27

27

"Bellatrix! Breeder Bellatrix!" the scruffy-haired female yelled as she dashed frenziedly towards the shelter. One of the guards chasing overtook her, but she tried to sidestep him.

However, when he grabbed her arm, she became enraged and shoved him to the floor, leaving a few slashes of her claws on his shoulders before resuming her sprint.

The second guard saw his fellow overpowered by their target, but he didn’t stop to check on the latter since it was just surface injuries. He chased after her and ultimately tugged her hair from behind just as she was trying to evade him.

This prompted her to halt in her tracks due to the discomfort from his actions.

“I’ve got you now,” he told her, and she started struggling to go forward, but he still wasn’t intent on letting go of her hair.

“Let me go!” she shrieked.

The guard shook his head, “Not happening. I can’t let you hurt the Breeder,”

“You…” frustrated, Katelyn used her claws to cut her hair, quickly freeing herself from the shocked guard’s hold.

The latter was caught off guard by Katelyn's decision, given that it was well-known how much the Luna adored her hair.

Seeing the unfamiliar woman dashing towards her, Bellatrix was gripped by a twinge of anxiety. Also, her foul smell and hoarse shouts, which felt jarring on the ears, made the latter abruptly rise to her feet.

Still pinching her nostrils, Bellatrix started falling back as the lady approached her more closely. “You… d-don’t come near me!” she warned frantically, grappling with the urge to gag.

The latter, however, stopped just short of the shelter’s entrance, her breathing uneven, her chest rising and falling as she kept her gaze on the Omega.

Bellatrix felt quite uncomfortable with the woman’s gaze and subconsciously averted her eyes, wondering why nobody had come to drag this crazy female away. The two guards, who had been chasing her, for some inexplicable reason, didn’t approach after she eluded them.

“Royal Breeder…” the latter began with an uncertain tone.

“What do you want?” Bellatrix questioned with a deep scowl, wishing she had the ability to vanish.

For some reason, those who had gathered deliberately maintained distance from the shelter, wanting to feed their curiosity while engaging in hushed conversations and pointing fingers at the wretched-looking female.

“I’m here…” Katelyn gulped before continuing with her words, “I’m here to do something I’ve long desired to do. Thankfully, the Alpha took pity on me and gave me a chance.”

Bellatrix’s eyes widened as she came to a realization. “You…you’re Luna Katelyn?” she asked in disbelief, pointing at the latter.

'What a huge transformation,' she thought. The Luna before her was a true definition of falling from grace into mud.

Katelyn nodded in affirmation. “Yes, Breeder Bellatrix,”

The Omega nodded sagely, “I see. What made you come to find me?”

“I came to do something important,” Katelyn said as she stepped foot into the shelter, causing the latter to retreat.

“Don’t come any closer. Stay where you are!” Bellatrix instructed in a panicked voice. The smell from up close was even more appalling, she feared she would really keck.

However, Katelyn didn’t pay heed.

At the moment Bellatrix intended to get away from Luna, the latter did something she never anticipated.

Something that prompted the jaws of everyone present to drop.

Katelyn went down on one knee and then, with her hands fisted by her sides, while donning a determined look, she lowered her second knee. Next, she inclined her head and set her palms on the earth.

“You…” Bellatrix’s eyes were widened, “What are you doing?”

“Royal Breeder, I have sinned greatly against you. And I’m very sorry for that. I never should have schemed against you. I shouldn't have attacked you either. I was driven by foolish jealousy. Please forgive me, it will never happen again, I beg you,” Katelyn said with a remorseful look.

Bellatrix wasn’t expecting Katelyn to do this, especially in front of all these people! The hushed voices among the crowd were noticeably becoming louder. Everyone’s gaze was on her.

What irony!

To think, weeks ago, this silvery-haired woman could have easily decided people’s fate; now, she was the one at another’s mercy. And it was the one whom she so despised previously.

“It’s alright. You can stand up, I forgive you,” Bellatrix said, feeling jittery about being in the limelight all of a sudden.

She also wondered if this was a test from the Alpha as well. Did the Alpha want to see how magnanimous she was?

In any case, she didn’t want to be in the spotlight any longer.

However, Katelyn didn’t do as Bellatrix asked. She remained in a kneeling position with her head still tilted downwards.

“I have already told you to stand up. Why are you still kneeling? Please, stand up. Besides, it’s not good for your image as Luna,” the Breeder tried to reason, but the latter shook her head.

“I don’t have a good image. I have failed the pack and the Alpha. My actions have brought disgrace on myself as well.”

Bellatrix felt a headache coming on. Where was this Luna getting at? Didn’t she want forgiveness? She’s already granted it in front of all these people. What more did she want?

“I can’t stand up unless you truly pardon me,” Katelyn said, her gaze on Bellatrix’s feet.

The latter tried not to show her spiking frustration but couldn’t help voicing her curiosity. "Are you implying that I punish you first?"

To her surprise, Katelyn vigorously nodded. "With all the things I made you go through unfairly, I believe forgiveness shouldn't come easily for me. So you can scold, hit, or even punish me in any other way."

Bellatrix was left in a dilemma.

What Katelyn said wasn’t totally wrong. But saying this in front of all these people. She couldn’t possibly ask the guards to whip her 200 lashes to vent her anger, right?

And what about the Alpha?

After thinking long and hard, she finally came up with a decision.

“Very well, if that’s what you want.” Bellatrix sat on the bench and crossed her arms before her chest.

“Raise your head,” she ordered, and the Luna quickly obeyed. “I want you to do three things for me. Afterwards, I’ll wholeheartedly bury the hatchet. Don’t worry, they are simple things.”

Her reassurance did nothing to quench the unsettling feeling that gripped Katelyn.

Honestly, she hated this.

She hated that she was forced to do this and suffer humiliation in front of everyone. But she couldn’t show her malice now. She had to keep it well-hidden and convince everyone that she had repented.

That she was no longer going to harm anyone.

She bottled up her fury and dissatisfaction and nodded in agreement, “Okay, Royal Breeder. I’ll agree with anything you say. Anything to show my sincerity,”

“Good.” Bellatrix turned her gaze to the crowd. “Someone, please, get me some snacks and water.”

It didn’t take long. Several snacks and three bottles of water now rested on the bench.

For Katelyn, who had been ingesting that horrible liquid back in the cell, these felt like gold to her. Her stomach chose this chance to protest.

Though embarrassed, Katelyn decided to remain collected.

Bellatrix opened one of the snacks’ packets and fished out a small round cookie. She broke it in half and threw it on the floor. Katelyn immediately knitted her brows.

“I understand how much you want to eat right now. I’m not so cruel as to let you starve,” the Breeder said with a feigned concerned look, “So, for my first condition, you have to roll on the floor and bark like a dog. I don’t mean puppy. A real dog.”

The Luna’s eyes widened in disbelief.

This stinky Omega wanted her to do such a horrible thing…in front of all these people?

“If I do that, then… I can eat the cookie?” she asked, pointing to the one on the floor.

Bellatrix beamed. “Actually, I wanted to give you all these snacks along with the water as a reward. But since you have your eyes set on just that one, who am I to refuse your request?”

“You…”

Katelyn so wanted to tear Bellatrix apart right now. But she couldn't. She didn’t dare to.

If the Alpha found a scratch on his chosen Breeder, he would indeed feed her to his pet snakes, and that wasn’t a nice way to die.

And she didn’t want to perish just yet. She still needed to enjoy whatever luxury she could as Luna.

So, for that chance, she would…reluctantly do it.

“Yes, Breeder,” she said in a meek tone.

And so she began her show, rolling on the floor like a dog trying to curry favour and then barking.

It was a strain on her already arid throat, but she kept doing it, ignoring the reactions of the crowd. Let them laugh today. One day, she would show them!

After doing this shameful act for what felt like an eternity, Bellatrix stopped her and asked to eat the broken cookie without using her hands or feet.

She also reminded Katelyn that it didn’t count as the second condition, much to her ire. But she still held it in and ate the cookie like a dog.

“For the second condition, I want you to leap like a frog from here to the gate and back, tugging at your ears of course.”

“What…?”

“I know you’re touched by my benevolence. I fed you, and now you have the chance to properly digest it. I don’t need your applause.”

‘You shameless woman! I want you dead!’ Katelyn raged in her heart.

But she still flashed a contrived smile and nodded.