Heaven's POV
I watched as Damian, Desmond,Damon and Dylan stared at me like I was a piece of shit. And it aches my heart so much.
They used to adore me. They used to fight over who got to spend time with me. They joked about which one would marry me when we were older. But now that all hated me so much.
I wished my father hadn't been framed. I wished the truth had come out. Maybe then they wouldn't look at me this way.
But Damon gaze hurt the most, it was filled with so much hate. It was stripped of everything he once felt for me. I wondered if it was really because of my father's crime? Or was it something else? How could a man cherish me so deeply, then wake up the next day and hate me this much?
The guards moved toward me, their grabbed my arms and lifted me to my feet. I didn't bother to struggle or resist. I just let them lead my numb body out of the room.
"Thirty lashes for destruction of property," the guard announced to the crowd. "By order of Alpha Damian Bloodstone."
Thirty was severe, it could kill someone like me, I was weak with no wolf to help me heal. And With the wolfsbane that was added to the weep I dont't think that I would survive this.
The guard's hands were rough as they tore the back of my already filthy dress exposing my bare back, ready to use his whip that was lined with wolfsbane and thorns, The front of my dress dropped, and my breasts were expose and I heard the people around laugh and chuckle.
I bit my lips and wrapped my arms around my chest to manage to hide it in the slightest way I could. But my hands were snatched by the guards and tied tight backwards with a rope.
I tried to beg but no words could come out, I could only endure with tears in my eyes.
I looked up to see male Betas, Lycan's, and Omegas training and even servants and other pack members had gathered to watch the display.
The guard raised the whip and was about to strike when I heard Sofia tell him to stop.
I let out a sigh of relief. Sophia was finally thinking straight. She had remembered that we were once best friends and was stopping the punishment to let me go.
I was relieved until I heard her next words.
"I would like to do the honors of giving her the first lash". Sophia said with a wide smile and the crowd that had gathered clapped and cheered as if she was being merciful to me.
My face instantly turned cold. She wasn't pitting me or letting me go, but wanted to begin the punishment herself?
The guard handed the thorny wolfsbane weep to Sophia.
Tah!
The whip tore into my skin and blood began to drip out and I let out a cry. My eyes watered as tears fell uncontrollably down my face .The pain was unbearable but Sophia didn't care. She still had that disgusting mocking smile on her face.
"Stop whining like a little bitch and take it like the traitor's daughter that you are."
She yelled and the crowd began to cheer again.
I felt so utterly humiliated. To say that this heartless thing was once my best friend, who would have believed it?
The guards took over and delivered the second whip.
Ta-ta! Ta-ta!
More lashes kept coming. By the tenth lash, I was seeing stars, By the twentieth, I could barely feel my legs . The strikes of the whip felt like it was peeling away my skin and muscles until nothing more was left.
"Pl-please stop this is madness. She's going to die!
I heard Mrs. Huggins yell, I lifted my head to see her filled with tears as she begged them to stop, she stood there helpless cause there was nothing she could do to stop the punishment.
It was an abomination to interfere in any punishment that was given by an Alpha.
" She's just a traitor's daughter. She should have killed her years ago, along with her parents." A female beta in the crowd said laughing.
And the lashes continued. I was drowning in pain. My vision was going dark. And my legs were going limp.
The guard raised the whip for the final lash, but stopped midway. Someone had ordered him to stop.
Damian's pov
I watched from the balcony above the courtyard. I felt nothing and guilty at the same time. It was the rule of the pack to punish any mistake of servants. But where was I feeling pity?
"She is not going to survive this" Damon said standing beside me with satisfaction.
"Look at her. She's already half dead." He said as he laughed.
"That's good. We've got one less problem to deal with." I heard Desmond comment from the other side of the room.
But Dylan said nothing, he just stared down at the courtyard.
The guard was about to go for the final lash. I wanted to look away and pretend like nothing was happening. But I just couldn't.
"Stop" The word came out before I could even think about it. My alpha command echoed around the courtyard, and every wolf froze instantly.
The guard holding the whip paused mid-strike and looked up at the balcony in confusion, but he didn't dare question.
I had no idea why I had said what I said, it was remaining just one lash before the punishment would be complete , but I couldn't let heaven take another strike in the state she was in.
"The punishment is complete. Get her down." I said
Damon turned to me, narrowing his eyes in shock. "She only had twenty-nine lashes. The punishment isn't complete."
"I know what the punishment was, I gave the order but I'm changing it now", I said.
"You're showing weakness in front of the entire pack." Damon said quietly just enough for only our brother to hear.
"I'm showing mercy, Damon. There's a very big difference and I'm supreme Alpha, I get to make all the decisions." I corrected.
The guard cut the rope around Heaven's wrist and she fell to the ground with a loud thud.
I saw Mrs. Huggins rush forward and wrapped a blanket around her naked body.
"If you wanted her dead, you should have just slit her throat. It would have been kinder." Mrs. Huggins said looking up at me.
I swallowed hard, unable to say a word cause of the guilt I felt.
She then carried Heaven and hurried away.
"Okay, so, what the hell was that?" Damian asked once we were alone with Desmond and Dylan. "How can you show mercy to that bitch after what she and her father did?"
"Damon is right, she deserves every single lashes she received and even more. And did you see Sofia's face? She was humiliated. She's going to think that we do not care about her feelings." Desmond said.
It was true, I didn't even stop to think about how Sofia would feel before stopping the punishment. But I just couldn't help it.
"I'll make it up to Sofia, but I wanted Heaven alive to make sure that she continues to pay for her fathers crime"I said trying to convince them that, that was the was the only reason.
Dylan who had been quiet until now finally spoke. "You did the right thing Damian"
We all turned to look at him surprised.
"We don't want her dead, we still need to make her suffer first." He continued.
"You see, Dylan agrees with me" I said as I walked up to him and patted his shoulder.
"Besides, we have important things to worry about than a half dead servant".
"The ascension ball is in less than two days and we need to be focused." I said facing them.
And we all went back to planning for the ascension ball.
Damon and Desmond shot me an annoying look before leaving.
I had always know that my brother hated Sofia for what her father had done but I would have sworn on my life that Damon and Desmond had always had feeling for her years ago but now they hated her so much that They didn't care if she was alive or dead.
It made me wonder what she had done six years ago to make them hate her so much.