Chapter 110: Wrath of the Matriarch

Author’s pov~

Gwen’s sharp eyes snapped up, and a sudden flicker of recognition crossed her ancient, weathered features as she looked at the young woman standing right before her.

The Dowager Luna turned her body fully toward her and spoke in a tone that held genuine weight.

"Sierra?"

A collective wave of absolute shock rippled through the courtyard. Students turned their wide, stunned gazes toward Sierra, whispering frantically among themselves.

"The Dowager Luna knows Sierra?"

"She knows her by name?"

The Second Throne’s Dowager Luna actually knows Sierra by name?

Panic instantly swept through the highborn ranks as their minds raced in sheer terror.

Have I ever offended her?

Have we ever crossed her?

Have we ever gotten on Sierra’s bad side?

Did I ever say anything against her?

Because if the Dowager Luna personally recognised her, Sierra had to hold terrifying influence within the royal inner circle.

Sierra immediately dipped her head, offering a deep, respectful bow and a formal greeting.

"Greetings, Dowager Luna."

Her voice was calm despite the attention surrounding her.

The Dowager Luna took a slow step forward and offered a small, acknowledging nod.

"Rise."

Standing straight once more, Sierra met the matriarch’s gaze, her voice calm, composed, but dripping with absolute loyalty.

"Do you require anything of me, Dowager Luna? Is there a command you wish for me to carry out?" she asked.

A few feet away, Chloe clenched her fists so hard her nails tore into her palms, her face burning with a toxic mix of jealousy, humiliation, and bitter fury.

Why does the Dowager Luna know Sierra?

The question burned inside her.

She didn’t like this.

Not even a little.

Before anyone else could draw a breath, Miya lunged forward, her face twisting into a venomous, malicious sneer.

"Oh, so you finally decided to show your face here, Sierra?" Miya mocked loudly, raising her voice so the entire courtyard could hear her attempt to turn the tide. "What, are you looking for the one hiding behind your shadow?

So stupid of her.

Miya folded her arms.

"And, by the way, where is the one hiding behind you?"

Her eyes moved around Sierra deliberately.

"Are you and your pathetic pack seriously planning to protect that filthy thing from the Dowager Luna?"

Sierra’s expression changed slightly. But she didn’t answer.

The Dowager Luna maintained a completely straight, unreadable face. Seeing her absolute silence, the surrounding crowd foolishly convinced themselves that the matriarch was simply confused by the chaos.

Bunch of fools.

They misunderstood her silence.

They thought she didn’t understand what was happening.

A highborn Alpha female stepped forward, as she chimed in loudly from the back, emboldened by the lack of immediate punishment.

"You can’t shield her anymore, Sierra! Back off before you drag your whole pack down with her!"

"That whore deserves to rot!" Miya spat venomously.

Sierra’s eyes hardened.

But before she could say anything, sensing a golden opportunity to be the centre of attention, Chloe stepped forward softly, her tone shifting into a sickeningly sweet, theatrical mask of fake innocence and malice.

"The girl they’re talking about..." She looked toward Gwen.

"She’s the wolfless rogue."

Gwen’s expression didn’t change.

Chloe continued.

"That bitch seduced the princes and used her filthy, low-class tricks to trap all four thrones," Chloe whispered loudly, poisoning the air around them. "And now, even the Prince of the Second Throne is protecting her..."

Another student immediately joined in.

"Oh, she even dares to walk away from Prince Raven! She thinks she’s practically a queen..."

"She thinks she’s so mighty."

"Of course she should know her place."

"She is nothing but a rogue."

Another voice came from the crowd.

"That wolfless, scentless, defect whore deserves to burn in fucking hell."

The moment those words were spoken, Gwen’s eyes changed.

The coldness in them deepened.

Scentless.

Wolfless.

Defect.

Now she understood.

She knew exactly who they were talking about. She finally realised precisely who these arrogant, pathetic brats were spitting venom at.

Adeline.

The girl whose existence had already shaken the Four Thrones.

Gwen’s jaw tightened slightly. But she remained silent.

And that silence gave Chloe courage.

A dangerous idea suddenly entered her mind.

Everyone now knows that the Dowager Luna hates people who hide behind power.

She hates people who use royal names for protection. Adeline was a rogue playing the princes against each other, the Dowager Luna would despise her more than anyone alive.

Then she must hate Adeline.

Chloe’s eyes brightened.

Of course.

That had to be the reason Gwen had come.

She only needed to tell her the truth.

Or at least...

The version of the truth everyone believed.

Stepping up with absolute, misplaced confidence, Chloe poured every ounce of calculated malice into her next words.

"The wolfless bitch even dared to use the four thrones as her personal shield to escape her crimes, Dowager Luna," Chloe said smoothly, playing the ultimate victim for the academy. "She thinks she’s untouchable."

"She committed wrong after wrong, yet she escaped every punishment because she hides behind the princes."

Miya immediately added,

"That scentless trash even had the audacity to slap the Third Prince in front of the entire academy and walk away unpunished! She deserves public execution, such a disgusting, manipulative whore..."

Seeing still no expression of anger from the Dowager Luna, the crowd took it as absolute confirmation.

They convinced themselves that the matriarch had come here today for one single, glorious purpose.

To sentence Adeline to death.

Emboldened by their own shared delusion, the highborns pressed forward with their verbal assault.

"She deserves to die!"

"She is nothing but a manipulative whore!"

"She uses the princes whenever she wants!"

"She doesn’t deserve to be anywhere near the royal family!"

The crowd became bolder.

Every insult grew louder.

Every accusation became uglier.

Gwen’s eyes slowly moved toward Chloe.

Chloe didn’t notice the danger. Or perhaps she simply didn’t understand it.

Chloe spoke unaware of the storm that is about to hit her. "That fucking whore hides behind the four thrones after trapping them with her filth... She deserves to die—"

SLAP.

Before Chloe could even finish her sentence, a violent, deafening crack echoed across the completely silent courtyard.

Every single breath stopped.

Chloe’s head snapped viciously to the side, the sheer, unimaginable force of the impact sending shockwaves through her jaw. She didn’t even have time to cry out or register the pain before her legs buckled entirely, and she crashed hard onto the unyielding marble ground.

Absolute, suffocating silence fell over the academy.

You could hear a pin drop on the pavement.

Every single student stood frozen in absolute terror, their eyes blown wide, their hearts hammering violently against their ribs.

Slowly, as if waking from a nightmare, the entire crowd took a collective, terrified step backward, fleeing from the raw, volcanic fury radiating from the Matriarch.

Chloe sat slumped on the ground, clutching her burning, crimson cheek, staring up at the Dowager Luna in utter, paralyzed disbelief.

She couldn’t understand what had happened.

She slapped me?

The Dowager Luna had slapped her?

In front of everyone?

Gwen stood exactly where she had been.

And slowly, deliberately, the Dowager Luna lowered her hand, her ancient eyes burning with a dark, terrifying wrath that promised utter destruction.

Even the highborn Alphas who had been shouting moments ago lowered their heads.

Sierra stared at Gwen. Even she hadn’t expected the sudden slap.

Miya’s smile disappeared.

Lucas and Logan stood frozen. Their faces had gone pale.

Chloe’s eyes filled with fear. Tears of pure pain and disbelief spilled over her lashes, but she was too terrified to even scream. She touched her burning cheek.

"D-Dowager Luna..." Her voice barely came out.

The raw, suffocating pressure of the Dowager Luna’s Alpha aura pressed down on the courtyard, pinning every student, highborn, and heir in place.

"Did you honestly believe," Gwen’s voice cut through the stillness, cold, quiet, and dripping with lethal venom, "that you had the right to stand on my academy grounds and bark like rabid dogs about someone whose name is far too sacred for your filthy mouths?"

Miya trembled violently, shrinking back into the crowd until she was practically invisible, her face completely drained of color.

Gwen stepped closer, towering over the cowering Chloe. Her dark eyes swept over the paralyzed students, making sure every single one of them felt the crushing weight of her gaze.

Lucas and Logan stood frozen, their breath catching in their throats as they finally understood the terrifying reality of what was happening.

But they didn’t dare interrupt.

Even though they witnessed the slap and Chloe was still on the ground, they didn’t bother helping her up. They were too scared or maybe they simply just can’t because of the strong Royal Alpha power pressing against every wolf.

Gwen turned her cold gaze back down toward Chloe, who was shaking so hard she could barely keep her balance.

"Let this serve as your final, permanent warning," the Matriarch whispered, her words freezing the blood of everyone listening.

"If I ever hear any of you utter a single disrespectful word about her again, if I ever catch so much as a whisper of malice directed toward her name, I will personally strip your packs of every title, every asset, and every border right you hold under the High Concord. I will erase your bloodlines from history before the sun sets."