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Chapter 2 – Vengeance’s Lash

Author: Serena Blythewood
last update Last Updated: 2025-11-05 11:20:10

“Get up.”

A boot slammed into Melodie’s ribs.

She coughed, curling tighter. “Why?”

“Because the pack wants blood.”

Two guards dragged her out of the cell and into daylight. The courtyard stank of smoke and sweat. A post waited in the center—splintered, stained.

“Name?” a soldier barked.

“Melodie,” she said through cracked lips. “Scullery maid. Nothing more.”

“Felix’s eyes say otherwise.”

They tied her wrists to the post. A woman in the crowd shouted, “She watched while my village burned!”

“I didn’t—”

The first lash cut her off.

---

Up on the marble steps, Alexander stood motionless.

“She screams like her father’s victims did,” Marcus muttered beside him.

Alexander didn’t answer.

His eyes locked on her face—bloodied, bruised, familiar in a way that unsettled him.

“She’s tougher than the others,” Marcus noted. “Still hasn’t begged.”

“She won’t,” Alexander said quietly.

---

Lash after lash.

Melodie clenched her jaw. Pain blurred into rhythm. She counted the cracks in the wood. Thought of constellations she once described to a blind boy.

“I brought you food,” she whispered into the woodgrain. “I played so you could sleep.”

Another crack.

“You said you’d remember.”

---

That night, she lay trembling on the cell floor.

Her back burned. Her lips bled.

Still, she hummed the lullaby.

A guard passing by paused. “You’re insane.”

She smiled faintly. “Maybe.”

---

Meanwhile, Alexander paced his chambers.

He pulled out the flute.

Held it.

Listened.

A memory tugged—cold chains, warm bread, a voice in the dark.

“I can’t remember her face,” he murmured.

“Then forget her,” Marcus said behind him. “You have a kingdom to rebuild.”

Alexander looked down at the flute again.

“No,” he said. “Not yet.”

---

In the dungeon, Melodie pressed her palm to the floor.

“I won’t feed your hatred, Alexander,” she whispered.

“You’re not a monster. I know you’re not.”

---

Up above, he stared at the moon through glass.

Her eyes haunted him. Her silence. Her strength.

“Who are you?” he asked the stars.

The flute stayed in his palm all night.

---

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  • The Regret of the Alpha   Chapter 20 – Starsong Farewell

    One year later.Dawn painted the cliffs gold.Alexander climbed alone, wind tugging at his cloak, a new birch flute in hand.Behind him, Blackclaw’s rooftops shimmered with lanterns.But today—this moment—was hers.---He reached the summit.Set down a stone tablet. Carved words read:**Melodie of the StarsLuna in SpiritMother of Light**---He sat.Closed his eyes.And raised the flute.The melody wavered at first—hesitant, raw.Then it grew steadier.Notes threaded through the wind, across sky and valley.A lullaby not of loss, but memory.---When silence returned, he whispered, “Forgiven.”The breeze answered—not with words, but warmth.A feather-light brush across his cheek.He didn’t need more.---He placed the flute beside the stone.Let it rest.Then stood.---“Goodbye, Melodie,” he said softly. “I’ll carry your voice in every law I write. In every child I protect. In every promise I keep.”

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