The Alpha’s Punishment Her Faked Death, His RuinChapter 1
My mate's omega liaison deliberately destroyed a painting I'd poured two years of my soul into.
The canvas held moon-blessed pigments, each stroke infused with my rare bloodline's gift. I was furious. As punishment, I made her serve as a den-maid for three days—scrubbing floors at my exhibition while the pack watched.
Alaric said nothing at first. He carried on as if the incident had never occurred.
But three moons later, his pack's territory collapsed. Allied packs severed their blood oaths. The Council Elders stripped him of his holdings and cast him into the binding den beneath the central keep.
To settle the tribute debts he'd accumulated, I worked three positions each day, running myself to exhaustion. I cleaned dens for hostile packs. I served at alliance gatherings where wolves who once bowed to me now spat at my feet.
For three years, I was cornered in shadowed alleyways by rogue hunters demanding payment, their claws leaving marks on my arms as they hurled insults at my bloodline. For a hundred coins, I took work as a "test sleeper" in abandoned territories rumored to be cursed by feral spirits.
Then one night, while I was serving mead at a pack feast, I caught his scent—Alaric Blackthorn, the Alpha heir who was supposed to be rotting in a binding cell—hosting a lavish moon-celebration for his precious omega liaison.
A packmate asked, "Alaric, you gifted Lily Ashgrove a moonstone collar worth a fortune, meanwhile your bonded mate is sleeping in cursed dens for a hundred coins. How does your wolf bear the shame?"
Alaric exhaled slowly, smoke curling from the pipe between his fingers. His laugh was cold as winter frost.
"Lyra forced Lily to serve as a maid. These three years? They're her pack penance."
"Once it's complete, I'll stage my return to power."
"She'll still bear the Blackthorn mark."
My body swayed in the cold night wind. I stood there like a puppet with severed strings.
So this was it. Three years of living death—all orchestrated by you.
Fine then. I'll repay you double.
——
I felt like I'd plunged into frozen waters, drowning in darkness. And still, voices drifted out from inside—Garrick Stonewalker was speaking.