Chapter 175 Chapter 175
Violet
"I have been too lenient with you," Alaric continued, his voice dropping back to that dangerous calm. "Too soft. Your mother said I was going easy on you, that I wasn't teaching you proper discipline, and I dismissed her concerns. But she was right. I've let you grow cocky and disrespectful. You talk back to me. You question my decisions. You act like you have the right to defy an Alpha's command. And you certainly don't get to call yourself a Deveraux."
He moved around the desk, and that's when I saw what he was holding.
It was a thick leather belt which would not only hurt but leave angry bruises and welts. My eyes widened upon realizing it was also wet with something dark that dripped slowly onto the marble floor.
Fresh blood was trickling down the belt.
Horror crashed over me in waves. So my fear had been true!
He'd been beating Elijah. With a belt. Like he was a child instead of a grown man and an heir who deserved basic dignity and respect.
"You don't even flinch anymore," Alaric said, and there was disappointment in his tone. "I remember when you were young, when this would make you cry. When you'd beg for mercy. When you'd learn your lesson. But now? Nothing. You just kneel there and take it like it doesn't matter. Like I don't matter."
Elijah's shoulders tensed fractionally, the only indication he'd heard. But still he said nothing, gave no response that Alaric could use against him.
Alaric's face darkened further. "Kelly," he said sharply, making the assistant flinch. "Grab the poker from the fireplace."
Kelly's eyes went wide behind her glasses. "Alpha, I…I don't think…"
"I didn't ask you to think," Alaric cut her off. "I gave you an order. Get me the poker. Now."
"Please," Kelly whispered, her voice breaking. "Please don't make me.."
"NOW!"
The roar made her stumble backward, nearly tripping over her own feet. She rushed to the fireplace with shaking hands, reaching for the iron poker that had been resting in the flames. The end glowed orange-red with heat radiating from the metal.
She lifted it carefully, holding it away from her body like it might attack her, and turned back to Alaric with tears streaming down her face.
"Good," Alaric said, taking the poker from her. Steam rose from where his fingers gripped the cooler end. He walked slowly around Elijah's kneeling form, the poker held loosely in one hand, the belt dangling from the other.
"Do you know why I beat you when you were a child, Elijah?" Alaric asked, his tone almost conversational now. "It wasn't cruelty. It was education. Every strike taught you something. Be it discipline or respect. You learned the consequences of disobedience. It made you strong and turned you into the warrior you are today."
He stopped in front of Elijah, looking down at his son's bowed head.
"I should be proud of what I created," Alaric continued. "I should be satisfied that my methods worked, that they turned you into a man instead of a sniveling coward. But somewhere along the way, you forgot those lessons. You started thinking you were above the rules and above me."
Elijah's hands clenched on his thighs, fingers digging into the fabric of his pants.
"And this girl," Alaric said, venom dripping from the words. "This outsider with no family, no status, no value…she's made you weak. She's made you forget your place. She's turned you back into that pathetic child who needed to be beaten into submission."
"She has nothing to do with…" Elijah started, but Alaric cut him off.
"Take off your shirt."
Alpha Alaric’s voice cut through the air like a blade.
For a moment, Elijah didn't move. Then, slowly, he reached for the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head in one fluid motion.
I had to press both hands over my mouth to keep from crying out.
His back was a canvas of brutality. Angry red welts crisscrossed his skin, some already darkening to purple. Fresh cuts oozed blood where the belt had broken skin. Older bruises painted his ribs in shades of yellow and green, all mangled onto the tattooed skin.
I recalled the last time I had seen the injuries on his arms and how his mother had screamed at seeing them, asking why he was covered in scars.
That time, I felt guilty of scratching him like a feral cat and wondered how he had not even winced.
Was that how his father treated him when he was a child? Beating and punishing him for every little mistake?
And through it all, Elijah remained silent. Accepting it like this was normal, like this was what he deserved.
I felt disgusted to even refer to him as alpha.
Alaric studied the damage with cold satisfaction. "You'll take this punishment without a sound or complaint. And maybe, just maybe, you'll remember what you are and what you did. Of what you owe to this pack and to me."
He raised the poker, the heated end glowing brighter in the dim light of the office.
But before he could bring it down, his expression shifted. Something calculating crossed his face, and he lowered the poker slightly.
"Actually," he said slowly, a cruel smile forming. "I think we need a different approach. You've grown too accustomed to pain and too immune to your own suffering." He turned to Kelly, who was still standing nearby, shaking like a leaf. "You do it."
Kelly's face went from pale to completely white. "What? No, I…I can't…"
"You work for me," Alaric said coldly. "You follow my orders or you lose your job and the salary that supports your sick mother and younger siblings. I can also have you banished so you dont get a job anywhere else again."
It was cruel.
Kelly's face crumpled. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she sobbed openly, her entire body shaking. "Please don't make me do this. Please. I'll do anything else. Anything. But not this."
“Why? Why won't you do it?” Alaric asked and Kelly answered between sobs.
“Elijah…he…he has never done anything wrong to me. He…he was actually nice…”
“Nice?” Alaric thundered and then looked from Kelly to his son, his brows knitting.
“Is that what you do Elijah? Make girls fall for you by acting nice?” He asked mockingly.
When Elijah didn’t answer, Alaric continued.
“Are you forgetting what I taught you? You are an alpha and a male for fuck’s sake. Women are born to serve you, breed for you and obey your orders without a word. Give them even a slight liberty and they will grow arrogant like that bitch who almost annihilated our species.”
What kind of sickening thought process was this?
"Do it," Alaric repeated, looking at Kelly. "Or you won't have a family to return home to."
"Please," Kelly whispered again, but she was already moving, already walking toward Elijah's kneeling form with the poker gripped in trembling hands.