Chapter 67 067

Chapter 67 067

The night wind hit my face harshly the moment the words slipped out of Lady Yana’s mouth, and I found myself believing her because I was certain she was capable of it. She had tried something like that before to get rid of me, of course she could do it again.

“I… I’m going to leave,” I rasped as I turned to go, but one of the men intercepted me and shoved me to the floor. A whimper escaped me at the sharp impact.

“You want to leave? Who said you can leave? You were foolish enough to come here on your own, but I’m sorry, you won’t be leaving this place on your own… I mean, alive.”

Lady Yana walked toward me and grabbed my chin roughly, tilting my face up as she gazed into my eyes with pure hatred. I had never seen someone who loathed me that deeply. She wasn’t just a hater; she detested even the sight of me.

“Please… let me go… I won’t tell.” My words were cut off by a sharp slap.

My face went stiff as her hand left my cheek, the sting so brutal that tears gathered instantly, but I blinked them back. I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of thinking she had broken me.

“Who do you think you can tell? Who’s going to listen to a low maid over a high-ranking concubine?” she asked, and with every word, another slap followed.

By the time she was done, my cheeks were swollen, throbbing, almost numb. My blurry gaze found Thalia, standing to the side enjoying the sight of my humiliation, and something hot burned inside me.

How dare she watch me get bullied?

I wanted to run, but something in me held my ground, fingers trembling at my sides, the taste of fear sharp on my tongue as Lady Yana grabbed my hair roughly. It was as if I had taken enough more than enough before a part of me finally cracked.

“Do they not say you are powerful? How can a weak Omega like you amount to anything?” she sneered, shoving me aside and signaling the four men nearby to deal with me.

“Let me go! What are you doing?!” I screamed, trying to fight them off, but my strength faltered. It was as if I had reverted back to the weak Omega I had always known, powerless and fragile. My breath snagged in the cold night air, each exhale ripped away before it even formed as the men grabbed me and tugged at my clothes.

My eyes widened in horror as realization slammed into me, but Lady Yana didn’t budge. Her voice was cold. “Let’s see how the Alpha will want a damaged woman like you.”

“Let me go! I won’t let this happen..I would rather die!” I screamed as my back hit the ground, men pinning me down. One hovered above me until she lifted a hand to stop him.

“What do you say?” she asked, and for a heartbeat, hope flickered inside me. Maybe she was letting me go.

“I… said…” My voice faltered when I realized her excitement wasn’t mercy, it was glee. I had walked straight into her trap.

“Since you choose death yourself, I have no reason not to grant you it,” she said coldly. “Take her and drop her down the cliff. Let’s be done with it.”

“You can’t do this! His Majesty won’t let you..let me go!” I cried, but my pleas were swallowed by deaf ears. The men dragged me toward the cliff’s edge, Thalia egging them on in the background. I still didn’t understand why she hated me this much.

“Ahh!” I screamed as I reached the edge, the wind roaring beneath me. Lady Yana stepped closer, forcing me backward.

“If you reach the afterlife, don’t resent me, Aveline. You did wrong by harboring what isn’t yours,” she said, laughing as she picked up a silver chain and waved it in my face.

“What are you saying? I didn’t do anything wrong!” I mumbled, stepping back in fear, buying time, praying he would come like always to save me.

Or was I asking for too much?

My heart hammered so loudly I felt it in my throat, but I refused to step back even as the men shoved me, threatening to tip me into the abyss.

“Don’t make this hard for all of us, Aveline. Just die already!” Thalia spat, her words cutting deeper than they should.

“No, I won’t give you..” My words choked off as one of the men wrapped his hand around my neck.

I struggled, kicking, gasping as he held me over the cliff. I begged for mercy, but Lady Yana and Thalia only laughed, watching me suffer. I glanced down at the bottomless dark below, and anxiety swallowed me whole. There was no surviving that fall. I wouldn’t live to tell the tale.

Why was this woman so cruel? Why wouldn’t she let me go?

“Aveline, do you want me to help you?” my wolf whispered, and relief washed through me.

Was she taking a nap before this?

“A minute more and I’ll be dead!” I snapped, eyes misty as the man choked the life out of me when suddenly, something surged through me. Something merging with my body.

A heat exploded inside me so violently it stole my breath, rising from deep in my chest and flooding every limb like molten fire. I growled in pain as I felt my hands flare into claws. Power rippled under my skin not a shift, but something older, fiercer, like a resistance long buried awakening all at once.

“Ahh!” I roared, grabbing the man’s arm, twisting it until bone snapped before hurling him across the field. I steadied myself instantly, one misstep and I would have fallen.

“What is this?” Lady Yana’s voice trembled as she stared at me, but I only cracked my neck, letting the new power settle into my bones.

My spine straightened. The tremble in my hands vanished. Strength filled me so completely it felt like the earth braced beneath my feet.

For the first time, I wasn’t the one cowering.

I was the storm they should have feared, and from the terror in their eyes, I knew they finally understood.

“Monster! She’s a monster!” Thalia screamed, bolting, but I sprinted after her, kicking her back toward the others. Her groan echoed through the night.

Satisfaction rolled through me as I watched them cower. I couldn’t fully grasp how fast everything changed, but one thing was certain:

I loved being the one in control.

Yes, you should always be the one in control. I will make sure of it, my wolf assured.

“Now… should we begin the fun?” I mused, gazing at the trembling figures on the ground.