The drummers began a slow beat that reverberated throughout the arena, announcing that the real ritual was about to begin.
Alpha Igla stepped to the center of the Hollowing Ground, his large frame towering over Lyra's trembling form. He motioned for two other Alphas, Alphas Viktor and Mikhail, to join him. Their faces lit up with cruel anticipation as they had been waiting for the moment. Lyra's body was very weak from days in Purgatory. She had not eaten and doubted she would survive this ordeal.
"Dance, traitor's blood," Alpha Igla commanded. "Strip off your clothes to the beat. Show everyone what the goddess thought worthy of three Alpha mates."
Lyra could not move. Her legs felt heavy, and her mind was frozen with terror. If only she knew what that would do to her. A gamma quickly stepped forward with a whip and lashed it against her back without warning. She cried out, stumbling forward.
"I said dance!" Alpha Igla roared.
She began to sway her hips, tears streaming down her cheeks. The other Alphas jeered and cooed as she swayed stiffly. Her body refused to cooperate, because dancing was an effort against the weakness that plagued her limbs. Lyra had never been to any Hollowing before, so she did not know what was done here.
The whip landed again, catching her shoulder this time. A thin red line appeared with blood beading along its length.
"The clothes," Viktor prompted. "Take them off."
Lyra's hands moved to the edge of her flimsy top. She hesitated.
The whip lashed across her arm.
"Please!" Lyra cried out and dropped to her knees, but the gamma yanked her to her wobbling legs.
"Do not make us wait," Alpha Mikhail growled. "The more you waste our time, the more you will be whipped."
She pulled the top over her head, her movements jerky with fear. The crowd watched with hungry eyes as she stood exposed from the waist up. She tried to cover her breasts with her arms.
Crack. The whip bit into her side.
"Arms at your sides," Igla ordered. "You have no right to modesty."
"Please," she whimpered, letting her arms fall to her sides, exposing herself fully as commanded.
The crowd's jeers intensified, their bloodlust palpable in the charged air. Around the arena, Alphas and nobles watched with gleaming eyes, some already touching themselves or their companions.
"Continue," Viktor urged. "All of it."
Her fingers fumbled with the tie of her skirt. It fell to her feet, leaving her in only thin undergarments. The drumbeat intensified, faster now, demanding more. The gamma with the whip circled her like a predator.
"Everything," Igla said, his eyes traveling over her body with unadulterated lust.
'Stop this. It is enough,' Alpha Kalem's voice snapped to his brothers through their mind-link, with barely controlled anger.
Alpha Kade's jaw tightened outwardly as he watched the scene. 'We cannot show weakness before the other packs. This is expected.'
'She deserves everything she gets,' Knox growled in the mind-link, but his voice sounded as if he was trying to convince himself more than he was speaking to his brothers. 'The little bitch begged to be our whore, remember? Our only mistake was not rejecting her immediately. If not, Kalem would not sit here soliciting for mercy.'
'I am not soliciting for mercy,' Kalem bit out. 'It has been a long time since any of us witnessed this thing. I could not care less. You should be talking to Kade who refused her rejection in the first place.'
Knox grunted. 'Why did you not let us reject her, brother? We agreed to reject her before the Hollowing.'
'I never stopped anyone from rejecting her,' Kade spat defensively. 'Besides, the other Alphas were waiting. The ceremony needed to continue.'
Lyra stood frozen, unable to make her hands obey. The whip lashed out again, wrapping around her thigh. She sobbed as she pushed down her undergarments, now completely naked before the entire assembly.
"Such a beauty," someone said from the gathered crowd, and a hum of agreement followed.
"Turn," Mikhail commanded, spotting an erection already. "Show everyone what you offer."
Lyra turned slowly, her hands instinctively moving to cover herself.
The whip cut across her back again.
"I said no covering," Igla snapped.
Kalem's eyes darkened as he watched Lyra remove the last of her clothing, standing completely naked and trembling before the crowd. Something primal stirred within him; a rage he had not expected to feel. The bond between them pulsed with her terror and shame, sending pangs of discomfort through his chest.
'Are we really going to let other men touch her?' he asked through their mind-link again.
Kade's face remained impassive, but his knuckles whitened as he gripped the armrests of his ceremonial chair. Around them, the crowd's excitement grew as Lyra stood completely naked now, trying desperately to cover herself with her hands. The scent of arousal from the watching wolves thickened the air.
'It is customary,' Kade replied coolly, though something dark flickered in his eyes as Alpha Igla touched Lyra's left breast, looking at her with undisguised lust. 'We have no use for her ourselves.'
'No use?' Kalem's fingers tightened on the armrest of his chair. 'She is our mate.'
'By some divine mistake,' Knox snarled, his eyes never leaving Lyra's naked body. Despite his harsh words, a muscle in his jaw twitched violently.
'After the Hollowing, we will allow her to heal, and then we will reject her formally,' Kade said with finality.
Around the arena, the crowd's excitement grew palpable. Some wolves had already begun disrobing, aroused by the display. Alphas pulled slaves and mistresses onto their laps. Clothing was pushed aside or removed entirely. Bodies began to writhe and move together in obscene displays of dominance and lust.
The scent of arousal filled the air, thick and cloying. Moans and grunts filled the air, mixing with the wet slapping of flesh against flesh and the fast drumbeats. Lyra tried to avert her eyes, but everywhere she looked, she saw naked bodies entwined in various acts of pleasure. The ritual had become an orgy, with her humiliation as its centerpiece.
On their elevated thrones, the Alpha triplets sat unmoving. Alpha Kade's jaw was clenched so tight a muscle jumped visibly beneath his skin. His knuckles were white as he gripped the armrests of his throne, as if he might tear them off at any moment.
Alpha Knox's eyes flickered between their natural green and a dangerous crimson red. His wolf was close to the surface, fighting for control. His breathing came in short, harsh bursts, his chest rising and falling rapidly.
Alpha Kalem watched with his usual detachment, though a muscle in his cheek twitched. His gaze never left her.
"Now," Igla announced to the crowd, his voice rising above the sounds of pleasure and pain, "the traitor's sister will pay for her brother's sins."
He gestured to a wooden table that had been placed in the center of the arena. It was draped with pristine white sheets that gleamed in the sunlight.
"Your blood will stain these sheets," Igla declared. "Climb onto the table."
Lyra's legs nearly gave out as she moved toward the table. Her body trembled violently as she climbed onto it. The crowd's moans grew louder and more excited.
Alphas Viktor and Mikhail approached the table, slowly stripping off their clothing. They could not be happier to be the first ones to rut the Cerberus Alphas' female. Their muscular bodies were marked with battle scars that showed their power and dominance. Viktor's eyes gleamed with hunger as he ran his hands over Lyra's naked form, roughly pinching her breast.
She shut her eyes tightly, trying to detach her mind from her body. Silently, she prayed to the goddess for salvation, though she knew none would come. The goddess had abandoned her in that mating ceremony and had left her to this fate. She was the one that punished her with the triple bond.
"Open your eyes," Viktor ordered. "I want you to see everything we do to you."
Lyra forced her eyes open, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks, but she was never going to beg them anymore.
"Now, go on all fours and spread your legs," Alpha Igla commanded.
Lyra obeyed immediately, scrambling on all fours and waiting.
Alpha Igla positioned himself behind her, his hand slapping against her exposed backside. Lyra yelped, but bit down hard on her lower lip.
"I will take my turn from behind," Igla said with a cold smile, caressing Lyra's backside with gentleness.
Viktor grabbed her hair, yanking her head back painfully. "Now, pleasure me with your mouth, traitor's blood."
Mikhail laughed, a harsh sound devoid of humor. "Save some for me, Viktor. I want to feel those traitor lips too."
Lyra's body moved as if it belonged to someone else. Her tears fell onto the white sheets and dark spots spread where they landed, as Alpha Igla pushed her legs apart and ran a finger between her folds.
"You are not wet," he noted.
Viktor stepped closer, his erection level with her face. He gripped her hair tighter, forcing her head toward him.
"Open your mouth," he growled.
Just as her lips were about to touch him, a deafening roar erupted through the arena. The sound was primal, rage and possession given voice. Everyone froze, and heads turned toward the source.
Alpha Knox stood half-transformed. He was half wolf, half man, his eyes burning crimson red. His claws had extended, and fur had sprouted out of his skin. His teeth were elongated, sharp, and deadly.
"Do not touch what is mine!" he snarled, the words barely recognizable through his partial transformation. "She is mine!"