Chapter 199 199|The visit

Chapter 199 199|The visit

Third pov

"I cannot believe we're impotent!"

A very dramatic voice rang through the car as a very dramatic man slumped against the seat, his long blond hair falling across his face and making him look unreal, as beautiful as an angel—if angels were real. Claude cried out for the fifth time that day, running a hand through his hair as a nonexistent tear rolled down his cheek.

His brothers ignored him.

Naturally.

Yet Claude continued anyway.

"A whole year!" he cried, clutching his chest in agony. "A year since we've been with a woman. We can't even get hard around women anymore. Ah, my manhood! My beautiful, magnificent manhood!"

He looked genuinely heartbroken.

No one answered him.

Not Silas, who sat quietly with one leg crossed over the other, glasses resting on the bridge of his nose as he flipped through a document, nor Lucien, who sat between them dressed entirely in black. One arm rested against the window while the other held a cigar between his fingers, his face cold and unreadable as he brought it to his lips and took a slow drag. Smoke drifted through the air.

Only then did he speak.

"What happened this time?"

His voice was deep, cold, almost empty and Claude gasped dramatically.

"Look at him!" he cried. "No sympathy whatsoever!"

Silas turned another page without looking up.

"After failing to have sex with a woman for the past year," he said dryly, "Claude thought it would be a brilliant idea to host an orgy."

Claude immediately pointed at him.

"It was a gathering.”

Claude shot back but Silas corrected him.

"It was an orgy."

"It was elegant."

"It was an orgy."

Silas continued reading.

"He invited the most beautiful women from several packs and announced that whoever managed to get him excited would receive a generous reward."

Claude puffed out his chest proudly.

"Exactly."

"Unfortunately," Silas continued, "before any of them got close to him, he turned pale, nearly threw up, panicked, and ran through the packhouse half naked while trying not to vomit repulsed by their touch."

Claude slowly lowered his finger.

"...In my defense, it was traumatic."

"And now," Silas added calmly, "our newest nicknames are either the Impotent Alphas or the Alphas Most Likely to Be Gay."

Silence.

Lucien didn't react.

He simply nodded once and brought the cigar back to his lips, taking another slow drag before staring straight ahead without saying another word.

Like a shell. A hollow version of the man he used to be. Lucien had become much worse than the Lucien everyone remembered.

Yes, the old Lucien rarely smiled.

He rarely spoke.

Rarely reacted.

But this Lucien...this Lucien was different.

During the past year, he had stopped killing without hesitation. He wasn't the ruthless monster people remembered. None of them were yet the difference between the old Lucien and the man sitting here now was simple.

The old Lucien had been cold.

This one was empty.

There was no life in his eyes.

No anger.

No amusement.

No irritation.

Nothing.

Just an endless void that stared back at the world as though he were merely existing instead of living. Claude looked horrified.

"Doesn't this bother either of you?"

No answer.

Claude stared at them in disbelief.

"For as long as I can remember, we were manwhores. All three of us." Silas turned another page. Lucien continued staring out the window.

"We shared women, we killed without hesitation. The Goddess cursed us for it and then suddenly the curse disappeared and now we are marked."

Claude pointed dramatically at the mark on his neck. His brothers didn't even glance at him.

"Haven't either of you wondered who marked us? Or why the curse never activated?"

Nothing.

Claude looked increasingly bewildered.

"Haven't you wondered why we can't react anymore? Why every woman suddenly feels..." He shuddered. "...wrong?"

Then his expression slowly changed. The dramatic act faded and a frown appeared as confusion settled in his eyes. His hand lifted to his chest and tapped once.

Slowly.

"Haven't you ever wondered why parts of our memories feel missing? Why our chests feel empty? Why our hearts hurt for no reason?"

The joking tone was gone completely now

"Why do we wake up every night drenched in sweat after dreaming about a woman we can't see?"

Claude swallowed, his voice lowering.

"Why her face is always blurry?"

No one spoke. The car grew quiet as Claude looked down at his hands, a look of helplessness crossing his face.

"Why does it feel like something important is gone?"

Silence settled heavily inside the vehicle. No one answered him, no one could, not even Silas, who usually had an answer for every question. This time, Silas simply kept his eyes on the book in his hand, completely detached and emotionless as though he couldn't hear whatever his brother was saying yet the way his hands clenched around the book made it clear enough that he had heard every word Claude said.

It wasn't only Claude who carried the same questions, the same dreams, the same ache in his chest. Silas did too. He had always felt empty. He had always been smarter and more clear-headed than all of his brothers, a man who followed logic above everything else.

Yet for some reason, during the past year, he would wake up crying, tears running down his cheeks for no reason at all. He would wake up and stare into nothingness, thinking, wondering, asking his wolf what was wrong and what was missing. He had asked countless times, but even his wolf never had an answer.

Even he was just as confused, just as miserable and he knew Lucien felt the same way he and Claude did, even if none of them were willing to say it aloud. None of them answered Claude.

Claude continued staring at his hands, his eyes trembling and stinging before he finally closed them and took a deep breath. Lucien puffed smoke from his cigar, his face remaining cold and unreadable, but his chest tightened with every breath he took. Meanwhile, Silas continued reading his book in silence.

"Alphas, we have arrived."

Abraham's deep, controlled voice cut through the silence as the car came to a halt. He had heard everything the Alphas had said, and for some reason, he couldn't help but feel sad for them. The strong and terrifying Alphas he knew seemed completely different from the men sitting before him now. Yet somehow, he understood their pain, even if he didn't know what that pain was.

He understood the Alphas had lost something very important to them.

Nevertheless, he took a deep breath before taking the lilies Lucien had instructed him to get and stepping out of the vehicle. He opened the left door first, then moved to the right and did the same. As the Alphas stepped out, Abraham lowered his head and bowed respectfully.

Lucien, Silas, and Claude emerged from the car. Lucien and Silas wore their usual stoic expressions while Claude ran a hand through his long blond hair before plastering a bright, amused smile across his face. Silas took the flowers from Abraham and toge

ther the three brothers began walking toward the place they always visited.