Chapter 83: Chapter 83

Suki furrowed her brows.

“I was referring to Reynard Otake, son of Remus Otake – Gamma wolf and former greatest Warrior of the Moonstone pack. Seems like Reynard holds the title of greatest now.” He crossed his arms. “Oh, I suppose you’d prefer if I referred to Reynard as your other mate?”

Her eyes widened. “How the hell did you know that? And why do you know so much about his father?”

“Because Remus Otake is the bastard that ruined my life.”

The world stilled as the words echoed in Suki’s mind, fading away so all she could hear was the thumping beats of her own heart. Things began to make sense, the connection between herself, Reynard and Brendan – their worlds collided well before they had even met, and it was all because of Hadeon.

Knots churned in her stomach as she questioned. “You’re the reason Rey’s parents died… aren’t you?”

Thump. Thump. Thump.

“I would’ve killed Remus myself if I could have, but it had to look like a targeted attack from the humans.” He sighed carelessly, “I suppose it’s a shame his mother died too. Tsk. I could’ve used her for those early-day tests.”

She placed her hand over her mouth. “You used Brendan, your own brother, you used him. You’re the reason he’s a Rogue. He’s not the traitor. YOU ARE.”

“Guilty.” He slowly pushed his shoulders up and smiled.

Suki wept out a sob. She coughed and gagged, wanting to vomit the vileness she’d endured, but her empty stomach didn’t allow it. “How?” she choked out.

Hadeon continued so casually, as if what he had done meant nothing to him. “Well, as you’ve probably gathered by now, my scent is difficult to detect. You can sense a presence, but you’ll never know it’s me. That’s another perk I offered to the humans with my blood. It makes spying on werewolves that much easier, as well as being undetected when retreating.”

“How could you betray your own people. Werewolves are your blood, your brothers and sisters of nature, you’re one of us–”

He almost fell over, hunching over, laughing hysterically. There was a psychotic, menacing essence to his laughter.

“I am not one of you!” he yelled. “You’re all filthy mutts who serve a goddess who does NOTHING for you in return. And I have an even better plan for myself. I’ll show her.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“You’ll see, Suki,” he said, pulling out a device from his pocket – a remote of sorts – and pointing it at her. “Because I enjoy your pretty face, I’ll let you have a front row seat.”

Suki’s eyes rounded, and she swallowed thickly. “Hadeon, please, wait–” High voltage electricity pulsing through her body interrupted her. She clutched onto her neckbrace, wishing she could rip it off, and cried out a harrowing scream before giving in to her weakness and collapsing to the ground.

“Sorry, Suki.” Hadeon pocketed the control and taunted, “I’ve got to slow down my brother from finding you. At least until the next step is complete.”

✧ ✧ ✧

Being in and out of consciousness was taking a horrific toll on Suki. When she finally came to, her eyes and mouth were so dry, as if all the moisture had been drained from her body. Her stomach rumbled and yearned for nourishment.

They were doing all they could to prevent her from healing.

She groaned.

“Oh, finally. You’re awake.” Hadeon sounded excited. “It’s almost time for the next phase.”

Suki blinked a few times, slowly, trying to ease the dryness and clear her blurred vision. Her heartbeat thumped against her temple. She wanted to sleep, but the words Hadeon said to her before electrocuting her sprang to her mind.

I’ve got to slow down my brother from finding you.

She sat up and looked around. They left her unconscious on the cold, hard ground. She shuffled a little, and a clinking of chains caught her attention. Looking down, a new shackle was around her ankle, attached to an even thicker chain than before. It looked designed to hold a fully powered werewolf.

Pressing herself against the wall behind her, she scanned the room. No, it was a lab – medical equipment and vials of various liquids filled the area.

But what stood out the most was a large vessel at the far end of the room, perfectly aligned with her line of sight. Beside it were all the poor captured werewolves she saw before.

What is going on?

She looked at her palm. The shadow magic imprinted on her skin was still there, and specks of shadows swirled around her hand.

That’s why he knocked me out again. She realised. Brendan’s shadow magic has its own unique signature. The shadow is awake when I’m awake.

Brendan and Rey will be here soon. She knew they would be.

Hadeon sat on a hospital bed with his shirt off, getting his blood pressure checked by a man in a lab coat. “Don’t get your hopes up about your boyfriends,” he said coolly. “They’re either already dead or fighting for their lives.”

Coldness filled Suki’s soul. “W-What?”

“Oh.” He placed a hand on his chest. “Did I forget to mention that I sent an army of humans to attack Moonstone? With a few doses of the spirit blocker – that’s what I’m calling the vaccine, for now. I’m thinking Spirit Destroyer has a better ring to it when the formula is complete.” He shook his head. “Oh, I’m rambling. Don’t worry, I sent enough wolfsbane and tranquilisers for them to bring me more werewolves to finalise my tests. We’re this close to a complete formula.” He raised his pinched fingers.

This arrogant bastard.

“You’re awake just in time for the show, by the way.” He followed her gaze to the doctor and faked a gasp, “Oh, where are my manners? This is Doctor Khaos – not his real name by the way,” he chuckled. “He’s been the brains behind creating the glorious poison against werewolves, haven’t you, Doc?”

Doc jerked his brows up and smiled smugly.

Jumping off the bed, he walked over to the mysterious vessel and patted it. “He also helped me with this extra project of mine. That’s the next phase.” He paced past it and leaned against the cages, where the woman Suki promised she’d save sobbed in fear, pushing herself into the corner of her cage. “And these are the pieces to complete my puzzle.”

Suki hissed, “Leave them alone!”

He scoffed, “It’s so funny how you didn’t even notice how scared they were of me. Were you that delusional that I was good, or are you just stupid?”

She growled, “Fuck you, you monster.”

“Now, now, you’ve made your lack of interest in me perfectly clear.” He leaned against the vessel and crossed his arms. “But I’m thinking after this, you might change your mind.”

Eyeing the large container, Suki saw all the wires connected to it and how many of them were connected to the cages. This time, her voice was slow, wary. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to create that monster you already see me as. An Alpha of Alpha’s, if you will.”

Hollowness hit Suki’s chest as her eyes rounded, and she looked at everything in the room again, piecing together what he was going to do. “You’ll die.”

“Maybe,” he said, stroking his chin before offering one more vicious grin. “Slim chance, but I suppose in case I do, you should hear the full story. It all started when I was a youngling myself…”