Chapter 199 CHAPTER 199

Chapter 199 CHAPTER 199
Adrian’s POV 
I stood there, breathing hard, my one good eye fixed on the door the healer had just fled through.

The rage was still boiling in my chest, hot and thick like magma. My hands were shaking. My face was still wet with blood, my missing eye throbbing with every heartbeat. The emptiness where it used to be was driving me insane.

Mathias.

That name was a curse now. A betrayal carved into my skull alongside the loss of my eye. I had given that hybrid everything. Power. Protection. Purpose. And he had thrown it all away for Rafael.

For the brother who had always been better than me.

The brother who had taken everything from me—the pack, the title, the respect, and now my goddamn eye.

I couldn't let it stand.

I couldn't let any of it stand.

"GUARDS!" I screamed, my voice echoing through the mansion. "GET IN HERE NOW!"

The door burst open. Two of my men rushed in, their faces pale, their eyes darting nervously around the room. They had clearly heard the commotion. They had clearly seen the healer fleeing. And they were scared.

Good. They should be scared.

"You," I snarled, pointing at the one on the left. "Find the keeper. The one with the brown hair. Bring her to me. NOW."

The guard nodded frantically and disappeared.

The other guard stood frozen, waiting. I dismissed him with a wave of my hand. He practically ran out the door.

I was alone again.

I started pacing. The room was too small, too cramped, too full of the weight of my failure. Every step sent fresh pain through my ruined eye. Every heartbeat reminded me of what I had lost.

I had been so close. I had been on top of him, my jaws around his throat, ready to end it. And then that girl—that stupid, worthless keeper's brat—had thrown that vial, and everything had fallen apart.

If Mathias hadn't helped her...

The thought was a knife twisting in my gut.

I had trusted him. I had used him, yes, but I had also trusted him to stay in line. I had his mother. I had the threat of her life hanging over his head. I had made sure he understood exactly what would happen if he ever betrayed me.

And he had betrayed me anyway.

I slammed my fist against the wall. The plaster cracked. Pain shot up my arm. I didn't care. I hit it again. And again. And again.

"FUCK!" I screamed, the word tearing out of me.

I grabbed a vase from the table and hurled it against the wall. It shattered, the pieces scattering across the floor. I grabbed a chair and threw it across the room. It smashed into the bookshelf, sending books flying everywhere.

I was destroying everything in sight. The paintings, the furniture, the glass. Everything that reminded me of this room, of this mansion, of the power I had built and the failure that had just torn it all down.

I didn't care. I couldn't care. The rage was too much. The shame was too much. The image of Rafael standing over me, victorious, his eyes blazing with triumph—it was burned into my mind, a permanent reminder of my defeat.

I stopped.

I was breathing hard, my chest heaving. My hands were slick with blood, not all of it my own. I looked around the room at the destruction I had caused. The shattered furniture. The broken glass. The torn paintings.

It wasn't enough. It would never be enough.

Mathias.

The name was a poison in my veins.

Mathias.

Mathias.

Mathias.

I forced myself to stop. I closed my eye—the one I had left—and took a deep breath. Then another. Then another.

I had to think clearly. I had to plan. I couldn't let my rage consume me. Not now. Not when I was so close to making them all pay.

I opened my eye.

The room was quiet now. The destruction was still there, but the rage had faded to a cold, simmering fury. I could think again. I could plan again.

I would make them pay. All of them. Rafael. Mathias. The girl. The keepers. Everyone who had stood against me.

But first, I had to deal with Mathias's mother. The leverage I had held over him for years. The hostage I had kept hidden, safe, and terrified.

She was no use to me now.

Mathias had betrayed me. He had chosen Rafael over his mother. He had chosen friendship over family.

I would make him pay for that choice.

The door opened.

The keeper stepped in, her face pale, her hands trembling. She was clutching the fabric of her dress, her eyes darting around the room at the destruction.

"Master Adrian," she said, her voice barely a whisper. "You asked to see me?"

"Bring me the woman," I said. My voice was flat. Cold. "The hybrid's mother under your care.”

The keeper's face went even paler. "Master Adrian, I don't think—"

"I didn't ask what you think," I snarled. "I told you to bring her to me. NOW."

"B-but she's been very sick. She can barely stand—"

"I DON'T CARE!" I screamed, stepping toward her. "I don't care if she's dying. I don't care if she's on her last breath. You will bring her to me right now, or I will fucking kill you and find someone else who can follow orders!"

She flinched back, her hands flying to her face. "Y-yes, Master Adrian. Right away."

She fled.

I stood there, breathing hard, my good eye fixed on the door. The anger was still there, burning in my chest, but it was under control now. Cold. Controlled. Focused.

The minutes stretched on. The silence was deafening. I paced back and forth, my footsteps echoing through the room. The pain in my eye was a constant ache, a reminder of what I had lost.