Chapter 4

Ari

My eyes widened in disbelief as the air seemed to get sucked out of the whole surround. I rushed to my father's side, my heart pounding as I held him close, feeling warm liquid dripping onto my hands. Dad was coughing in shock and confusion, completely unaware of why this betrayal was happening.

Tears streamed down my face, and I couldn't help but scream in frustration, confronting the people responsible. "Why? Why on my wedding day?" I couldn't fathom the cruelty of their timing.

I saw the Ironwolf raise his hand, and his men moved to separate me from my father.

“No! Let me go! Dad!! Dad!!” I protested, but the men holding my arms were deaf to my pleas.

“Let my mate go!” Kristoff demanded, but his men refused to listen. Fueled by anger, he rushed to his father's side, demanding answers.

"What's the meaning of this, father? It's our wedding! Why did you allow this to happen?"

But the Ironwolf didn't offer any explanations. He simply nodded to his men, providing an unspoken command that they understood. Rolf, one of his loyal subjects, along with the others, forcibly removed Kristoff, who struggled and yelled.

"Rolf, no! Let me go! That's an order! Ari! Ari!!!!"

I watched in anguish as they dragged Kristoff away, torn between wanting to chase after him and staying with my wounded father. I pleaded with Kristoff to help us, but we both felt utterly helpless. Turning my attention back to my father, I saw the Ironwolf glaring down at him. My father's confusion was apparent, unable to comprehend why his closest friend had orchestrated this betrayal.

“Ragnar, why?” he asked, pain and betrayal in every word. The Ironwolf smirked.

“You should have anticipated this when you did what you did.”

"What do you mean? I didn’t know what you—"

The Ironwolf responded with violence, hitting my father in the face. "Don't make me a fool! Just admit what you did! Perhaps if you would, I could forgive you."

Confusion and fear gripped my father as he cried out, "What did I do to deserve this?"

The Ironwolf pulled my father's collar and continued to berate him. "Stop pretending you know nothing, Eirik! You've been exposed for your treacherous deeds! You were secretly conspiring against me to overthrow my throne! How could you betray your own friend? We fought battles together! I treated you as my brother!"

My heart ached for my father as he was subjected to this relentless assault. I couldn’t bear seeing my loving Dad like this, so using the last ounce of strength that I had, I managed to escape their grasp. I ran toward my father as I begged for mercy with my hands outstretched.

"Please, your eminence. Have a little mercy on my father. If you really believe that he has committed a crime, at least give him a proper trial so he can have a chance to defend himself. Please don't hurt him anymore. I am begging you."

The Ironwolf momentarily halted and then callously pushed me to the ground, disregarding my pleas. “No need for that because I have solid proof that he is guilty.”

"Ari, no! Don’t hurt my daughter. Not her, please!"

I was dragged away by Rolf, unable to escape his powerful grip. I could only call out for Kristoff to help us, but he too, might have been detained. I felt completely helpless, and my father's life hung in the balance.

Then, Dad turned to the Ironwolf. “I deserve to know who was behind this frame-up. Tell me, Ragnar. What solid proof do you have that made you believe that I really betrayed you?”

“Oh, that’s easy.”

The Ironwolf clapped his hands. From behind, Seraphina and the trembling Maddie walked forward. My eyes widened in shock, as did my father's.

“Seraphina? Maddie? What is the meaning of this?” he asked, confusion etched on his face. Seraphina and Maddie remained quiet, bowing their heads in front of the Ironwolf.

“Your wife here told me everything. Your beloved wife and daughter recounted how you scheduled secret meetings with my enemy. They also brought me a spy, who, under extreme pressure, confessed how he worked for you in trading military secrets with them. Now, do you still dare to deny everything?”

“That's a lie! My father would never do that!” I shouted. Hearing that, Seraphina turned in my direction and smirked.

“My mighty Ironwolf,” she began to address Alpha Ragnar. “If you are after a confession from my husband, you should hurt him to the deepest extent.”

“How?” the Ironwolf queried.

“Through her,” Seraphina exclaimed, jerking her head in my direction. The Ironwolf swallowed and, with a signal to his men, they began to approach me.

“What are you doing? No! No! Get off of me!”

His men began to tear my wedding gown until all that was left was my laced underwear. The guards whistled provocatively, enjoying the view as my almost naked body was paraded in front of them.

“This is your last chance, Eirik. Confess to your sin if you don’t want your daughter to become my men's whore.”

I saw one of the guards about to tear my bra off when the shout of my father echoed around.

“Alright, alright! I confess to everything! Just leave my daughter alone, please. Don’t dishonor her purity, I am begging you!”

My Dad’s fate seemed sealed after he uttered those words. The next thing I knew, the Ironwolf half-morphed into his wolf form, and using his razor-sharp nails, he beheaded my father without hesitation. I almost lost consciousness as I saw his head rolling on the ground, dying in front of his beloved people in the most humiliating way possible.

And just like that, my father was gone. But that was not the end of our nightmare.

The Ironwolf declared that the Moonshadow pack would now be under his rule, stripping everyone of their ranks and enslaving us all. Meanwhile, he spared Seraphina and Maddie as a reward for reporting my Dad’s supposed treachery.

Before they could drag me away, I ran to my Dad’s headless body and took his favorite handkerchief. He said that it was a gift from my dead mother, a memory he carried until his last breath.

My heart ached as I clung to my father's red scarf, my only memento of our memories together. The trauma of witnessing my father's execution and the suffering of my people would haunt me for the rest of my days, and the betrayal of our own family members festered within me as they all took us as prisoners, leaving us to live out the rest of our lives as omegas in the Ironflame Pack.

And that day marked the beginning of my journey toward revenge.