"Dad!"
My anguished scream tore through the cold night as I ran to the towering post where my father’s lifeless body hung. The rope bit deep into his flesh, his once-proud face bloodied and swollen, his eyes hollow and unseeing.
Beside him, my mother lay crumpled on the ground, her chest torn open a gaping cavity where her heart should have been. Blood soaked her once-elegant garments, pooling beneath her like a crimson offering to the merciless earth.
I wasn’t even given the chance to beg for their forgiveness.
I had chosen the wrong man.
And because of that, my parents were dead.
My knees threatened to buckle, but I forced myself to stand. I had no right to crumble—not when their suffering was because of me. Trembling, I reached for my mother, cradling her lifeless form.
I couldn’t breathe. Grief crushed my chest, drowning me in unbearable guilt.
"I cannot smell her presence," someone in the crowd murmured.
My head snapped toward them, the same people who once sought my parents' guidance. Now, they looked at me with disgust.
They were the first to judge me.
The first to turn their backs.
I clenched my fists, nails digging into my palms as I glared at them. Cowards—feasting on our wealth, accepting our protection, yet now mocking and condemning.
Even the Council, even the Alpha we had supported, discarded us without hesitation.
"They deserved it."
"She lost her wolf—the Moon must have cursed her for betraying our kind."
I swallowed back my sobs, holding my mother closer.
I had no one left. No one to defend me.
I wanted to scream, to tell them how cruel and blind they were—but what was the point? No one would listen.
Instead, I looked up at my father’s body and whispered an apology.
If only I had chosen differently. If only I had obeyed the rules of our kind.
I should have married a Lycan—any other Lycan. If I had, my parents would still be alive, my wolf intact, and I wouldn’t be standing here, abandoned and humiliated.
But I had lost everything.
And now, they were taking my life too.
"This is Laura Wilson," the Alpha’s voice rang out, cold with disdain. "The richest she-wolf in our pack—who threw it all away for a cowardly human. A traitor to her parents and our kind."
I turned to him, meeting his gaze, seeing the anger in his eyes and the sharp curl of his lip as he spat each word.
But I knew the truth.
The only reason why he won’t let this go was because he once asked for my hand—and I refused.
Now, I understand. I understood what I had done.
Slowly, I pushed myself up, forcing my trembling legs to carry me forward.
The moment I knelt before him, the crowd fell into hushed silence.
I clasped my hands together, lowering my head.
"P-please," I sobbed. "Give me another chance. I-I’ll marry you now, give you everything—my wealth, my lands. It’s enough to fund your reign."
Silence.
Then—
Laughter.
Loud, mocking laughter erupted around me.
The Alpha's deep, amused chuckle came first—then the Council, then the entire crowd.
They mocked me, whispering, pointing, smirking as if I were mere entertainment.
"She… she…" the Alpha struggled to speak between fits of laughter. "The woman who once rejected me is now begging. How amusing."
My chest ached from the humiliation.
Tears blurred my vision, but I did not wipe them away.
There was no saving myself now.
"No amount of money will spare your life for this treachery!" one of the Council members spat.
The metallic clank of a weapon hitting the ground echoed in my ears.
The scent of wolfsbane filled my nose—but it no longer affected me.
I had already lost my wolf.
The metal, however, would kill me.
Would they hang me like my father? Would they rip my heart out, as they did to my mother?
Or would they torture me first?
Pain tore through my body as the first lash of the whip struck my back.
A sharp, biting crack. Then another. And another.
I collapsed, gasping as my vision swam. Blood soaked the dirt beneath me, its scent heavy in the air.
"Tell us your husband's name," the Alpha commanded.
Rowan.
His name echoed in my mind.
If I gave them his name, they would hunt him down. They would kill him. But I would not give them the satisfaction. I would take my revenge.
Even if I had to come back as a ghost. As a demon. As a monster of their nightmares.
"Where is he?" the Alpha pressed. "Didn’t he betray you? Did he not sell you out?"
I clenched my jaw, refusing to answer.
Rough hands grabbed me, lifting me from the ground. I was thrown onto a soft mattress.
And then—
My clothes were torn from my body. Bare hands roamed over my skin. Panic surged through me. Terror clawed at my chest.
I whimpered. Cried.
No.
No, no, no.
I thrashed, but I was weak. I fought, but I was powerless.
And when the pain came—when my soul shattered beneath the cruelty of their actions—
Something inside me snapped.
Darkness consumed me. Grief turned to fury. Agony became hunger. A hunger for vengeance. For blood.
A scream tore from my throat, raw and unholy.
"I will come back for revenge." My voice trembled with wrath. "And I will show no mercy."
