Chapter6

Layla's POV

When the ceremonial horns sounded, I felt like an empty shell.

I cradled the heavy "Heart of Black Rock," the cold ore digging into my palms and into the last remnants of my consciousness.

With each step forward, the eyes of my tribespeople stabbed into my back like needles.

Keller and Selina stood side by side at the highest point of the viewing platform, waiting for my "tribute."

I tried to maintain some semblance of composure, if only to keep myself from breaking down on the spot.

But I couldn't.

Humiliation and heartbreak had completely frozen my blood. Even the faint trace of calming pheromones I usually emitted unconsciously—so weak that almost no one noticed—had dried up entirely.

I reached the base of the steps, knelt down, and raised the tray bearing the ore above my head.

My throat felt blocked. I opened my mouth but couldn't utter the required words of "loyalty and blessing."

Just then, an inhuman roar erupted from the edge of the crowd.

Then a second. A third.

Five warriors standing at the periphery of the observers—their eyes were instantly shrouded in murky darkness, their muscles swelled grotesquely, and guttural sounds tore from their throats as they lunged indiscriminately at nearby tribespeople!

"They've gone feral! Restrain them!" someone screamed.

Chaos erupted. These warriors... I remembered them. They had all suffered varying degrees of dark corruption at the borders, barely kept in check by the weak pheromones I emitted daily—pheromones I myself barely noticed.

Today, that final barrier had vanished.

Panic spread like plague.

One completely frenzied warrior grabbed a decorative boulder infused with residual dark energy from the ground and, howling, hurled it toward the viewing platform!

The boulder, wrapped in ominous black mist, flew straight toward our elevated stage.

"Selina!" Keller's roar exploded in my ears.

Time seemed to slow.

I watched him whirl around, shielding Selina completely with his back and shoulders, cradling her tightly in his embrace.

At the same time, his left hand shot out—not to pull me to safety, but to shove hard against my shoulder!

A tremendous force hit me.

Caught off guard, I stumbled and flew sideways, my back slamming into the hard tribal totem pole.

My bones made a sickening thud. The pain blackened my vision. The tray and the Heart of Black Rock flew from my hands and crashed to the ground.

I slid down, coughing up bloody foam, struggling to lift my head.

Keller had already leaped down the other side of the platform with the unharmed Selina in his arms, quickly disappearing into the protective circle of guards.

He didn't even look back to see if I'd avoided the boulder.

The massive stone crashed where we'd been standing moments before, its dark energy corroding the wooden planks with a hissing sound.

The riot was eventually suppressed. The frenzied warriors were subdued and bound, but everyone bore injuries, and the atmosphere was bleak.

I leaned against the totem pole, clutching my agonizing ribs, trying to stand.

The Iron Claw tribe's emissary, a sharp-eyed gray-haired elder, walked up to the shaken Keller and Selina.

His voice was low, but it carried clearly across the silent plaza.

"Alpha Keller, forgive my bluntness. This Omega," his cold finger pointed at me, "the moment she approaches, the dark corruption spirals out of control. This is no coincidence. Either she attracts misfortune itself, or... her heart harbors such deep resentment toward the new alliance that she's drawn the power of darkness. For the stability of the Black Rock and Iron Claw alliance, I suggest the unstable source must be completely removed."

He paused, then delivered his cold verdict:

"According to ancient law, exile to the Eternal Frost Plain. That desolate land is the end of life itself, sufficient to isolate all calamities."

All eyes focused on Keller.

Selina clung to him, her face pale, sobbing quietly.

Keller looked at me—at the blood at the corner of my mouth, at my disheveled state—then looked down at the trembling Selina in his arms.

His eyes showed brief struggle, but quickly that struggle was replaced by irritation and a cold determination to settle the matter.

"...Do as the emissary says." Keller's voice was hoarse but unmistakably clear. "Draw up the exile decree. Effective immediately."

He looked away, no longer meeting my gaze.

The Eternal Frost Plain. A wasteland where even the strongest lone wolf couldn't survive.

My exile decree was decided just like that, in the moment he nodded.