Alice's POV
All eyes were fixed on Derek, who stood like a dark monolith of power, his gaze a physical weight pressing down on the room. Derek walked toward me, holding me against his side softly.
Around us, the crowd stood frozen. The earlier mockery and scorn had evaporated, replaced by raw, trembling fear.
I watched their faces—the ones who had mocked me, laughed at me, called me Omega trash. Now they wouldn't meet my eyes. Their gazes skittered away like frightened animals.
Derek didn't raise his voice. He didn't need to. "No one?" He looked around the room slowly. "Then let me make myself clear."
My father stood near the front, his face drained of all color. The hand that had struck me was trembling.
Derek's gaze settled on my father. "Strike her again, and you lose the hand."
