Chapter 76 The Place Beneath Hell

Chapter 76 The Place Beneath Hell
"Tell me," Shax hissed, his face inches from the trembling man’s. "Where did those bastards take the woman and the child? TELL ME!"
Theo’s man coughed up blood, his face ghostly pale. His lips quivered, struggling to form words as death crept up his throat.
"They… they took her… to—"
His voice broke into a wet choke.
Shax grabbed him by the collar and yanked him forward, eyes blazing. "Spit it out!"
The man’s pupils trembled, unfocused. His fingers twitched weakly against the ground, as if trying to hold onto life just a second longer.
"T-to the… lower—"
A sharp crack cut through the air. The man’s body went limp instantly. For a split second, everything froze.
Shax’s grip tightened, his breathing turning ragged as he stared at the lifeless body in his hands.
"Fuck!"
He shoved the corpse aside with a violent snarl, running a hand through his hair as frustration boiled over.
..
…
….
Michelle's POV.
My vision blurred as the cloth covering my eyes was pulled away. The dim light from the oil lamp on the wall made me blink several times to adjust my vision. Once I fully regained consciousness, I immediately looked around.
My heart sank.
I was in a small, windowless room. The air here felt musty, smelling of old dust and a faint smell of paint. I recognized the carved pattern on the table leg in the corner. I recognized the rough texture of the wooden wall. The appearance of this room... was very familiar.
Oh my.
Could this be that room? One of the rooms in a separate building, the one where Theo had shown me my mother's paintings yesterday?
I glanced inside one of the rooms, and it looked like the display was similar to the one I was in now.
"Bastard," I hissed, gripping the sheets of my bed.
Why did he let me out the front door only to catch me back on the street and lock me up here?
No way... my mind raced.
Was he really that crazy? Was he planning to keep me locked up here until the full moon and force me to mate?
That scenario wasn't out of the question for an Alpha. I'd heard stories like this from other packs, and it wasn't much different from what I'd witnessed with Bertha, cornered by that bastard Alpha Sylas to mate with him.
Damn it.
What should I do now?
Skai began to fidget in my arms. He continued to babble nonstop, his voice small and filled with anxiety, as if he could sense the approaching storm. I stood up, trying to rock him, ignoring the stinging pain that had been ricocheting through my body from being dragged earlier.
"Shh… honey… Mommy’s here," I whispered, my voice breaking as I rocked him gently, even though my own hands wouldn’t stop trembling.
Then, the rusty door creaked open.
The sound tore through the silence like a blade.
Every bit of strength drained out of me in an instant. My blood turned cold, my breath caught somewhere in my throat. I couldn’t even bring myself to turn around.
The air in the room shifted. It was heavy, suffocating, like something unseen was crushing the walls inward.
A sharp ringing filled my ears, loud and relentless. My vision blurred as dizziness crashed over me. My knees buckled, and I collapsed beside the bed, clutching Skai tightly against my chest as if he were the only thing knocking me to reality.
“No… no… it’s okay… Mommy’s here…” I murmured, though I wasn’t sure if I was comforting him or myself.
When the spinning finally slowed, and I forced my eyes open, the first thing I saw was a pair of polished black boots right in front of me.
My heart stopped.
It was Sylas.
My body reacted before my mind did. I tried to stand, to run, to shield Skai, to do anything. But nothing worked. My limbs felt like they didn’t belong to me anymore.
The Alpha pressure surrounding him crashed down on me, violent and suffocating. As an Omega who had barely regained her wolf, I was defenseless, nothing more than fragile prey trapped beneath a predator’s gaze.
Tears spilled freely down my face.
His low, dry, raspy laugh echoed right above my head, sending shivers down every nerve in my body.
"I love seeing you cry," he said, his voice sounding like a devilish whisper. "It means you're smart enough to know you've completely screwed up, right?"
I was speechless. My tongue felt numb. In my arms, Skai began to cry loudly again. His cries were deafening. Suddenly, several men snatched Skai from my arms.
"NO! DON'T!" I screamed, my strength returning momentarily to a mother's rage.
I clutched at Skai's shirt, trying to hold on to my baby with the last of my strength. "LET HIM GO! SYLAS, DON'T HURT HIM!"
I bit one of the men's hands. I kicked, I clawed. But they were too strong. With one violent tug, Skai was ripped from my arms. My baby was carried away, his cries fading away into the dark hallway.
"SKAI!"
Before I could give chase, Sylas moved. With a very casual yet powerful movement, he pushed my chest with his boot. My body slammed back to the floor, and before I could get up, he pressed his heel right into the center of my chest, pressing my ribs into the floor.
My scream was shrill, filling every corner of the cramped room. It felt like a large boulder had crushed my lungs. I forced my head up, and that's when I saw Sylas's demonic face clearly.
He was smiling broadly. His eyes flashed with a pure madness I hadn't seen in a long time, or perhaps I'd simply forgotten how terrifying he was.
"That's why," Sylas leaned in, pressing his heel against my chest until I struggled to breathe. "Who told you to steal my heir? You deserve to be punished for your insolence, don't you think, Little Maid?"
I coughed, blood tasting salty at the base of my throat. Amidst this excruciating pain, only one name crossed my mind.
Shax...