. But don't use that one me," I cried out, but all my pleas fell on deaf ears.

I manage to the guards, gripping both their hands, "Save me. I'll do as you say. The Alpha doesn't need to know you're helping me. I won't return here if you ask me to leave. Just help me."

I was desperate. I wanted anything other than having my pack house mark removed. It was my identity, despite the fact that I was an omega and merely a slave.

I still belonged to a pack house!

If the mark was removed, I'd be worse than a rogue. I'd be hunted, on the run, for the rest of my life like a vagabond because branding you was technically making you a criminal and not worthy of being part of any pack house or even any other werewolf ranking.

"You'll do anything, eh?" One guard's eyes twinkled. He turned to face the other, and some kind of silent discussion passed through both of them.

I thought they were beginning to understand me and would try to save me from Alpha Kieran and the elders, but I was stupid to have such hope.

"Do it now!"

I gasped as I felt the branding iron touch my skin; searing pain shot through me like a bolt of lightning. The heat was intense, like a thousand needles piercing my flesh at once. I felt my skin sizzle and char, the smell of burned flesh filling my nostrils.

I shrieked until I couldn't hear my voice anymore. I threw up.

I couldn't remember the number of times I retched but I remember bending over several times as the vomit kept coming.

"Done," Benjamin said.

It was finally over. Was it?

My body still in agony from the branding, I was pulled to a corner by the guards.

"You said you'd do anything for us to help you?" one asked me.

I couldn't respond. I could only look at him with blurry eyes.

He leaned forward, a smirk on his face, "Now, we want you."

I wanted to protest. Since they didn't help me, they had no reason to do what was in their sick mind. But my voice was barely audible.

I was forced to lie on the floor while they both took turns with me, filling me with their dirty semen.

By the time they were done having their way with me, I was exhausted and could barely stand myself.

I was pulled up and dragged outside of the blacksmith's building and towards the arena.

I was thrown inside like some kind of trash they wished to discard. Well, technically, I was trash, and they were more than willing to discard me.

I couldn't tell what I was doing in the arena, and I doubted it would be long for me to find out.

"I am sorry," I managed to turn to see Lauren crouching behind me. She had a thick silver rope in her bleeding hands. I stared at her face to see her trying not to wince and she was forcing back tears.

They had made her hold a silver rope. She wasn't the only one, and Lara was as well.

"Why?" I whispered.

Lauren's lips wobbled. She sniffed, shaking her head, "They made me do it. They threatened to kill my sick mother if I didn't do it. Lara was threatened too. We didn't want to, believe me, Celeste."

I knew they had no choice but to do what was asked of them, and I wouldn't entirely blame them for doing as they were told. Now, they were with silver ropes, maybe to bind me.

I suppose they wanted it to seem like I was being betrayed, even by people of my own rank.

"Silence!" Alpha Kieran ordered.

For the first time since I was thrown inside here, I raised my head to look at Alpha Kieran.

Selene's chair had been placed beside his, and she looked as elegantly as ever. She had pretended to be dying earlier, yet no one seemed to be concerned about that.

I wondered if they were blind and stupid enough not to know it was all pretense or if they knew and didn't care.

They didn't just want me because their alpha didn't want me.

"Now that's the traitor," Alpha Kieran pointed to me. "The pack house mark has been burned off her skin. She's not one of us. As the alpha of this pack house, I order her to be whipped twenty times before the last punishment is served. Likewise, anyone is free to do as they desire with her."

"Alpha Kieran," I muttered, gripping the hem of my ripped dress. I stared at myself, the dirt now coating my skin.

The remnant of the semen that had dropped down my legs after the guards were done with me, and then at my right, I saw the approaching guards, new ones, coming to punish me as Alpha Kieran ordered.

He was my mate. He should protect me. That was the essence of the mate bond. He should feel what I feel.

Now I doubted if the bond had been real. The goddess had deceived me and given me a mate who didn't feel the same way as I did.

"I am sorry," Lauren apologized once again as she began to bind Lara and me with the silver rope.

"It's not your fault. You were forced to do it," I responded.

When they were done binding me, I was made to lie on a wooden table, my dress ripped, exposing my back.

I shut my eyes as I heard the crackling of the whip in the air.

I was ready to receive it, or so I thought as I braced myself for the impact. But as soon as the first strike landed, I cried out in anguish. The pain was as bad as the one from the branding iron.

I couldn't escape from the assault as I was bound. Even if I wanted to dare, the silver was enough to restrict any movement I desired to make.

When the silver whip landed the fourth time, I stopped counting. I couldn't anymore. I couldn't endure it.

My head reeled, and tiny dots flashed in my line of vision. I grazed my teeth on my lower lip to keep me conscious but it was almost impossible.

With each strike of the whip, I was pulled out of consciousness.

Finally, it stopped.

I was yanked up, and dragged out of the arena once more, almost lifeless.

The crowds followed, chanting about me being a cursed child of a disgraced warrior and a whore mother while they tossed rotting food items at me.

I saw Alpha Kieran in the midst of the chaos, discussing with men in tailored suits like him.

They exuded power and authority as well.

As if they knew I was watching, they looked in my direction and began to walk towards me.

"Is this she?" the tallest of the two men asked. He had aviator glasses on and dark hair.

Meanwhile, the other one, with a stern face and dark eyes, narrowed them at me, "She looked sickly."

Alpha Kieran looked at me with disdain and disgust, "That's why she cost nothing. She's worthless to me. But for you, consider my debt paid in full."