YOU BROUGHT SHE-WOLVES TO OUR BED

"You brought all those she-wolves into our so-called matrimonial bed and fucked them right there while I watched helplessly like some damn servant. You treated me like a slave, when I was supposed to be your damned equal, and yet you think I would want to carry on being mated to you? When you have defiled our relationship right from the very beginning? That's plain stupid and outrageous Zeus," I shifted closer, removing the small distance that remained between us from earlier.

I could feel everything now, Lana's sorrow, her despair, her suffering with each memory that passed through my mind. She had lived in years of silence—Years of endurance, and never once fought back. And for the first time I understood what helplessness felt like, I understood her completely. Because I have felt it too, I remember lying on my deathbed, powerless, helpless after being betrayed by the very people I trusted most, and unable to fight back. That same suffocating helplessness filled me now, lighting a fire inside me.

"It seems the pup has finally grown fangs," Zeus sneered, his tone mocking, though his eyes sparked with something darker—anger… and something else I couldn't quite decipher.

"You speak so highly. I'm deeply touched by your little speech," he said dryly. "So touched, in fact, I'll show you just how much I care."

He turned sharply toward the door, raising his voice and shouting for someone. Two guards stormed in looking like beast man from earlier, fully armored and looking intimidating and that made my gut twist instantly. I didn't like where this was going.

"Drag her to the center of the pack naked," Zeus ordered, venom dripping from every word. "Announce to the pack that the Alpha has granted them the right to punish her however they see fit—for attempting to kill their leader. Even if that punishment… DEATH."

He dragged out the last word with cruel satisfaction making my entire body go rigid, eyes widening in pure disbelief. I shoved him back, breaking whatever proximity we had left between us, and stared at him in shock.

"What blasted thing are you doing, Zeus?" Eryx snarled, stepping in front of me protectively, his body tense with fury.

"You want to punish me for a crime I have not been proven guilty of? Is that how you run your pack, Alpha?" I gritted out, and my words seemed to strike a blow to him, because I saw his eyes visibly flare, his hands clenching and unclenching as if he was trying to stop himself from choking me to death.

"Don't the accused get a right to at least try and prove their innocence before being declared guilty, or do you just operate like a tyrant—being ignorant of the truth?" I said, putting up a brave front, though my heart pounded loudly in my chest from fear. I inwardly prayed he wouldn't squeeze my neck right there and then, decide he was done with my ass, and kill me.

"Are you questioning the decisions I make in my own pack? Are you questioning my rules?" he asked, and he looked very pissed off, like he was on the verge of going deranged.

"No, how can I? You are the Alpha, while I'm nothing but a mere omega and a slave in this pack.

All I'm saying is that I request time to at least prove my innocence," before I get killed for the second time, I said, although not voicing those last words aloud.

He stared at me for a long time, looking ready to dismiss me and continue with his orders, but then he tilted his head sideways, his expression revealing nothing.

"You have two days to prove your innocence. Until then, you will be kept under house arrest and watched closely, while still performing all your normal duties as an omega.

But mind you—if you fail to prove your innocence once your time elapses, you will not face trial, but be ordered to death immediately by the most painful way possible," he said, and my mind reeled, wondering if I was making a huge mistake.

Should I just allow his warriors to take me stripped naked—maybe the pack people might be merciful and show some compassion not to kill me—but then, doing that would prove that Lana actually committed the crime of poisoning him when she didn't.

"Fine," I said loudly, still managing to hold my confidence all this time, surprisingly.

Zeus looked down at me once more, taking an overall look at me again, making me feel self-conscious as his face scowled in disgust.

"Take her back to the servant quarters. She is to resume her daily work from now," he said.

"What do you mean, brother? Give her time to recover. She was chained with wolfsbane for a whole day without food or water, and you know she is wolfless—her body cannot handle that stress," Eryx gritted in anger, as he held onto my hands softly. His words made me realize that since I woke up, I hadn't felt the pain from the chains, and they were no longer wrapped around my wrists—meaning someone took them off.

Did he do it? I wondered, as my heart fluttered with butterflies.

"Stop feeling pity for the omega, Eryx. She is not worth it. Don't say I didn't warn you when she hurts you," Zeus said, disregarding Eryx's words as he walked out of the room.

'REMINDER: HOST MISSION –

TIME REMAINING – 43 hours, 37 minutes, and 10 seconds,' my system rang in my head, and I almost smiled.

How ironic—I have two days to prove my innocence, and less than two days to finish my mission from the system.