Chapter 737 It is time for our honeymoon, babe
It was clear that Voren’s ruthlessness was not just from Bloodfang. His father was something else entirely, a man who had carved his legacy in blood and iron.
“Cass, please forgive me. I will be a better husband.” Dean cried from the cold concrete floor he lay on, his voice reduced to a pathetic whimper.
With all the glamour of the Grimroot pack, one would expect its dungeons to also be attractive. But to Voren, a dungeon should not give any comfort. It should be a place of reckoning, of consequence, of suffering earned and delivered without mercy.
The blood around Dean had begun to change color, darkening from crimson to something almost black, and his clothes were all bloody, torn and clinging to his battered body.
His face could not be recognized, swollen and bruised beyond recognition, and for someone with an Alpha wolf, it was clear that his wolf was tired of healing him over and over again. The beast inside him had given up, retreating into the depths of his consciousness, leaving the man to face his punishment alone.
“Dean Shawn, I reject you as my mate.” Cassandra’s voice rang out, clear and steady, carrying the weight of years of pain and betrayal.
As the words left her lips, all the pain she had felt since they got bonded disappeared, evaporating like mist in the morning sun. A new pain formed inside Dean’s chest, sharp and devastating, a wound that would never heal.
“I love you, Cass. Please do not do this.”
Cassandra shook her head, her expression cold, unyielding. The love she had once felt for him had curdled into something bitter and hard. “You do not even know what love means. Bright will be taking over the pack, and you know what that means.”
Dean lunged at her instantly, his body surging forward with the last remnants of his strength, but he fell on his face. He was too weak, too broken, and too destroyed by his own sins. “You shameless woman. How dare you go back to your old flame? Is he even your second chance mate? I will not accept your rejection.”
Before Cassandra could speak, Seraphine did, her voice cutting through the air like a blade. “Do not bother. You will either be banished or killed. Either option is an automatic break of the bond.”
Dean finally regretted his actions. The realization crashed over him like a wave, drowning him in the magnitude of his own stupidity. Had he known, he would have spent the night with his mate and marked her.
Instead, he spent it with Cleopatra and ruined everything. The bond between him and his wife was already weak because he had not marked her before cheating on her.
She had been in pain, but not as much as Dean was feeling now. A mighty Alpha had been reduced to nothing because he refused to control the zip of his pants.
“Cass, please. Just one last chance.” He pleaded, his voice cracking, but Cassandra turned around and left without a backward glance.
Seraphine looked at Dean one last time and shook her head. Someone like this did not deserve death. He deserved pain and more torture for all he had done to all those innocent she-wolves. Death would be a mercy, and mercy was not something he had earned.
She mind linked Voren. ’Can you tell dad to give the bastard another round of torture before we banish him? I do not want him to die.’
Voren smiled through the mindlink, his satisfaction palpable even through the bond. ’As you wish, my queen. I did not plan to let him die anyway. I just wanted his wolf to heal him well enough for more torture.’
’Since we are on the same page, I will go see the bitch now.’
Seraphine ended the mindlink, caught up to Cassandra, and led her to the punishment room. Cleopatra was hanged with her head down, her body suspended like a piece of meat in a butcher’s window.
The room was dim, the only light coming from a single bulb swinging overhead, casting shadows that danced across the walls.
At the sound of footsteps, Cleopatra began to plead, her voice hoarse and broken. “Please, you have tortured me enough. Tell Beta Kael to come. I shall accept his rejection.”
The corner of Seraphine’s lips curled. Even as Kael had shown no signs of caring about Cleo’s rejection of his rejection, he had secretly sent someone to keep torturing her to accept it. He wanted to be free. He deserved to be free.
She quickly mind linked him. ’Kael, come to the punishment room.’
Cleopatra opened her eyes when she did not hear any response, tears stinging her eyes when she saw Cassandra. “I am sorry, mom. Please forgive me.”
Seraphine did not want Cassandra to be fooled and informed her, her voice cold and clinical. “She confessed to poisoning your tea, but her maid, Bella, did not give them to you. She even joined our pack.”
Cassandra’s gaze darkened, the last remnants of affection she had felt for the girl dying in her eyes. “After your affairs with my husband, you wanted me dead. If this had not happened, no one would have known that we did not share the same blood. I loved you as my own, Cleo.”
“Please, give me another chance.” Cleopatra pleaded, but Cassandra shook her head and turned to Seraphine, her voice steady.
“Luna Queen, thank you very much. I shall take care of the she-wolves from now onwards. I will have them undergo health checks too, but I doubt any of them will be pregnant. It seems Dean was cursed after all. With all these she-wolves, not even a single one of them got pregnant.”
She glanced at Cleopatra with cold disdain. “As for this bitch, I want nothing to do with her. You are free to banish her.”
“No, kill me instead.” Cleopatra begged at the same time Kael walked in, his gaze lowered at the sight of Seraphine.
“Queen, you summoned me.”
“Beta Kael, she is ready to accept your rejection.” Seraphine said, and Kael sighed with relief. He thought she was going to chastise him for sending someone to torture Cleopatra.
“No.” Cleopatra cried, her voice rising in desperation. “I will only accept it if you decide to kill me. If you do not, I will not accept it anymore.”
Seraphine shrugged, her expression indifferent. “I wanted to give you a few more days before the banishment, but I will just do it now to free my beta from the likes of you.”
Cleopatra cried, her head still hanging low, her tears dripping onto the cold floor. “Beta Kael, I, Cleopatra Shawn, accept your rejection.”
The bond broke instantly, snapping like a frayed thread, and Kael smiled at Seraphine, genuine relief flooding his features. “Thank you, my queen. You are the best.”
Luna Cassandra left, and Seraphine and Voren spent the next two days with Espe and Bryan. That night, he banished both Dean and Cleopatra, and they were left at the outlands, abandoned to whatever fate awaited them beyond the borders.
Voren received a call from his pilot, his voice crackling through the speaker. “Alpha, everything is set.”
Suddenly, Voren was in a jolly mood, his entire demeanor changing from the grim business of judgment to something lighter, almost boyish. He turned to Seraphine, his eyes sparkling with anticipation.
“It is time for our honeymoon, babe. And trust me, you will never forget it.”