Chapter 2: Pain and Pleasure.

Seraphina's POV

I stopped begging… because in that moment, I realized something..

I really wanted to die too.

This beast... this curse, has taken everything from me. My own father’s blood is on my hands, and my wolf? She was silent. Broken. Just like me.

"Perhaps we should run," my wolf howled, her pain mirroring mine.

"You know we can't," I whispered.

"There's no pack that doesn't know us." I could hear the desperation in her tone, but there was really nothing I could do.

Every pack knows who we are, and by now, word of what happened today has already spread. They wouldn’t accept us. No one would open their doors to the cursed girl and her shattered wolf. Not after today.

"If we try doing that, believe me they'd shoot us down on sight." I gently whispered.

I wanted to see the Moon Goddess… to ask her why she chose to afflict me like this.

Was I so unworthy of peace? Of love?

My wounds refused to heal, my wolf was too weak to help. She was barely breathing.

“Get up Bitch!”

Dante’s growl cut like a whip.

He grabbed my filthy, wet blonde hair and dragged me toward his chambers. My feet scraped against the stone floor, my body too broken to resist.

“Please…”

“P.... please, D.... Dante, I'm.... in so much pain already.”

I whimpered, my voice hoarse.

He didn’t care. He dragged me anyway... dragged me to his chambers. Threw me to the floor like garbage. Then, slammed the door shut behind him.

He stalked toward me, his eyes blazing.

Then he got on me and grabbed what was left of my torn tunic and ripped it off me. My body was naked before him, trembling, covered in bruises, dirt, and blood.

I knew what he wanted, to mate with me..

But... what kind of bastard looks at someone in this state and gets turned on?

Dante wasn’t just cruel.

He was rotten to the core.

I tried to fight, to shove him off, but I was too weak. My wolf stayed curled inside me, she didn't fight back. She wanted him.

No… stop. Don’t want this.

I wanted to scream at her. Damn! Betrayal never tasted so bitter.

But it wasn't her fault. My body... the mate bond... it had to react regardless.

Dante’s rough hands grabbed my breasts. I wanted to scream in disgust, but I felt the heat between my thighs and I hated it. I hated myself.

“Ah… ah,” the sound escaped me... soft, involuntary. I felt his smirk against my skin. Shame burned through me.

Why? Why does my body still want this?

My breathing grew heavier. I couldn’t stop it. He shoved my legs apart, his touch grew rough and greedy. I wanted to close them, but my muscles betrayed me, trembling with a lustful desire for him instead of resisting.

“Oh... my...” I whispered when his teeth grazed my skin, shame twisting in my gut. My fingers... stupid, desperate... ran through his hair, I held onto him tightly.

He pushed inside me.... no warning, no care.

I hated myself for the moan that escaped my lips. For the way my hips rotated swiftly, trying to meet his pace... even though my heart begged me not to.

I gasped, pain and pleasure bleeding together. My claws dug into his back, dirty and jagged, until I smelled blood. The sting only made him move faster.

Each thrust sent fire through me, my body betraying me fully now. My wolf stirred faintly, almost... pleased. She wanted more. She was craving him.

“Ah! Bitch!” he moaned.

“More,” I whispered.... begged, even. My voice cracked with need and hatred for myself. “More.”

He didn’t hold back. He thrust deeper, harder. I cried out .... not just from the feeling, but from the war inside me. Shame, pain, pleasure.... all tangled together.

The room was filled with soft moans and heavy breathing. Dante moved like he couldn’t get enough of me, and his lips brushed against my neck.

Dante has avoided marking me ever since the day we started mating. He knew about my beast like nature so I figured that was why he never marked me.

Dante didn’t even try to look at me with softness... at least, for the sake of the moment.

Not like I was expecting it or maybe I was.

Tears leaked from my eyes as my body trembled, the heat built, more and more . I shook violently as the pleasure took over me and I reached the climax. My breathing became faster. My legs were weak.

He groaned deep, finishing with a final thrust before collapsing over me, breathing heavily.

He stayed inside me for a while, then gently pulled away. We both lay there, catching our breath, silent and lost in the moment.

I reached for him... weak, desperate to be held in his arms.

But he shoved me off the bed like I was diseased. I hit the cold floor with a crack in my bone, breath knocked from my lungs.

He stood, walking to the bathroom without a word.

I laid there, half-naked, bruised, aching.... not just in my body. My soul felt cracked too.

Tears fell, silent and hot.

Minutes later, guards barged in. Bigger wolves. Stronger than I. They didn’t speak.

I got up, immediately grabbing my already torn tunic, and slightly covering my naked body with it. They yanked me out and dragged me toward the palace.

-- -- --- -- -- --- --

The guards threw me to the center of the throne room. I was already so weak. My blood was trailing down my arms.

The king... King Malrick.... sat high on his throne, his silver eyes cold and unreadable.

“You have murdered your Alpha,” he growled. “Your father.”

“Great King Malrick,” a council wolf snapped, stepping forward, voice sharp. “We must act before she kills again. She’s a danger to the pack. Give us permission to end her.”

Another voice joined, nastier, bolder.

“Or lock her away.... in the Tombs of Shadows. Let her rot there, Your Majesty.”

I stood there, shaking, the chains cold and heavy around my wrists and ankles. My heart had already given up.

Then I heard her....

“I disown her,” my mother spat.

"She is no longer my daughter. I will not be tied to a murderer.”

That shattered whatever pieces of me were left. The words burned deeper than any wound.

Tears slipped free, but I didn’t wipe them. I had nothing left. I had no one left. Not a single soul.

Then, cutting through the noise...

“But... Father.”

All heads turned.

It was Prince Lucien.

He stepped forward, his long black embroidered robe fluttering behind him, his gray eyes locked on me. I looked away, shame swallowing me whole.

His voice was steady, but his clenched jaw betrayed his anger.

“You can’t just punish her like this,” he said. “No one has asked what really happened.”

Gasps and murmurs filled the air.

Why was he defending me?

King Malrick’s face twisted. “Lucien...”

“No, Father,” Lucien snapped. “... because a wolf doesn't just wake up one day and decide to be bloodthirsty. She’s a member of this pack. She deserves a chance to speak. We should be helping her find answers... not trying to kill her or branding her a monster.”

Queen Marie touched his arm gently. “Drop it, son.”

But he didn’t.

“She’s broken,” he said, his voice lower now, almost to himself. “She needs help.”

Then a sharp and elegant voice cut in..

“Lucien."

Valerie. His Luna-to-be. She stepped forward, her crimson velvet dress sweeping behind her, every bit the perfect royal. Her flawless face twisted in disgust when her eyes landed on me.

“Babe, this isn’t your fight,” she said softly, resting a manicured hand on his arm. “She killed her father.”

Lucien didn’t look at her.

“She’s still one of us,” he said.

“She deserves punishment not pity, Lucien. She’s dangerous!” Valerie growled.

“And yet I’m the only one asking if there’s more to this story,” Lucien shot back.

A sneering voice rose from the crowd.

“Easy for you to say, prince. You live in a castle. You don’t know what it’s like to fear her.”

Rafael, Lucien’s bodyguard, growled and stepped forward, unsheathing his claws.

“Watch your tongue!”

In a blink, Rafael’s hand was around the wolf’s throat, squeezing. The man’s face turned purple.

“Rafael!” Lucien growled quickly. “Let him be.”

Rafael dropped the man instantly, slightly bowing his head as he clenched his fist around his sword's hilt..

The tension in the palace was suffocating.

“Father...” Lucien started again.

But the king slammed his golden staff down.

“Silence, Lucien!”

The King's growl sent shivers down my spine, and the hall fell dead quiet.

“Seraphina Ashwood,” the king declared, “by my power, I announce that... you are stripped of your rank. You are no longer Alpha-born. From this day, you are an Omega and a slave to the pack.”

My knees gave out.

“I choose not to spill your blood today,” the king continued. “Because we’ve had enough bloodshed. But cross me again... and I’ll show no mercy.”

No one objected. Not even Lucien.

As the crowd began to leave, a guard approached, unlocking the chains on me. I caught Lucien staring.... pity flickered in his eyes, but something else was there too. Something I couldn’t name.

I didn’t wait to find out.

I ran.

Deep into the forest, away from everything. From everyone. I didn’t want to hurt anyone else.

The darkness swallowed me.

I collapsed beneath the trees.

Hours passed. Days maybe.

When sunlight finally reached my eyes, I dragged myself out of the woods. As I stepped out, there, standing before me, was the last person I expected.

“What... what are you doing here?”