Chapter 2
Pain. That was the first thing I felt.
The brand still burned into my skin, the scent of scorched flesh curling around me like smoke. My breath came in ragged, broken gasps, my body trembling where I knelt in the dirt of the square.
But it wasn’t over.
I could see it in my father’s cold, unforgiving eyes.
I could feel it in the tension hanging in the air, in the hungry looks of the pack as they waited—waited for more.
They didn’t just want me branded. They wanted me destroyed.
The Alpha raised his hand. “For your crimes, you will suffer further punishment.”
A wave of murmurs rippled through the crowd.
“I order twenty lashes,” my father announced, his voice cutting through the noise like a blade. “To serve as a lesson to all who would betray us.”
A sick thrill passed through the gathered wolves. They wanted to see my blood spill.
The warriors who held me tightened their grip. I couldn’t even struggle. I could barely lift my head.
Through the haze of my pain, my eyes locked onto my mate.
Cedar.
He stood tall, his broad shoulders squared, his face an emotionless mask.
He wouldn’t let this happen. He wouldn’t.
I forced my cracked lips to move. “Cedar… please…”
He met my gaze. And smirked.
“You still don’t get it, do you?” His voice was calm, almost lazy. Like none of this mattered to him. Like I didn’t matter.
“Cedar,” I choked, my voice barely above a whisper.
His lips twisted into something cruel. “You are nothing to me.”
The words stole the air from my lungs.
“I, Cedar Stormveil, reject you as my mate.”
It felt like my soul was being ripped apart.
But he wasn’t done.
He took a step closer, lowering his voice so only I could hear. “But I won’t complete the rejection.” His hand came up, brushing a strand of blood-matted hair from my face. “I want you to feel it. Every ounce of pain. Every moment of agony.”
A low chuckle.
“You don’t get to walk away free, little traitor. You get to suffer.”
A roar of approval rose from the crowd, but I barely heard it.
The rejection burned like silver through my veins, twisting, crushing, shattering something deep inside me. My wolf whimpered, clawing at the edges of my mind, trying to hold onto a bond that was already poisoned.
He had taken everything from me.
And now he was leaving me with nothing but pain.
The warriors wrenched me up, forcing me forward. I could barely feel my feet dragging across the dirt. The world blurred around me as I was shoved against the whipping post, my arms locked in iron restraints above my head.
I heard the crack of the whip before I felt it.
And then—agony.
The first lash tore through my back like fire, cutting through the fabric of my dress, biting deep into my skin.
I gritted my teeth. I would not scream.
The second lash came harder.
The third.
The fourth.
By the tenth, I couldn’t hold it in anymore. A broken, ragged cry slipped from my lips.
This is what they wanted. This is what she, my dear sister, wanted.
To see me broken.
Another lash.
And another.
I wasn’t sure when I collapsed, my body hanging limp in the chains.
But I heard Ruby’s voice through the haze of pain. Sweet. Mocking.
“Oh, sister,” she whispered. “You always thought you were so much better than me.”
I didn’t have the strength to lift my head, but I could picture her perfectly—standing beside Cedar, her hands on his arm, her smirk of victory.
“You should have just disappeared quietly,” she sighed. “It would have been less painful.”
She leaned in, her lips brushing against my ear.
“Goodbye, sister.”
The last lash came harder than the others, ripping the last shred of my strength away.
Darkness swallowed me whole.
---
I woke up to rain.
Cold. Soaking through my bloodied dress. Mixing with the warm, sticky wetness on my back.
I wasn’t in the square anymore. The pack had left me there, discarded like trash.
I tried to move. Agony shot through me.
My arms trembled as I pushed myself up, biting down on my lip so hard I tasted blood. The pain made my head spin, my vision blurring.
I had to get up.
I had to move.
I forced myself onto my hands and knees, then slowly—so slowly—dragged myself across the ground. The world around me was dark, the storm rolling overhead, thunder shaking the sky.
I had no idea how long it took. Minutes. Hours.
But I found it.
The old shed.
It had been abandoned for years, tucked near the edge of the training grounds, forgotten by the pack. I had hidden here as a child, back when I still believed I had a place in this world.
Now, it was the only place I had left.
I pushed the door open with the last of my strength and collapsed inside, landing hard on the wooden floor.
I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t breathe.
I had survived.
Even if it was just barely.