Chapter 101 Back For A Revenge.
Chapter 101
Lyra's POV.
Pauline’s mouth opened widely. An intense scream tried to escape her lips.
Pauline's mouth opened. A scream tried to escape.
I squeezed my fist around the totem. It grew warm. The green emanating from the tip had not seized, the way it had spread through the corners of the room too, had not dwindled for a moment.
Pauline's scream died in her throat.
The green light wrapped around her neck. Once. Twice. Three times. It pulled tight.
Her eyes went wide. So wide I could see white all around her brown pupils, her eyes almost about to popped out. Her hands flew to her throat. Her fingers clawed at the light, trying to pry it away from her skin.
Nothing. Her fingers passed right through it.
Her body started shaking. Like small tremors at first. Then bigger. Her arms jerked. Her legs kicked against the blankets. The bed creaked beneath her.
It looked like invisible hands had grabbed her and were shaking her like a doll.
"P… please," she whispered. Her voice came out scratchy and broken.
i moved closer to the bed. My bare foot scraped the cold floor but made no sound
Smoke suddenly erupted from the green light which wrapped round her neck. The wisp had perfectly curled towards the ceiling.
The smell of Pauline burning skin filled up the room.
Pauline gagged. Her face turned red. Then purple. Her mouth opened and like a fish poking its head out of water, struggling for her last breath.
I instantly felt her wolf. It was whimpering. Crying. Begging me to stop.
I pushed harder with my invisible power.
The green light squeezed tighter. Pauline's wolf went quiet. Submitted. Gave up.
Pauline's eyes moved. They darted to the left, toward the other side of the big bed.
I followed her gaze.
The Eclipsia pendant lay on the nightstand. It was a silver necklace with a moon-shaped stone that glowed softly blue. The elders had given it to her. They said it would protect her from dark magic.
They were wrong.
Pauline stretched her hand toward it. Her fingers reached. Grasped at empty air. The pendant was too far away. At least ten steps from where she struggled.
Alpha Thomas slept off next to the pendant. His big frame sprawled across the side of the bed.
Next to the pendant, Alpha Thomas slept. His big body was sprawled across his side of the bed. His mouth hung open. Loud snores rattled from his throat.
He didn't move. Didn't wake. Didn't know his mate was dying right beside him.
The Eclipsia pendant wouldn't have helped anyway. No necklace could stop what I had planned. Only the gods themselves could save them now.
And the gods weren't listening tonight.
The elders planted this seed long ago. When they killed my parents. When they burned my pack. When they took everything from me.
Now that seed had grown into a tree. A dark tree with bitter fruit.
The elders would taste that fruit. And so would everyone who stood beside them.
I opened my mind. Pushed my thoughts into Pauline's head.
“Get up,” I commanded through the mindlink. “Go to the corner. Get the whip.”
Pauline's body moved. Not because she wanted to. Because I made her.
Her legs swung over the side of the bed. Her feet hit the floor. She stood, wobbling like a newborn fawn.
The green light stayed wrapped around her neck. It moved with her. A glowing leash.
Sweat poured down her face. It dripped from her chin onto her white nightgown. Dark wet spots bloomed on the fabric.
She dragged one foot forward. Then the other. Each step looked painful. Like her legs weighed a thousand pounds.
She reached the corner of the room. Her hand grabbed something hanging on the wall.
A horse whip. Long and black. The kind used to train wild horses. The kind that left scars.
Her fingers wrapped around the leather handle. She pulled it from the hook. The whip uncoiled and hit the floor with a soft thud.
She turned around, started walking back toward the bed.
One step. Two steps. Three steps.
“Stop,” I commanded.
Pauline froze mid-step. Her body went stiff. Only her eyes could move. They rolled in her head, searching for escape.
There was none.
I looked in the middle of the room. A wooden stool sat there. Three legs. A round seat. Simple and old.
“Pick up the stool,”I told her.
Pauline's body jerked to the left. She bent down. Her hands grabbed the stool. Lifted it.
My inner wolf was silent. It didn't question what I was doing. It understood. This was justice. This was payment for all the pain.
“Stand on the stool,” I commanded.
Pauline walked to the center of the room. She set the stool down. Climbed onto it.
The stool wobbled under her weight. She spread her arms to keep balance.
“Take the whip. Tie it around your neck.”
Pauline's hands moved on their own. She looped the leather whip around her throat. Once. Twice. She pulled it tight.
Tears streamed down her cheeks now. Her whole body shook.
“Look up.”
She tilted her head back.
Above her, hanging from the ceiling, was an iron hook. The kind used to hang herbs for drying. It was thick. Strong. Attached to a wooden beam.
Throw the other end of the whip over the hook. Pull it tight.
Pauline's arms lifted. She tossed the end of the whip up. It missed the first time. Fell back down.
She tried again. This time it went over the hook.
She pulled. The whip went taut. It cut into her neck on both sides.
"P… please…" her wolf whispered in my mind. The words were so quiet I almost couldn't hear them. "Spare… my… life."
I said nothing.
I felt nothing.
I raised my hand. The totem glowed brighter in my palm. Green light shot from it toward the stool.
The stool legs began to shake. First the left leg. Then the right. Then the back leg.
Pauline's feet slipped. She fought to stay balanced. Her arms windmilled.
"Please," she mouthed. No sound came out.
I flicked my wrist.
The stool tilted. Lean. Toppled.
It fell away from under Pauline's feet.
Her legs kicked in empty air. Wild. Desperate. Her feet searched for something solid.
There was nothing.
Her hands flew to her neck. Grabbed the whip. Pulled. Clawed. She tried to loosen it.
The whip wouldn't move. It held tight.
Her whole body swung back and forth. Like a pendulum. Her face turned darker. Purple. Almost black.
Her legs kicked slower. Weaker.
Then they stopped.
Her arms dropped to her sides.
Her head tilted forward.
Her last breath left her body in a soft sigh.
I lowered my hand. The green light faded. Disappeared.
The totem in my palm went cold.
I walked to the other side of the bed. Stood over Alpha Thomas. Watched his chest rise and fall with each snoring breath.
I reached out. Placed my hand on his shoulder. Shook him.
His eyes snapped open. Confused. Foggy with sleep.
He blinked. He looked around the dark room.
Then he looked up.
At the ceiling. His fated mate , hanging there.
"No… no…”