“I won’t do this again, Alpha! I swear, I just snapped!”
“You’re not allowed to snap, Manuel! You’re a fucking warrior! You’re supposed to be the one protecting our females, especially your mate!” Riley stood up from crouching on the ground and grabbed the whip that Beta Dominic handed him.
I stopped the gasp from escaping my lips as I held my breath.
“Ten lashes! Take off his shirt!” He instructed the men behind him, and they sprung into action.
“Alpha, please! I’m not mad at him. I know he won’t do it again.” A female came forward, wrapping her arms around her male, and my heart broke for her.
“Why are you saving him? He hurt you. Look at you. What will you tell your pups when they ask why you have a broken face?”
“Please Alpha, let us handle this.” She was begging. Her tear-stricken face was tilted up, looking at my mate.
“You want to save him? I can lessen the lashes he will receive.”
“Yes, Alpha. Please…”
“Manuel, look at me. I will give you five lashes, as your mate requested.”
“Thank you, Alpha.”
“But I will let her bear the rest of the lashes.”
“One lash for the female, without silver. Help her take off her shirt.”
The female’s face paled as my hands flew to my mouth to stop myself from screaming at Riley.
What does he think he was doing?If he whipped the female, then he was also guilty of manhandling her.
My eyes watered as I tilted my head to look at Jenny, but she just shook her head, reminding me not to say anything.
“No! No! No! Alpha! I’ll take the ten lashes! Don’t touch my female, Alpha!” The man begged. His eyes were trying to catch Riley’s eyes, but my mate was busy coiling the whip in his hand.
“She wanted this. After what you did to her, she still wanted to save you.” Riley was now explaining in a calm but too cold manner.
“No, Alpha, please! I beg you, make it twenty lashes! I can take it! I deserve it, not her.”
He then turned around to his female, who was now hugging her body, scared of her clothes being taken off, but none of Riley’s men were approaching her yet. The man, whom Riley called Manuel, on the other hand, was already bare-chested.
“Leave now, Ebba! I’m sorry, I will take the lashes. I deserve this. Just go!” Tears kept streaming down the face of the man as he kept pushing his female away from him.
The female began wailing as Riley’s men helped her to her feet and took her to the side, where another female, who was probably her sister, wrapped her arms around her.
My eyes shifted to my mate, watching his actions. I still didn’t know if he would give the female a whip, but I was praying he wouldn’t.
He coiled the whip in his hand one more time before his head turned in my direction.
Our eyes locked, but I couldn’t recognize the fire radiating from them. His eyes were not of Riley that I knew. I swallowed hard as I returned his stare. None of us smiled or said anything, but he was the first one to drop his gaze away from me.
Chapter 31
RILEY.
Ismelled her the momentshe entered the basement. Lately, I’ve been able to scent her even from a distance, and now, despite the smell of antiseptic all around us, her scent was the most evident one that I could identify clearly.
And I didn’t know how I should feel that she would see this part of me.
I have nothing to hide. I’m an Alpha.
