Chapter 74 74
Third Person POV
Alpha Draven slowly opened his eyes. His head throbbed with sharp pain, and for a moment, everything was a blur. He winced and tried to move, but his body felt heavy, his limbs stiff.
He blinked again, and the dim light above him kept shaking with strange noises in the background. Cold air brushed his skin, and the metallic scent of blood lingered in the air, he knew someone was bleeding.
“Where…am I ?” he muttered, but his voice was low and weak. He looked around in confusion, this wasn’t the place Amber had sent him to.
It was a different warehouse—larger, darker, and completely unfamiliar. He looked around and just had the feeling that something felt terribly wrong.
Then, memories rushed back. The ambush. The betrayal. Adrian’s closest friend—Alaric—turning on them. And even worse, Elder Frey who he didn’t trust for once. So it wasn’t that surprising.
But then how could they do this? Draven thought bitterly. A low groan caught his attention. His eyes moved across the room and stopped at a sight that made his heart stop—Hazel.
She was tied to a thick pole, her arms bound behind her, her head facing the ground. Blood ran down the side of her face, and she wasn’t moving at all.
Fear gripped Draven like a small child. He tried to move forward, but he couldn’t. That’s when he felt it—cold metal biting into his skin. He looked down. Chains. But not normal ones.
These were thick, blackened chains laced with silver and old runes. He knew them well. “Fuck,” he cursed under his breath, struggling hard. These were the same chains used in the werewolf prisons. Meant to hold even the strongest Alphas.
They knew who he was. They knew what he was capable of so they made sure he wouldn’t escape. “Hazel!” he called out, louder this time. “Hazel, wake up!”
But she didn’t move. His voice cracked with desperation. Draven never thought of himself as a man who would be in a situation where he couldn’t help the one he loved. But in that moment, he felt the burn of tears in his eyes.
He hated this—being powerless. Just like before. He remembered Adrian’s mother. How she screamed for help. How Draven had run through fire and blood to get to her, but still he arrived too late.
Hee death really haunted him. It drove Adrian’s hate. And now, here he was again, helpless while someone he cared about suffered. He turned to his left and Jason was there too, also chained, struggling silently with clenched teeth.
His eyes met Draven’s briefly, and they both knew—this wasn’t going to be easy. Near Jason, Adrian lay on the cold ground. Still unconscious. He could see bruises on his face but as his chest rose and fell with slow, uneven breaths, he was glad Adrian was alive.
Draven clenched his jaw. He just couldn’t fail again. Not this time. He pulled at the chains harder, ignoring the burn as it hurt his skin really bad.
He and Jason strained against their chains, their muscles bulging with effort, but the restraints held firm. "Well, well, look who we have here, the almighty Alpha Draven," Amber mocked, watching both of them trying to get out of the chains.
"I brought the money you asked for. Now, can you let Hazel go? She's pregnant and shouldn't be in this situation. I promise you, if anything happens to our baby, you'll beg the moon goddess to take your life. Don't fucking dare me," Draven roared, his voice echoing against the cold walls.
"Shush, Alpha, you wouldn't want to wake up your little princess; she's resting right now," Amber replied, and they both laighed in unison. Draven's fury was was rising, his eyes blazing with a mixture of rage and helplessness as he continued to fight against the chains, each attempt ending in frustration.
The weight of his powerlessness was crushing, and the threat to his unborn child fueled his desperate attempts to break free. "Well, we saw the money, and it isn't complete," Amber stated, her words dripping with malice.
"We'll, all thanks to the evil Thalia, our company is now bankrupt," Draven spat, his gaze locked on Thalia, as if he could tear her apart with a single look.
"Adrian was just too stupid that he didn't focus on anything concerning your company, Draven. He was broken, really broken inside, and needed someone to fix him, so I helped him.”
“You left him all alone to fend for himself without any parents. You knew how he lost them when he was younger, but then you left him," Thalia retorted, attempting to portray herself as the sympathetic figure.
“He’s a fool, but I love him anyways” Draven's jaw clenched, his anger getting worse each moment. The accusations struck a nerve, the truth of his actions laid bare before him. He felt the sting of guilt and regret, the weight of his past choices pressing down on him.
The chains still held him, but the words were a different kind of restraint, one that bound his conscience and fueled his internal conflict. Draven, at a loss for words, struggled to respond.
He had left to seek a cure for his dying heart, fearing he would harm his pack, but no one understood his what he was trying to do. Perhaps, if he had told Adrian everything, the situation wouldn't have escalated so much.
"That's not the issue now. I want you to release Hazel. I won't expose your human trafficking operation or whatever there is to it; just let us leave," Draven demanded, his voice firm.
However, Alpha Dorian's entrance shifted the whole conversation. "Let you go after discovering our secret? Absolutely not," Dorian declared, his tone dir.
Draven knew the situation was becoming more complicated than it is already. “Who do you think you are to send your men to spy on my pack?” Dorian looked down on Draven expecting an answer.
“Well since you’ve found out what I’ve hidden for years I’m sorry you won’t be able to leave, same as your Luna.” Draven paused in the gloom of the warehouse. He heard soft sobs from a dark corner.
And then he saw a woman curled on the floor, her shoulders shaking as she cried. She looked Alpha Dorian straight in the eyes without uttering a words. In the pale light, her face looked almost just like Hazel’s.
He froze. How had he never known this woman existed? Then he remembered: the Labrinths were masters of hiding their past. And if not for Noah and Alice they would have never found out the Labrinths were human traffickers.
They would have still be in the dark. He glanced back at Hazel, tied to a wooden pole. She lay on her back, head lolling to one side. Her hands were bound above her. Dust filled her clothes which was torn apart revealing parts of her body.
Draven’s chest tightened. He could feel the ache in her arms and the burn of fear in her heart—he knew what she was going through at that moment because they were bound together.
He had found out there were mates but didn’t want to tell her until he was sure she felt the same way for him. Because telling her they were mates was a waste of information.
A sudden thought jolted through him: Noah might be the only one who could save them now with his special ability. He had tried to mindlink Noah when he regained consciousness but it was a failed attempt.
“Alpha Draven… Draven.” Hazel’s voice came as a soft whisper. Her eyelids fluttered, and her gaze found him. She was awake—but so weak. Her chest rose in shallow breaths.
He pressed a hand gently to her arm. She flinched, but she did not pull away. Draven’s eyes flicked to Hazel’s mother who was still crying in the corner.
Draven clenched his fist. He had to protect both of them. He had to mindlink Noah again, or they might not get out alive. Hazel tried to speak again, but only a thin rasp came out.
She turned her head so that one eye could watch him. She looked at Draven with a mix of fear and relief. He was finally here to save her.
“Hazel, my baby,” he whispered. “Hold in tight, I’ll save you from these bastards” Hazel’s brow creased as she tried to smile. A single tear rolled down her cheek.
“I don’t want to waste anymore time. Burn them up” Dorian ordered.