(Alnilam)

A guttural snarl leaves me when my fingers wrap around his miserable neck. I want to snap it and end his miserable life, but that will not be punishment enough for him.

I should have used my Alpha Aura on him the first time I came to visit him. The truth would have come clear to me. Pure werewolves couldn’t lie under an Alpha’s Command.

I was so blinded by the misunderstanding with Amaia, that I couldn’t see the truth.

Snow flashes through my eyes, pinning Tarian with a hateful glare.

"You left your mate to fight a monster alone and rejected her?"

The terror reflected back from Tarian’s eyes. It brought me nothing but immense satisfaction.

".....I..." He couldn’t speak because my hand had shifted into Snow’s sharp claw piercing the skin of his neck.

"And you dared to blame Amaia. You tried to kill your mate."

I dragged his body closer to me, spitting on his ugly, pathetic face.

"You are not fit to be called an alpha. Nor are you going to be ruling this pack." The werewolf council will be handling his case, now that I will be reporting and sending him there.

But as a prince, I can give my own verdict about him. I will ensure he receives the highest form of punishment for not respecting the mate bond and leaving his mate to die.

"At least, one good thing came out of it. We got Amaia as our mate."

Letting his throat go I push him back, making his body hit the table with a blunt force. I am not going to kill him, not yet anyway.

Tarian chokes, his hand grabbing his throat while he coughs on all fours.

The rage inside me has burst like a volcano. My kick lands on his gut, making him bend over even more.

"...Pl...ease!" Blood gurgles out of his mouth.

"You are going to rot in a cell for the rest of your pathetic life."

Opening the door, I call my sentinels. They come rushing, startled along with his guards. One of my sentinels carries silver cuffs. They don’t let werewolves shift.

"Cuff him and call the werewolf council. I will be handing him over to them," I order. My sentinels obey without any objections while Tarian’s guards helplessly watch.

Tarian is howling in pain like a little scared mouse. He is so pathetic and I want to curse myself for not seeing this side of him before.

"Gather your pack in the grounds. I have an announcement to make." I gave them instructions, and they shuffled with terrified eyes and stiff bodies.

Once they are gone, I turn and tell the other sentinel.

"Drag him out and take him to the grounds."

With one single nod, he grabs Tarian’s arm and begins to haul him towards the ground. I calmly walk behind, enjoying his humiliation.

My sentinel throws him on the ground where his pack members are already gathering. Horrified and confused, some of them let out shrieks of panic and terror.

His beta comes running and kneels beside him, his head turns in confusion to watch me.

"Your Grace! What’s going on? Why are you doing this?"

"Stand back. Let your people gather and I will explain why." I flick the back of my hand at him and he shuffles back, terrified of my aura and wolf.

Tarian remains crouched near my feet, holding onto his stomach, still shrieking. His Luna comes running, panicked, hair flying, colour drained from her face.

One severe gaze from me has her halting in her steps. She gulps and then stands back with the other females of the pack.

Even the Elders of their pack have gathered. Once I see everyone is there, I pick up my foot and nudge Tarian with it.

"Come now, be good and tell your pack what you did."

My aura seeps out, keeping him bowed and ensuring he won’t lie.

He heaves and thrashes. His people watch him with pity, some with even disgust on their faces. Seems like he is not popular among them.

Tarian begins to tell them what he did to Amaia. His Beta, a few Elders and his Luna don’t appear surprised. Seems like they knew what he did and did not care.

They are his accomplice in this heinous crime he has committed.

He was blessed with a goddess-like mate. The irony is, he was her only mate. She belonged only to him, he didn’t have to share her with anyone.

What a pity.

"Your Alpha, not only committed a crime against his mate. He didn’t cherish her—cherish the gift the moon goddess had bestowed on him." I nudged him with my boot again and he whimpered.

Silence from his pack followed.

"He betrayed her, ridiculed her, rejected her and left her to die. A world where mate bonds have become so rare, where people spend their whole lives seeking them, this man didn’t respect her."

A few heads nodded. An Elder stepped forward and spoke. "Amaia was a hardworking girl but she had no wolf. A wolfless Luna is an abomination in our pack. Tarian just wanted someone with a wolf."

I know Tarian’s father, the previous Alpha was the one who cared for Amaia and raised her.

"Doesn’t give him the right to leave her to die. There are protocols to end the bond willingly between the two mates, if both of them agree. I am sure she didn’t want someone as pathetic as him too."

My words made a few of them bite their lips to not laugh.

That’s what I am going to do with Amaia, ask her to end the bond between us with her consent. Knowing her, I understand she will not agree.

My parents, however, will want me to take that route, instead of rejecting her.

"For these crimes, I am removing him as the Alpha of this pack and handing him over to the werewolf council to award him a fitting punishment," I announce calmly so my dooming words will sink in for them and they will think twice before repeating something like that.

"You people can select a new Alpha in his place. He is not your Alpha anymore."