(Eleanor''s POV)


    I sat rigidly in my chair, ring at Olivia Winters with undisguised contempt. The Stone Ancestral Hall''s cold atmosphere matched the ice in my veins as I watched her stand before me, her shoulders squared despite


    her precarious position.


    How I loathed this woman. This nobody who had somehow ensnared my nephew and gained a position she didn''t deserve.


    "You have nothing to say for yourself?" I demanded, my voice echoing against the stone walls


    Olivia pressed her lips together, swallowing whatever justification she might have offered Smart girl. Nothing she could say would matter anyway


    Ethan had made his choice clear. Victoria Frost and her daughter Emma were his priority now, not this pathetic excuse for a Luna who couldn''t even protect her own child.


    "Your silence speaks volumes," I said, rising from my seat. "You know you''re guilty."


    Victoria stood beside me, her perfect features arranged in an expression of righteous indignation. She had yed her part wlessly, as always.


    "To think you would target an innocent child," I continued, circling Olivia like a predator. "A child who has just undergone a kidney transnt, no less."


    Olivia''s emerald eyes shed with something dangerous-anger, perhaps, or the bitter recognition that she stood alone against us. Without Ethan''s support, she was powerless in the pack hierarchy.


    "Pathetic," I spat, enjoying how she flinched at my words.


    (Isabelle''s POV)


    I stepped forward, unable to contain my excitement. Finally, after years of watching this nobody steal my brother''s attention and my grandmother''s affection, justice would be served.


    "Kneel," Imanded, savoring the word on my tongue.


    Olivia remained standing, her stubborn defiance igniting my rage. Who did she think she was?


    "I said kneel!" I repeated, emphasizing each syble.


    When she still refused, I delivered a swift kick to the back of her knees. The satisfying sound of her body


    hitting the stone floor sent a thrill through me.


    Two servants grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to stay down. Her emerald eyes red up at me, filled with a


    hatred that matched my own.


    "Mother," I said, turning to Eleanor with barely contained glee, "shall we proceed with the family punishment?"


    Mother nodded, her cold eyes fixed on Olivia''s kneeling form. "Begin."


    One of the servants handed me the Alpha''s Discipline Rod, its polished surface gleaming in the dim light of the ancestral hall. The ancient runes carved into the wood seemed to pulse with anticipation.


    00


    0 <


    I raised it high, then brought it down across Olivia''s back with all my strength. The


    sound of wood striking


    flesh echoed through the hall


    To my disappointment, Olivia didn''t cry out. Her jaw clenched, but no sound escaped her lips.


    I struck again, and again. Each blow harder than thest, driven by years of simmering resentment.


    Still, she remained silent, her stoicism only fueling my anger. The servants held her firmly in ce as the


    punishment continued, their faces impassive


    "You think you''re strong?" I hissed, leaning close to her ear. "You''re nothing. You''ve always been nothing


    When the rod failed to break her spirit, I tossed it aside in frustration. My eyes fell on the Ancestral Pack Whip hanging on the wall-a brutal instrument reserved for the most severe transgressions against packw.


    No one had used it in decades. Its nine leather tails, each embedded with moonstone fragments, were


    designed to cause maximum pain without leaving permanent scars.


    I grabbed it, feeling its weight in my hand. The servants'' eyes widened, but they dared not question me


    "Perhaps this will loosen your tongue," I said, unfurling the whip with a dramatic flourish.