Chapter 201
1008words
I stared blankly, eyes filled with utter disbelief.
“How did Flora end up like this?” I silently asked as I heard her screams, desperately begging for help while the other men moaned and laughed in pleasure brought by her struggles as they gang-raped her.
It’s a gruesome scene to see. I looked away; I couldn’t bear the disgusting crime record playing before me. My stomach went in knots, and I tasted bitterness on my tongue as the urge to vomit terribly surged in me.
I never thought I’d feel remorse toward Flora until now.
My brother, though, was right at the side, looking at the screen with a face devoid of emotions. “Why did he release this video? No… How did he even get it?”
Questions filled my mind as my flesh trembled, and the corner of my eyes became misty. Seeing a fellow she-wolf being treated like that was just too much.
The audience beneath the stage all formed a circle of their own, chatters filling the venue.
“What’s that video about?”
“What is that?”
“Is she related to the princess?”
“Why is that being played today?”
Many questions surfaced, but not many managed to reach my ear while I was in a daze. That was until discussions became louder, and those with clues spoke with a greater voice, making them the center of discussions.
“That’s Flora!” Someone exclaimed.
Chatters of questions once again echoed. “Who?”
Many women sneered in disgust. “That’s the shameless slut who seduced the alpha of the Moon Howler Pack before! I remember her clearly because of her scheming face!”
“What are you sure?”
“Yes! Someone I know brings supplies in that pack. I heard she’s the fated mate of Alpha Kylian from the Dark Moon Pack, but when she met him, he was already married to his chosen mate and drove her away. After she was vanquished, she went and seduced the Moon Howler’s Alpha.”
“So, she’s a slut? She deserves it, then!”
“What happened to her then?”
“She vanished. After that scandal exploded, she disappeared, and no one heard about her again. Well… until now, obviously.”
“But how come she ended up like that… I… I never expect her to be like that…” One of the women spoke with horror.
More sneers were heard. Some even scoffed in disgust. “Someone like her doesn’t deserve a pity. She’s a traitor! Luna Lauren took her in out of pity. What did she do? She seduced her husband in return for her kindness!”
“So, what exactly does that woman and that video have to do with the princess?”
“Or rather, to the princess’s husband!” Many people gasped in shock and turmoil.
I looked at them and saw them pointing their fingers at Flora with condemned and disgust despite her being in such a situation.
It’s as though… they actually see that Flora, the victim, was deserving of such extensive humiliation and harassment that no other se-wolf would ever wish to experience.
Hearing those, the crowd became even wilder, coming to different conclusions, but something surfaced the most.
“Oh my goodness! Did that woman also seduce Princess’ husband?”
“I couldn’t fathom someone to be as shameless as her. It’s a good thing that Alpha Kylian rejected her. That kind of woman isn’t worthy of being a Luna.”
My hands trembled with those words I had been hearing from the crowd. My anxiety rose above anything I’d experienced before, and the side of my dress already formed a creased from the constant fisting of my hands on the fabric.
I was itching to grab my phone and call Kylian, but all eyes were lingering on the stage, mostly before me. I couldn’t do things hastily, or the situation would be much worse than it already was.
Turning to the cause of chaos, I gritted my teeth. “What do you mean by this?”
I firmly signaled the screen at him with my hand, waiting intensely for him to reply with sense.
Jackson took a small step towards me. “I did it all for your own good.”
He moved his head and motioned me to look at the scene, adding, “And the fun is just about to begin.”
I didn’t know what scared me the most: the fact that I was in the middle of a commotion or the fact that my brother, who always enjoys manipulating things and teasing me, actually had a glimpse of sorrow and pain in his eyes.
How worse could be what’s behind me for him to actually feel any actual pain from what I could actually see?
And yet, as he said, it was still for my very own good.
“I… I don’t…” My breathing became heavy and fast, fearing that what I might actually see would break me.
At first, I didn’t want to see how worse Flora had fallen into, but when the crowd burst into an uproar I never thought could happen after the shock they had already experienced earlier, I couldn’t help but be curious.
Jackson stared at me with pity, repeating in a tender voice, “It’s all for your own good, my princess.”
With that, I moved my feet, which seemed to have been stuck on the ground a moment ago, and turned my face cautiously toward the screen.
“What do you want…” I was about to ask Jackson when all I saw again was the image of Flora being mistreated, but he showed me his palm to stop me and placed his index finger on his lips to stop me from speaking.
Looking intently at me, he pointed again at the screen, saying, “Watch.”
“I don’t want to see he–” I stopped in the middle of my protest when an ear-crashing dominant roar that could only be heard from an alpha boomed on the screen through the huge speakers around the hall.
My head turned so fast that my soul almost left me.
“Kylian…” I whispered with betrayal as I looked back at the screen, which seemed like a sharp knife piercing my heart.
