What did I specifically tell you?” Alpha Ryan’s voice cut through the air like steel.
His eyes were cold as he turned to the guards.
“Get me a whip.”
“No, Alpha—!” Kendall stepped forward instinctively, but Ryan cut him off instantly.
“Not another word.”
The crowd froze.
Aiden opened his mouth as if to speak, but the words died before they left him. Instead, he stayed silent, jaw clenched, as tension filled the air like a storm about to break.
Ryan stepped forward.
“Get down here,” he spat. “You criminal.”
His gaze burned into Lyra.
“You f*****g b***h… all you had to do was stay quiet for a few days. Just a few days,” he snapped, voice rising with disgust. “And instead, you ruined everything.”
The whip came down.
The sound of impact echoed sharply.
The first lash tore through Lyra’s already thin clothing, leaving a raw, visible mark across her skin.
But she didn’t scream. She didn’t make a sound.
Only her tears betrayed her—falling slowly, silently, as she knelt there under the punishment.
Why?
Why did her father hate her this much?
Her vision blurred.
Lyma’s face flashed in her mind.
The first time she had ever seen her… her father had smiled.
“This is your sister,” he had said gently. “Be kind to her, alright?”
That was the last time he smiled at Lyra.
After that, she became nothing.
A shadow.
An inconvenience.
Unwanted.
Another whip cracked through the air.
Pain exploded across her back.
Still, she didn’t scream.
Only her shoulders trembled as she knelt there, crying quietly into the ground.
Aiden stood nearby, watching.
His expression shifted, something between frustration and helplessness flickering across his face. His instincts screamed at him to step in, to take her away, to stop this, but reason held him back.
In the end, he turned sharply and walked away, forcing himself to leave before he did something irreversible.
When Alpha Ryan finally grew tired, he dropped the whip.
“Take her to the infirmary,” he ordered coldly. “Make sure the bruises are gone by tomorrow.”
His eyes didn’t even linger on her broken state.
“She needs to look presentable for the wedding.”
Then, as if she was nothing more than a detail he had already forgotten, he turned away.
Before leaving, he added one final sentence—
“Stay away from her,” he told Kendall without looking back. “She is a bad influence.”
A pause.
“Besides… She is the reason your beloved died.”
The words landed like poison. “Beloved??”
Kendal mumbled confusedly, his jaw tightened as he stepped forward immediately, ignoring everything else as he carefully lifted Lyra into his arms.
Her body was burning with pain, but she had already started to drift into unconsciousness.
He looked down at her, expression tight.
It wasn’t just physical pain.
It was everything she had been carrying for years.
And now it was breaking her.
He carried her out quickly, heading straight for the infirmary.
By the time they arrived, Lyra had already fallen unconscious.
Hours later…
Voices echoed faintly through the room.
“So what are you wearing to the wedding?”
“I heard all the Alphas in the council will be there.”
“And even the Lycan King is attending!”
“I swear, I might even catch the attention of a Beta or a Gamma…”
Laughter followed.
Lyra stirred slightly on the bed, a faint groan escaping her lips as the noise reached her ears.
The word echoed again.
Wedding.
Always the wedding.
She was sick of hearing it.
Nearby, two girls stood chatting.
“Kylie's killer is awake,” one whispered.
“I heard Kendall was the one who brought her in,” the other replied.
A mocking laugh followed.
“How bold… openly flirting with him after what she did.”
“She really thinks being an Alpha’s daughter means she can get away with anything.”
“She acts all grace and elegance, but she’s nothing compared to Lyka ”
“She deserves him more than Lyra ever did.”
Lyra lay still on the bed. Too tired to argue.
Too broken to care.
But her lips curled faintly.
A cold, almost warning smile.
“Can you shut up…” she muttered weakly.
A pause.
“Or I’ll make you shut up myself.”
The room went silent.
The air changed instantly, becoming heavier, sharper.
One of the girls scoffed nervously, stepping back.
The other dragged her away quickly, muttering an apology under her breath as they left. The overwhelming silence returned.
Lyra slowly sank back into the bed, exhaustion overtaking her again.
Outside, far from the infirmary…
A black Maybach crossed the borders of the Crimson Moon Pack.