I Faked Death, My Alpha Went Insane

Chapter 4

Before I even got the chance to have it out with Aeon, Beta Evan was already outside my door, a squad of guards at his back.

Two of them grabbed me from either side and kicked in the backs of my knees, forcing me down until I was on my knees right in front of Susan, who was still crying.

Aeon held her tight against his chest, drew back his hand, and brought it across my face in one brutal slap.

"Anna, you're a complete disappointment!" he growled. "If you hadn't kept tormenting Susan, her condition would have healed by now instead of spiraling out of control!"

"You owe her an apology. As a Luna, you're going to publicly apologize to her—right here, right now! We can't wait until the pup arrives. Our child shouldn't have to suffer for your malice!"

I stumbled, barely keeping my balance as a violent ringing filled my ears and blood trickled from the corner of my mouth.

He dragged Susan forward, positioning her directly in front of me.

"Susan, don't be afraid," he coaxed softly, his tone dripping with an unprecedented tenderness. "You should hit her back, ten times harder."

He spoke to her so gently—a warmth he had never once offered me.

"I… I don't dare to," Susan whimpered, shrinking back into his chest. "She's the Luna. I can't…"

She cowered dramatically into Aeon's embrace like a terrified child.

Aeon grabbed her hand with a firm grip, forcing her palm open and aiming it straight at my face.

"Don't be scared, I'm right here," he reassured her. "Susan, you need to learn to defend yourself. Sometimes, making people fear you is far more effective than trying to win them over."

SLAP!

"That one was to teach you to find the courage to fight back."

"And that one was to teach you that backing down won't keep you safe."

After ten agonizing slaps, Aeon scooped Susan into his arms, snatched medicinal herbs from the healer, and meticulously tended to her slightly flushed palm.

My face was swollen beyond recognition, blood oozing from my mouth and nose, blurring my vision into a smear of crimson.

Yet, Aeon didn't spare me a single glance.

I knew this was merely the warm-up. My actual punishment had barely begun.

Aeon shot a cold look at Beta Evan, who took the cue and loudly bellowed my sentence to the gathering crowd.

"For attacking a fellow pack member, the Luna is sentenced to twenty lashes! For every sound she utters, ten more lashes will be added!"

I had no strength left to resist, forced to endure the searing strikes as the whip tore into my flesh.

At the first lash, through my blurred vision, a memory flickered—how he had once abandoned a critical pack council just to rush back and soothe me after a nightmare, staying by my side every night for a month to lull me to sleep.

At the second lash, I bit down on my tongue, the metallic taste of blood flooding my mouth. His gentle voice echoed in my mind, "I will protect you forever. I'll never let anyone harm you, and anyone who tries will answer to me."

The third lash, the fourth, the fifth…

Every strike struck deeper than the skin, shredding my heart far worse than the ruined flesh on my back.

I couldn't choke back a muffled groan of agony.

"Add ten more lashes!"

By the twenty-fifth, then the twenty-ninth lash, I thought I heard Aeon screaming my name in sheer panic, but I could no longer separate reality from delirium.

When the final lash landed, my body collapsed. As the ropes binding my wrists and ankles gave way, I saw Aeon rushing forward, frantically gathering me into his arms.

With the absolute last shred of my strength, I shoved him away.

I hated myself for every choice I had made.

I hated myself even more for believing his lies about us being fated mates blessed by the Goddess Selene, cursing the day I gave him my heart, soul, and trust.

The hatred ran so deep it was etched into my very bones.

I was done waiting. I refused to endure another second of this hell. All I wanted was to erase myself from this place and secure a life of freedom for myself and my parents.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back in my bedroom, the healer quietly dressing my wounds.

Suppressing the excruciating pain, I dragged myself up and slipped a heavy gold bar—the one thing he desperately needed—into his hand.

"Get me a car out of here—and make sure Aeon doesn't find out," I rasped weakly. "Once I'm safely away, I'll give you three more bars of gold. That'll be more than enough to treat your critically ill parents…"

As night fell, an unmarked car quietly pulled up outside the manor.

Leaving everything behind, I gathered my parents, and we slipped away into the dead of night.

Moments later, a series of deafening explosions shattered the silence behind us, and the grand manor I once shared with Aeon was completely consumed by raging flames.

Tomorrow's headlines would announce that the Luna had perished in a tragic fire.

"Goodbye, Aeon. Now you can live out the rest of your life with your precious Susan, completely unburdened."

The car reached the border. Standing atop the ridge, I took one last look at the pack territory I used to call home. Then, turning my back on it, I took my parents by the hand and ran toward the wild, unknown frontier.

From this moment on, Aeon was dead to me, along with the crippling weight of my love for him.

I was just Anna now—a free soul, surrounded and protected by the people who truly loved me.