[ 13 ] - punishment
Punishment [noun] - the infliction or imposition of a penalty for an offence.
author's note: weekends are the highlight of my week because i get to update! how are we finding the book so far? apologies for the late update, i decided to make an impromptu trip to the theatre to see a play i really wanted to see!
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"Kneel."
Kane's patience had snapped and the fury was etched clearly on his face. An alpha's command couldn't be ignored even if one wanted to ignore it.
Celeste tried to keep her expression blank of fear but it flashed in her eyes as she tightened her jaw. Her chest was heaving as she kneeled in front of him. Her mother took a step back and her gaze darted between Kane and Celeste.
The rest of the pack was waiting with bated breath to see what Kane was going to do.
"Do I strike you as a weak man, Celeste?" his voice was calm, chillingly so. She stared up at him, silent. "If only you were silent before you decided to commit a form of treason."
I couldn't help but notice the parallels between me and Celeste. Potential and fated Luna of the pack, and I had attempted treason of the highest kind the moment I tried to kill Kane. It was foolish on both our parts but Celeste didn't have him as her mate to save her from punishment.
It was so silent in the hall, you could hear a pin drop. No one dared to intervene.
"First you challenged my mate, and now, you challenge me. If you didn't learn your lesson the first time around, take me on. Let's see how you fare against a weak alpha."
"Celeste, apologise," her mother pleaded quietly.
It had been only four days since Kane had taken on five of his best fighters blindfolded. Celeste didn't stand a chance against him in combat and we all knew it.
Kane straightened out his back and squared his shoulders. "Those with small children should take them and go home." His words reverberated around the room.
The ones he addressed moved immediately, filtering out of the hall as quickly as they could. I looked at Carmen and Finn. They seemed equally as offended as me and Kane. If Celeste could disrespect her alpha, she could easily disrespect her betas.
Packs thrived on order and hierarchy. Everyone knew their place and that was how things ran smoothly. Challenging higher-ranking wolves in the pack would always lead to discipline. Celeste knew this yet still chose to challenge Kane.
She still stared up at him, unmoving until he took a silent step towards her. She leaned back. "I misspoke. But only out of concern for our pack." She tried to keep her voice steady but it shook.
Kane laughed. It was a laugh I had heard the day I had tried to kill him—void of any humour.
"You ought to be concerned about yourself.
Not only did you suggest that I'm weak, but you also accused my mate of treason for the second and last time.
Does it anger you to your core that you will never be my luna, that you'll never be her? "
Celeste's face flushed red with anger, embarrassment, or both. She tried to stand but Kane forced her back down with a heavy hand on her shoulder.
"You move when I tell you to," he growled.
"That's it, isn't it? You want to convince yourself that you're the better choice.
Here's your first rude awakening, Celeste—you were chosen because I had to choose a luna, and only for your fighting skills.
You challenged her and she won. She outranks you in everything. "
I couldn't deny it felt good to hear him say it.
"It angers me that after all we went through as a pack that your mate," she spat, glancing at me, "comes from the very pack that had a hand in it."
Her behaviour now made sense but her confession would only make her look worse.
Kane was silent for a long moment. "Should she hate you then for being from the pack that killed her kinsmen? There's a treaty in place and you are not going to jeopardise it. If you think you will, I will send you into exile without hesitation."
That was what finally woke her up. Her mother began to cry and there was a collective inhale of breath.
Exile was a lifelong punishment inflicted upon wolves that had no salvation.
They became rogues and while they could join another pack, they would never be able to fill the emptiness caused by being shunned by their first pack, their kinsmen.
The fear was clear in her eyes now that it dawned on her how serious Kane was. Her bottom lip started to shake. "I'm sorry. I made a grave mistake. Forgive me." She bared her neck in submission.
Kane was still simmering with anger. I could tell from the tension in his shoulders. It was his choice whether he would accept her apology or not. "Apology accepted but it is a mistake that can't go unpunished. You've disrespected us for the last time. Get up."
She slowly stood on shaky legs. Kane looked over his shoulder at me and beckoned me with his hand. I walked towards them and took my place by his side. Celeste couldn't hide her disdain for me any more than I could mine for her. She wouldn't look at me.
"Look at her," Kane snarled.
Her eyes snapped up to mine.
"She's the luna of this pack and isn't going anywhere." His arm wrapped around my waist and he pulled me against him. "What do you have to say to that?"
Her brown eyes darkened slightly and I knew she was having a difficult time not lunging for my throat again. She held a grudge against me because in her mind, I was the enemy by association.
"Nothing," she said through gritted teeth.
Kane stepped towards her and lowered his head. "Wrong answer," he replied harshly.
She glanced up at him as her breath quickened. It must have been the first time Kane had ever been so cold with her. "She's...she's the luna of this pack. I accept that."
Kane kept his gaze on hers as he stretched his hand out behind him and pulled me forward. "You're going to do more than just accept it."
I knew what he wanted her to do. He wanted her to submit to me in front of the pack, the same way we did to him when he completed his challenge.
The pack had already accepted me when I had fought her but they had yet to submit to me.
They would do that during the ceremony that occurred after Kane and I were marked and mated.
That was tradition. But nothing about me and Kane was traditional. Her sole submission in front of the pack would solidify my dominance over her—an act of discipline in the face of her defiance. It destroyed any hope of hers of becoming luna of the pack.
This wasn't her punishment though and she knew it.
She reluctantly lowered herself back on her knees and stared up at me. I could see in her eyes that she had never expected to be in this position. She had wanted to be in my place.
She lowered her head. "I submit, Luna Rina."
The connection between us formed, a tugging in our chests as her wolf accepted mine as her leader.
Kane stepped back with me and addressed the rest of the pack.
"I'm going to put this to bed once and for all.
The treaty stands because we showed them what happens when they underestimate us and they'll never make that mistake again.
Eryx and Myles made their amends with me.
Every year, I put in the effort to make sure it stays that way.
Rina being my mate strengthens that. Our packs have a stronger connection now than just being allies.
Does anyone object to that or share Celeste's sentiment? "
Kane was challenging anyone to come forward.
People shook their heads.
"She doesn't speak for us, Alpha. We're happy you've found your mate," said one man.
"You saved us all those years ago. We will never doubt you," said another.
At that, Kane relaxed. "Good. And I appreciate that, Jon and Wes. Everyone go home now. Get some rest."
Kane nodded at her mother and she coaxed Celeste up. She seemed disappointed as if she wished Celeste had known better than to challenge him. She helped her walk but their movements halted when Kane spoke again.
"Your second rude awakening is that I strip you of your rank, Celeste. You're no longer one of my warriors."
She broke and dropped her head as she began to cry. Kane had stripped her of the title that mattered most to her.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" he asked, turning around to face her. No one moved.
She lifted her head and revealed tear-stricken cheeks. Her gaze flitted to mine. "I apologise for the disrespect. It will never happen again."
My first decision as Luna.
I nodded once. "Apology accepted."
Her quiet sobs echoed around the room as her mum led her out of the hall. As the rest of the pack followed suit, some stopped to pat Kane on the shoulder and smile at me.
I tried to hide my crestfallen feelings. I wanted no one to secretly share Celeste's feelings. As much as I hated what she said, it didn't help that all of this was caused by me making the first move. Kane glanced at me as my hand began to shake in his.
His parents, Moira and Lachlan, then almost stopped in front of us until he shook his head. "I'll come to you in a bit."
They gave us sympathetic smiles and nodded. Moira kissed Kane and me on the cheek in parting.
"What's wrong, Rina?" he asked, almost immediately when we were left alone in the hall. His voice ricocheted off the walls and the question was jarring to hear.
How could I voice my feelings?
I did so, uncertain of how he would take it but I was spurred by the tightening of my chest. "What if Celeste is right, Kane?"
He tugged on my hand to turn me towards him. His gaze turned to mine for just a moment before I looked away. "Right about what?"
I inhaled deeply and pulled my hand from his.
"None of this makes sense. You heard what Carmen said this morning.
We should've had something on our wrists but we didn't. This," I raised my hand to show him his name on my skin, "only appeared after I tried to kill you.
What if we weren't meant to be together and this only happened as retribution for trying to kill each other?
What if Celeste was right by calling all this unnatural? "
Kane was unmoving but his jaw ticked. I had angered him. "Don't." His tone was firm. "Don't turn this into something it's not, something you know it's not."
"What do I know, Kane?" I asked, slowly becoming exasperated.
His arm wrapped around my waist and in an instant, he pulled me against his body. I steadied myself with my hands on his chest. He was trying to keep his breathing steady but his nostrils were flared. "What you feel when I touch you, Rina, does it feel unnatural to you?"
I stared up into his amber eyes. Anger flickered in them and they were beginning to darken. If he became any angrier, his eyes would turn the colour they were in wolf form. I hadn't seen those eyes in what felt like an incredibly long time.
"No," I whispered. Of course it didn't. His touch felt invigorating. Nothing about it felt unnatural.
"And when you kissed me last night..." His eyes lowered to my mouth. I felt the shiver run through me. "Did that feel unnatural to you?"
I couldn't utter it out loud for fear that he would know just how much he affected me in such a short amount of time but kissing him was like breathing in for the first time.
No words came out of my mouth but I shook my head, forcing my gaze over his shoulder. His hand gripped my chin and he made me look at him again. His anger was still simmering on the surface.
"I am not your punishment nor are you mine." His fingertips pressed against my jaw and his eyes roved over my face, softening. "You are my salvation."
I felt the tears prick the corners of my eyes from the pure sincerity in his voice. For years he had been the face of my nightmares but now, staring up at him and feeling his hands on me, he was the face of my wildest dreams.
He lowered his head and kissed me, lightly at first before he deepened it.
We breathed each other in as if our lives depended on it and his lips felt like home against mine.
Nothing about him felt unnatural. I gripped his shirt and pulled him impossibly closer.
He was like a high I couldn't get enough of.
"Say it." He abruptly pulled away and the tip of his nose touched mine as his voice lost its biting edge.
"You are not my punishment," I breathed out, still mentally in the middle of our kiss. My eyebrows pulled close together. "I am not your punishment."
"Look at me, Rina." His voice coaxed my eyes open again. His were back to their burnt honey colour. "I think I should show you something. Something that will prove to you that we are meant to be together."
"What?" I leaned up to kiss him again.
He stopped me with his hands caging my face. "The day of the treaty revision. That was the first time you set eyes on me, right?"
My stomach turned slightly. It wasn't but he couldn't know that. I nodded. "Yes."
He shook his head slowly. "Well, that wasn't the first time I saw you."
The shock pulled me from my daze and I blew out a breath. "What does that—what?"
He squeezed my face. "I've known you for years, Rina."