What expression was I supposed to wear?
Every shred of pride, every ounce of dignity I'd been born with—ground into dust by this brutal reality.
"If you're willing to offer more coins..."
My voice cracked, barely a whisper.
"I'll submit however you want."
Their laughter only swelled, echoing off the stone walls of the den.
At last, the wolf who had stayed silent spoke. He lounged across the leather seating, exhaling a slow breath that carried the sharp bite of smoke.
"Get out."
"Even if you dropped to your belly and showed throat a hundred times, we wouldn't lift a claw for you."
Because Alaric had given them their orders long before any of this began.
Penance was penance.
For three full years, they were forbidden to show me even a shred of mercy or offer me the smallest kindness.
Only then could they properly avenge his precious Omega Liaison, Lily Ashgrove.
So how did I scrape together those five hundred silver marks?
I walked into a territory infirmary and let them drain my blood.
Later, I carried that payment to the pack holding cells, only to be told Alaric had already been released under a healer's dispensation.