Aria/Lysara's POV

Selene’s face was swept fast to the right at the slap, her glass fell off her hands, and crashed to the floor with a massive shattering cry that echoed in the hall.

I stood back from them, my body still vibrating from the fury that pulsed through me, and I glared at them. My fingers clenched and unclenched beside me. I wanted to kill them as they had killed me, to rip them apart into shreds. I wanted to make them suffer more than they made me do.

A slap is far, far less than what they deserve, but I didn't have the power to kill them right now. I didn't have the power to make them suffer more. Alpha Roran swiped his face with his palm, wiping off the whiskey from his face. He cleaned the rest off with his shirt, exposing a little of his chiseled abs. Selene swept her face back to me, sweeping her long hair over her shoulder so she could glare at me. Her whole face tightened in a huge snarl.

“You bitch.” She snarled. “I am going to kill you.” She lunged for me then. I was ready to swing my hand for another slap at her when suddenly, Nahlia appeared between us.

She caught and threw back Selene's fist. By now, Alpha Roran had also resumed glaring murderously at me, every inch of his face folded in a snarl.

He looked like he would give anything to grab my neck and strangle me, but Nahlia's presence seems to deter him—her crown by the way. He and Selene eyed her with so much condescension, like she was a product of a sewer.

I might still be suffering from the consequences of their betrayal, but seeing them so angry and bitter and, for a moment, powerless, my insides fluttered with excitement.

Behind us, the hall had resumed with life, the slow music from the orchestra booming to life just as the whispers and murmurs did.

“Move out of our way, bitch. That crown on your head doesn't save you from getting a whooping either, just like your fellow sex toy behind you.” Selene yelled at Nahlia, as saucy as ever.

Alpha Roran grabbed her arm, and he jerked her to turn to him. He cautioned her with a hard stare. But she just hissed, turning away from him.

He didn't bother to fake a smile, nor did he filter the hostility in his eyes as he spoke to Nahlia, yet he managed to make his voice calm. “I am sorry, Queen Nahlia, for how my Luna spoke to you, but that doesn't mean I would condone such disrespect from one of your underlings.” He roared towards the end of his speech, his eyes moving past Nahlia's shoulders to pin me down with hate.

Not even the insult from Selene broke Nahlia's pose. She remained poised and confident, her neck raised high and queenly. “You can rest assured we will punish her adequately for this transgression against you and your Luna.”

“We should get to punish her ourselves. She insulted and offended us.” Selene hissed.

"She insulted and offended you both, but nevertheless, she is now a property of Alpha King Kael and thus cannot be punished by anyone except me and Alpha King Kael." She said.

“But…” Alpha Roran tried to challenge.

“You will be compensated fairly for the insult you received today.” She cut him short. “So if you will excuse me, I have to punish my underling, as you rightly put it,” she forced them a smile. She turned around to me.

I didn't just see the heat burned in her soft but heavy with character amber eyes. I felt her reproach in her fingers too as they tightened hard on my wrist, pulling me along with her out of the hall, while Alpha Roran and Selene's heated gaze followed us as we left.

Once we were clear of the hall, she swung me around to face her in the hallway, sturdy stone walls stretching down around us to nowhere in particular.

Her queenliness cracked a bit then. The heat in her face tightened her eyes, her brows wired close together. “Why the hell did you do that? Did you know the ridicule you almost brought to the royal household because of your misdemeanor?”

“They insulted me, so was I just to stand around and do nothing?” I retorted. While that wasn't particularly true, it was the only thing close to the truth that I could tell her. She might be the queen or whatever, but I was never going to let anyone boss me around.

“Yeah. You will do nothing but report them to me, because I am your queen.” She returned. Her lips pressed on for more words, but she just sighed, dropping back into her regal, queenly pose and demeanor. “For the disgrace you cost the royal household today, I award you, as your queen, a punishment of twenty points deduction from your points in the next game round.”

I slanted my head back at a ludicrous angle, considering her carefully. “And is that supposed to mean something to me? I don't care about whatever stupid games you all have going on here. I won't participate.” I said, striking a defiant pose with the whole of my body.

She leaned low then, her eyes drilling right into mine. There was something chilly and inhumane in her eyes, but I wouldn't let it scare me.

“Oh, you will participate, Lysara,” she said. “Then will you realize how important the points you lost to your foolishness today are, and you will regret every bit of your action today. And for calling the game a stupid game and for disrespecting me here tonight, I add an extra twenty-point deduction to make it forty. And I promise you, Lysara, you will regret every point you lost now.” She spoke slowly, her voice low.

I didn't know if it was her voice, or the cold chilling look in her eyes, or the fact that some part of me was starting to believe what she might be saying was true, that I would regret this moment. I felt my heart beating faster than before, thumping harder against my chest. I had to push a huge lump down my throat to resume my breath, which suddenly stilled.

We both turned to our right at the noise of boots stumping on the stone floor. Alpha King Kael stood just five feet away from us. “She wouldn't regret anything, Nahlia, because no points will be deducted from her in the next game round.”

Nahlia snapped up like a recoiled spring. “Why?” She demanded.

“Because she acted on my orders.” Alpha King Kael responded.

I had no idea why, but I felt something like relief flood my chest at his words. I was in the middle of working out a sigh of relief from my chest when he reached for me. And within a blink of an eye, I was in his arms, pressed hard against his broad chest.