Chapter Seventy Seven

Laughter escaped my lips, filled with disdain, as I locked eyes with my uncle.

"You think I care about her?" I glanced at Kate. "Her?"

A flicker of surprise flashed in Silviu's eyes. He knew us well, he’d been relying on the bond of love between my sisters and me, but I refused to play into his hands. Something was amiss, dangerously so. I couldn't feel the unwavering presence of my wolf; she remained silent, an unusual occurrence considering I often had to quiet her incessant chatter. And there was a burning sensation in my throat that I couldn't place, I noticed too that sometime during my unconscious state, they'd taken away the knives I’d kept in me... Smart.

Still, I faced Silviu fearlessly, concealing any trace of worry. "There is a reason she's out here when no one else is. You won't find Sophia, Silviu, never!"

His gaze darted towards Catherine, who watched me with tears streaming down her cheeks. I longed to wipe them away, to tell her that I didn't mean it the way it sounded, but the memory of what she had done resurfaced. We were entangled in this predicament because of her actions, all to save the very man whose lifeless body now lay beside her.

Silviu's features contorted with primal rage, and in an instant, he struck me again. I crumpled to the floor, closing my eyes tightly as I took in deep, labored breaths. The taste of blood lingered in my mouth, and I clenched my fists so tight my nails pressed into my palm.

"Untie her!" Silviu ordered, and I snapped my eyes open, shocked.

The men immediately began their work, roughly dragging me upright while others swiftly untied me.

"Get up!" Silviu yelled, his voice seething with anger.

Despite the searing pain, I slowly regained my footing, wincing with each movement. My surroundings came into focus, and I realized the room was heavily guarded, trapping me within its walls.

Where was Nikolai? Why was there an eerie silence in this area? How long had I been unconscious? What had unfolded in the ongoing war?

The piling questions were brought to a halt when Silviu struck me again, his fist colliding with my nose. Pain exploded throughout my face, blinding me momentarily. Desperately, my hands reached out, searching for support, but… nothing.

"You've always prided yourself on your fighting abilities," Silviu taunted. "Come on, fight!"

With another blow, I was propelled backward, my back slamming against the wall. Panic surged within me—I needed to shift, to tap into my wolf's strength and instincts. But as I reached out to her, a hollow emptiness greeted me. My wolf remained dormant, unresponsive.

Struggling to regain my composure, I managed to rise unsteadily.

Silviu materialized in front of me, his presence looming. "You must be wondering what happened to your wolf."

My chest heaved, and I remained silent, anger coursing through my veins. I no longer cared about what had befallen my wolf. All that mattered was obliterating my uncle.

His hand shot out, wrapping around my throat, his thumb grazing the base. "You must feel it here, don't you? A small drop of wolfsbane while you were unconscious is all it took. It weakens you slightly but completely incapacitates your wolf."

I fought against his grip, gasping for air, and he released me, a triumphant gleam in his eyes.

"You can't shift, you can't communicate with your mate, and he can't smell you."

"Bastard," I muttered under my breath, venom lacing my words.

Silviu charged at me once more, but this time, I managed to dodge his attack, landing a blow to his side. He staggered, his rage-filled eyes locking onto mine. The pain in my body intensified with every movement, refusing to be ignored, slowing me down. Despite the worsening pain coursing through me, I refused to succumb to defeat. As my uncle launched another attack, his fist collided with my stomach, causing me to collapse over one of his warriors who regarded me with disdain. The other guards observed with twisted interest but made no move to intervene.

A soft cry escaped Catherine's lips. "Please, stop," she pleaded, her voice filled with anguish.

My uncle paid no heed to her plea. He loomed over me, delivering another brutal blow to my abdomen with his heavy shoes. I mustered all my strength to roll away, narrowly evading his strike.

Clutching my aching midsection, I struggled to rise, coughing violently. Blood stained my palm and trailed down my nose.

"You ruined everything, you know?" Silviu asked from the other side of the room as he stalked toward me. "You were meant to remain the obedient Alpha daughter, but you defied expectations. You forced Sephora to engage in your fights, you attempted to tarnish my name and coerce your sister into becoming Alpha."

"She never wanted it!" I screamed, my voice filled with fury. "But you could never have become Alpha, and deep down, you knew it."

A dark smile twisted Silviu's lips. "No, that's why it should have been you who died instead. If you had, I would never have harmed your sisters, your father was enough. Sephora would have willingly relinquished her position. She was always terrified of being Alpha, probably aware that she wasn't worthy."

"Don't you dare speak ill of her!" I spat back.

He stood before me, his gaze piercing. "Or what? Look at you, Natalie. You can barely swing your arms. You're utterly useless, and I could end your life here and now."

My eyes narrowed. "But you won't."

"You pose no threat to me. I am the Alpha. Your blood holds no significance anymore."

"You're mistaken," I managed to utter through the pain. "As long as I draw breath, I will remain a threat to your position. So kill me now while you have the chance, because if you don't, I swear I'll make you regret it."

Silviu's rage erupted, and he delivered a devastating blow to my ribs. Agonizing pain surged through my body, forcing me to collapse onto my knees, my anguished cries echoing through the room.

Battered and broken, I found myself curled into a fetal position, my arms wrapped tightly around my injured body, desperately seeking any semblance of protection. Silviu roughly seized me by the collar, his eyes seething with contempt. In that moment, I realized he was a man who would stop at nothing to fulfill his own ambitions, showing no regard for anyone else.

"Where is Sophia?" he demanded once more, his voice filled with venom.

With blood pounding in my ears and the world around me fading, my body felt like nothing more than a discarded, beaten doll, making it effortless for him to lift me. My half-shut eyes narrowed, and I managed to glare at him defiantly. Even speaking was a difficult task, and my words sounded feeble and incoherent even to my own ears.

"Kill me... Kill me..." I gasped, my voice barely audible. "Kill me while you can."

Without a moment's hesitation, he flung me away from him, tossing me aside like a discarded object. I crashed against the dilapidated walls of the shed, the bricks giving way under the impact, and I tumbled out onto the debris-strewn ground.

It came as a shock to me that I was still alive.

Every fiber of my being throbbed with pain. In the distance, a cry pierced the air, unmistakably Catherine's voice.

Summoning all the strength I had left, my trembling fingers clawed at the ground as I struggled to pull myself forward, crawling through the wreckage. I needed to escape Silviu's clutches, to put as much distance between us as possible. But I was weak—too weak to fight, my body ravaged by injuries, and Silviu was a relentless monster, fueled by the rage Sophia had stirred within him. It was clear why he relentlessly sought my sister. She had inflicted a grievous injury upon him, blinding one of his eyes, and he was hell-bent on exacting revenge.

Silviu's heavy footsteps approached me once again. He grabbed me by the hair and dragged me back into the shed, my body slamming and bumping against the broken bricks. My scalp was burning, and every fiber of my being felt like it had been lit up.

Silviu pulled me to the middle of the room and discarded me. I fell to the floor with a cry, and my eyes met Catherine who was sobbing quietly now, pain and regret in her expression.

He stood above me and pressed his feet to my shoulder.

I screamed and thrashed against the pain but I remained held down.

“Where is she?” he asked over and over again.

“Where is she?”

“Where is she?”

“Where is she?”

I screamed and cried until my throat burned. My hands reached up to my ears to block out his voice but I continued to hear it. I continued to hear Silviu’s voice. I continued to hear the unbearable pain in my own voice.

Through the haze of pain and desperation, a surge of defiance welled up within me. I refused to let him have the satisfaction of knowing Sophia's whereabouts. I clung to my resolve, knowing that my silence was my final act of protection for my sister. Summoning the last vestiges of strength, I mustered a defiant glare and managed to rasp out a response, my voice strained but unwavering.

"You'll never find her," I whispered, my words laced with pain. "No matter what you do to me, she will always remain beyond your reach."

One final kick to my face and I rolled off only stopping when I collided with a storage container.

I lay there struggling for air.

This was death.

I was going to die.

Silviu’s heavy steps once more reached my ears when he approached, my heart pounding and my body battered, I steeled myself for the end. I felt the unmistakable sharp end of a blade press into my chest.

He was done playing around. He was going to kill me.

“Where is Sophia?” he asked with a tone of finality.