Chapter3

Although Lambert agreed readily, given the severity of my crimes, I wasn't going to walk out of prison comfortably. I was locked in an iron cage lined with silver blades, my neck clamped in stocks at the cage door, making it hard to breathe. The suffocating pressure lasted the whole way, but it wasn't until I was paraded onto the busiest street that I understood what true suffocation felt like. Word had spread. The streets were lined with crowds. Almost the moment my prison cart appeared, rotten fruit, stones, and filth rained down on me like a storm. A tidal wave of curses followed, without a shred of mercy: "That demon! Mrs. Leilani was so kind—she traded her own jewels for food and saved so many poor pack members! And she died at this madwoman's hand!" "Mr. Bob funded shelters for homeless rogues out of his own pocket! He was generous, he cared about the pack… We must avenge him!" "Tear her to pieces!" "A cold-blooded monster like her should be fed wolfsbane!" "Kill her!" In their eyes, my family members were all goodness and light. And now, these 'good people' had all died by the hand of me—their closest kin—dismembered and incomplete. The crowd's fury nearly spiraled out of control. Even the escorting guards were affected, and chaos briefly erupted. For safety's sake, they had to hurriedly escort me back to the dungeons. I was a mess, my hair caked with filth and blood, yet I couldn't suppress a low laugh. When Lambert reached out, as if to wipe the grime from my face, I stepped back, coldly avoiding his touch. "See?" I curved my lips, but there was no warmth in my eyes. "Fooling around with scum like me, despised by everyone, will taint you too… You'll get dirty. You'll rot. You're the Alpha's favored heir, with a bright future ahead." My voice was hoarse, but every word was clear: "So I advise you—get lost." Lambert looked at me deeply, and finally, without a word, turned and left. I felt a sense of relief, followed immediately by a hollow emptiness. This world was already filthy beyond redemption, and I… had long since lost the will to live. Three days later, the day that should have been our wedding, shocking news came from the prison: Lambert had publicly petitioned the Alpha, voluntarily renouncing his noble status to be demoted to a rogue, all in exchange for my freedom. It was said Luna fainted on the spot, and the Alpha flew into a rage, ordering Lambert to receive thirty lashes. But even so, Lambert did not back down. Unconsciously, I bit through my chapped lip. The taste of blood spread in my mouth. I smiled self-deprecatingly, spat out the blood, and called the guard watching me. "I confess." This time, it wasn't just the pack judges and guards judging me. I was brought before the pack court. The benches were filled with pack elders. Directly ahead sat the Alpha and Luna, who still hadn't fully recovered. And Lambert stood not far from me. He had grown so thin his high cheekbones were prominent, looking even more haggard than me, a long-term prisoner. I looked at him, then uttered words that plunged the entire court into silence.