Chapter 16

ALPHA TRISTAN 

The hall emptied slowly, leaving only myself, Yvonne, Harlan, Kaelen, Vane and Jaxon, and a few guards. Sara stood by the remains of the high table, her eyes fixed on the floor, her body swaying slightly from exhaustion. I could see that she was barely hanging on but that was exactly what I wanted.

"You must be hungry, Sara. If you drop dead here, the whole world would tag me a wicked Alpha even though it's never been heard that hunger killed anyone." I said, gesturing to the pile of scraps—gnawed bones, gristle, and half-eaten crusts that had been discarded on the floor. "I am a generous Alpha. Eat. Eat the remains of your betters."

She didn't move. She didn't reach for the floor. She slowly lifted her head, her blue eyes meeting mine with a flicker of the very pride I had sworn to kill.

"No," she rasped. It sound like whisper, so I didn't really hear hear.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" I asked with a smile, expecting her to drop to her knees and eat from the floor. This was supposed to be a night where I erased whatever is left of her. 

"I. Said. No." She said in a firm and stronger voice and my smile slowly disappeared.

The word was a spark in a powder keg. My blood suddenly turned to ice. "How dare you? You dare talk back at me?"

"I am not a dog, Tristan," she said, her voice trembling but clear. "I will work until my hands bleed, I will stand until my feet can't hold me up anymore, but I will not eat the filth you throw in the dirt." 

Movements in the hall stopped. I was sure everyone would hear a pin if it dropped to the floor. Those who were almost at the door stopped and more people turned to me. I guess they were as surprised as I was by her response. And she even addressed me by name.

"You will do exactly as you are told!" I roared. "Guards! Bind her wrists. Strip the rags from her back. If she wants to act like a creature of the forest, she will be treated like one. We will strip her of every shred of dignity until she begs for those scraps."

"Tristan, stop!" Harlan surged to his feet, his chair screeching against the floor. He stepped between the guards and Sara. "This is enough. You’ve humiliated her in front of the entire pack. Forcing her to strip and eat off the floor... this isn't justice. It’s madness."

Yvonne let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "Finally, he's shown his true colors. Look at our Beta. He’s falling in love with the murderer. It’s pathetic, really." She stood and slowly stepped closer to me, her voice dripping with poison. 

I looked from her to Harlan, unsure what to make of erratic behavior. "Harlan, what are you doing?" I asked in a soft voice, surprised that he was challenging me in the presence of everyone. It was the greatest act of insubordination. "Do you realize that what you are doing? Move away now and I'd forget all of this ever happened." 

"No." He said through clenched teeth. "Regardless of the crime she's committed, she deserves to be treated with dignity." 

I closed my eyes and sucked in air. "Did she treat Claudia with dignity when He killed her?" I murmured as my rage began to rise. "Did she?" I snarled at him. 

"This is interesting, now he has changed his mind again, just after he advocated that she be punished." Yvonne spoke with mockery in her voice. "Let's not forget, Tristan, that it was Harlan’s 'scheming' and his constant talk of diplomacy that kept her alive this long. He’s the reason she’s still here to insult you."

I looked at Harlan, then at Sara. The rage in my gut was a living thing now, demanding a sacrifice. Wanting to be let loose.

"You want to protect her, Harlan?" I asked, my voice dangerously low. He must have recognized the implications of my tone. "Fine. You shall be the one to enforce the punishment. Strip her. Spank her until she remembers her place. And then, you will force those scraps down her throat. If you refuse, I will consider it an act of treason."

The air in the room became brittle. Harlan looked at Sara, his eyes filled with an agonizing conflict. Sara looked at him, and for the first time that night, I saw a flash of genuine fear in her eyes—not for herself, but for him. Which made me wonder, was it possible that she was in love with him?

"Don't," Sara whispered to Harlan. There was a plea in her eyes. Besides the word she said, she didn't say anything again but I got the feeling that she was communicating with him.

I gave her a satisfied smile, and waited to see how this would play out. But to everyone’s shock, Sara reached for the collar of her dress. With shaking hands, she pulled the tattered fabric over her head, exposing her scarred, thin body to the cold air of the hall. She stood there, trembling and exposed, her dignity laid bare. She was not wearing a bra, only a red pant that looked dirty. I scanned her body and I loved the fact that she was curvy, had a tight body and her breasts were still firm. For a spilt second, lust and yearning washed through me, but I dispelled it when I felt Yvonne intense gaze burning my skin. Without a word, she lowered herself to the floor and began to pick up a piece of gristle from the dirt, chewing it slowly, her eyes never leaving mine.

She was doing it to spare him. She was degrading herself so Harlan wouldn't have to be the monster. 

The sight should have satisfied me, but it only made me angrier. She was still controlling the narrative. She was still choosing.

"He still has to do it," I commanded, pointing to Harlan. "The stripping was her choice. The spanking is mine. Take the whip, Harlan. Do it now, or I will have you thrown into the same cell with her and executed by sunrise." 

Harlan looked at the leather whip a guard held out. He looked at Sara, who was still kneeling in the dirt, naked and broken. He reached out and took the whip. He gripped it for a moment until his knuckles became white.

Then, he threw it to the ground.

"No," Harlan said, standing tall. "I accept whatever punishment the Alpha deems fit. I will not lay a hand on her. Not like this." He announced with confidence to the whole crowd.

The silence that followed was deafening. Yvonne looked stunned. The guards didn't move. I felt a vein throb in my temple. My own Beta had chosen a slave over his Alpha.

"Solitary confinement," I hissed, my voice trembling with fury. "Take him to the deep cells. Chain him. If he wants to be a martyr for a murderer, let him rot in the dark." 

The guards hesitated, then moved to seize Harlan. He didn't resist. He kept his eyes on me, a look of profound disappointment on his face that burned worse than any insult.

I turned on my heel, unable to look at the wreckage of my hall any longer. "Yvonne," I spat, not looking back. "She’s yours. Deal with her. I don't want to see her face until morning."

I walked out of the hall, the sound of Sara’s soft, broken sobs finally beginning to echo against the stones, a sound that should have been a victory but felt like a curse. She had succeeded in turning Harlan against me. "She'll live to regret this."