Chapter 14: Sealed Fate

“You are willing to do that for…these people?” Damien asked in a low voice. A hint of displeasure appeared in his tone.

Hanna shook her head frantically. Even when she was being thrashed and humiliated, she had no reaction whatsoever. But when she heard what Hazel just said, her entire composure crumbled dramatically.

She began blaming herself, thinking that she had implicated Hazel.

Hazel gritted her teeth, the weight of humiliation and shame pressing on her shoulders, but she endured.

The discussion around them became even heated. Although some people were still a considerable distance away and could not hear much, the term ‘sex slave’ was enough to make them excited.

Hazel’s frantic eyes drifted from the guards punishing Hanna and the others and back to Damien.

After a few minutes, just when Hazel was on the verge of losing it, Damien finally raised his hands in a silent gesture.

The guards stopped in sync as they stared at Damien, waiting for further orders.

Damien’s cold eyes were fixated on Hazel’s brown and desperate ones. Initially, he had liked this stubborn woman and had wanted to take her in as a wife, but she had rejected him, refusing his proposal and humiliating him in the process.

When had he, as a king, experienced such treatment in his entire life? His ego was poked hard and he changed his mind about her.

He wanted to bend her, he wanted to cut off her wings, he wanted to show her who the real sovereign was.

Now that he had succeeded in clipping her wings, he should have been satisfied, but realized that he wasn’t.

If anything, he grew even more irritated. But, he quickly chalked his irritation to his condition, his feelings for Hazel were not initially deep and now that he found out she was his mate, it makes no difference.

But he would not miss any chance to humiliate her in every way possible. It was to show her the consequences of ever rejecting him in the first place.

At that point, the sky became cloudy and thunder rumbled. When rain began to fall, only a few lingered to continue watching the show.

Hazel knelt before Damien, her clothes gradually getting soaked through, clinging to her lithe figure.

The woman who was once in battle attire now knelt before him in a maids’ dress, soaked and pitiful like a drenched animal.

The sight made Damien scoff and he averted his gaze.

He forced a smirk and said, “Such a pitiful little one. But since you agreed to my condition, I could consider it.”

He gestured towards Hanna and added, “A few minutes.”

Hazel did not register what he meant at first until he raised his brows at her.

“Oh, you are not even willing to exchange some words with them?”

Hazel finally reacted. She ignored her muddy self and scrambled to her feet, rushing towards Hanna and the others.

These people had protected her with their lives back in her pack, they did everything to make life comfortable for her even if it meant sacrificing their freedom.

Hazel remembered how Hanna had eaten a poisoned meal in her stead and was bedridden for a month, the memories made the skin around Hazel’s eyes burn and turn raw.

Hanna and the others were soaked in not just rain water, but in their own blood. Blood had stained the earth around them in brown, but they did not seem to care and instead stared at her.

“My lady, you don’t have to worry about us. Our skins are hard.”

“My lady, we already prepared ourselves to die, please don’t do this.”

“My lady, you don’t have to do this for us. We are not worth it, we are just slaves.”

Hazel suppressed her tears and shook her head firmly, “Before, I was not given the chance to help my people. But now that I have one, you expect me to watch as you all die?”

Hanna and the others became speechless, their already deathly faces turning even more transparent.

Hazel forced herself to smile and said, “It is nothing. As long as I am not dead, I have a lot of chances to exert my revenge.”

“My lady…” Hanna called out, her eyes red with tears and her lips trembling. But she knew how stubborn Hazel could be when she already made up her mind. After a while, she took a deep breath and added. “My lady, you must be careful around him and his third beta, especially his third beta. There is something odd about that man. He…”

Hanna was not able to finish her statement when she was hauled up violently together with the others.

“W…where are you taking them? Your lord agreed to…”

One of the guards stared at Hazel and sneered, "Does the princess want to take these people to your chambers or what?”

Hazel’s lips parted and she closed them back, not knowing what to say.

“They are going to the dungeons, of course. You, on the other hand, should continue your duty in the Alpha’s bed.” Another one said and the others burst out into wild laughter.

Hazel's body trembled due to rage, but she controlled herself.

“My lady, you have to be careful!” Hanna yelled as they were dragged away. Hazel quickly nodded, allowing her tears mixed with rain water to stream down her face.

Hazel remained rooted to that spot and only reacted when Hanna’s silhouette with the others completely disappeared. Then, a figure appeared in front of her.

Matilda glanced at Hazel and almost could not suppress her maternal instincts seeing how disheveled Hazel was. Hazel wrapped her arms around herself, having been exposed in the rain for a while, she shivered.

“We need to get you changed. You will be serving the Alpha tonight.” Matilda said and Hazel lowered her eyes, hiding the dismay and despair in them.

A sex slave.

She has been reduced to such and her fate has been sealed.