Four

“Take her outside.” Bruce ordered and two of the guards walked up to me, unchained me then dragged me out of the prison.

 

I shivered from both the aftermath of the overnight cold and the fear of what was going to happen to me.

 

I was dragged to the center of the town and chained to a bench on a raised platform. It was tagged as the bench of shame and was for chaining up criminals or people who brought shame upon the pack, for brutal punishments.

 

I was left there, sitting on the ground as different members of the pack passed, hurling insults at me and laughing at me, some of them even threw things at me and some of them sent little children to hit me, for no good reason.

 

The sun had started to burn my skin and my stomach was grumbling from its lack of food. I hadn’t eaten anything proper yesterday and two days ago, and I hadn’t had anything to eat. This was too much for me to handle.

 

“She thought she could get away with rejecting the Alpha. Such a cheat and stupid mutt with so much pride.” A female voice said. 

 

“I know, right?” Another female added. “She thought she could be all famous and praised for trying to pull the alpha down in the presence of so many guests. I’ve heard Omegas are dullards, but not to this extent.”

 

“It’s no surprise she was denied admission to Dark Stone University for werewolves.”

 

Why were all the members of the members of this pack bullies?

 

“She's just as useless and powerless as those humans.”

 

“I believe you both have something else to do rather than acting like bitches here.” Scarlett said.

 

I raised my head to Scarlett, also taking in the appearance of the two ladies whose face were painted with makeup.

 

“Beta Scarlett?” They called in unison and bowed their heads.

 

“Shouldn’t you both be in the training room? What do you think Alpha will do when he finds out you’re missing your training sessions for useless chatterings?”

 

“Please don’t let Alpha know.” She pleaded, panic in both their eyes.

 

“We’ll leave now.” She nudged her friend’s shoulder before they scurried out of sight.

 

Scarlett stood in front of me, maintaining a stance that commanded authority, not saying a word for a while. Her beta aura left as she crouched beside me, holding my shoulder. “I’m so sorry for you. It must be really hard to face these nonsense.”

 

I felt too weak to utter a word, so I only nodded, letting tears roll down my face one more time. 

 

“I’m sorry. I don’t think Alpha is aware of this punishment. I'll make sure you’re freed. I’ll speak to Alpha now.” She rose to her feet, bumping into Alpha Keegan with Mason, Shane, and a few other hefty men behind him.

 

“Why are you here?” He asked her, his usual frown still on his face.

 

“Alpha…” she swallowed audibly. “I was only… uh… I was making sure she’s punished properly. Nothing else.”

 

“That’s Shane job, you know that, right? Do you realize the workload we have to attend to, yet you’re chatting with a useless Omega?”

 

“I wasn’t chatting!” she retorted.

 

“Leave now!” He commanded.

 

Without arguing, she took her leave, flashing me a glance of pity.

 

“Alpha Keegan, please forgive me, I’m sorry.” Tears continued rolling down my face. “I promise it was a mistake. Please forgive me.”

 

Alpha only stared at me, not saying a word. I peered into his amber eyes, hoping to read any hint of pity from them, but there was nothing. There were frigid and filled with so much hatred. I burst into tears at my dismay. “Please Alpha.”

 

“Alpha, you shouldn’t worry about it. You can trust me to deal with her. Her punishment has just begun. No one dares to insult our Alpha in such a manner and go scot-free.”

 

His frown became harder as he nodded, glancing at me again. “You—” he paused. All of a sudden, Alpha and the men around him seemed alarmed. “What the heck?” He growled and turned around. He, Shane, Mason, and the other men all dashed out of my sight. I was confused at first till I remembered that such had happened before.

 

~ KEEGAN ~

 

 

Drex had been on and on about how that Omega was our mate. I couldn’t believe the strongest wolf was going crazy over an ordinary Omega.

 

‘Can’t we just settle with a mate this time? I believe the moon goddess blessed us with Jane.’ He still pestered.

 

‘Can you just keep quiet?’ I growled.

 

‘Can we at least see her and know the state she’s in?’

 

'I don’t care.’

 

“Alpha, there has been a recent attack on one of our neighboring packs, Crescent Pack.” Mason said, dropping a file on my table. “Due to out alliance agreement, we’re supposed to assist them.”

 

“But it isn’t a big attack they can’t manage on their own?”

 

“You know their new Alpha is weak? He can’t handle it alone. The attacks just keep getting worse, and they are getting closer to our pack.”

 

“Dark Stone pack can’t be attacked. You know that, right?” I lifted an eyebrow at him.

 

“Alpha, we shouldn’t be too lenient with this.”

 

“Are you arguing with me?” A growl escaped my throat.

 

“No, Alpha.” He bowed his head, showing his neck in surrender.

 

His submission placated me. “What does the Crescent pack want now?”

 

“Not only the crescent pack, but three other packs. They want to hold a meeting at Night Shadow pack.”

 

“Is Night Shadow pack being attacked to?”

 

“Not at all.”

 

“Then why would Vladimir accept for a meeting to be held at his pack?” I lifted a brow at Mason.

 

“I have no idea.”

 

“That’s strange. You should figure that out. Arrange the meeting as soon as possible. I’ll inform Scarlett about this.”

 

“Okay.” He nodded then took his leave.

 

I had to go to this stupid meeting to know if Vladimir was cooking something up. Vladimir is my step brother. He was my father, Stefan Gray’s son, whom my father had with a she-werewolf before he was mated with my mother, Kate Gray. Vladimir and my father never associated with my pack. Neither of the members of my family shared a family bond, especially after Dad had left Mom to own another pack, with Vladimir’s support. I had always been a man of my own and didn’t want to be controlled by anyone.

 

 I had discovered that my wolf was a blessed wolf when I first shifted at 5, which was strange because Alphas were the earliest to shift and shifted at 9 or 10. My wolf was the strongest wolf that ever lives which meant I could own a pack of my own due to my strength. Vladimir’s pack, Night Shadow pack, was the strongest pack till my pack developed and became mightier, due to my efforts, dominance, and capability to win any battle.

 

Vladimir never associated with other packs except if there was something bigger attached to it, and for his benefits, so hosting a meeting against attacks on packs that had nothing to do with him was very suspicious.

 

I picked the file Mason had brought, glanced through it, then shoved it into a drawer.

 

‘Hey, Scarlett.’ I interrupted her through mind link.

 

'Yes Alpha?’

 

'I'll be attending a meeting at Night Shadow pack. You'd be in control of the pack till I’m back.’

 

'Okay, Alpha. You can always trust me.’ She beamed.

 

‘Bye.’

 

She probably thought I had ended the link and continued mind-linking someone else. ‘How is Jane doing now?’

 

‘Terrible. She’s burning under the sun.’ A male replied to her. ‘She’s at the center of town and is chained to the bench of shame. People are insulting her and some are even throwing things at her and hitting her. I think they plan on whipping her soon.’

 

‘Oh gosh. I’ll be there immediately. Thank you, Casper.’ She ended the mind-link with both of us.

 

Casper was a guard. Why was he telling Scarlett this, and why was Scarlett interested in knowing?

 

I brushed that off my mind to focus on more important things.

 

***

 

Mason, Shane, a few other guards, and I, had to go around town to attend to a few issues at the pack. Somehow, our route had to clash in the way of the center of the town where the Omega was chained to a bench.

 

Due to my high hearing sensitivity — I could hear words that are spoken at a farther distance than any other werewolf or human could hear— I was able to overhear Scarlett’s conversation with the Omega after she chased the two she-werewolves away from insulting the omega.

 

“I’m sorry, Jane. I don’t think Alpha is aware of this punishment. I'll make sure you’re freed. I’ll speak to Alpha now.” That was the last thing Scarlett said to the omega before she rose to her feet and bumped into me.

 

With my signature frown on, “why are you here?” I asked.

 

“Alpha…” she swallowed audibly. “I was only… uh… I was making sure she’s punished properly. Nothing else.”

 

“That’s Shane job, you know that, right? Do you realize the workload we have to attend to, yet you’re chatting with a useless Omega?”

 

“I wasn’t chatting!”

 

“Leave now!” I ordered and she took her leave without another word.  

 

“Alpha Keegan, please forgive me, I’m sorry.” The omega said, crying. “I promise it was a mistake. Please forgive me.”

 

I stared down at the omega; her plea made me feel a hint of indescribable emotion in my heartless ribcage.

 

“Please Alpha.”

 

“Alpha, you shouldn’t worry about it. You can trust me to deal with her. Her punishment has only just begun. No one dares to insult our Alpha in such a manner and go scot-free.” Shane assured me.

 

Drex purred in my head at the condition of his so-called mate. Her condition also pissed me off and made me frown even harder. I wanted to punish her, not kill her. She was already looking sick, like she was going to die soon. I wanted her to be punished more than this, but in ways that were going to please me and my wolf.

 

“You—”

 

I was interrupted by someone disrespectfully getting into my head. ‘Everyone! The pack is being attacked at the south! And the Luna is at the attack area.’ Grant, one of the pack warriors, announced.

 

“What the heck?” I growled and we all took to our heels towards the south.