CHAPTER 1: PUNISHMENT

SELENA'S POV 

Two years later...

The whip tore across my back again, hot, sharp, and I bit down hard on my lip until I tasted blood. I refused to cry out, no matter how much it burned. My body trembled heavily, but I forced myself to stay standing, If I screamed, Selene would only cry harder.

I could hear her behind me, her soft sobs breaking my chest in half. “Stop it! Please don’t hurt her! It’s my fault!”

Her voice cracked. She sounded so weak, so pitiful, the same way she always had. The trainer ignored her, his face tight with anger, as the whip cracked down again.

I stumbled backward, knees almost giving out. My shirt was in tatters, clinging to my skin, and at this point, I knew my back was nothing but welts and bleeding stripes.

Still, I refused to fall.

I had promised myself one thing the day we were dragged into this place: I’d protect my sister no matter what. She was too frail to survive without me, and because of her, I couldn't break. I wouldn't.

     

I closed my eyes, trying to breathe. 

Over the years, I'd gotten so used to this kind of treatment that I'd lost count of how many times I've been punished. It had always been for trivial reasons, and this time wasn't any different. 

It was only a watch.

The trainer’s shiny silver watch had been left on the edge of the table in his room. Selene and I had gone in to clean. She had picked it up with her shaky hands, her lips curved in a small smile.

“It’s so pretty,” she’d whispered, tilting it in the light.

I had told her to put it down. I’d even reached out to take it from her, but she pulled away too quickly, and the watch slipped, hit the ground, and cracked.

Her eyes had gone wide. Then, slowly, her lips trembled, and she looked up at me with those watery, innocent eyes. The same eyes she always used when she wanted me to shield her.

When the trainer discovered the broken watch, he shouted loud enough to shake the whole yard. We were dragged in front of everyone. I knew Selene couldn’t survive the punishment, so I stepped forward.

“It was me,” I’d said quickly. “I broke it.”

The trainer’s eyes narrowed, and before I could even blink, the first lash of the whip tore into my skin.

Now here I was, bleeding and shaking, back split open, because I couldn’t let my sister suffer. The whole yard watched, unable to do a thing.

“Selena!” Selene cried again, her voice breaking. “Please don’t hurt her anymore! I’ll do anything!”

Her hands clutched at her chest like the sight of me bleeding was too much for her. She looked so small, so helpless, her face red and streaked with tears. But something felt wrong. 

Selene's tears seemed fake...

No, I must have lost my mind due to the pain. 

I thought of how fragile she’d always been. The endless fevers when we were children. The way our parents had spoiled her, pampered her, carried her around while I stood in the corner, watching. Even then, I never resented her. She was my sister. My twin. My other half, and I would never let her suffer.

Another lash tore through me, and I tasted blood. Still, I kept my head bowed, despite the ground swaying beneath me.

My wolf stirred angrily inside me. Let me out. I’ll kill them. I’ll kill them all.

“No,” I whispered in my head. “Not here. Not now.”

I couldn’t risk Selene’s life. If I disobeyed, they’d take it out on her, too.

Another lash. Then another. The crowd around us murmured, their voices pricking at my overly sensitive ears.

"She’s still not crying…”

“Maybe she likes it.”

“Idiot. She’s just too stubborn. Who does she think she is? She'll break soon.”

As if the whispers had angered the guard even more, he swiped the whip even heavier. 

My knees buckled this time, but I caught myself, chest heaving.

Gritting my teeth, I dragged in a shaky breath. My vision felt blurry, sweat and tears mixing in with it.

I steeled my back, waiting for another strike, but I was met with silence___ thick and heavy, like the air itself forgot how to move. 

I slowly lifted my head, squinting through sweat and hair plastered to my face to see the trainer frozen mid-swing, the guards stiff, even the air itself seemed to drop a few degrees. My wolf froze before I did. Hackles rose. 

That’s when I saw them.

Three men standing at the edge of the yard, dressed in black, eyes sharp as blades, all tall and broad-shouldered. Their presence was enough to make the air heavy, pressing down on everyone like invisible chains.

Power radiated off them in waves, thick enough to taste... like iron, pine, and smoke. The crowd bowed beneath them. 

They walked forward slowly. One step___ then another. Each movement is deliberate and predatory. The kind of power that needs not announce itself. 

The strange part was that all of them were...staring at me. Not the guards. Me. Like they already knew something I was clueless about. 

My wolf jolted inside me, wild and restless.

Mates! she howled, her voice breaking through every layer of my pain. 

My world spun, and my blood roared in my ears. 

Mates?

I froze, chest tightening. 

No. That couldn’t be.

My mates? Three? Three Alphas?

Impossible.

The trainer dropped the whip instantly, sweat dripping down his temple as he bowed. The guards around us also bent their heads. Even the other girls seemed to know them and threw themselves to the dirt, trembling.

But the Alphas paid them no heed, their eyes never leaving mine. I should have felt fear, but something else stirred within me___ deep, dangerous. 

My heart hammered, the sound deafening in my ears.

I wanted to look away, turn my eyes another way, maybe my sister, but my body wouldn’t obey. Their gazes pinned me in place, trembling and bleeding.

But somewhere, far away, I swore I heard my sister scream.