chapter 212: A Wolf’s Humiliation
chapter 212: A Wolf’s Humiliation
(Celeste’s POV)
I sat there, weak and dizzy from days without food or water. Lucas stood towering over me, his
golden eyes flashing with cruel triumph as he set the bucket of rancid scraps at my feet.
“Eat up, sister,” he sneered, the familial term twisted into a mockery.
I stared at the bucket, memories of Moon Shadow Prison flashing through my mind. The
guards there had sometimes forced us to eat from similar buckets. I had endured that
humiliation then. I could endure it now.
“Well?” he prompted, his voice taking on an edge of desperation. “If you eat these scraps
meant for omega wolves, I promise the Winter Pack will never trouble the Sterling family
again!”
A promise. I lifted my gaze to his face, searching for sincerity.
Luna Victoria stepped forward, her eyes wide with horror. “Lucas, how can you be so cruel to
Celeste!” she cried. “She hasn’t eaten in days! How can you force her to eat food meant for the
lowest–ranked wolves?!”
Lucas turned to his mother, frustration evident. “Mother! It’s not that I’m heartless, but she’s
too cunning!” he protested. “She drove Scarlett to starve herself, who knows what she’ll do
next? You really can’t trust her!”
(Lucas’s POV)
I expected support, but instead, gasps filled the room. Mother’s face paled, and Father turned away, his expression troubled.
Even Scarlett had stopped eating. She stared past me, her emerald eyes wide with horror.
A chill ran down my spine as I slowly turned around.
Celeste was crouched beside the bucket of scraps, both hands plunged inside. She scooped
handfuls of the putrid mess into her mouth, chewing methodically. Her movements were precise, almost mechanical, as if this were something she had done countless times before.
My stomach lurched. The contents were barely fit for omega wolves–bones with scraps of
rancid meat, spoiled vegetables, food that had fallen on the floor. The stench alone was
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chapter 212: A Wolf’s Humiliation
making my eyes water.
Yet Celeste ate with a disturbing calmness, as if she were sitting at a formal dinner rather
than consuming garbage.
Scarlett trembled on the bed. Her face, already pale from starvation, had turned ashen. I saw her swallow hard, a flicker of realization crossing her features.
For perhaps the first time, she seemed to truly understand what her actions had done to Celeste. The false accusation that sent Celeste to Moon Shadow Prison. Four years of silver
torture and humiliation.
My parents looked shaken to their core. Mother’s eyes brimmed with tears, hands clasped over her mouth. Father’s proud stance faltered, his shoulders slumping as he watched the
scene unfold.
A sharp, stabbing pain pierced my heart as a horrifying image flashed in my mind–Celeste being forced to eat from similar buckets in Moon Shadow Prison, guards laughing as prisoners fought for scraps. How many times had she endured this? How many times had she
been forced to surrender her dignity just to survive?
“Stop eating,” I choked out, my voice barely audible.
Celeste showed no sign of hearing me, continuing with the same methodical precision.
Another handful went into her mouth. Chew. Swallow. Reach for more.
“Celeste, stop eating!” I pleaded, louder this time.
She glanced at me briefly, then returned to her task. There was no shame in her eyes, no humiliation–only a terrible, hollow acceptance. This was normal for her now. I had made this
normal for her.
I couldn’t bear it another moment. With a cry that was half–rage, half–anguish, I kicked the
bucket over, grabbed Celeste’s wrists, and hauled her to her feet.
“I told you to stop eating!” I roared, my wolf surging beneath my skin.
Our eyes met. In her dull violet gaze, I saw my own distorted reflection–a wolf I hardly
recognized. A monster who had forced his sister to eat garbage.
Celeste stared back, unblinking. She chewed calmly, deliberately, then swallowed the
remaining scraps still clutched in her hand.
“I expect Future Alpha to keep his word,” she said, her voice raspy from dehydration. Each
word scraped against her throat, but her gaze never wavered.
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chapter 212: A Wolf’s Humiliation
The implications hit me like a physical blow. She had endured this humiliation not out of hunger, but for Matthew Sterling. For his family. She would do anything to protect them, even eat scraps from the floor like an animal.
I stood frozen. How had it come to this? This hollow–eyed, silver–scarred wolf had once been my vibrant sister. We had raced through moonlit forests together, hunting as a team, laughing as we chased moonbeams during full moons.
She had taught me to track deer. I had shown her how to swim in the icy winter lakes. We had been inseparable once.
Yet here she was, reduced to eating scraps at my feet. And I had put her there.
Luna Victoria rushed forward, her face streaked with tears. She grabbed a silk handkerchief and began frantically wiping Celeste’s hands.
“Alright, no more!” Mother sobbed. “Celeste, be good, no more eating! No more, no more…”
Her hands trembled as they cleaned the filth from Celeste’s fingers. Too little, too late. Where was this care during four years of silver torture?
Father seemed to snap out of his shock. His face contorted with a mixture of rage and shame.
“Are
you
broth!”
all fools?” he bellowed at the beta wolves. “Go fetch Dr. Pierce! Bring moon–blessed
Then he turned away, unable to face what had happened. Unable to face what he had allowed
to happen to the daughter he had raised for fourteen years.
Nina pushed past me, her face wet with tears. “Miss… let me help you back to your quarters…” she urged gently.
But Celeste kept her gaze fixed on me, those violet eyes that had once sparkled with life now dull with suffering.
“I trust Future Alpha will keep his word,” she repeated, more firmly.
(Celeste’s POV)
I let Nina guide me toward my quarters, my legs weak beneath me. The taste of those scraps lingered in my mouth, but it was a small price to pay. The Sterling family would be safe now.
Nina supported my weight, her wolf whining with distress as she helped me walk. Behind us, I could hear Victoria’s sobs and Alpha James’s angry orders for clean sheets, healing herbs, moon–blessed broth.
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chapter 212: A Wolf’s Humiliation
Their concern came too late. Four years too late.
Did I love Matthew that much? I wasn’t sure. I only knew that the Winter Pack was a tempestuous territory where I was drowning, and Matthew had been the lifeboat that pulled me aboard, offering warmth and safety when everyone else watched me struggle.
Everyone warned me Matthew was too weak, his position as merely Alexander’s
second–in–command making him vulnerable. They said he would sink with me in these
dangerous pack politics.
But they didn’t understand. He had saved my life at the Moon Silver Restaurant. He had fought
for my honor when I had none left. He had visited me even when it meant trouble for himself.
As long as he didn’t abandon me, I would never abandon him.
Inside my quarters, I turned to Nina. “Close the door,” I whispered.
The click of the latch echoed with stark finality. That thin wooden door now separated me not
only from the Winter Pack’s inhabitants but from their belated concern and affection–the very
things I’d yearned for during imprisonment but never received.
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