HELEN'S POV
I didn't know how many days had passed. There was no window in the cold cell. Only stone and dark shadows. The floor stayed frozen, biting into my skin through the thin fabric of my torn dress. I couldn't tell if it was morning or night anymore. The light never changed. No one came to check on me. To see if I was still breathing or not...
My wolf hadn't even spoken to be yet. She must have been weak.
My stomach cramped, empty for too long. My throat was dry. I'd stopped crying. Even my tears had learned to abandon me.
Then I heard whispers.
A sound. Soft. Careful.
"I will be very careful. You know, please…"
I barely moved, too weak to react. Then I heard some footsteps, coming towards the cell I was placed in.
"Helen?"
That voice.
My eyes fluttered open. I blinked through the darkness.
"N… Nara?"
She crouched just beyond the bars, face pale and eyes wide with worry. I didn't even know I could still cry, but somehow, tears filled my eyes again.
"I'm here," she whispered, glancing behind her before unlocking the small service slot. She pushed in a wrapped cloth, revealing two small pieces of bread and a flask of water. "Eat. Quickly."
I scrambled forward on my hands and knees, my body shaking. "I thought— I thought no one—"
"I tried, Helen," she said, eyes wet. "Veronica hasn't let me leave the laundry room since you were locked away. I only got out this morning when the other maid got sick. I had to sneak the bread from the kitchen."
My hands clutched the food like it was gold. I ate fast, chewing through the pain in my dry throat. "Thank you…"
She reached through the bars, brushing hair from my face gently. "I'm so sorry. This shouldn't be happening to you."
I leaned into her hand. Just a little touch. Just something kind.
"Are… are they still here?" I asked.
She paused. "Who?"
"The triplets?" My voice cracked. "Kael, Kaden, King?"
Nara looked down. "They left the pack three days ago. Alpha Rowan said it was an emergency summit—rogue attacks or something. They left really early. I don't think… I don't think they even remembered you were here."
The food turned to ash in my mouth.
They left?
They were gone?
They abandoned in this cell?
They didn't care.
They hadn't asked. Hadn't checked.
They hadn't even remembered.
I fell backward into the cell, the breath knocked from my chest like a punch.
My mates.
My fated ones.
The ones who were supposed to protect me? To shield me from every form of pain? To stick with me through thick and thin?
They left me.
Forgotten.
Discarded.
"What… what about Laura?" I asked, my voice a hollow whisper.
Nara hesitated, but I already knew the answer.
"She told the others not to bring up your name anymore," she finally said. "She said you're no longer part of the household. You're an embarrassment."
I nodded.
Of course, I was never part of the household. She always made that acutely clear to me
Worthless orphan. Useless idiot. The reason they both died.
No tears came this time.
What was the point anyway?
I have lived with this.
"She's always hated me," I said. "She'll always hate me."
Nara looked like she wanted to say more, but footsteps echoed in the hallway. She flinched.
"I have to go," she whispered. "I'll try to come again."
She touched my fingers once more before disappearing.
And I was alone again.
More days passed. Maybe two. Maybe five. My body ached. The cold had settled into my bones.
Then, one morning—at least I think it was morning—I heard the scrape of keys.
Guards.
And behind them—maids.
The cell door creaked open, and hands grabbed me before I could react. I let out a painful wince as my bones cracked loudly.
"Get up." They hissed at me, angry eyes boring into mine.
I tried to stand, but my legs buckled. They didn't care. They dragged me out of the cell, my knees scraping against the stone floor. My body flopped like a rag doll, too weak to fight.
Then I was outside.
The sun burned my eyes. I hadn't seen it in days.
The maids yanked off my clothes—what was left of them. I was stripped bare, my skin goosebumped from the cold wind.
"What are you—"
"Alpha's orders," one maid snapped.
King ordered this?
"She's to receive fifty lashes," the guard added, pulling a long leather whip from his side. "Punishment for her seduction attempt and disrespect."
"No—no, please—"
I tried to move. To crawl away. Away from them. Away from the looming pain.
Two more guards held me down against a wooden post. They didn't even tie me—they knew I was too weak to run.
I cried out as the first lash struck.
The pain was immediate.
Sharp. Burning.
My scream echoed through the courtyard, and my body shook as pain flooded through me.
The second lash came. Then the third.
By the fifth, I had bitten through my own lip.
Blood ran down my back. My vision blurred.
And just as the sixth lash hit, my gaze drifted to the sound of a familiar laughter.
There, just a few yards away, near the pool—
Kael.
Kaden.
King.
They were laughing. Well except for King who I believed had some grudges against smiling.
Relaxed in swim shorts.
Cassidy was with them in the pool, splashing water and clinging to King's arm. Kael poured her a drink. Kaden whispered something in her ear and she giggled. I ceased to exit in their world.
They looked like a perfect picture.
A happy pack.
While I bled behind them.
While I screamed for mercy.
While they ignored me like I didn't exist.
I didn't even have the strength to scream anymore.
I just watched them—watched him, the one I used to dream about—as the tenth lash split my skin again.
My mates.
My curse.
My ruin.
And in that moment, as pain tore through every inch of my body, I didn't ask to be saved.
I just wanted to stop existing.
Somehow, in the midst of my punishment, the lashes had stopped and I was left alone. I didn't know how many hours I stayed under the hot scorching sun but suddenly, I was raised in the air.
Voices growled and I tried to make out whose voice it was but I couldn't.
Then I found myself in the woods, just like I did the first time I had seen Wolfrainia. She must be regretting being a wolf of a weak human like me.
Her white fur glimmered under the bright blue moon. She seemed weak and tired.
"You—"
"I do not regret being your wolf, Helen. This is your fate. My fate and we must carry it with squared shoulders." She was struggling to speak.
I wanted to ask her what she meant. Ever since we met, she has been speaking in parables and I have been unable to understand them. I just needed to…
"After you have recovered, you must start training your body. It is too weak. You need more strength." Her voice weakened with every word she spoke.
"Remember, do not tell anyone about me…."
"But I..." She began to fade. No… I have to stay with her. I have to make sure she is fine.
"Wolfrainia!" My yell was swallowed by deep darkness.