The voices were the first thing Amaya heard when she woke up. She couldn't move, nor feel her limbs. Even opening her eyes felt impossible.

“Do you think she will wake up?” she heard Stacy say.

“She will, but not now. I added sulphur and silver bay to the fire to make sure her skin would never recover from the burn. She's as good as gone.” Erica cackled wickedly.

She didn't sound anything like the naive and helpless girl she made everyone see. The voice Amaya heard was that of a vicious and ruthless demon relishing her pain.

Ethan walked in at that moment, urgency visible in his brisk steps.

“Erica, how come you're here? Are you done with the task I assigned you?”

“Calm down, dear brother, your sister always delivers. I already poisoned Alpha King Howard and Vivienne. Also, the rogues we hired have invaded Silver Fang Pack and our men made sure they had a smooth entry. By this time, Howard would have been besieged, and the poison would chain his wolf, just meat on the chopping block. As for Vivienne, I sent someone to tell her about the invasion, so she rushed out to join him. The last member of the Frost royal family is the bitch lying on that bed, your sweet, sweet, naive and stupid mate. Hahaha.”

Amaya’s heart was burning; the pain all over her body was nothing compared to that. Tears formed in her eyes but couldn't be shed, just welling up there beneath her closed lids.

“Good. In an hour, I will rush out to chase the rogues back. This will eliminate the doubts in the hearts of the pack members.”

Ethan grabbed Stacy, pulling her to himself. “Once this is done, we will hold our coronation next week, my queen.” He kissed her, making her moan and giggle.

“What are you going to do with that thing on the bed?” Erica interrupted them, making them turn to stare at Amaya, who looked unconscious.

Her entire body was wrapped in bandages and gauze like an Egyptian mummy; not a part of her body was untouched, except for her left hand, which had an IV bag attached to it.

Stacy stared at Amaya with disdain.

“Do we need to do anything? Even if she wakes up, she will just be a wolfless slave. Rejection strips people with her kind of power of their wolves, and I also added the tonic from the witch to her meals throughout yesterday and today. She's basically an empty shell.”

“We still can't take the chance. She's better off dead. That's the only way I can rest easy. Amaya is tough and powerful. If she ever regains her wolf, we would be in huge trouble, especially me. Letting her live is impossible.”

Ethan's eyes were glacial as he punched Amaya to test if she had regained consciousness. But she remained motionless… not even a wince. She couldn't move anyway, even if she wanted to.

“My thoughts exactly. She might be foolish and easy to manipulate, but she's not so daft that she wouldn't realize it was our plan. She probably knows already that I was the one who set the fire and lured her in to trap her. She must not be allowed to live. I have done way too much to stop now.”

Erica watched Amaya with a vicious glint in her eyes, her lips turning up in a slight smirk.

“Erica, do me another favor. Get an injection from the witch that can make it seem like she died a natural death from the burn trauma. Hurry up, it's almost time for the show.”

She twirled her brown hair around her fingers and shrugged. “That's easy. The witch is hiding in our secret base with our backup group. They will leave in fifteen minutes. I just need to make it there before they leave.”

“Then hurry up,” Stacy snapped.

“Don't raise your voice at me, bitch. I'm not Amaya,” Erica clapped back, effectively shutting her up.

“Erica, stop it. Both of you are the most important women in my life. You guys should be good friends and partners. Bickering won't get us anywhere. Just do it.”

“Fine. Don't forget what you promised. Once you take over as the Alpha King and make her your Luna, don't you dare forget what you promised.” Erica stormed off, her high heels clicking against the floor.

“Your sister is getting more…” The rest of Stacy's words were drowned out by a gasp as he kissed her.

“No matter how sassy she gets, she can never match you, my two-faced, vicious bitch. You could even poison your childhood best friend numerous times and help me take over her inheritance.”

“Best friend, my ass. She had it coming. Who asked her to be so arrogant and stupid? If I had my way, I would make her suffer in a million ways before death. However, quickly disposing of her is important to our cause. So I can only hold back the urge to torture her and tear off that face of hers.”

“The face you're so jealous of has been burned to a mess. The wolf you always envied is also gone. Why are you still angry?” Ethan whispered, caressing her.

“Hmph.”

“You know you're the only one I love.”

Stacy giggled as he sweet-talked her, whispering romantic nothings in her ear.

“That's true. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to resist her. After all, she was the most beautiful woman in the wolf realm.”

“Or rather, the most stupid, gullible, and pathetic. Not like you, my fiery queen.” He licked her ears, his breath warm against her neck.

The more Amaya listened, the more her heart broke and the constriction around her throat became worse. It felt as if someone had placed a massive boulder in her chest.

Despite all her efforts, she couldn't move half a millimetre or open her eyes. It felt as if a million soldier ants were crawling all over her, stinging her to a mess. Her mind was in even worse shape. She kept calling out to her wolf, but the only answer she got was the deafening silence.

“Ethan, I want you to fuck me right beside her,” Stacy muttered, her cadence thick with desire.

Ethan pulled up her gown to her waist with smoldering eyes. “You wicked slut, your wish is my command.”

He carried her to the bed, right beside Amaya, and began his sweet torture while she moaned and screamed loudly, not caring that others might hear. Right beside Amaya, he buried his face between Stacy's thigh, eating her out.

Amaya’s heart was bleeding; the pain was indescribable. The weight of their betrayal crushed her heart and soul, filling her with bitterness. Soon, she began to hear the sounds of slapping flesh as he pounded into her.

Stacy grabbed Amaya's throat, choking her with a wicked smirk as her body rocked with the force of Ethan's pounding. After some time, Stacy gave a high-pitched cry of release. Seconds later, Amaya felt a sticky, smelly mess on her forehead.

Ethan had chosen to finish on her face, delivering the ultimate humiliation to her.

Erica returned at that moment with the poison.

“You guys are at it again. Only a daft fool like Amaya wouldn't notice your shamelessness when you both even do it in her room.”

The tears finally rolled down Amaya's closed eyes, her heart full of despair and sorrow. Their betrayal didn't start now; it had been happening. She was just too blind and trusting to see it. Look what love cost her now.

“The poison is here. Quickly inject her with it. We need to make sure she's dead before we tackle her parents. Although I'm certain they're dead, we should personally confirm it to avoid surprises,” Stacy intoned, crossing her legs, not bothering to pull down her gown or shove back her boob which had been dragged out at some point in their reckless play.

*****

The vicious three didn't notice a masked man in doctor's scrubs watching them from the shadows. The moment Erica returned, he slipped away like a phantom and returned to a dark room.

“How was it?” one of the waiting men whispered, anxious.

“They never left her side. We can't rescue her or swap out the poison for a harmless drug if they don't leave.”

Another of the masked men paced, his face scrunched up in a frown as he tapped his thigh repeatedly.

“What are we going to do now? Once they inject her with that thing, it's over.”

“They already did,” the harbinger of bad news added, dropping the bombshell.