002

Desdemona noticed that the sun was always hotter any day Ailee wanted to punish her. She didn't know why it was like that, and also  didn't want to believe that Ailee used to make a special sacrifice for it.

Passing by Pack's members, including omegas like Desdemona, mocked her and, since no one would blame them, some stoned and threw objects at her.

It was evening already, and the darkness of the night was about to take over.

Balto came out of a corner and walked to the torture circle. “Let her down.” He ordered.

Caxton and Derian walked to the pole. They untied her, and she tumbled to the front of their toes. 

Desdemona gasped, rolling on the fall. Blood was still rushing out of her body and her eyeballs had turned painfully red.

“Give her two hundred canes.” Balto commanded.

Derian hurriedly went to get two whips and he gave one to Caxton.

Caxton stood on the right side while Derian stood on the left side, leaving Desdemona between them.

Caxton whipped her twice, and Derian also whipped her twice.

“Ahhhhhh!” Desdemona screeched.

They whipped her one hundred times each, and since Balto didn’t say a word, and they were enjoying hitting her, they continued till they felt pain in their arms.

“Sir, it’s complete.” Caxton reported.

Balto looked at Desdemona and kicked her in the abdomen. “How dare you piss off her highness?”

He whacked her an arrow and splat on her face. “Go away!”

Caxton bent beside Desdemona and punched her on the cheek. “Go already, you curse!”

“Huh!” Desdemona grumbled. She sat up for a few seconds and attempted to stand on her feet, but she couldn’t. 

She struggled and forced herself to stand on her feet, but she fell back to the floor.

She crawled to her cobb with her bottom, and as she curled her body to get in, Amee showed up.

Looking at Desdemona from a distance, Amee smirked. “It’s been a long time I had fun. I wish to play with this thing..”

Amee was the eldest princess. She grew up seeing her mother excited whenever she tortured Desdemona, so she also found happiness in it. And ever since they were kids, the tears of agony from Desdemona's eye gave her joy.

She preferred using Desdemona as a  tool to practice poisonous cultivations, swordsmanship, and martial arts, which resulted to most of the old scars on Desdemona’s body.

Amee rushed to the torture circle and immediately as she got to Desdemona, she bent beside her and punched her on the face. “Hey cursed…”

Amee smiled dangerously and grabbed Desdemona by the hair. She hit her face on the floor and raised it to look at her in the eyes. “Didn’t you miss me?”

Amee raised and turned to the guards. “Open the torture board.” She decreed.

Instead of letting the junior guards do it, Balto paced faster to the board and opened the canopy from it. 

Amee glanced at the board and slightly turned her gaze to Balto. “Are the blades sharp?” She inquired and without waiting for response, she moved closer to the board, and as she wanted to touch its blade, it cut her finger before her hand could reach it.

Balto ran to Amee and grabbed her hand. “Are you okay?” He asked, his caring voice cooperated with the worry in his hazel eyes.

Amee looked at Balto, her eyes widened in a mixture of surprise and shock and she flinched his hand away.

Balto quickly took a step backward and bowed his head. “I’m sorry, your Highness. I was just-” He tried to explain, but she cut him off.

“It’s okay…” 

Amee glanced at her finger, she blew air on it and the blood stopped and the cut closed immediately.

“Balto.” Amee called.

Balto was ashamed to look at Amee in the eyes, he fixed his eyes in the ground and answered. “Yes, your highness.”

“Isn’t it a long time the pack hunters caught a criminal?” She inquired.

“Yes, your highness,” Balto gave a response. “Prince Arram has created fear in the enemies’ minds so there hasn't been threat for years. There are no even sign of it.”

“Uh!” Amee sounded pitiful. She lightly bit the left side of her lower lip and sighed. “These blades must be thirsty, it's been a long time they sucked blood,”

Amee stayed silent for a few seconds and suddenly wore an excited smile as if an idea had just popped into her head. She turned to Balto, pushing a question. “Isn’t Desdemona a sinner from birth?”

“Yes,” Balto answered. “She is cursed and useless.”

“Is there a crime in feeding her blood to these blades?” Amee inquired.

“Not at all,” Balto responded. He wanted to impress Amee with a satisfying response, so he furthered. “Infact, she should be happy and forever grateful you have a use for her blood. It shows how generous you are to care about Pack affair and it's members, including the useless her.”

Amee beamed, impressed. She had another glance at the sharp blades and looked at Caxton. “Tie her to the board.” She commanded.

Caxton stepped forward to act on Amee’s order, but Balto stopped him.

Balton speedily walked to Desdemona. He  picked her from the ground and smashed her back on the board blades.

“Ahhnn!” Desdemona screeched, hot tears of dismay flooded out of her eyes as the blade tore her skin and penetrated her body.

Amee cracked up. She was so excited to hear the scream of agony and sight those painful tears she has been longing to see in Desdemona’s eyes. 

Amee couldn't hold the excitement in herself anymore, so she broke out. “I love this! This is fantastic!”

Blood flooded out of Desdemona’s ear and she lost consciousness.

Amee burst into a peal of laughter that echoed for a few minutes. “I’m so happy right now! It’s been a long time since I’ve been this happy!” She screamed at the peak of her tiny voice.

‘If I ever have the chance, I’ll make you and your mother pay. When the time comes, I will make sure you shed blood instead of tears.’

*****

{Later in the night}

It was midnight and everyone had gone to sleep. 

The Pack guard owned the afternoon while the Pack’s hunters took over in the night. Pack’s guards were less powerful than the hunters, so they shifted duties since threats were expected to happen in the dark.

After hours of lying unconscious on the floor, Desdemona opened her eyes back to the world. She panted for a few seconds and attempted to stand up, but she was so weak to lift even a finger.

Blood had stopped flooding out of her, but dried one gummed all over her body and  flies roamed around her.

She laid helplessly for another hour and finally got some strength. She turned over to stare at the sky and uncontrollable tears rolled out of her eyes.

“Moon goddess, Why is my life misery? What sin have I committed to deserve this fate?” She poured out. She had buried those words in her mind for a long time but held herself back from saying it to avoid the goddess wrath, but what fate could be worse than those she was already passing through?”

“My ill fate was your decision, why make me suffer for it? Why must I pay for a crime I never commit?”

She nodded twice and smiled densely for a few seconds. 

“Fine, the decisions are all yours, but why did you forbid my death? That's the worst you ever done. You should have allowed them to just take my life,”

She pointed her index finger at the sky. “If this ill fate is inevitable, take my life! Just take this imprisoned soul out of this useless body and let death end this dismay!” She protested.

Desdemona wiped her tears to stop crying, but the tears flooded out more, so she let them be till they naturally stopped.

She gnashed and forced her body to raise. She stood on her feet and as she took the first step, she heard a sound of something plunged on the ground. 

She instantly looked back, panicked, but saw nothing.

She ignored it, and as she took another step, she heard a heavy loud footsteps. She quickly glanced back and saw a shadow of someone walking into a corner.

‘Is the Pack under an attack?’ She thought and quickly walked down the circle.

She took three steps towards the corner, and halted.

‘Why am I going? What am I going there to do? Is there anything I can do if the Pack is under attack?’

She wanted to go back to her cobb, but a part of her mind convinced her to go and she sped to the corner. 

She hid beside a castle and peeped at the corner  to see a guy looking around suspiciously. 

‘Who is this?’

Seeing the guy dressed in a tight fitted short doublet with a collar and cuffed sleeves and a breeched circular wide cloak, reaching to his knees and displaying a flat collar, she easily figured out he was a noble wolf.

Thinking he must has sneaked into the Pack to carry out a dark mission, she got more curious.

After standing at a spot to scan the surroundings, the guy headed towards the Pack’s palace and Desdemona quickly tiptoed after him.

Since Desdemona started following the guy, the air became thicker for him to inhale, and while he was thinking about what happened, his inner aura alarmed him and he  figured out someone was behind him.

He continued walking for a few minutes and suddenly glanced back, hoping to catch who was following him, but Desdemona was for the first time in her life, lucky to quickly find a piece of rock to hide behind.

He chuckled softly and continued walking, and Desdemona also continued to tiptoed after him.

He arrived at the dark side of the palace backyard and suddenly disappeared.

Desdemona blinked her eyes twice. “Hun!” She sounded surprised. She scanned the surroundings for some seconds, and since she saw no one, she walked out of hide. 

“Where did he go?” 

She took a step forward and the guy appeared in her front as if he plunged from the sky. 

Desdemona's eyes widened in fraction, and she fell to the floor, startled. “Oh!”

“Who are you?” He questioned, his voice was thick, but cute.

He took a step closer to her, and she crawled backward with her bottom and hands on the floor.

“Who are you?” He asked again.

She slowly raised her gaze to see his face, but all she could see was his authoritative seductive green eyeballs because he was wearing a mask.

He grabbed her neck and strangled her, threatening, “answer me or I will end your life right now.”

She hit his hand to free her, but he didn’t. She struggled till her hand reached his face and she took off his mask.

“Hun!” He toned, shocked. His eyeballs turned red, and he flung her away.

“How dare you!”

“You see my face? You are doomed!”