Luciano's POV
Anger boiled through my veins as I watched the omega wench close her eyes.
I could hear the sound of my own heartbeat pounding in my ears, and the odor of my mother’s blood lingering in the air.
At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to rip the omega’s head off her body, but I repressed my murderous instincts because I didn't want to further annihilate the palace's tainted purity.
A venomous pretender like the omega didn't deserve to die in a luxurious place like my palace.
Freya or whatever her wretched name was.
"I order you to look at me." I spat, basking in manic satisfaction as she whimpered like a cornered kitten.
Immediately, she squeezed her teary eyes and gazed at me.
"Why did you kill her? Which rogue wolf sent you? Is it that worthless Abram Norwich of Ice Fire pack? Who exactly is it?" I yelled, disgust building up within me, the more I stared at her expressionless face.
"I think you've got the wrong person, Luciano. She doesn't seem like she can hurt a fly." My wolf, Killian, tried to negotiate as I felt every bit of reasoning I had left slither out of me.
"And you know this how?" I snapped.
"I-I have no idea what you're talking about, Alpha. I implore you to please believe me. I-I woke up with the dowager luna lying beside me. I-I have no recollection of how I got here either. I k-"
A cynical chortle escaped me as I listened to her gibberish lies.
"Do I look stupid? Why do I even bother asking? I must seem doltish enough for you to lie so unabashedly in front of me." I chuckled mirthlessly and shook my head.
"Something is clearly wrong somewhere, Luciano. But, I suggest you tread carefully, so you won't regret this in the future." Killian wafted into my thoughts again and I growled in frustration.
"Whose side are you supposed to be on, huh? Are you her wolf or mine?" I retorted.
I didn't realize that people had started converging in mother's room until the familiar smell of earth after rainfall siphoned through my nostrils, before I felt a hand on my shoulder.
Beta was here.
"Calm down, Luciano. I will take it from here. Your subjects are watching you. Get a grip." Darius, my beta and elder brother whispered, causing my wolf to grunt in agreement.
"This omega wench murdered our mother, Darius. Yet, she has the guts to fib to my face." I snarled, snickering at the omega as her face turned pale and she tried to pry my hands off her jaw with her feeble ones.
"I will take care of it, brother. She was also my mother as much as she was yours, so I definitely know the sort of wrath that must be bristling inside you." He said, to which I scoffed.
Scowling, I let the omega's almost-lifeless body slide down to the ground, before turning to face Darius as my eyes reverted to its natural green.
"No, you don't. She wasn't your biological mother, so don't you dare try to downplay my frustration!" I hollered, clenching my hands into fists, to withhold myself from saying something more drastic.
Nineteen years ago, my father, the late alpha king of our pack, had gone on a peacekeeping mission to a nearby pack, and had returned with a scrawny ten year old Darius who he had declared his new son and my future beta.
Although it had taken a while for Darius to open up to me, he eventually did, and we became best friends and brothers.
He was level headed while I was irrational, so we struck a perfect balance.
Darius just smiled and nodded. "You're right, alpha. I shouldn't overstep my boundaries. As much as I wished she was my mother and loved her as much as I'd have loved my biological mother, I know I would never be able to relate to your pain. But, we have to properly investigate her death, for all we know, the true killer may be out there plotting another evil."
"Why the hell are you so sure the omega didn't murder her? Are you in cohorts with her or something?" I glowered at him.
"Never. I wouldn't dare do such an abominable thing. But, my gut keeps telling me that we're barking up the wrong tree." Darius responded, and for a split moment, I was tempted to agree with both him and Killian.
"See, even your beta agrees with me." My wolf bragged.
I shook the skepticism off and glanced at the omega.
The whole thing felt like a fever dream to me.
It seemed as if the moon goddess was playing on my intelligence and torturing me for an innominate reason.
First, she had fated me to a lowlife omega, even though for eleven years after my first shift, I had waited and hoped for a formidable she wolf to be my mate and luna.
Omegas were at the bottom of the wolves ranking, so it felt insulting for an alpha like me, to be mated with a skunk like her.
Lastly, not only was the said omega a plebeian, she was also a killer who murdered my mother in cold blood.
"I have to think about this," I muttered to myself more, than to Darius. "Summon the guards."
"Guards!" Darius barked, and immediately, five guards trickled into the bedchamber.
I watched their stoic miens morph into shock as they surveyed my mother's body.
"I wonder why I feed, clothe, and tend to your families' needs, if you can't do your jobs properly. You were hired to guard the dowager luna, yet a worthless omega outsmarted you all and did this to my mother!" I roared at them, and they all ducked their heads in shame.
"We're sorry, Alpha and we will accept any type of punishment you decide to give us." One of them uttered, to which I huffed.
"You all have no choice but to accept the punishment anyway. And to be honest, the only punishment I seem fit for you useless morons is death." I spat, and Darius placed his hand on my shoulder again.
Shaking his hands off, I steered my attention to the guards once more. "But I won't do that, because mother seemed to value you imbeciles."
"Kill us, Alpha. We don't deserve your mercy at all. We are too vapid and unfit for your kindness." The tallest guard among them said, crouching at my feet.
I was beyond irate at that point.
Literal fumes of rage emitted from my ears as I unclenched my fists and pointed at them.
"Take her to the pack's dungeon. Make sure her limbs are properly chained, and don't feed her anything, not even a single drop of water, am I clear?" I instructed.
"Yes, Alpha." They bowed in unison before dragging the omega out of the bedchamber.
"I will see to it that they do as you say, alpha." Darius bowed to me and left.
Finally, I was left alone with my mother.
A visceral groan forced itself out of me as I knelt in front of her body and tenderly stroked her pale face.
"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you, mother." I whispered before lifting her from the floor to the bed.
Afterward, I pressed a kiss on her forehead and draped her cold body with a blanket.
"But I promise you something, mother. Whoever did this to you will definitely not go unpunished. That I can assure you. I will make them pay for this, even if it costs me my life." I vowed, holding her hand and planting a kiss on her icy knuckles.
Thereafter, I left her bedchamber to go for a run in the woods.
I needed to clear my head.
Luciano's POV I bit my lips as I felt my eyes fill up with water for the umpteenth time that day–or night. Whichever it was. I had no idea what day it was nor had my lost memories returned to me. It felt as if Alpha Luciano had forgotten all about me, because the guards were yet to tell me about my fate. My gruesome fate. The terrifying aura of the dark dungeon I had been forgotten in made me shiver in trepidation as my teeth clattered, with tears cascading my face. The dungeon was a massive structure that radiated fear. Skeletons littered the floor, their bones scattered aimlessly. The metallic odor of blood also hung in the air; thick and cloying. I knew in my heart that there was no doubt I'd end up like those skeletons. "Luciano may eventually let us go. There's no need to cry, Freya. We didn't do it, right? So let's hold our head up and remain brave, okay?" Ana's voice glided into my thoughts and I just scoffed, gazing down at my chained legs. I was currently sitting on
Luciano's POVAs I paced my study with different unhinged thoughts assailing my mind, a knock came on the door yanking me back to reality."Who is it?" I barked."It's Gamma Reginald, Alpha. May I come in?" The voice of my third in command and warrior leader, wafted through the door, causing me to inhale heavily.Picking up my cigar from the ashtray, I bellowed. "You can come in. I presume you're alone.""Yes, Alpha. I came alone." "Very well then." I muttered, lighting up my cigar."Alpha," He said, bowing in front of me. "The preparations for the funeral are underway and the autopsy report have just arrived from the pack's hospital. Would you like to take a look at it now?""That's good. Now we can know whether the omega truly killed her." Killian spoke from within, and I ignored him."Don't bother showing it to me. I already know who killed her and I'm going to make her pay. There's no use leaving her to enjoy an underserved solitude in the dungeon. She deserves to get her punishm
Freya's POV "Long live Alpha Luciano. Long live crescent moon pack." The crowd cheered as two huge guards dragged me to the scaffold.Today was the worst day of my life.It was the day of my execution.After five months of investigating the mysterious death of the dowager luna and all evidence still pointed toward me as the murderer, I was eventually sentenced to death by beheading some days ago.Tears oozed out of my eyes as I smiled mirthlessly at the crowd that had gathered to me take my last breath.The pack that had converged to watch me die an undeserving, torturous death."Ivy." I whispered to myself as my eyes scanned the crowd for a familiar brunette.She didn't come.After my sentencing, she had held me in the dungeon and wept bitterly until her cries lulled me to sleep.Strangely enough, the gravity of the whole situation didn't quite dawn on me on the day of my sentencing.The realization just struck me earlier that day when I was asked to take off my clothes and presente
Luciano's POV "Monster." I heard Freya whisper feebly as the bricks piled up around her.A dry smile curved my lips as I moved closer to her."Just a minute." I muttered, tapping one of the guard's shoulder, and they immediately stopped working.Retrieving my lighter from my pocket, I took one step closer to Freya. "Monster, huh? How brazen of you."She remained undaunted as she kept glaring at me like she would chop me into pieces the moment she was set free.I knew she couldn't do more than a dead rat because the glare was a look I recognized and had grown accustomed to.It was a look associated with most captives.I called it "the cowardice glare" because they couldn't even dare touch me even if I decided to let them go.The least thing a criminal could do was to at least have a courageous mindset, but they were all feeble-minded punies.I flicked on my lighter and let it dangerously linger beside Freya's neck, and her glare instantly dissolved into a panicked look, which was exac
Freya's POV "Help me. Please help me." I wheezed, weakly hitting the immurement.The only response I got was the echo of my own voice and a scoff."Luciano is so evil. He's such a brutal scumbag. Why is he doing this to us?" Ana whimpered from within.And at that moment, I wished I could bring her out of me and hug her."I wish I could hug you too. We've been through so much in just ten days." She said, causing me to sob softly."Do you think we will ever be able to get out of this place? Will we ever be free from this life of torture? Why did this have to happen to us? Why are we being punished for a crime we didn't even commit, Freya?" My wolf asked and I could only cry harder as I clutched my chest.If only I knew the answer to that question."I wish I knew, Ana. I'm so tired of this miserable hell I call a life. Why can't I be happy? Don't I deserve a blissful life after everything I've been through?" I wept.My knees and head ached while my neck itched and burned from the burn w
Luciano's POV "Please accept my sincere condolences once again, Alpha." One of the pack elders said as the diggers covered mother's mahogany casket with earth."Thanks, Elder." I nodded, subconsciously reaching into my pocket for my lighter before realizing that I had left it at the dungeon.I was gradually getting addicted to smoking which wasn't a good thing in the slightest.I could only imagine the nagging I would have gotten from my mother if she were alive.She had always been against me smoking and drinking excessively.Mother would often tell me that alcohol and cigars could only suppress my worries for a while before I get dragged back to the harsh reality of life.And she was right.I had been smoking since she died ten days ago, yet I couldn't get a single hour of peaceful sleep at night.Everything tormented me–from the disturbing voice of my wolf telling me I was making a bad decision by tormenting Freya down to the gory image of mother lying in a pool of her own blood i
Freya's POVI heaved a blissful sigh as I felt fresh air on my face.Being in the damn brick enclosure had nearly killed me.It was then I realized something; I wasn't in the immurement anymore.The toxic smell of cement that gave me heartburn had dissipated but the throbbing ache at the back of my head still lingered."It seems we survived that torturous ordeal, Freya." Ana squealed, causing me to raise my lips weakly to resemble a smile."It seems the omega is starting to regain consciousness." I heard a strange voice say."Really?" Another voice questioned."Yes. Her lips twitched just now." The former voice responded.Opening my eyes felt like a rigorous task, so I kept my eyes closed while gently breathing in the natural oxygen that the moon goddess bestowed onto us.Nothing could have prepared me for the large amount of cold water that was poured on my head.Instantly, I squeezed my eyes open with a gasp as water cascaded down my body, causing me to shiver."What was that for?"
Luciano's POV "Alpha." Reginald greeted as I trekked into my private bar.The private bar was located at a secluded part of the palace beside my bedchambers.Only Darius, Reginald, and my butler were allowed in there."How is the omega? Has she woken up now?" I asked, sitting on a bat stool."Yes, Alpha," Reginald confirmed, going behind the bar counter to retrieve two shot glasses. "What would you like to drink?" He asked me."Plain whiskey, thanks," I muttered, to which he nodded."What did she look like when you went there?" I prodded as he set the shot glass of whiskey in front of me."She looked disheveled but somewhat heathy in a way like someone has been secretly feeding her. I know it can't be the guards because they won't dare go against your orders." Gamma said, taking his seat on the bar stool beside me."Interesting," I downed the whiskey and grimaced."Would you like me to look into the matter?" He asked, and I waved him off."No, it's fine. The person is doing a great j