Big Bad Wolf Chapter 93: Punishment for Defiance

**WARNING: The chapter that you're about to read contains content, like punishment in a form of flogging, that you may find unpleasant or troubling. Please read with care.**

Harper and the others waited, but Alex and Lucas never arrived, and they found themselves caught between the walls of the garden and the guards. Soon, a sense of foreboding descended upon them as they heard horses and distant voices. She placed her palm over the hand of a young slave in an attempt to calm the panic that had risen within her.

"We can't remain hidden here forever. Let's move to the east wall and give it a try," Libby said ahead of them. She didn't even bother to look around at the towering shrubs around them; she just blundered on until she came into contact with one of Gillen's soldiers. She hurried forward, opening her mouth to warn the others, but it was too late. More soldiers came from the bushes, and in a matter of seconds, a sword was pushed through the center of one of the rebel fighters' chest, gushing blood.

Then, all at once, Gillen's commander and his men charged towards them, swords swishing through the air.

Francine walked up behind Libby, she quickly realized that this was where she would die. She reflected on what she and Alex had become, and she knew she would embrace death when it came, but not before she did everything she could to take these men with her to the afterlife. 

With her sharp, long, and powerful claws, she sliced through a soldier's legs, sending him to his knees, and the tip of her claws slid through his throat quickly after. She turned to face the next soldier, only to be struck in the face with the sword's hilt. The hit sent her flying to the ground, her mouth filling with blood and her claws retracting. 

A man stood between her and the rest of the slaves, who were crying and terrified.

Seeing the blood that had been spilled inside his House of Champions, Gillen was filled with shock and rage. He looked around, looking for a familiar face. Bring them all to the field, and find Harper."

His men dispersed and tracked down the rest of the slaves who were attempting to escape. They hauled everyone to the training field, shoving them around violently. No one knew what would happen to them, or whether their carcasses would wind up in the gutter or river outside Velaris.

Back in the garden, Harper stood between the wall and a giant tree, every muscle in her body tight and ready to rush forward and fight back. What she hadn't expected was the man behind her and the muscular arm that slipped around her neck. She resisted, attempted to break the grip on her and slip the sword she had stolen from one of the dead guards, but she was robbed of the weapon. The man was stronger than she was, taller and thicker than she was, and no matter how she writhed, scratched, and bit, there was no escape from him.

The larger and stronger soldier easily dragged her out of her hiding place and down to the Casa's training field, where she found Libby and Francine huddled in a corner and an unconscious and bleeding Clay chained to the walls, his toes barely touching the earth.

Two soldiers then grabbed her and jerked her arms straight out to either side. Gillen approached her as she stood there with her back straight. 

Gillen gave one of his men a nod, and Harper held her breath as the soldier leveled a spear at her back.

Were they all going to be slaughtered right here?

The guard, however, did not thrust the spear tip into her back. Instead, she heard the sound of ripping fabric, and she jerked uncontrollably as her dress was ripped open from her back.

A guard appeared from behind Gillen, this one wielding a whip that was coiled loosely in his hand.

"100 lashes," Gillen growled, turning to face the guard. He returned his attention to Harper. Their eyes locked. "100 lashes for all of them every fucking day, until their skin falls off their flesh." 

Harper filtered any fear from her face, not wanting to give Gillen any kind of satisfaction. After all, she had no regrets about what she had done.

She held Gillen's gaze as the first lash struck her. The pain was immediate, intense, and blistering, and she had to fight hard against the temptation to fight it off. The next one was even worse, falling directly on top of the first, the pain shooting across her back.

She narrowed her eyes, turning her pain into a rage, staring defiantly at the man in front of her.

"Let's see how tough you are," Gillen muttered through gritted teeth before turning and walking away.

Less than ten feet away, Francine and Libby were near halfway through their 100 lashes. Libby sucked in a breath for the next crack of the whip. Then, another furious red line formed between her shoulder blades. She moved a little, and as the whip snapped back again, it had noticeably drawn blood. 

Francine snarled and pulled herself onto her hands and knees, ignoring the throbbing agony in her wrist, ignoring the stinging pain in the core of her knee, and ignoring the numbness that was fast spreading down her leg. Though, it wasn't really the whip that she was terrified of; rather, it was the sun that was going to rise over the horizon. Without Gillen's bloodstone, she knew she'd perish if she didn't seek shelter.

While everyone could move, Harper remained standing, arms outstretched and looking straight ahead. She hadn't made a sound.

Not so for Clay. The young slave screamed every time the whip hit his flesh. 

Francine, on the other hand, pushed herself upright, standing for half a second before her damaged leg gave way beneath her, and she fell back. Her body slammed to the ground as the subsequent lash struck, the piercing crack of the whip intertwined with the excruciating pain in her leg that was soon becoming incapacitating. Libby, who was standing next to her, jolted a little, and fresh blood began to trickle down her back and spatter on the ground below her.

Francine hissed in frustration, striking her uninjured hand into the ground. She struggled to pull herself up one more time, but a soldier drove the butt of a sword into her damaged leg, sending her into a whirlwind of pain.

"Look what we have here." They soon heard Mikael say, mockingly, over the sound of whips striking flesh. "The traitors to the House of Champions."

"They fucking killed my sitter," Rocco growled, standing next to Gillen's most ruthless and problematic champion.

When Francine's vision cleared, she found herself kneeling in what was soon becoming a pool of blood.

While taking in the cries of the rest of the slaves being whipped mercilessly, Harper clung to the desperate hope that she'd blacked out for a brief period. She was bleeding profusely now, but she knew that this wouldn't stop the guard from serving the remaining lashes, and she was certain that the worst was yet to come.

"Rea was a piece of shit," Libby spat, blood trickling from her mouth. Rocco groaned, then kicked her in the gut, knocking the air out of her.

While the two champions were busy screaming at Libby, Francine noticed Harper becoming weaker as her punishment continued. 

Harper had been tough and defiant at first, taking each lash with barely a flinch. But now, her eyes were half-closed now, and she was slumping forward, letting her shoulders bear the brunt of her weight. She resisted the need to cry out, and the rest of the group witnessed her incredible fortitude.

But Francine could see her stiffen every time the whip fell, and the tremors going up her arms were unmistakable. She was in tremendous pain.

The vampiress felt sick. She was so certain that they would be able to get out of Gillen's Casa. She was convinced she could take on anyone who stood in their way, and then they'd all go home. The slaves trusted that they could get them out, but they let them down; she let them down. Now they were being punished, and there was nothing she could do.

When the soldiers noticed that Harper's trembling legs could no longer support her and the tremors in her arms had become more apparent, they put a rope around her wrists and chained her to the wall, midway through the 100 lashes that Gillen had sentenced her to receive. She closed her eyes and tried to embrace the pain and become numb in the process, but the pain was unrelenting and couldn't be embraced. 

She opened her mouth and screamed. And then the tears began to flow uncontrollably down her filthy cheeks. If Gillen had sentenced her to die, she knew it would not be a fast death. She could last for hours, if not days, before death would arrive for her.

Then she heard the soldiers acknowledge Gillen's presence again.

"There were two things that happened tonight that I'm finding really difficult to forgive, my beloved Harper," Gillen began, but Harper merely looked at him, hissing between clenched teeth. "One, Lucas and Alex disobeyed me and refused to shift, and two, my slaves, sitters, and some of my promising fighters had turned against me. An act of betrayal is one that I deem inexcusable in any circumstance. Libby and Clay will tell me why they decided to betray me after you tell me why Lucas and Alex defied me. What I'd like to know from you now is what you did. "

"Why…are…you asking me?" If her mouth hadn't been so dry, Harper would have spit on Gillen's face.

"Because you are Lucas' mate and Alex's fucking whore!" Gillen yelled violently at the top of his lungs. "You knew I had a soft spot in my heart for humans. You took advantage of my kindness! Now, don't take me for a fool! I know you did something. Tell me what you have done, you little witch?! "

The question rang in Harper's ears. It was asked after every strike of the whip, and each time it went unanswered, the question was repeated. The only sounds that came out of her mouth were those of pain being wrenched from her throat. She screamed, though, when she felt a knife glide into one of her wounds.

"What did you do?! Answer me!"

"I didn't do anything!" 

"Don't lie to me! Lucas *killed* Alex. You fucking did something!"

Suddenly, Harper found herself breathing too quickly and too hard, and all she could feel was the warm blood rushing out of her body and over her skin.

"No! He can't possibly be..."

"Yes, he is *dead*! He is so dead. In fact, my men are currently taking his dead body in a carriage to the river, where the fish will consume his flesh. We're big on recycling around here."

"No! This isn't happening. Alex can't be dead…" she muttered the last bit softly.

"He is dead, and it is entirely your fault. You did this－" Gillen paused, his voice drowned out by Francine's cry of grief. He carefully studied the vampiress before returning his attention to Harper. "That's also your fault," he said, pointing to Francine.

Francine's cries were too much for Harper to bear, and she tried everything she could to not listen to them while also repressing her own agony. But the pain was just too great to endure, no matter how hard she tried to escape into her mind.

"I'm… I'm sorry..." she said, her words muffled by her cries.