Chapter Four

Laina

Outside, the debris and bodies that had previously littered the courtyard had been cleared away.

That should have made the sight before me less disturbing but It didn't.

People had gathered in the square, forming a wide circle around something or someone at its center. 

Their voices filled the night in low, anxious murmurs, but the moment Trey and his men began walking me through the crowd, the sound gradually faded.

Heads turned as Eyes followed me.

And then silence fell.

I didn't need to see what everyone was staring at.

The scent of blood had already reached me, Thick, Metallic, Fresh.

And beneath it was another scent I knew better than I wanted to.

My father's.

Trey's men parted, revealing him.

John Lennon was on his knees in the dirt.

For one suspended second, I couldn't breathe.

My eyes traveled over him slowly, taking in the blood covering his face and clothes, the bruises already darkening his skin, and the defiance still burning inside him.

Then his eyes lifted and found mine.

My heart slammed painfully against my ribs.

There was madness in his stare.

Even now, after everything that had happened, he looked at me as if I were the one who had betrayed him.

“You have been judged and found Guilty, john.”

Trey's voice boomed across the courtyard.

I flinched.

My father slowly turned his head toward him, blood dripping from his split lips.

“You don't have the right to judge me, boy!”

The insult was spat with such venom that several wolves around us growled.

My father didn't care, his eyes returned to me.

“Laina will never take you back,” he snarled. “And even if she does, she is nothing but a broken little beta now. What could she possibly offer a true alpha?”

Trey laughed.

It wasn't a pleasant sound, there was no amusement in it, only darkness.

My father had known exactly where to strike.

He had always known Trey stepped closer.

“You still think you get to decide what she is worth?”

My father's mouth curved into a bloody smile.

“Did you tell her what I did to you?”

The air shifted as my stomach tightened.

Trey went still.

My father laughed again.

“No,” he continued. “Of course you didn't. You didn't tell Laina what her rejection did to you. You didn't tell her what you became after she walked away.”

Something flashed across Trey's face.

Gone almost immediately.

But I saw it.

“You'll learn soon enough,” Trey said quietly.

His voice was more terrifying now that it had lowered.

“I intend for her to learn exactly what you allowed to happen.”

My father's smile faltered.

Trey stepped forward and punched him.

The sound of his fist connecting with my father's face echoed through the courtyard.

My father fell sideways.

A collective roar rose from the crowd.

Trey grabbed him by the collar and dragged him upright again.

“You poisoned her mind against me,” Trey said. “You spent years convincing her that she belonged to you. That she owed you loyalty. That she was nothing without your approval.”

My father's eyes narrowed.

“And now?”

Trey's smile was cold.

“Now she's going to learn who she is without you.”

He punched him again and this time, my father collapsed, I should have felt satisfaction and a Part of me did.

But another part of me stood frozen as I watched the man who had controlled my entire life reduced to blood and broken pride in the dirt.

Duke tightened his grip around my arm.

My attention snapped toward him.

“Don't look away, Princess,” he murmured.

Fear crawled through me not because of my father.

Because of the men surrounding me.

Because of Trey.

Because I still didn't know what any of them intended to do once this was over.

My legs weakened slightly and Trey noticed, Of course he did.

His gaze flicked toward me then back to my father.

“You took everything you could from her,” Trey said. “Her choices. Her freedom. Her future.”

My father's laugh came out wet and broken.

“And you're different?”

The question silenced me, Trey went completely still.

For one terrifying moment, nobody moved.

Then Trey crouched beside him.

“I'm worse,” he whispered.

My father's expression changed.

For the first time that night, genuine fear appeared in his eyes as Trey rose.

And the violence that followed happened too quickly for me to process.

My father tried to fight but he was too weak.

Trey drove him into the ground with a force that made me stumble backward. His men caught me before I could fall.

The crowd howled and I turned my face away.

“Look.”

Trey's voice stopped me but I didn't want to, my eyes returned to him.

He stood over my father, chest rising and falling as blood stained his hands.

Then everything became quiet.

Trey looked directly at me and I knew.

I knew what was coming before it happened.

My father had spent his entire life believing he was untouchable, He died learning he wasn't.

The courtyard erupted in howls and cheers but all I could hear was the pounding of my own heart.

Trey stood in the center of it all, surrounded by blood and chaos, his eyes locked on mine.

Then he turned toward his men.

“Bring her chosen alpha.

The men holding me didn't loosen their grip as Carls was dragged into the courtyard, Unlike my father, Carl fought, he kicked and tried to break free but It didn't work.

Trey watched him approach with an almost bored expression.

“Did you touch her?”

Carl's gaze snapped toward me and for a moment, neither of us spoke. Then his mouth twisted.

“No.”

My shoulders loosened slightly.

“I should have,” he added.

The relief vanished instantly as Carl glared at me.

“She wanted it badly enough.”

I stared at him then laughed.

It wasn't because anything was funny.

It was because I was exhausted.

Because I had been threatened, dragged through chaos, watched my father die, and somehow Carl still believed he had the power to humiliate me.

I slowly looked him over from head to toe then back to his face.

Carl's eyes narrowed.

“You think you're better than me?” he snarled.

“No.” I smiled. “I just think you're embarrassing.”

A few of Trey's men snorted.

Carl's face darkened.

“You fucking”

“The only thing more disappointing than your ego,” I interrupted, “is how desperately you need everyone else to believe you're important.”

The crowd erupted with laughter as Carl lunged toward me, He didn't get far.

Trey's fist collided with his face and flew backward and the laughter died.

Every wolf in the courtyard seemed to understand what was about to happen.

Carl wiped blood from his mouth and slowly stood as his eyes burned crimson.

Trey smiled.

“That's better.”