Chapter 3

I jolted awake to see Dad curled into himself. His severed leg had turned a grotesque purplish-black. What oozed from the wound was no longer blood or pus, but foul-smelling black fluid.

"Dad! What's wrong?"

He clutched his throat, his eyes bulging. "Hurts… It hurts so bad… It's burning…"

He suddenly threw up a mouthful of blood—black blood.

My pupils contracted sharply.

It was wolfsbane!

They hadn't given me medicine at all! They'd given wolfsbane!

"Dad!" I let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Without a second thought, I hoisted him onto my back and ran toward the square.

Dawn had just broken, and the werewolves were just starting their morning training. Lucas and Mia stood on the raised platform watching them.

I laid Dad down on the ground. He kept vomiting blood, his body convulsing violently.

"Lucas! I'm begging you—save him! Give me the antidote!" I shouted toward the platform.

Lucas looked down at me, a mocking smirk on his face.

"Oh? Looks like that special medicine was a bit too strong. The old bastard couldn't handle it, huh?"

Mia covered her mouth, giggling. "Oops. Maybe I grabbed the wrong vial. I didn't accidentally give Elena wolfsbane, did I?"

"You two bastards!"

I tried to rush forward, but the guards pinned me to the ground.

Mia walked up to me and lifted my chin with the tip of her high heel. "Such a pity about this pretty face."

She pulled a small white pill from her pocket, tossing it lazily into the air before catching it again.

"You want the antidote?"

She pointed toward several Omegas on the edge of the square—reeking, filthy, and barely clothed.

"Don't you like playing with Rogues? Go on, strip. Since you're so cheap and so desperate to be played with, you can go service them. Right here. In front of everyone.

"As long as you satisfy them, I'll give you the antidote."

The entire square erupted, and every eye turned to me.

"Well damn," one of the Omegas muttered. "Lucky day."

Their eyes gleamed with lewd excitement as they rubbed their hands together, and they closed in.

"No… No…" I shook my head frantically.

"I'm the Alpha King's daughter. You can't—"

"You're not anymore," Lucas said coldly. "You won't do it? Then you'll just have to watch your father die."

Dad let out an agonized scream as the wolfsbane wracked his body.

"I'll do it! I'll do it!"

Tears streamed down my face as my shaking hands unfastened my coat. The freezing wind cut into my skin like blades, but I couldn't feel the cold—only bone-deep humiliation.

The Omegas lunged forward. Their filthy hands roamed over my body as they laughed obscenely.

"Stop… Please… Let my daughter go…"

I didn't know when Dad had regained consciousness, but he was lying on the ground, his mouth smeared with black blood, staring helplessly at the scene. He was forced to watch the daughter he cherished above all else being publicly violated by these low-lives in order to save him.

"Lucas! Mia! I'm begging you!"

The once-proud former Alpha King dragged his wracked body toward them across the ground, inch by inch. Mud smeared across him while sharp gravel tore his skin open, leaving him filthy and bloodied.

"Let her go! Come at me instead! Stop! Just kill me!" Dad cried out, on the verge of breaking down.

But Mia only laughed harder. "Look at that. The former Alpha King is crawling toward us. Keep going. Let's see how far you can get."

Suddenly, Dad stopped. As if realizing something, a trace of acceptance flashed through his eyes. He lifted his head and looked at me.

That look in his eyes—I'd never forget it as long as I lived. It was utter despair. And absolute love.

"Elena…"

His voice was hoarse. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. From now on… Don't push yourself so hard anymore."

Suddenly, he pulled himself up and, using the last of his strength, drove the silver dagger he'd hidden right into his own chest.

"Dad!" I screamed until my throat tore.

But the Omegas were pinning me down. I couldn't move.

The sickening sound of the blade sinking into his flesh tore through the square. The silver corroded his chest, and black blood spilled out.

He collapsed, less than ten feet away from me.

The wound was deep, and blood pooled rapidly beneath him. He had made sure it would be fatal. He wanted to make sure that he would never again be used as leverage to threaten me.

Blood sprayed outward, some of it even splattering across the Omegas' faces. They were so shocked that they froze.

For a moment, the world seemed to stop.

I stared into Dad's eyes as they gradually lost focus. He looked at me, and his lips moved one last time.

No sound came out, but I'd understood him.

"No need to hold back anymore. Kill them."