“She didn’t just do that. No way.”

“Oh my, she’s really got the audacity. I thought she was a slave?”

“I won’t be surprised if she’s rolling around on beds with one of the guards already. That must be the reason for this.”

The guests shared their different opinions with disdain dripping in their voice.

Luna Athena stared daggers at Freya, the comments making her more livid. Feeling humiliated that Freya had embarrassed her in the presence of her guests.

“Kneel, and swallow back your words now.” Athena growled but Freya said nothing. “I won’t repeat myself the third time, slave. Kneel-and-take-your-words-back.” She emphasized, but to her surprise, Freya refused to move.

A resounding crack split through the hall as Luna Athena’s hand collided hard against Freya’s face, the force jerking her head and hairs to the side.

A low gasp rippled through the gathered guests, followed by a rising tide of murmurs.

"How dare a mere slave show such insolence!" one woman in a silver silk gown hissed loudly enough for all to hear.

"She's forgetting her place," sneered another man, the jewel at his throat glinting as he shook his head.

Freya shivered with fury, heart hammering against her ribs as she slowly turned her face back to Luna. The sting blossomed across her cheek like fire under her skin, but she met Athena’s furious gaze head-on, refusing to show weakness.

Through gritted teeth, Luna Athena leaned closer, her breath brushing Freya’s face. "If you weren't the Alpha’s property, I would kill you again," she seethed in a low, lethal voice. "And this time, you wouldn't survive it."

It took everything in Freya, every strand of control, every ounce of buried rage, not to strike back. Her fists trembled at her sides, nails digging crescents into her palms.

Athena straightened back then a devious smirk appear on her face as if she just came up with a golden plan.

"Marlo! Jarek!"

Two men in black suits appeared instantly from the edges of the crowd. Freya’s head whipped toward the men, anxious for what was coming.

"Strip her down to her undergarments. That’s a reminder for her that she’s a nobody but a common slave."

A hush fell across the room, and the music stopped. Freya’s heart was beating more fast now. This couldn’t be happening. No no no. She was definitely dreaming.

“No, you can’t…you won’t…” Freya truffle as she was dragged to the spacious middle of the dinning guests. Her eyes caught Amelia’s and some of the Omegas that had instantly showe hatred for her when they met, they all looked excited, feeding on her humiliation.

It still shocked Freya that Amelia could later turn to a sworn enemy. Maybe she should have listened to her cold instincts since they were teenagers.

Luna Athena’s voice jolted her back to her reality. “Start stripping her!”

Her slave dress was torn away in brutal jerks, leaving her in nothing but the thin, rough cloth of her undergarments. She shook at the inensitu of the humiliation she felt. The cruelty was almost surreal.

Gasps and cruel laughter filled the hall as they started to drag her around, parading her half-naked form through the jeering crowd.

From the corner of her eye, Freya caught Kiera, the only omega who had ever shown her a shred of kindness, peering from where the slaves were serving trays of meat and honeyed fruits. Horror flooded the young woman’s face.

Freya looked away, not able to hold her gaze in this state.

Meanwhile, Luna Athena stood proudly at the center of the hall, a heavy flog in hand, its leather tails curling like snakes on the floor.

Freya eyes took the flog in with horror. Who was she going to use it on?

But Luna Athena was looking nowhere else but her way. She stopped right in her front.

“Now, you get to receive the actual punishment for your offense.” she spat, raising the flog.

Before Freya could even prepare herself for it, the first lash landed with a sharp, fleshy crack against her back. Fire burst under her skin, her body jerking with the force it inflicted. Pain lit her nerves in cruel, unforgiving lines.

Across the room, Kiera's lip quivered. Silent tears welled in her eyes with each savage strike laid on Freya. The scene was horrific.

Amelia, noticing how Kiera had been shifting uncomfortably, leaned in with a sly smirk. "Are you crying for that rude brat?"

Kiera wiped her face angrily, voice trembling as she looked at Amelia once. "Can't you see?" she hissed under her breath. "She's being punished for refusing to bow like a coward. She stood up for herself and that’s her sin."

Amelia rolled her eyes dramatically. "She was rude to the Luna. She deserves it."

Disgust twisted Kiera’s features. Without another word, she stepped away from Amelia, moving down the line of servers with shoulders tight with rage.

Back in the center of the hall, the flog continued to sing its merciless tune across Freya’s back. Twenty lashes rained down on her, each one worse than the last, each one reopening the sting of the first. Blood welled from thin, angry cuts, her skin looking torn and bloody. Her knees finally buckled, sending her crashing down onto the shattered glass from the earlier goblet.

Tiny shards buried into her arms, her thighs, and her side. New pain seared through her nerves, but Freya gritted her teeth, refusing to cry out.

"Throw her out!" Luna Athena barked, her face twisted with rage. "Let her roast under the sun like the wretched vermin she is!"

The guards obeyed at once, lifting Freya’s broken and utterly weak body, then dragging her through the grand hall. Her bleeding feet left a faint trail across the luxurious tiled floor, and the guests watched with expressions ranging from glee to detached indifference.

As the doors slammed behind her, Luna Athena turned back to the crowd, smoothing her gown as if nothing had happened.

"Someone, clean the floor," she ordered in a voice that depicted intense disdain. "We can't have filth staining my celebration."