★Nuel's Pov★
"A servant will lead you to your room. And while inside there, you must strip while waiting for me to arrive. You will entertain me and my pack tonight by wiggling your naked ass for us all to see."
With that, he released my face and strode out of the hall with the man who had rushed in earlier.
I doubted he even noticed my expression—the sunken look carved into my face like a wound. What did he mean by that? I was sent here to be his bride, not some entertainment puppet for his pack.
The thought of standing naked before strangers, forced to dance like a fool, made bile rise in my throat. My fingers fidgeted against each other until my knuckles nearly turned white.
And all this on the eve of my twenty-first birthday. Not as if my parents would have remembered or cared. But surely, I couldn't spend the night like this, moping in shame and waiting to be paraded before wolves.
My mind replayed what the man had blurted out earlier—something about rogue wolves attacking the pack.
That was it.
I sprang to my feet, yanking the cursed heels off to free my legs. The satin dress pooled heavily around me, so I gathered the hems and tied them at the side to stop the fabric from slowing me down.
The rogues must have been sent by my father. He promised me a way out. Maybe this was it.
If I could meet them outside, I'd collect the money he arranged as my payoff, disappear and by tomorrow, I'd be gone to a faraway place no one could find me. Perhaps I'd even meet people willing to celebrate my birthday, with cake and laughter.
No one had ever celebrated it with me before except for that little girl from the West Wing. Every year she smuggled bread from the kitchens, whispering "happy birthday" with a smile brighter than gold.
Someday, I swore I'd return with enough strength to repay her kindness. Maybe even with pups of my own— strong pups who would carry my name with pride.
But first, I had to escape.
If the rogues were still outside, then most of the pack's warriors would be distracted. That would be my chance. No one would notice one shadow slipping away. My dress was black—perfect for the night, blending me into the darkness. The gates would be crawling with guards, so the wall was my only hope.
Heart pounding, I raced toward the grand hall's entrance, glancing over my shoulder to make sure there were no CCTVs watching. Satisfied, I faced forward and bolted, legs burning with desperation.
But I didn't make it far.
In my haste, I slammed into someone. The impact was brutal. A sharp shove knocked me sprawling onto the marble floor. Pain shot through my tailbone, but I scrambled up, refusing to be stopped.
Only to be shoved down again.
"Is this the mutt who was sent to steal my mate from me?" a venomous voice seethed above me.
I lifted my head, and my breath caught. A beautiful woman towered over me, her face flawless but twisted with fury, her eyes bloodshot. Servants hovered behind her like shadows, confirming her importance.
Her words made sense, she must have been the Alpha's chosen before the council forced him into this political farce. To her, I wasn't just an intruder—I was the thief who was about to take what was hers.
But she was wrong. So, so wrong.
"Look, princess, or whatever you are," I muttered, forcing calm into my voice as I stood again, "let me go. I want nothing to do with him. I don't want him. I don't want this. So if you'd just let me pass, I'll leave and you can have your Alpha to yourself."
It made sense, didn't it? If she despised me, she should want me gone and even help me to. But instead of reason, her response was a crack across my face.
A vicious slap.
The sound echoed through the hall. My head snapped to the side and for a moment, the sting burned hotter than fire. I staggered, barely catching my balance.
"You speak when you're spoken to!" she snarled, her voice dripping venom. "This is the North. Here, you are nothing but a tribute offering. A slave. The daughter of the beast who massacred our people! How dare you raise your voice at me?"
Her sneer cut deeper than her slap.
For a moment, I stood frozen. Not out of fear but of disbelief. I'd been humiliated before, beaten down and broken countless times. And now here she was, adding her weight to the pile of people eager to crush me.
But she was wasting my time. Every second she kept me here was another second stolen from my escape.
And that, I couldn't forgive.
I wasn't going to let her go unchallenged. That slap burned deeper than my skin. I had to do something—distract her, anger her and most of all repay her before slipping away.
But how? A slap back wouldn't cut it. No—I needed something unforgettable. Something that would stain her pride for life.
My eyes darted to the open doors of the hall. If I could get inside, maybe I could lock her out, buy myself time and leap through one of the tall windows I'd spotted earlier. Escaping through the hallway was impossible now, but the hall might be my only chance.
Taking slow, deliberate steps toward her, I noticed the way she preened, pausing to glance at her servants with smug pride.
"What do you want to do, slave?" she sneered. "Finally realized your place?"
Her words earned a chorus of laughter from the pack of shadows behind her.
I straightened my dress, raised my chin, and then I spat on her face.
Not just a spit. A full, wet spray that landed across her perfect face, dripping down her eyes, her nose and cheeks.
Gasps rippled. She recoiled, screeching, clawing at her face. I had to clap my hands over my ears to block out her shrill, dramatic rant.
"How dare you! Do you know who I am? How dare you?" she shrieked, her voice cracking as one of her servants rushed to wipe her face.
Seizing my chance, I darted toward the hall doors but before I could make it, a hand like iron clamped around my arm and wrenched me back. I hadn't noticed them—warriors lurking in the shadows of the corridor, their eyes glinting in the dark.
"Hold her down! Strip her!" the woman's voice thundered behind me.
The servants scrambled, her fury spilling like venom as she dabbed at her cheeks. "Strip her and have her whipped! I want her punished! I want her to learn what happens when someone dares defy me!"
Her command echoed, but it wasn't the threat of the lash that made my blood run cold.
It was the word strip.
Strip me. Naked. Before them all.
The thought rattled through me, hollow and sharp. My chest tightened. My mind spun. A punishment of pain I could endure. But to be stripped bare right now was worse than any whip could ever be.