Chapter 9: Apology

  Little men were dancing in my head. They were drumming on my brain and giving me a terrible headache.

  Even when I was working in the mines, I don't think I've ever been punished this hard.

It was either they whipped me with multi tailed whips, or cut my body with little knives or pricked my skin with poisoned needles or force me to walk on hot coals.

The only time I had been whipped with silver was at Miss Bunita's whorehouse but that was only fifty strokes, Diego later changed the whip so he wouldn't end up killing me.

  "She's awake." I heard a frail voice say.

  "Mmm." I groaned, trying to rise but something was restraining me.

  "Hey, wakey, wakey." The voice came again.

  I forced my eyes open and tried to see who was talking. It was a short scrawny looking man. He looked way low, or was it that I was on something really high?

  "Hi. Down here." He waved this time around.

  That confirmed it. I was on something high.

  "Who are you?" I managed to ask. My neck still hurt a lot, my voice was sounding cracked.

  "Who he is doesn't matter." The cold but familiar voice of my mate boomed.

  He walked over to where I was and I realized he also looked shorter. And that was when it hit me.

My neck and hands were bound in a pillory that was standing on a raised platform in a somewhat dark room.

  The wet stuff running down my body was my blood which meant they had picked me while I was unconscious and bound me here.

  "Ready to apologize to the Luna?" He asked, staring straight at me.

  "I should apologize to the Luna?" I asked, slightly mocking him.

  "You wronged her." He answered.

  I laughed. No, I cackled. Despite the pain, I laughed. "How many times would I tell you, I didn't touch her.

I don't know what they cooked up but I was framed." I spat out, not caring if I sounded rude or if I was disrespecting him either.

If he wanted to punish me again, I wouldn't mind. At least it'll be for something I really did do.

  "Leave, now." He turned to the scrawny man in front of us.

  The old man bowed and left immediately, leaving us alone.

  "You want me to believe you did nothing? What's your proof?" He turned back to me.

  Helplessly, I replied, "I've got none." Then making a shot at changing his mind, I hurriedly asked, "What if they framed me? You know your wife doesn't like me."

  He chuckled, picking a knife and playing with it. "And hate will be the base reason to plan all this?" He laughed again.

"How about this," he pointed the knife at me. "Maybe you did try to hurt her because you still can't get over the fact that she's my Luna and not you.

Probably you wanted to kill her so I'll take you in."

  Instantly, my anger flared. "Don't you dare."

  "Tell me Jade, don't you want to be Luna? Aren't you still mad at Perry, because I love her and not you?"

  My breath hitched. Not because of the tremors I got when he called my name but because of the accusation he was slowly building against me.

  "To me," He smiled wickedly as he continued. "That's enough reason for you to want to hurt my wife. But get this in your skull, I only bought you back there to serve me.

And that's to pleasure me. Stop thinking I'll ever accept you. Perry is the one I love. You can't even compare to her, she's stunning, she's elegant and graceful.

Her family is prestigious and she comes from a strong beta line, our pups will be very strong and will inherit all our powerful genes. How about you? You're nothing but a worthless omega, no less than a human.

Do you think I would ever want my bloodline tainted with the blood of an omega?

  That was the harsh fact. The truth I had always known. He was an Alpha, one of the strongest around.

It was only expected that he'd have a powerful Luna beside him. One capable of giving him heirs with powerful genes.

  I wasn't a beta, I didn't even inherit the delta genes my parents had. I was just a lowlife. No matter what, I'll always be the slave of the pack.

  "You will apologize to Perry immediately. And you won't stop till she forgives you." He delivered sharply.

  I wanted to object but his alpha pheromones were too strong on me.

  "Yes, Alpha. As you command."

~

  "What is she doing here?" Perry looked like she was ready to tear me apart.

"She's here to apologize." Alpha Leo said coming through the door. "Aren't you?" He shot a glare at me.

Disobeying him at this point will be futile, especially after all he told me. He didn't want me, the mate bond had no effect on him.

He wouldn't hesitate to kill me if need be. Drawing a silent sigh, I mumbled out an apology,

"I'm sorry Luna."

She looked taken back, but we both knew it was all an act she was putting up.

"What?" She asked.

"I said I'm sorry." I repeated. "Luna Perry." I added when I felt his gaze intensify on me. "Please, forgive me."

"My love, she is only free to leave when you forgive her." The Alpha said behind me, making Perry smile cunningly.

"Do you admit to what you did?" How did her tone change from shocked to evil in one second?

I looked sideways, not willing to give an answer that'll mean I was accepting a fault I never made.

"Do you admit it or not?" She asked again, fiercely this time.

"Omega, refusal to answer is the same as disrespect." Alpha Leo reminded me.

Geez, thanks a lot.

Thanks for reminding me to respect your damned Luna before I get stripped in front of everyone again.

"I admit my fault. I admit I did wrong by raising my hand on you."

I shamefully said. It felt like a huge part of me was tearing away from me. And it was all because of him.

"So now she has admitted, do you forgive her or not?" Alpha asked Perry.

She rose from her seat, twirling her hair.

"Well now that she has admitted her mistake, I'll let her go. But then, she ruined my face, I can't let go of that so easily."

This witch. What was she gonna do to me? Isn't it enough that I was whipped and that I just admitted to hitting her when all the while, they had framed me?

Slowly, Perry made her way to me.

She lifted my chin, forcing me to look at her. All I saw in her eyes was pure hate.

"You ruined my face witch, now I'm gonna ruin yours." She snarled, lifting her hand and slashing across my cheek with her sharp claws.