Surviving The Alpha's Torment

"This is the ninety-ninth time you've begged me to mark you. Put on this silver collar and apologize to Lysandra. I'll let you to stay in the Pack, and maybe even hand over this month's medicine for that sickly brother of yours."

Callum threw a collar laced with highly concentrated silver at my feet. Surrounded by the condescending sneers of the Winter Pack.

I stared at the collar lying in the snow and didn't move.

"Did you hear that?"

"He doesn't need your medicine anymore, Callum." I looked up, my eyes dry and aching. "Loris died last night."

——

As a bottom-tier Omega, kneeling outside in the negative thirty-degree weather for an entire night had robbed my legs of all feeling.

Callum stood on the steps, looking down at me from above. He was wrapped in a heavy black wolf-fur coat, protectively shielding the fragile Lysandra in his arms. Lysandra's neck was wrapped in bandages, covering the marks where I had supposedly "bitten" her yesterday.

"Thalia, how long are you going to keep up this act?" Callum sneered, his eyes filled with absolute disgust. "To escape punishment, you'd even make up a lie cursing your own brother to death? Do you think this will cover up your crime of trying to murder Lysandra with wolfsbane?"

A burst of mocking laughter erupted from the crowd. The Beta guards struck their shields with their spears, creating a deafening clamor.

"Has this Omega gone mad? Just yesterday she was kneeling at the temple doors begging the Alpha for medicine, and today she claims her brother is dead?"

"She really would use any dirty trick to fight for the Luna position."

Lysandra shrank deeper into Callum's embrace.

"Callum, let it go. Maybe Thalia really just loves you too much. She didn't mean to put wolfsbane in my soup. If Loris really is... I'm willing to give my share of the supplies to her."

"You're just too kind. That's why you get bullied by a venomous woman like her." Callum gently stroked Lysandra's hair. When he turned his head to look at me, his gaze instantly turned as cold as a blade.

"Put on the silver collar. This is your last chance. Otherwise, I will cut off Loris's life support."

I ignored the mockery around me, nor did I refute Lysandra's vicious, probing words.

My fingers spasmed, unable to grasp onto any emotion.

Loris was dead.

That fifteen-year-old boy, who sneaked into the Rogue Territory to sell his blood just to trade for my medicine, eventually died of sepsis.

We were just the lowest Omegas of the Winter Pack, unqualified to use the high-end medical resources of the Pack Hospital. Even for basic anti-infection medication, we had to exchange contribution points.

Loris didn't want me to know.

So, time and time again, he hid it from me and went to the black market to sell his blood.

Last night, he died in a freezing, dilapidated tent in the Rogue Territory.

When he died, his hands were still gripping the worn-out coat I had sewn for him.

"Listen to me, don't go begging them anymore."

"I'm not in pain."

Those were his last words to me.

"You don't believe me." I twitched the corners of my mouth. Blood seeped from my cracked lips, dripping down my chin and violently splashing onto the snow, forming glaring red dots. "Then don't believe me."

I slowly bent down and picked up the silver collar.

The moment the silver touched my werewolf skin, it made a sizzling sound. The stench of burning flesh permeated the air.

It hurt.

And Callum was no longer my mate.

There was nothing left in this world for me to fear.

Right in front of everyone, I clasped the collar around my own neck.

Callum's pupils violently constricted.

He clearly hadn't expected me to be so submissive. A flash of profound, unnatural unease flickered in his eyes.

"Take her to the temple's dungeon," he coldly ordered the Beta guards below, averting his gaze. "In three days, I'll send someone to check on your brother who is faking his illness."

Two burly Beta guards immediately stepped forward, roughly grabbing my shoulders.

I stood up abruptly, forcefully breaking free from their grip. The chains let out a harsh, metallic clatter.

"There's no need." I looked at Callum, my voice entirely flat.

Callum's brows furrowed tightly. His thin lips parted as if he wanted to say something more.

But I didn't look at him again.

I turned around completely, resting my gaze on the two stunned Beta guards beside me, and calmly spat out three words:

"Lead the way."