Chapter 2

Meanwhile, Sophia gazed at Leo and choked out:

"Alpha, you're so good to me. If you hadn't arrived in time that day, I would have been torn apart by the undercurrents."

Leo held her tighter:

"I'm sorry, Sophia. I failed to protect you."

"But I promise you, after this penance, Catherine's temper will be well and truly broken. She cares so much about her dignity—having to relieve herself in the water for days, that's a humiliation she'll never want to experience again."

"If she ever dares to disrespect you again, I won't go easy on her!"

Those words pierced my ears like silver needles dipped in wolfsbane, a drilling agony.

So he knew how much I valued my dignity—and yet he let me die without a shred of it.

I had been dragged by Leo the entire way, my feet scraped raw.

He hadn't even looked at me as he threw me into the water dungeon, then ordered the wolf guards to keep flooding it with ice water.

The instinct to survive forced me into wolf form.

I kept climbing upward, but he personally took a heavy chain and hoisted my hands high above.

Every time exhaustion made me go slack, the chain would wrench tight, forcing me onto the tips of my toes.

The frigid water pierced my skin like countless needles, draining my werewolf energy drop by drop.

I reached out to Leo through the mind-link, begging for help.

But the next second, his voice exploded in my head—ice-cold, ruthless.

It carried the crushing weight of an Alpha's absolute command.

"You're terrified just from being submerged—so can you even begin to imagine what Sophia felt, nearly drowning to death in those storm-tossed currents because of you?"

"The water level will rise every half hour. Stay in there and repent for your sins."

With that, he severed our private mind-link and walked away without looking back.

For the next three days, the freezing water kept rising over my head, leeching my werewolf energy to nothing.

On the fourth night, Sophia crept into the water dungeon.

Somehow she had dismissed the wolf guards. With a twisted grin, she poured an entire vial of heart-eating wolfsbane into the cage.

The lethal toxin flooded through the wounds the chains had torn into my flesh, consuming my entire body in an instant.

Every organ felt like it was being scorched by fire—an agony beyond description.

"AAAHH!!!"

My face went deathly white. A desperate wail tore from my throat.

Watching me writhe in pain, Sophia's voice dripped with triumph:

"Once you're dead, the Luna's throne will be mine."

I thrashed, fighting for breath, but every gasp only drew in more wolfsbane-laced water.

My life force drained away at terrifying speed. Consciousness blurred, then faded.

Minutes later, my last breath dissolved into the darkness.

The water dungeon fell silent once more, leaving only a cold corpse for the water snakes to feast upon.

"Where's Catherine? Tell her to get over here and apologize to Sophia immediately!"

"And make sure she bathes properly first—I don't want her stinking up Sophia."

Leo's voice was thick with disgust. The subordinate at his side bowed his head in acknowledgment and hurried out.

Sophia's eyes glistened with tears as she tugged at Leo's sleeve:

"Alpha, maybe we should just forget it. I wouldn't dare expect the Luna to apologize to me. After all, you and she are fated mates witnessed by the Moon Goddess. I'm just a nameless rogue wolf from another pack."

Leo pressed a kiss to Sophia's forehead, his eyes glowing with a tenderness and devotion he had never once shown me.

"Sophia, you're always so kind. If it weren't for her, you'd never have nearly drowned in that storm. I can't imagine what would have happened if I'd been one second later."

"Your constant tolerance only makes her push harder! Don't worry—I'll see that justice is done for you."

As he spoke, his tone turned frigid, as though I weren't his fated mate but his sworn enemy.

Hearing his words, Sophia threw herself into his arms, deeply moved.