---- Chapter 15 No.15 Aria POV: "Aria, don't," Kaelen bit out, his voice a low, desperate command. He knew what was coming. | spun on him, the last of my patience gone. The sound of my hand cracking across his face for a second time that night was shockingly loud. "Don't?" | spat, my voice trembling with a year's worth of suppressed rage. "You have the audacity to tell me 'don't'? When have you ever considered my feelings? My honor? My heart? No. You don't get to command me anymore." | turned back to the stunned crowd, my voice ringing with cold triumph. "Enjoy the gift I've prepared for you, Kaelen. This is a monument to your stupidity. You earned this." A collective gasp went through the room. The video had changed again. This time, the scene was Kaelen's bedroom And the figures on the bed were unmistakably him and Lyra, locked in a passionate embrace. The scandal was absolute. They were, for all intents and purposes, siblings. Raised under the same roof, by the same Alpha. This wasn't just infidelity; in the traditional eyes of the pack elders, it was tantamount to incest. ---- The atmosphere in the ballroom turned ugly. "Filth!" an old lord shouted, hurling his wine glass. It shattered at Lyra's feet, splashing her white dress with red. "Shameless harlot!" a Luna from a visiting pack shrieked, throwing a bread roll that hit Lyra in the head. Suddenly, it was a free-for-all. Guests surged forward, grabbing food from the banquet tables and pelting her. Olives, cakes, pieces of meat rained down on her. Lyra curled into a ball on the floor, trying to shield her head as she was covered in refuse. Someone even picked up an empty wine bottle and threw it, catching her on the shoulder with a sickening thud. She cried out in pain, her sobs lost in the cacophony of insults. Through her tears, she looked to the one person who had always been her protector. "Brother... save me..." she whimpered, reaching a trembling, food-stained hand toward Kaelen But Kaelen just stood there, his face a stone mask, his eyes watching the scene with a chillingly detached emptiness. His entire world, the foundation of his life built on loyalty to this one girl, had crumbled into dust around him Lyra, seeing no help was coming, began to crawl toward him through the debris, her voice a desperate, pathetic wail. "You promised! You promised you would always protect me!"