Chapter 2

Lirael POV

There was no tenderness, and not even the slightest hesitation.

The silver chains cut into my wrists, cold and burning pain biting into my bones together. Kael’s breath pressed beside my ear, scorching and fierce, as if he wanted to crush my entire body.

I was in so much pain I could not make a complete sound. I could only tense my body on instinct. Every rough thrust felt as if it were tearing open old wounds again. The smell of blood, the scent of silver burning flesh, and the familiar fir scent on him that made my chest ache all mixed together, nearly suffocating me.

He pressed close to my ear. His voice was low and hoarse, without the slightest pity.

“Don’t you want my source blood to save that bastard? Then let me see your sincerity.”

My fingertips curled in spasms. My nails scraped against the silver chains, making a piercing sound.

Sincerity?

I had knelt in the snow for ten hours, begging him to save our daughter. But in his eyes, I was only a lying, betraying, filthy woman.

Aurora only had three months left.

And the only person who could save her was now pressing me down in the punishment room, trampling me in the cruelest way.

Tears slid from the corners of my eyes and fell into the cold dust. I tilted my head back, staring at the black ceiling as my vision slowly scattered.

Umbra roared hoarsely deep in my consciousness, furious and desperate. But the silver chains suppressed her, leaving her without even the strength to rush out and protect me.

I did not know how long it had been before Kael finally released me.

My body was limp, as if it had been emptied. Torn fabric clung to my skin. When cold air blew across my wounds, pain made my whole body shake. If not for the weak self-healing power of a werewolf barely keeping me alive, I probably would have died from that brutal sex.

I forced my eyes open. My cracked lips moved.

“Kai… Aurora really is your biological daughter. You can test the blood… you can do a test…”

“Shut up!”

His voice turned cold in an instant.

I saw him turn toward the iron cabinet in the corner, pull open the door, and take out a dark purple bone whip.

The moment I saw it clearly, my pupils contracted sharply.

A bone whip woven from Lycanthrope Thistle, with dense steel barbs embedded inside.

It was a forbidden object among werewolf clans. Its toxin could corrode a werewolf’s flesh and blood, and even burn the wolf soul.

Kael held the whip handle, his gaze like ice.

“Since you love lying so much, I’ll teach you the rules of the Luthor Wolf Clan.”

The moment the whip fell, my scream tore through my throat.

The sound of flesh being split open was terrifyingly clear. The dark purple toxin seeped into my blood through the wounds, like a swarm of tiny insects madly gnawing at my nerves.

“Kael… stop… please…”

I curled up in pain, but the silver chains nailed me firmly to the rack.

The second lash, the third lash.

The bone barbs tore open my back, shoulders, and waist. Soon, the punishment room was filled with nothing but the smell of blood and the sharp, bitter scent of Lycanthrope Thistle.

Umbra’s howls grew weaker and weaker.

She rolled and convulsed inside my consciousness, her gray-silver shadow swallowed little by little by the toxin. The backlash from the injured wolf soul surged up. My vision turned blood-red, and warm liquid flowed from the corners of my eyes.

Twenty lashes.

Only when there was no intact skin left on my body did Kael finally stop.

He casually threw the bone whip onto the floor, took a handkerchief from his pocket, and slowly wiped the blood from his fingers.

Through my blurred vision, I saw his movements suddenly pause.

He frowned, as if something had stabbed into his chest. But that strange feeling was quickly suppressed by him, replaced by even deeper disgust.

He pressed the mechanism on the wall.

The silver chains loosened with a click.

I fell heavily to the ground. My wounds struck the cold stone floor, and pain made my whole body convulse. I bit my lip hard, refusing to let myself scream again.

“Get out of my estate.”

Kael threw the bloodstained handkerchief onto my face and turned to leave the punishment room.

My phone slipped out of the inner pocket of my ruined coat and fell into the corner, a thin crack splitting across the screen.

I curled up in a pool of blood. Every breath felt like it was tearing open my wounds. The poison of Lycanthrope Thistle suppressed my self-healing, and the bleeding would not stop.

But I could not die here.

Aurora was still waiting for me.

I trembled as I gathered my torn clothes around myself, my fingers nearly refusing to obey. Just as I grabbed the rack and tried to crawl up, the phone in the corner suddenly rang urgently.

It was the number of the Wolf Clan Medical Center.

I almost crawled over to it. My fingertips were covered in blood and slipped several times before I finally answered.

“Ms. Shaw? Your daughter Aurora suddenly developed a high fever and severe nosebleeding. Her vital signs are in danger. Please come immediately!”

The doctor’s anxious voice crashed into my eardrums like thunder.

“I… I’m coming right away. Please save her first. Use the best medicine. Please…”

“Ms. Shaw, please hurry.”

The call ended.

I stuffed the phone back into the inner pocket of my ruined coat.

Aurora’s pale little face flashed through my mind. She was always afraid I would worry. Even when she trembled from the pain, she would still smile at me.

I could not die.

My Aurora could not die.

Supporting myself against the wall, I slipped and crawled out of the punishment room step by step. A trail of bloody footprints was left on the ground. The moment I pushed the door open, biting cold wind poured into my torn clothes, making my teeth chatter.

The snow was still falling.

I stepped barefoot into the thick snow and collapsed after only a few steps. Lycanthrope Thistle suppressed my strength, and I could not even shift into wolf form.

From here to the hospital, it was dozens of miles.

I could not make it.

In front of the main building’s steps, a black Maybach was parked. The driver, Theo, was wiping the car.

Like a drowning person seeing driftwood, I used the last bit of my strength to crawl toward him.

“Theo… Theo…”

My voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible. Blood dragged a long red trail through the snow.

Theo turned around. The moment he saw me, the rag in his hand nearly fell to the ground.

“Lira?”

“Theo, please… take me to the hospital. Aurora is dying… please, just give me a ride…”

I grabbed the wheel and looked up at him, my vision blurred by snow and blood.

The main building’s door suddenly opened.

Kael walked out, followed by two tall werewolf guards.

When he saw me lying beside the car, disgust flashed in his eyes.

“Why haven’t you left yet?”

“Kai…” I crawled toward him. “Aurora is in critical condition. You don’t have to save her, but please… let me take the car to the hospital.”

He looked down at me from above, a mocking curve lifting his lips.

The next second, he kicked away the hand I had reached toward him.

“Throw her out,” he ordered the guards coldly. “Don’t let her near this place again.”

“No… Kael, you can’t do this!”

My voice was too hoarse to sound like itself.

The two guards grabbed my arms from both sides, completely ignoring the wounds all over my body. They dragged me up from the snow and threw me roughly outside the gate.

“Get lost! Alpha said if you dare come near again, he’ll break your legs!”

The iron gate slowly closed in front of me.

The heavy snow swallowed my body.

I lay on the empty mountain road, barely clothed and covered in blood. The cold seeped little by little into my bones, and even my breathing grew weak.

In the distance, the city lights flickered, but not a single light shone for me.

Aurora…

Mommy might… not be able to go back.

My fingers dug deep into the snow. A tear slid from the corner of my eye, but before it could fall, it froze into ice.