Luna Audrey

Chapter 13 - Broken

Analea had begun sobbing by the end of Dean's piece, but was attempting to nod in response. Jessica, however, was attempting to keep herself together, despite the tears streaking down her cheeks.

"Y-Yes, Alpha," Jessica finally replied with a stutter.

Dean nodded and then turned to the pack members seated in the audience, "As some of you may already know, these two young women directly insulted our Luna. Disrespect towards your pack, your Alpha, and your Luna, will not be tolerated under any circumstances."

There were a few murmurs amongst the crowd, likely people stating their disgust with the girls on stage. In a way, that disturbed me too. This was something that could've happened to anyone. In fact, it was very likely that many pack members felt the same way as these girls did about Dean and I being mates.

"Is the pack in agreement, that this behavior is unacceptable?" Dean asked, as he let go of my hand and stepped forward to take the whip from one of the guards.

"Yes, Alpha!" the pack shouted in unison.

Without any further words, Dean turned to Jessica.

"Strip!" he commanded.

I cringed at both his words and his tone. Although this was also customary of public whippings, it made the whole situation even worse in my mind. It was incredibly humiliating for those girls.

Analea and Jessica were both now shaking as they slowly reached to the bottoms of their shirts and grasped them before pulling them over their heads. They continued to cry, but didn't dare object. Attempting to defy their Alpha now would only make matters worse.

Once the two girls were down to only their bra and underwear, they froze, on their hands and knees, staring down at the ground. Luckily, tradition didn't call for the victims getting completely nude.

With no further words or hesitation, Dean pulled back the whip and then lurched forward, striking Jessica on her back. Jessica instantly shot up in pain, squealing and clenching her eyes shut as more tears poured out. As soon as Dean pulled the whip back, a deep, red laceration was visible on Jessica's back. I gasped, but tried to remain as composed as possible, despite my heart rate increasing by the second.

Dean then turned and did the same to Analea, and she responded with a similar reaction. She cried out as the skin on her back split open and began to bleed as the impact from the whip combined with the silver burned through her skin. I bit down on my lip, so hard that it drew blood.

One.

He turned back to Jessica and repeated his motions, causing an X-formation to appear across her back as the new wound met the old and split her skin in half. Blood began to drip down her spine, and I slowly took a step back.

Then, he turned to Analea and did the same. Her small body collapsed flat on the ground and started to spasm from the pain shooting through her core.

Two.

My hands were now trembling at such a rate, that it had to be noticeable. Although, I was sure the crowd wasn't focused on me with two young girls being abused in front of them. Before I could react any further, it happened again.

Three.

Dean lurched forward again, thrashing the silver-coated whip against Jessica's back. This time, she collapsed as well. In the blink of an eye, Dean turn and repeated the movement on Analea.

Four.

Now, my legs were trembling. Was my mate really not feeling anything from these girls' pain? No sympathy? No regret? Both girls were limp, laying on the floor of stage with no movement other than their labored breaths. Their backs were bleeding profusely, red streaking down every inch of their skin.

I squeezed my eyes shut, not able to take in any more of the scene before me. The blood, the pain, and especially my mate, inflicting the pain. By now, he'd lashed out again on both of the girls once more.

Five.

A tear slipped from my eye, and I collapsed.

Everyone - I'm SO sorry for the extreme delay. I just can't seem to get my shit together lately. Luckily, I have a couple breaks coming up in the near-future, so I will hopefully be able to give you all some more frequent updates starting next week. I promise I will try my absolute hardest.

In the mean time, what did you think of this chapter? It was pretty intense, and I know it could've been disturbing for some readers. If you haven't already, take a look at Luna Hana, Lena, Zahra, and Skylar! Please continue to read, vote, and comment!

xoxo -V