Chapter 1
My werewolf Ben talked back to me because of Maya Jensen, my father's love child.
I didn't say a word. I just gave him eighty-eight lashes.
The live stream's chat exploded with hate.
[Oh my god, she's totally lost it! Is she really that jealous? She's going all out.]
[She treats Ben like a pet. This is straight-up abuse. No wonder he saved Maya instead of her.]
[If she wasn't so controlling and making threats, Ben would have left her a long time ago.]
Me? Threatening? I didn't threaten disloyal lapdogs.
After a long silence, I let out a cold laugh and told the staff to throw out all his things.
Then I went straight to the arena and picked out a brand new werewolf pup.
Half a month later, Ben finally heard the news. He came running from Maya's place, soaked from the rain, and grabbed my arm.
His eyes were red, his voice shaking. "You really got a new werewolf?"
*****
When I carried that blood-soaked werewolf pup back home, the whole villa went dead silent.
No one expected that after I made those harsh threats yesterday, I'd actually bring home a new werewolf just like that.
My butler Philip, his hands shaking so badly he nearly dropped the vase, braced himself and stepped forward to ask where I wanted the new werewolf to stay.
I gave him a sidelong look and shot back, "Where do you think?"
Werewolves had to be raised by me personally, so his room would be right next to mine.
Philip hesitated and then asked, "What about everything in that room?"
I said coldly, "Throw it all out."
Now, it was clear to everyone.
The werewolf I'd raised for ten years had talked back to me because of my father's love child. And when we both fell into the water, he hadn't hesitated for a second before swimming to save her.
Last night, I held back my fury as I only whipped him 88 times.
But even when the whip was slick with his blood, he kept his face stony and didn't make a sound.
I was drenched from head to toe, my palms burning with pain.
It wasn't until the very last lash landed that he finally spat out a mouthful of blood.
I snapped, "Speak!"
He finally looked up, his eyes emotionless. "What do you want me to say? What is it you want to hear, Miss Ashford?"
He knew I was furious, but he kept defying me, twisting the knife. "You bought me. You broke my body and remade it. You carved every single rule into my skin. So what? Now the werewolf you trained won't heel, and your pride is hurt?"
It was absurd.
I trained him with my own hands. And when we were both drowning, he chose to save that conniving opportunist.
The endless night stretched out in the distance, thick and inky.
He gave a crooked smile. "You've got tons of people who care about you, Miss Ashford. One less won't make a difference."
"Oh yeah?" I let out a mocking laugh, like I'd just heard the funniest joke. "Ben, don't forget why I raised you."
His eyes mocked me, his back straight and defiant. "I can't read your mind, Miss Ashford.
"All I know is you've always been above everyone. They all look up to you. That day, there were a dozen hands reaching for you from the shore. But her? She was the only one left behind.
"You've probably never known what it's like to be drowning. To be so desperate you'd claw at anything to breathe. But I have. And in that moment, I was the only one who saw her."
The night wind was biting, chilling me to the bone.
My lips curled in a cold smirk. "Go on."
His eyes were ice. "She has no one else. Only me."
Only him? The sheer ridiculousness of it echoed in my head, growing louder by the second.
We stared each other down for a solid thirty seconds. He didn't flinch, not even a little.
I scoffed, my jaw tight. "You want to be her lapdog? Fine. I'll drop you off myself."
A werewolf's pride should revolt at being called a lapdog. And that was exactly the point. I wanted to humiliate him.
I drove through the night and dumped him at Maya's place.
When I shoved him out of the car, he barely flinched. He just frowned.
Then, bleeding from the lash marks on his back, he slowly pushed himself up and limped toward the villa with its lights on.
His figure was stiff and distant, his head held high all the way to the door.