Page 99 of King of the Cage

“Christ, Aldo, you’re proving yourself to be as fucking annoying as your brother, and you know what happened to him,” Bran growled.

Aldo narrowed his eyes at Bran. “Is that a confession?”

“Confession to what? That I find your younger brother an annoying little fuck? Guilty. Now, let’s get on with this show. You don’t want this B-movie setup to go to waste, do you? I’m sure it’s exciting for you all to use it.”

Aldo blew out an irritated breath and shrugged off Bran’s hand. “Fine. Let’s get started. Archibald asked for someone with a strong arm, and I volunteered.” He smiled at Bran. “Let’s see how deep that tough guy goes.”

He turned and stormed away. I tugged at Bran’s arm.

“He said something about flogging,” I worried.

“Yeah, he did, so good thing it’s happening to me and not you,” Bran muttered and squeezed my hand.

Two security guards appeared at his side and motioned him forward. He went with them, twisting back to say to me:

“You don’t have to watch, selkie.You wait for me outside.”

I shook my head mulishly. “I’m not leaving you alone with these people. Someone should bear witness.”

Archibald swept into the room, seeming irritated by the interruption to his evening.

“Let’s get started,” he called out.

People went to their seats.

Regina hovered at my side. “Are you okay?”

I shook my head. “This is barbaric and has no place in modern society.”

Regina nodded. “You’re right, but The Enclave isn’t modern society. Believe me, no one is immune from this treatment, not Archibald, or me neither.”

There was something about the way she said it that caught my attention.

I glanced at her. “Did they do this to you?”

Regina’s cheeks colored. “It was a long time ago.”

“So, yes, then. They’re no better than animals, every single one.” I turned back and watched my husband take his shirt off at the bottom of the dais.

“What did you see downstairs?” Regina asked, sounding curious and scared at the same time.

I ignored her and focused on Bran. I didn’t have to explain. Bran was being punished for my crime regardless.

Bran threw his shirt aside and climbed up on the dais. Regina pulled me down into a seat. I sank down, my eyes never leaving Bran’s.

A low flurry of feminine murmurs floated around the room. These sadistic, uptight bitches were lusting after my husband.

Your husband?I pushed the unexpected jealousy from my head. Bran’s eyes caught mine. His green gaze was steady, grounding me.

“Brandon O’Connor, your wife has broken the rules of this society. You have offered to take her punishment for her. How do you plead?” Archibald asked from the sidelines.

“Guilty. I’m guilty as sin,” he murmured, still holding my gaze.

“Very well, the committee has decided that you will be punished, as is our tradition, by flogging. Twenty lashes.”

I tightened my hands into fists, barely managing to keep my seat. Twenty lashes? Calling these people animals was too generous. Animals would never do this for fun. I considered at that moment standing and announcing that we didn’t care about getting further into this shit show. We could just leave. Sure, we didn’t know enough yet to take down Z Juice or find out what was happening with those branded girls, but we’d survive, intact.

Bran seemed to sense my thoughts. Gently, he shook his head at me.

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