Revenge on Ice

Chapter 4

Silas

My wolf clawed at the inside of my chest, demanding release as I walked out of my father's study.

That pathetic little omega.

I could still smell her. That sweet, cloying scent of lavender. It made my stomach turn.

The guards stationed along the hallway straightened as I passed.

I rounded the corner toward the east wing where my room was.

My mother's words echoed in my skull. They hadn't asked me. They never asked me. I was eighteen years old, the second son, and they treated me like a piece on their chessboard.

A spare piece.

That's what my father called me.

"Darius is the heir, the future of this kingdom, while Silas is just the spare."

I pushed open the door to my chambers and slammed it shut behind me.

The room was dark and I preferred it that way.

I crossed to the window and stared out at the grounds below. I could hear laughter drifting up on the night air. My brother Darius was down there somewhere, probably surrounded by c**k suckers, basking in the attention he'd done nothing to earn except be born first.

Darius, the perfect heir. Darius, who had never been beaten by our father. Darius, who had never been told he was only good for breeding alliances and standing in the shadows.

And now they wanted me to mate with Lyra Hale. To serve my family one more time because that was all I was good for.

"f**k that," I muttered to the empty room.

Behind me, the door creaked open.

"I told you I didn't want to be disturbed," I said without turning around.

"The guards told me. I didn't listen."

Anissa.

"Go away, Anissa."

Instead, she walked further into the room. I heard her set something down on my side table, and then her footsteps approached the window.

"I heard what happened," she said mildly.

Anissa moved to stand beside me. We were identical in so many ways, same dark hair, same black eyes, even the same attitude.

"The little omega seemed nice enough," Anissa offered.

I knew what she was playing at. After all, our father had taught us so well.

I turned to stare at her. "Nice? She can barely speak above a whisper. She is a liability."

Anissa sighed. "I brought you something. For your back. You'll want to put that on before it sets."

I looked at the table. A small glass jar sat there, filled with some sort of greenish cream. I always found it on the table after my lessons with our father and now I knew who had been putting it there. What I didn't know was why she was being nice to me. She made it clear once that she hated she was my twin.

"I don't need it."

"Silas..."

"I said I don't f*****g need it."

Anissa crossed her arms. "You're bleeding through your shirt. Don't be such a sucker and have someone put that on your wounds."

It was what I deserved, I knew it was coming. I'd walked out on the King in front of the Hales.

I'd known what the punishment would be. And the memory of what had happened in the past hour resurfaced.

My father had his guards drag me to the study, throwing me to the floor like I was nothing.

"Stand up," my father had commanded.

I stood with my jaw set. I would not show fear. I had done that once, when I was younger, and my father had only beaten me harder for it.

"You embarrassed me," the King said quietly, circling me. "In front of our guests."

"I won't mate with her." I said defiantly. "I don't care what alliance you need. I won't be sold like..."

The backhand caught me across the mouth before I could finish and my lip split open.

"You'll mate with whoever I tell you to mate with." The King's voice remained calm.

"Then what's the point of me?" I spat blood onto the floor. "If I have no control over my own life, my own future, then what the f**k is the point?"

My father stopped behind me.

"The point," the King said softly, "is that you do as you're told. The point is that you secure alliances for your brother's reign. The point is that you stop being an ungrateful little s**t and start earning the air you breathe. You exist because I allow it. Never forget that."

The first blow landed across my shoulders. The leather strip my father favored bit into my flesh. I bit down on the inside of my cheek to keep from crying out.

"You walked out on me." Another blow, lower this time, across my ribs. "You humiliated me." Another. "You humiliated this family." Another. "You humiliated your brother." Another. "And for what?" Another. "A tantrum?" Another. "Because you don't want to marry some girl?"

My knees buckled after the seventh strike. Or was it the eighth? I'd lost count. My father never stopped at a set number. He stopped when he decided the lesson had been learned.

"Look at you." The King's voice dripped with disgust. "On your knees. Like an omega. This is what I have to work with. A spare who can't even take his punishment like a man."

He grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked my head back.

"The Hale girl may be weak," the King said quietly, his face inches from mine. "But her father controls the Northern fields. Her mother has ties to three other major packs. An alliance with them gives Darius everything he needs to crush the rebellion once and for all. Do you understand?"

I said nothing.

My father tightened his grip. "I said, do you understand?"

"Yes," I choked out.

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, Father."

The King released me and stepped back. "The marriage happens. I don't care if you have to drag her to the altar yourself. You will mate with Lyra Hale, and you will give her heirs, and you will stop pretending you have any say in the matter."

The king walked away, leaving me on my knees for a long time after that.

"Put the cream on or don't," Anissa said, bringing me back from my thoughts. It was obvious that her patience was wearing thin. "I was trying to help."

"I didn't ask for your help."

"You never do." She turned toward the door. "You know, for someone who claims to hate Father so much, you're becoming more like him every day."

"Get out."

"Gladly..."

I picked up the jar of cream and hurled it against the wall.

I didn't need her pity. I wasn't becoming like my father. I would never be like my father.

I would make Lyra's life a living hell. I would make her hate me so much that she would be the one to call off the engagement.