Emerald had wandered far from the pack house, her mind replaying the last incident, and only halted when she heard her name being called out.
"Emerald!"
Her lips lifted slightly. At least she had succeeded in angering him, even though that may have had a certain impact. She did not know where she was until she looked at her surroundings and noticed she had arrived at the Pack's Square, where the Alpha addressed his people on occasion.
"How dare you walk away from me?"
This was getting old. Emerald shut her eyes, inhaled deeply, and clenched her fists.
"You weren't making sense, Rick. It was useless."
His pride was hurt. Good, that made two of them. Still, he continued, speaking coolly this time, as if that would have a better effect on her.
"Emerald, accept your mistake and apologise. She deserves that much after what you did."
Her eyes narrowed. "Like I said, even if it kills me, I would never kneel and apologise to a liar. A Luna never kneels."
His brows furrowed deeply. Before she knew it, he lifted his eyes past her head and ordered, "Warriors, seize her."
Like twin devils, two of the warriors rushed towards her, each holding her arms as she screamed from the pain and force.
Regardless, Rick did not flinch.
The softness in his eyes was gone, replaced now by hate. Staring down at her, he added, "I'll make a public spectacle of you, Emerald. You'd wish you had apologised when you had the chance."
Turning his head back to his warriors, he ordered deeply, his eyes turning red, "Tie her on the podium and get her on her knees."
Her eyes snapped towards the podium. He wasn't joking. To her surprise, the twin devils did as they were told, dragging her towards the podium.
In a matter of minutes, she was already on the podium, her hands bound with ropes to the twin pillars.
"Now, get her on her knees."
Anger surged within her. Viola was pissed. How dare their mate do this to them? Her pride was bashed. She was his fucking Luna!
Her mind was brought back when the sound of their feet came close. Both males pushed her shoulders down. She bit her lip, trying hard not to scream in pain at the unexpected ambush.
Her shoulder was broken from a fall two days back while horse riding, during which her saddle was tampered with. Thanks to keeping appearances, she hadn't healed completely, but these two wannabes did not care.
The man at her right pressed down again, and this time, she groaned.
Still, her feet stood strong. Unknown to them, her strength wasn't that of a mere wolf. She was an Alpha werewolf, born from the lines of true Alphas. It would take more than that to…
Guurrhhh!
Within seconds, her feet gave way, and she landed on her knees.
Due to the impact, the hard ground scraped her knees, and soon, blood stains smeared the cemented ground before her as she struggled. While she was distracted, struggling to hold her ground, one of the warriors came from behind on Rick's orders and kicked her feet.
The force was so strong that she thought her ankle would break from the impact. She felt something sting her, but her focus was elsewhere.
She glared daggers at the third wheel.
"He'll pay for that, Emerald. I swear it," Viola promised.
"Yes, he will," Emerald assured her.
"Not so tough, anymore?" Rick snickered.
Emerald frowned. How could her mate do this?
"I will give you another chance. Have her remain on her knees for all to see. When I return, we shall try this again."
"Yes, Alpha," they chorused.
Emerald watched Rick walk down the podium, but just before he left, he spun, his gaze locking on her messed-up form, and smiled. "For your sake, reflect on your actions; otherwise, there will be consequences much more than this."
With that, he stormed off to God knows where. Probably to be by Alia's side, not that it mattered anymore. It was obvious who he loved. It was never her. Never in her life had she suffered such disgrace. And she did.
The twin devils kept their hands on her shoulders. They soon found her weakness—her broken clavicle—and used that always to keep her in place.
"I hate him," Viola declared.
She wasn't alone in that. Right now, Emerald hated him too.
The pain coursing through her body was a constant reminder of who had put her in this misery. Her fucking mate. He was lucky they were bonded, and he wasn't somebody else; otherwise, she wouldn't think twice before tearing him apart.
Soon, most of the pack members left whatever they were doing and gathered around the square to further humiliate her.
Did Rick do this—call for everyone to see? Emerald gritted her teeth. Moon Goddess, why her? What did she do wrong by loving her mate?
The afternoon sun scorched, burning her relentlessly. She needed to heal, but she wasn't healing.
"Viola, why aren't we healing?" Emerald consulted her wolf as she felt the edges of her eyes blurring and her strength draining by the minute.
No answer.
"Viola?" Emerald called again, trying to sense her.
She turned slightly, as far as her neck could carry, and caught the slight grin of one of the twins pressing down on her shoulder.
He was enjoying it—her pain, her humiliation—making her wonder how long he'd been wanting to do this.
"Wolfs… bane."
"What?" Emerald turned back sharply, trying to figure out if she had heard Viola right.
"Injected… wolfsbane."
Before she could dwell on it, she sensed Rick's presence again, pushing past the crowd, accompanied by Elder Francis and Alpha Jake, whom she had been introduced to on one occasion.
"Still proving stubborn, I see," Rick snarled.
Emerald managed to look at him before spitting out the saliva mixed with blood that had gathered in her mouth.
Stretching out his hand, she watched as one of his bodyguards placed a whip on it. Rick twirled the whip in his hands as he moved forward, the leather hissing with each snap.
"Have you reflected? Do you want to apologise?"
What was this? Was he threatening me?
Sensing the defiance in her eyes, Rick walked up to the podium behind her.
"No one commits an atrocious act and goes unpunished," his voice reverberated around as the square fell into deafening silence. "Have your eyes peeled open. I won't spare anyone who errs."
He walked forward, his hands pointed at her for all to see.
As Rick got closer, her blurry vision sharpened with a jolt of terror. These weren't ordinary whips. She would know them any day.
They were used on criminals or rogue wolves when caught. They were thick and knotted, the leather interwoven with barbed wire at the ends. And dripping from the sharp-looking barbs... a sickly purple liquid.
Her breath hitched. "Wolfsbane?" she croaked the word with a ragged gasp.