Bound to the Bar. Crowned as the Moon Dance Queen Chapter 02

Bound to the Bar. Crowned as the Moon Dance Queen Chapter 02

I didn’t know how much time passed—maybe a half hour, maybe a full hour.

My wrists were completely numb, and my shoulders ached like they were splitting open.

Sweat dripped down my cheeks, soaking through my leotard, which clung to my body and made everything even more humiliating.

“So, Maren, how’s the view from up there? Pretty nice, huh?”

Rhys was still cracking jokes.

It was like the thing hanging up there wasn’t a fellow wolf—just a prop.

“Alright, that’s enough. Cut her down,”

He said it so casually, like he was telling them to take down the Christmas decorations after the holidays.

A few guys fumbled with the knots and untied me.

Not a single one cared if I’d get hurt when I fell.

I hit the ground hard.

All the air got knocked out of my lungs—it felt like every organ in my body shifted out of place, like every bone in my body was about to snap.

The pain made me curl up on the mat like a wounded animal.

Rhys walked over then and reached out to help me up. “C’mon, game over. I’ll walk you back to the dorms.”

I shoved his hand away and pulled myself to my feet with every last bit of strength I had.

“No, thanks.”

Rhys blinked in surprise. “Maren, you are mad? Why? It was just a joke!

“I told Delia to stop when she went too far, she only tied you up for a little while.”

A little while?

It was just a little while to him, but to me it was a stain of shame that would never fade.

I stared at his handsome face, and for the first time, he became a completely stranger to me.

Those wolf eyes I’d once thought would always protect me? Now all I saw in them was amusement.

“Rhys, how long have we known each other?”

“Twelve years, what’s wrong?” he said like it was no big deal.

“Twelve years, and this is how you see me? A toy you can humiliate for fun whenever you want?”

Rhys frowned. “You’re overthinking this. We’re all teammates, it was just messing around.”

Messing around.

Just messing around again.

I laughed until tears pricked the corners of my eyes.

When he pushed me into a snowbank during the winter hunt that year, he said it was just messing around.

Last year, before the pack gymnastics competition, he told everyone my weak spot on bars, and he said it was just messing around.

He never actually cared how I felt. All it took was “just messing around” to sweep everything under the rug.

I pulled myself up slowly.

Blood had crusted around my wrists and ankles, every inch of my body screamed in pain.

But I didn’t make a sound. I just looked at Rhys one last time.

That one look held all the years we’d spent under the same moon.

All the countless runs we’d taken through the woods together.

All the good memories.

And it also held my heart, completely shattered in that moment.

Then I turned and walked away.

His voice called after me.

“Hey! Where are you going?

“C’mon, calm down! I’ll go grab you a steak from the pack dining hall, that’s my apology, okay?

“Maren! Hello?? I’m talking to you!”

I didn’t look back.

Back at the dorms, I stood in front of the mirror staring at the deep rope burns on my wrists.

The skin was broken, blood oozing and sticking to the fibers of the athletic tape.

Everything that had just happened replayed in my head like a movie.

The jeers, the flashes, Rhys’ cold indifference.

I opened my phone and saw that Wolfnet was blowing up.

Dozens of photos of me tied to the horizontal bar were being shared like crazy.

Front shots, side shots, even close-ups deliberately taken of my hips.

The comments were downright disgusting.

[Oh my god, Maren finally got what she deserved.]

[Maren’s real body reveal. Damn, she’s actually got curves.]

[Maren always acts so high and mighty, she must be so embarrassed right now.]

[How can Rhys let his mate get humiliated like this?]

[He’s doing it for his goddess Delia, that’s real Alpha behavior.]

[Rhys and Delia are perfect for each other. Maren? Who even is she?]

My hands shook as I screenshotted every single one.

Rhys texted me. [Stop reading the comments online, I’ll make them take it down.]

[Calm down first, we’ll talk this out properly tomorrow.]

[Oh, and don’t forget normal practice tomorrow, the pack competition is coming up fast.]

I stared at his profile picture for a long time.

It was a photo of us after we won the North American Wolf Pack Junior Gymnastics Championship together, both of us grinning so bright.

Back then, Rhys would fight the coach for extra training time just for me.

He’d be the first one to comfort me when I messed up a routine.

But now, everything was different.

The wolf I thought would always protect me—had become the one to destroy me.