017

A violent tremor passed through Camila's body because she had been crying for a really, really long time. She trembled like coconut leaves in a wild storm as silent whimpers still escaped her mouth. She had been crying, but no matter how long she cried, the wound in her heart created by Alina's words never healed. She sat and pulled herself backwards until her back hit the wall. She leaned her head on it and closed her eyes to dry her tears away. Although she still felt like shedding more tears, she knew that it wasn't going to be of any use. Camila had no idea for how many hours she had stayed leaning against the dirty wall while sitting at nothing, but it was an hour later that she was woken up by heavy thumping sounds in the dungeon.

"Time for your evening whipps, Camila," the guards said while motioning for her to get out of the dungeon. The whippings always took place in the open air, where everyone could witness them, and then a person was returned to the dungeon.

"Already?" She asked, a sigh escaping her lips. She was still nursing the wounds she had received that morning, and she was about to receive others. "Can't you postpone the punishment?" She asked them even though she knew it was of no use. No one in the pack had the audacity to go against Alpha Killan's words. He had said that she should get whipped twice in a day, and she shall get them.

"Even if we wanted to, you know that we won't, so please let us do our duty before our families pay for our mistakes." One of them told her, and with their help, she was taken out of the dungeon. The sun out there hurt her eyes, and she was forced to protect them with her hands. She didn't know whether they had become sensitive due to the darkness in the dungeon or because she had been crying for so long. The guards took her to the poles standing in front of her, where she was pushed to the ground so that she could kneel, and they cuffed her hands.

Pack members had surrounded that place to witness what was going on. After they had heard that she was rejected and that she was punished for being a traitor, they walked near the palace, waiting for the evening hours so that they could witness her being whipped. That punishment was passed long ago, but she was the first person to receive it. Camila closed her eyes, waiting for the cold leather to come into contact with her skin, but a voice stopped the guards.

"Leave her." The person said: Maybe she was too engrossed in waiting for the whips, and that was why she didn't recognize the voice or hear it. After she stayed there for a while without the leather coming into contact with her back, she raised her head to see what was going on. She clicked, regretting the fact that she had wanted to see what was going on. Alina, with Alpha Killan standing on her side holding her waist, was there talking at the guards. She zoomed out, wondering how it was that an intelligent person like Killan couldn't see through Alina's fake love. She had made it clear to her back in the dungeon that she was with him not because she loved him like he thought but to avenge. She was there to ruin him, and because they were now mates and would be getting married soon, the few things he would be left with she would take into her custody in the name of supporting their baby, who was not his but her boyfriend's.

She lowered her gaze to look at Alpha Killan, who was looking down at Alina lovingly. He was holding her closely, and she felt jealous because that place once belonged to her. She once laid on that chest and got a kiss on her forehead, and he would look at her the same way he was looking at Alina at the time. She saw him whispering something against Alina's ears, and she giggled, her face turning beetroot red. She smiled, knowing what he had said. "I love you." She loved him so much that she would identify him in the dark; she loved him so much that she could know what was going on in his head; and she loved him so much that she could know what he said by looking at the twinkle in his eyes.

His blue irises had dilated, making a glassy liquid around them, and after he was done whisphering, he licked his lips. Like Alpha Kilan had sensed her gaze on him, he lifted his eyes to face her, but she quickly averted her gaze to the guard in front of her. She didn't want to let him realize that she still loved him, or else he would taunt her for the rest of his life. Alina, who had seen Kilan's unreadable gaze on Camila, cleared her throat and announced loudly for everyone present there to witness their former Luna getting flogged to hear: I, as the Luna of this pack, have decided to relieve Camila of her punishment today. Instead of getting whipped twice per day, she should get whipped once every four days." Everyone present there clapped for her after she finished saying that.

With that, Alina had left the impression that she was a great Luna; she made sure of everyone's well-being, despite them being traitors, and their health should always come first. Camila scoffed, smirked at her, and started to limp back to the dungeon.

Stop, you traitor!" Alpha Killan's voice thundered, causing some of the members around there to tremble and bow their heads in fear. "How dare you? Your Luna has spared you from this punishment, and you are trying to walk out on her without saying a thank you. If it's not for her, you could be bleeding to death right now and having your cursed skin ripped into pieces." He tounge-lashed her, and whispers filled her ears once again. The pack members started calling her a selfish person, and some even prayed silently that Alins would take back her words and let her get punished because she was an ungrateful bitch.

She locked her gaze with Alpha Killan as if mocking him, smirked, and then turned to face Alina. "My apologies, Luna Alina, and my apologies to your husband too, who you truly love," she winked at her, and if glare would kill anyone, she could have died because of the look Alina had on her. "Thank you for your pity," she said, spinning around to walk out of there. Walking back to the dungeon, Camila sat on the ground, wondering how fate had always been cruel to her. She was hungry because she had eaten nothing since morning, and on top of that, she was thirsty. All she wished was for Alpha Killan to have mercy on her and, at least, ask the servants to bring food for her. At the thought of food, Camila shuddered. Alina had told her that one of her personal maids was her spy and that she had been using that maid to make her drink the emergency pills, so who will she trust with food?

Her stomach growled loudly once again, not agreeing with her thoughts, as if telling her that whether the food was spiked with drugs or not, she would have to eat it. It's like her thoughts were answered because, at the same moment, a ray of light illuminated the already darkened dungeon and a heavy man walked in with a plate of rice. Judging from it, it looked like someone's leftovers, but what will she do? She'll have to eat it.

"A plate of food from Luna Alina!" the guard grinned, handing the plate over to her. The guard widened his eyes in shock when he saw her devouring the food like a starving pig. He thought she wouldn't eat someone's left-over food, but there she was, gulping and chewing down the food despite it being eaten and layers of cold cooking fat covering the edges of the plate and spoon. "Can I have some water, please?" she asked, handing back the plate and using the back of her hands to wipe her mouth.

The guard came with a glass of water, and before she could wrap her dried lips around it and sip some water, a hand snatched it away. "Slow down, pig." It was Alina's voice. Alina giggled eyeing her up ad dowm. Crossing her hand under her chest, she curled her lips in disgust.

"You should see yourself right now. Oh my god, this is amazing," she laughed, snapping some pictures with the phone in her hands. "If I post these on my account, I'll surely get a lot of likes. Hastag, from riches to rags," she twisted the saying, an evil laughter still escaping her lips.

"Give back the water, please," Camila asked her, not minding her mockery and laughter.

"And if I don't?" She asked as if daring her.

"Leave at once!" She demanded, taking short breaths to calm herself.

"And I don't?" She asked again, smirking at her.

"Then do what you want, and after you get satisfied, take the way that brought you here and go to wherever you go." Upon saying that, Camila sat down on the ground and closed her eyes, trying to bring the best of her memories back to her head so that she couldn't feel the coldness of the floor slipping through her thin clothes and numbing her body. In her head, she imagined she had just eaten her favorite meal, rice cooked with chicken, drank a glass of juice, and, with the heater turned on in her room, wrapped the soft blanket around her body as she sank into the fluffy mattress beneath her. The method worked, because after a while she felt herself getting drowsy, and her eyes blinked once, twice, and on the third count, she slipped off into slumber land with amazing dreams.

Alina, who was still standing there, had the expectation that Camila would get tired of her presence there and turn to lash out at her, and that was when she would grab the chance to beat her once again, but that never happened. She swiped off her phone, shoved it in her pocket, and walked closer to her.

"Hey," she said, pushing her with her legs and waiting for her to face her. "Are you afraid of me, little bitch?" she snarled, emptying the glass of water on her body. When she got no response, she flipped her over, and she was shocked to see her already asleep with a smile crawling up on her face.

"Who the hell smiles while in this condition?" She asked the guard still standing beside her, but he just shrugged. The guard stared at Camila for a while and then found himself also smiling at the sight in front of them. Camila looked really calm while sleeping, and despite the bruises on her face, she still looked pretty. Alina, who had caught the guard not one but many times stairing at Camila, thought of a plan in her head and smirked, What will you do right now if I were to give you a million dollars?" She asked him.

"What? I will be very grateful," the guard said, scrunching his brows at her.

"Then let's make a deal that will give you that amount." She smirked at him, watching the curiosity grow in his eyes.

"What should I do for you, Luna Alina?" The guard asked, turning to face her.

"I didn't expect that Alpha Killan would dare take Camila's advice and go to check the CCTV footage. Even though I had already deleted them because he had sent them to me to take a look at, I'll have to punish him too, even though he has no evidence against me. So for that, I want to create another rift between him and Camila that would prevent him from hiring a private investor in case he's making some plans." She laughed, titling her head as If someone was deep in thought.

"You want me to help you create another rift between them?" The guard asked

"Yes, you are such a good learner." She patted his back, smiling.

"So, what's the plan?" The guard asked There was no way he would let the million dollars slip out of his hands. Camila and Killan had a rift between them already, so creating one more wasn't a problem. His girlfriend had been asking him to quit working as a guard since long ago because, according to her, it was embarrassing. He made it clear many times to her that he wouldn't quit his job because how would he sustain them and his old, sickly mother? His girlfriend threatened to break up with him if he didn't resign in a week's time. Since morning, he had been thinking about it, wondering where he would get another job with a good pay like that, but here he was, about to get a million dollars for just creating misunderstandings between two people. How will he not accept it?

With that, he would buy her girlfriend the car she wanted, buy enough medicines for her mother, and build a house. With the money left, he would use it to start his own business. "What's the plan, Luna Alina?" he asked, licking his lips, already seeing himself as a millionaire.

"The plan?" Alina laughed, an evil smirk crawling across her face. "It's simple; get closer." She nudged him to get closer so that she could whisper whatever she had thought.