Helanie:
"This is all a lie. Her mother was not a good woman. Why else do you think she stayed silent so long and only now comes back claiming I did all that to her?" my father barked, pulling the typical response of why a victim waits until a certain moment to speak her truth.
"That’s because my mother was afraid others would do the same to her, like you did to her, because she is a mermaid. And let’s not forget, she had no proof," I hissed, but the smile my father gave me made my anger boil.
"Then where is the proof now?" Niles grunted.
"The proof is my word. The proof is my mother’s words," I spat back. Niles shook his head, laughing, until a sudden itch made him cough.
He turned back to look at Norman, who had adjusted himself behind him, and his eyes widened when he felt a dagger in his back.
"Now you will start speaking the truth," Norman said as he gripped Niles’s shoulder and shook him.
"This is not allowed. How is it allowed?" Niles tried to play the same card, claiming there were rules that rogues or anyone else couldn’t use the dagger like that.
"You’re not an alpha. And I am the Alpha Queen. I punish you by using this dagger to make you tell us the truth," I stated confidently.
At this point, Vani stood in the distance, her friends gathered around her, giving her support. She had a strong system, and I was glad for that.
"I told you the truth. I did not—" he coughed, reaching for his back, but it was too late. The dagger had already pierced deeper. He was poisoned with the truth. He staggered and began to fall.
Within minutes, I watched him hallucinate.
"Oh my goddess. You have no idea how much I can get after I sacrifice your babies," he ranted. Just as I expected, he started to spill everything, not realizing he was only hallucinating that my mother was in front of him.
He began to relive every moment. Every single thing. And honestly, it sickened me because it looked like he was enjoying it. Even now, there was no regret on his face.
After a while, when he was done, the dagger was pulled out. He shook his head vigorously, pointing at me with rage.
"This is all her plan! She must have done something to the dagger! That’s why I was lying, I swear, it was just—" but he had nothing else to say. His lies were exposed.
A council member stepped closer, grabbing him by the neck.
"You will be punished in the worst way possible. You will be displayed naked in every pack and whipped by every member. Anyone holding hidden anger can take it out on you. This is what you get for treating women like they are just baby-making machines. You didn’t only rape that woman, you killed her babies. You killed our Alpha Queen’s siblings."
Even though his punishment was already announced, it wasn’t enough for me. I stepped forward and grabbed Niles by his hair. He looked surprised. He probably thought I would still respect him, or at least show some leniency.
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