CHAPTER 1: TRAITOR'S DAUGHTER

~HERA.

Those strong hands of his held me still, plopping my head deeper into the bowl of water mixed with fresh seeds of chilling pepper, his claws digging into the flesh around my neck as he tightened his grip. 

This should be the longest time he had held me down in the water. The last two times, he'd pull my head up to catch my breath for a fleeting moment before pushing it back. 

I guess this is it. He is going to drown me to death for what I have no knowledge about, I am innocent, I know nothing about Blair's fuckin missing jewelry. But who cares?

No one. 

Perhaps a handful of people believe I didn't steal the jewelry since the search was still on and the jewelry is yet to be found in my custody, but none of them dared interfere in my punishment, which I quite understand because they all feared the man whose hand was tightly around my neck with a grip that could bend the thickest of steel, Alpha Lucien.

My breath hitch from the firmness of his grip. It constrained the air in my lungs, slowly choking the life out of me and leaving me more numb with every passing second. As my consciousness began fading, I couldn't help but think if this was how my life was going to end.

Innocent and helpless. 

Making up my mind I was going to actually die this miserable, the next second my head was pulled up and my constrained breath immediately poured out in a deep exhale followed by a burning sensation rippling through my face. 

For a moment, I thought I had gone blind as my eyes refused to open up. A hiss of pain whizzed out of my lips as he yanked my head up, his claws sinking deeper into my neck. 

“Are you ready to tell the truth?" I heard him say, his tone dripping with venom.

“I swear on my life, I didn't take it." I managed to choke out as his grip threatened to snap my head off my neck.

“You really think we all are going to believe you?!” A familiar feminine voice asked, followed by her usual evil giggle. With my eyes slightly opened, I was able to behold the smug look on her face. So disgusting. “How on earth will any of us believe the words of the pack's traitor's daughter?"

Anger hit my nerves at her words, and my gaze hardened as she continued, walking closer.

”I'm not surprised though, Your father was a traitor and you turned out to be a thief”. She halted before me adding with a smirk. “The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.” Then came a mouthful of her saliva smearing on my face.

What the hell?!

She spat on me!

I balled my hands into a fist, God knows how bad I wanted to punch that ugly face of hers. If not for the chains around my wrist. I would have done it and patiently waited for my punishment as usual. That is all they are known for anyway, punishing the innocent more than the guilty. 

Unjust idiots with dead cell brains!

Between labored breaths, I furiously began saying. “Just you wait till I get out of these Goddamn chains—” His grip tightened around my neck, cutting me off. 

“Are you seriously threatening your soon-to-be Luna in the presence of your Alpha?!” He seethed to my face, his blue orbs glaring daggers at me.

If he'd release his hold on me, I'd like to answer that question. Blair can never be my Luna, and he is definitely not my Alpha. Like why would I recognize him as my Alpha when all he does is make my life miserable in the pack?

I was born and brought up in this pack still, it remains foreign to me. Other Alphas protected the weak among their pack members but it's the complete opposite here—Omegas are treated like trash and are subjected to inhuman treatment.

Mine was far worse, there's hardly any day that goes by without me getting a scar. All thanks to my father's fucked reputation, I became a laughing stock to the pack, a punching bag to the warriors and of course Blair's finest scapegoat.

He finally released my neck with a rough push and I heavily sagged to the ground, dust filling my mouth. 

“Let it be known to everyone today that whoever says ill words to my Luna should be ready to face my wrath.” While he said that, he placed the heel of his boot on the side of my face.

I have no idea if there were thorns under the heel of his boot as all I felt was a piercing pain shooting into my skin.“I will use this dimwit to set a good example for y'all".

Immediately after he ended his statement, heavy kicks came flying in my direction. I braced myself, shielding my face with my hands as the kicks continued. Some were on my back, a few did find their way to my face bursting my lips. The excruciating of them all were the ones landing squarely on my stomach. 

Pain was an understatement of what I was feeling right now but I tried as much as possible to muffle the cry threatening to slip out of my lips the moment I caught sight of Blair. She was standing a few steps away, hands crossed on her chest with a smirk dancing on her lips. 

Undoubtedly she is relishing the scene. She always finds joy in my pain but the last thing I would never do was to give her the full satisfaction of hearing me cry.

I coughed out a mouthful of blood as the kicks persisted. In no time, my consciousness slowly began closing in on me turning my vision blurry. 

“Lucien, don't forget she is yet to receive the main punishment. We can't keep the onlookers waiting. This is boring”. In my subconsciousness, I could still recognize the voice, even in death. It was the future Luna, my ass. 

As if Blair's voice was a controller, the kicks ceased at once. My head was plucked away from the ground with the familiar aggressive yank, I forced my eyes open only to see him crouched down to my level, glaring hard at me. 

His inky dark hair was tied up in a messy bun with a few strands falling gracefully on his face, those eyes made his facial looks even more enchanting, orbs so bright as the morning sky yet coated with hatred for my existence.

Hates aside, Alpha Lucien is one hell of a beauty. It was natural for him to steal women's attention whenever he went but none of these women dared approach him. They all kept their distance because of the snake he calls his Luna.

We slaves weren't left out from being fascinated by his beauty. That was how magnetic his looks were. I wondered what the moon goddess was thinking when she chose to bestow the beauty of a thousand men in one hell of a cruel man!

The thoughts of me adorning his beauty were sickening, it's even more sickening knowing the same face I adore is the exact face behind my every trauma in the castle and the excruciating pain I was passing through at the moment. 

I hate him. I hate adoring him but most times I can't help it. And I hate myself for that.

“I guess you know what happens when you choose to engage in stealing?” He asked, his expression as if waiting for me to beg him. 

He would have to wait forever, I don't plan on begging him because it won't change his plans, it will only make me look more miserable. 

His smirk withered at my refusal to talk let alone beg and then he harshly let go of my hair. 

Standing up to his feet he ordered the man beside him.”Take her to the pack field".

Though I was expecting this, hearing him say it sent a shiver running down my spine. The crowd cheered at the mention of ‘The pack field'. 

While a few see the pack field as a disturbing place because of the gory scenes that unfold there daily, a majority see it as an entertainment center—These sets of people were heartless. How could they stand seeing people like them being tormented and killed and still call it entertainment? Worst of all, most of these victims are just as innocent as me!

Like a sack of rotten potatoes, I was dragged down the unforgiving path littered with sharp rocks to the field. 

At the time we got there, my dress had turned tattered and my body was covered in bruises. I swallowed hard at the sight of different sizes of dry skulls scattered across the field.

I had never been here. Even in my father's execution, grandma restricted me from attending. I have only heard news from people about this place, they said it reeks of death and truly it does. The metallic smell of blood permeating the air tells it all. 

The crowds circled me, throwing hateful comments at me as the men hauled me on top of the sacred stone of justice located at the heart of the field. Following Alpha Lucien's order, they tightly grasped my hands behind me with a rope and positioned my head on the execution bar. 

Now it was time to face death. My gaze shifted through the faces in the crowd, trying to find my grandmother, the only reason I had left to live. She wasn't here, it's a good thing she was absent because I can't stand her shedding tears for me.

Silence consumed the entire field as Alpha Lucien made his presence known, stepping forward to the execution bar. Upon sighting the glistening silver sword brandished in his grasp, my heart ran a mile in a minute.

I felt numb. 

He halted before the stone and announced, his voice resonating across the field.“Hera Julius is found guilty and per the pack's rules, she shall face death!" Adrenaline rushed in my veins the moment his sword came swinging towards my head.

“Stop!" 

A masculine voice pierced through the silence of the field causing Alpha Lucien's sword to pause mid-air. Just like everyone, I turned my gaze in the direction of the voice. 

“Lysander?" I weakly called out.

As a result of the massive adrenaline rush from earlier, my vision had turned blurry. I couldn't hold up my consciousness any longer.

"She is innocent—”. Was the last words my ears could pick as darkness swept my sight away.