Chapter 54
Lucas‘s POV:
I lifted my head, meeting his eyes with as much defiance as I could muster. "Never."
James's cold laughter echoed off the dungeon walls. "Oh, how romantic! The noble Alpha, suffering for his lost love. How very... touching." His voice dripped with mockery. "Tell me, Lucas, do you think she's thinking of you right now? Or has she already moved on to her next conquest?"
"Shut up," I growled, my wolf stirring despite my weakened state.
"I heard she was quite cozy with that Wilson boy earlier tonight. Very... intimate." James circled me slowly, like a predator savoring its prey.
My hands clenched into fists despite the agony shooting through my wrists where the silver burned. "You don't know anything about her."
"Don't I?" James stopped in front of me, his golden eyes gleaming with cruel amusement. "I know she's not your fated mate. I know she's been playing you all for fools. And I know that your pathetic devotion to her is going to cost you everything."
He walked over to a small table I hadn't noticed before, covered with a black cloth. With theatrical precision, he pulled the cloth away, revealing an array of vials filled with dark, viscous liquid.
"Silver Serum," he said conversationally, lifting one of the vials to examine it in the dim light. "Highly concentrated. A few drops will cause excruciating pain. A full vial..." He smiled coldly. "Well, just let me see how long you can last."
My blood ran cold.
"Still feeling romantic about your precious Sophia?" James asked, drawing the liquid into a syringe with practiced ease. "Still willing to suffer for someone who's probably forgotten you exist?"
"She's worth it," I said through gritted teeth, and meant every word.
James's face twisted with disgust. "Pathetic."
My voice was firm. "That's what you'll never understand."
"How wonderfully progressive," James sneered, approaching me with the loaded syringe. "I wonder if you'll still feel that way when the poison starts eating through your veins."
He grabbed my arm, positioning the needle against my skin. "Last chance, Lucas. Sign the papers, renounce your claim to her, and this all ends."
I looked him straight in the eye. "Go to hell."
The needle pierced my skin, and liquid fire began coursing through my bloodstream. My vision blurred as the wolf's bane attacked every nerve ending, but I refused to give him the satisfaction of hearing me scream.
Through the haze of agony, one thought remained crystal clear: whatever happened to me, I would not give up on Sophia. Not now, not ever.
Even if it killed me.
I drifted in and out of consciousness, as his footsteps faded, I managed to whisper through cracked lips, "Don't hurt her... Sophia..."
---
Time became meaningless in the windowless basement – minutes or hours could have passed before I heard familiar footsteps on the stairs.
"Alpha!" Marcus's voice cracked with horror as he took in my condition. "What did he do to you?"
His hands were gentle as he worked to unlock the silver manacles, cursing under his breath at the burned flesh they'd left behind. When the restraints finally fell away, I collapsed into his arms, my legs unable to support my weight.
"The... Silver Serum," I managed to gasp, tasting blood with every word.
Marcus's face went pale. "How much did he inject?"
I could only shake my head weakly. Without my supernatural healing, the whip wounds continued to bleed freely, soaking through the blanket Marcus wrapped around my shoulders.
"Sophia," I whispered, my first coherent thought finally surfacing through the haze of pain. "Is she safe?"
"I haven't seen her around the pack grounds for days," Marcus replied carefully as he helped me toward a makeshift cot in the corner. "She seems to stay in her room all day."
Relief flooded through me, though it was quickly replaced by a new fear. If James had done this to me for refusing to sign papers, what might he do to her directly?
"I need to see her," I said, trying to struggle upright despite my body's protests.
"Alpha, you can barely sit up. The Silver Serum—"
"I don't care about the poison," I interrupted, though even speaking was exhausting. "James did this because I won't give up on her. That means she's still in danger."
Marcus studied my face for a long moment before nodding grimly. "I'll find a way to get word to her. But first, you need to survive the next few days. You wouldn't want to meet her in such a mess, would you?"
As Marcus settled me onto the cot, I stared up at the stone ceiling and tried to reach for Victor's consciousness, but there was nothing – just a silent, empty space where my wolf should have been, leaving me truly alone in my mind for the first time since childhood.
Even Victor has lost contact.
---
Marcus’s POV:
The image of Lucas's broken body haunted me, my hands still trembling from the sight of those silver-burned wrists. The way he'd whispered Sophia's name through cracked, bloodied lips – as if she were the only thing keeping him tethered to life.
This made me eager to quickly find Sophia.
As I passed by the restaurant, I heard a familiar voice coming from inside.
Laughter. Light, carefree laughter.
Through the glass window, I saw the scene inside and froze.
Sophia sat at one of the corner tables with Michael Wilson, their heads bent close together over what appeared to be dessert plates. She smiled genuinely – in a way I hadn't seen in weeks.
My hands clenched into fists. While Lucas lay dying in a basement, she was having dinner dates.
They stood to leave, Michael helping her with her jacket in a gesture that seemed far too intimate for my liking. As they walked toward the exit, Sophia stumbled slightly, probably catching her heel on the uneven stone floor.
Without hesitation, Michael's arms came around her, pulling her against his chest to steady her.
Something inside me snapped.
"How touching," I said loudly, stepping out from behind a pillar.