Liora’s POV
Yes, Iris didn’t deserve the triplets, but neither did Alia. I glanced at Iris, whose expression remained confused, her eyes darting between Alia and the triplets, her brows furrowed as if trying to piece together a puzzle she didn’t understand.
Shortly, the priest maintained control as raised his hands and called out, "Silence, please! We must address this claim with the respect it demands." His voice was nearly drowned out by the rising murmurs voices in the crowd. Pack mbers whispers turning into shouts of words.
"Whore!" a woman called out from the crowd.
"Lying slut!" Said by a man. "You are a disgrace. I wouldn’t raise a child like you." He added.
"You think you can ruin this day?" another spat, her eyes blazing with scorn. "Wrong move child."
"Pathetic wench, crawling for power!" a grizzled elder muttered, shaking his head.
"Disgrace to the pack!" shouted a young warrior, tossing a crumpled trash at Alia.
"Sha on you, trying to trap the alphas!" a mother sneered, clutching her child. "You don’t even fit in."
"Lowly scher!"
"Desperate harlot!"
"You’ll pay for this!" The curses kept coming. Their faces filled with outrage.
Alia tears stread down her cheeks. Her hair was disheveled, so strands clinging to her wet face as the triplets Cade, Zane, and Kael stayed, their faces unreadable.
Alia’s claim was like a bombshell, yes, but it was also a crack in the perfect facade of this wedding. If what she said appeared to be true, a supre alpha impregnating an unmated woman was no small matter, it was a mandate that could shift destinies, rewrite futures.
The chaos was becoming too much now. In order not to act left out, I stepped out from behind the pillar as I stord toward her in fury.
"What are you doing, Alia?" I snapped, my voice cutting through the crowd. I stopped a few feet from her, my hands clenched into fists at my sides. "Why are you trying to ruin this union? You must have gotten pregnant by so low-ranking werewolf, and now you’re trying to pin it on the triplets!" She said nothing. Her tears fell faster now as if my words had shattered sothing inside her. Well, I do not care.
The crowd’s reaction was imdiate and brutal as a woman approached, her face twisted with disgust at Alia. "Whore! Are you not ashad?" the woman spat, her voice carrying over the growing clamor.
Another pack mber, a burly man with a grizzled beard, threw an empty goblet, which clattered against the floor near Alia’s feet. More insults ca from different people, a chorus of condemnation raining down on her. "Liar!" "Disgrace!" "You should be punished!" Another said as she pushed Alia.
Alia’s knees buckled slightly, but she caught herself. She didn’t deserve my sympathy. Why should I empathize with her? Well, all I am interested in is for my own interest and goals, nothing more. Her hurt and emotions are not valid to .
Suddenly, a booming voice cut through the chaos, silencing the crowd in an instant. "Enough!" Alpha King Darius’s voice rose from his throne. His eyes burning with a fury that made even take a step back. His alpha presence pressing down on every soul in the room. "Guards!" he called, pointing at Alia. "Bring her forward!"
Two burly guards, their armor clanking as they moved swiftly through the crowd. They seized Alia by the arms, their grips firm and cruel, as they dragged her toward the front him, her tear-streaked face turned downward as she couldn’t look up to Darius. The crowd parted, their murmurs quieter now. When the guards stopped before Darius, they forced Alia to her knees.
Darius stepped down from his throne stage and was now standing in front of her. He towered over Alia as he leaned forward. Without warning, his hand lashed out, landing on Alia’s cheek in a slap, sending Alia fall to the side, her hand flying to her face as blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. The crowd gasped, so leaning forward eagerly, others recoiling with no sympathy.
"How dare you interrupt this sacred ceremony?" Darius’s voice growled. He straightened, his eyes sweeping over the crowd as he addressed them. "This is the work of an enemy, soone seeking to undermine the significance of this union!" His voice rose, commanding absolute attention. "They wish to sow discord, to weaken our pack at its most pivotal mont!"
"Yes!" The crowd roared in agreent, others nodded fervently. I glanced at my father, seated a few rows back. His smile was gone now as he caught my eye for a mont.
Just then, Darius turned back to Alia, his expression cold. "Take her to the dungeon," he ordered, his voice leaving no room for argunt. At least she will join Lucas there.
The guards hauled Alia to her feet, her body limp in their grasp. She didn’t cry out, didn’t plead too, but her eyes darted towards Iris and towards one last ti. The guards dragged her away, her footsteps fading as the heavy doors at the back of the hall slamd shut behind her.
Darius raised his hands, his presence commanding order once more. "The ceremony will continue!" he declared. The priest stepped forward again as he finally found his words. "Let us resu this union," he said, his voice almost hesitant.
The triplets turned back to Iris, who stood frozen at the altar. She still looked like soone who wasn’t in her right state of mind. Of course, she wasn’t as the priest read the sacred oath.
Once done, he proclaid them husband and wife. I couldn’t bear to watch anymore. The sight of the triplets getting the sacred blessings from the priest, even after Alia’s claim, was a knife twisting in my chest.
Just as I turned to leave, I heard a male familiar voice behind my back,
"Isn’t it fun to see you humiliated this way?" The voice said.
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