Chapter 8: Confusion
Emira was still on the ground, unmoving and almost unaware of the ongoing discussion around her, as she awaited her punishment. Her bloodied hair clung to her cheeks, and her gaze was fixed on a patch of dirt in front of her. Her body was still here, but her mind had drifted somewhere far away, trying to protect itself from what she would have to endure.
Only when the weight of Prince Zen's aura finally eased did Alpha Soier move. He exhaled sharply and walked forward. Wanting to overcome the humiliation that he had just endured at the hands of the two princes in front of his own pack, his rage was too strong. And in front of him was the reason for the entire fiasco. Angrily, he grabbed Emira's arm and pulled her forward, over to the podium, letting her knees scrape against the ground.
At the top, in full view of both princes and the gathered pack, Soier shoved her forward.
She landed hard, her palms hitting the stone, the jolt rattling through her arms and shoulders. Still, she didn't cry out. She curled in slightly, more from instinct than weakness, forcing the pain down as she tried to breathe through it.
"You should be grateful, girl," Soier said coldly, voice clipped. "You could have died today. Instead, His Highness gave you mercy. You should be on your face thanking him."
Emira stayed where she was, trembling slightly, head lowered. Gratitude? For this? For being thrown like trash?
Her pulse thundered in her ears.
Then a voice rang through her mind through the pack link. "You better behave now. you bit*h!" Alpha Soier's voice. Quiet, heavy, and full of threat. "Serve the prince well. Obey quickly. Don't embarrass this pack further. Or I'll make you wish you had died today."
Her fingers twitched against the floor but she didn't respond to the warning. She already wished to die...
But then Alec's voice followed in her mind, "Don't worry, little Omega," he whispered, his voice sliding through her mind like oil. "The prince won't keep you long. He's leaving in three days. And once he's gone, I'll be the one you serve. It was a good plan tonight but the princes ruined it. However, three days later, I'll exexute it. You want to know what I'd planned for you?"
She felt her stomach turn and she wanted to close the link, but was unable to as the man continued, "We will fuck the fight right out of you. You heard me right. All of us. Me, Theo, Ryn, Jace.. We'll take turns or maybe even do you together. Let you feel what it's like when real wolves use you like the omega hole you are. On your knees, mouth open. Then on your back. Then your stomach. Again and again, until you stop crying and start begging for more."
His laughter slithered into her skull like rot. "We'll break you in slow. And once you stop screaming? We'll start all over again."
Her breath caught. Not from fear, but from the nausea rising in her throat. Her skin crawled, her shoulders locked and she knew that Alec woudl continue to torment her with his filth over and over again. She didn't move. She didn't make a sound. But her body reacted.
And unknown to her, Prince Zen smelled it instantly, the shift in her scent. While she tried not to give a reaction, because that would only please the sadistic man, it took everything she had to focus on not retching as Alec still continued to spout nonsense.
Just when she thought that she would not be able to endure more, a hand came down on top of her head. She froze, wondering if she was going to be slapped or hit. But then she realised that the hand was not rough... It did not shove or jerk at her or pull her hair.
And then, came another realisation. Silence. Alec's voice had vanished. Mid-word. Mid-laugh. Like it was never there.
The link that had been flooding her mind with filth, thick as rot and fire, was suddenly severed and the choking pressure, the feeling of being suffocated from the inside out, disappeared in a single breath.
She tried to look up at the Prince, but the hand simply pressed down on her head, making her continue to look down at the floor.