187- The Cage of Blood and Heat
POV Aldren Valmorin:
The image of the one who used to be my best friend appeared in the corridor. When he saw me, he froze where he stood. His pupils doubled in size, and the color drained from his face.
“Why did you stop?” The wretched bitch’s voice sounded from behind him. Trying to conceal it—and failing miserably—Kehin released her hand into the air, the one he had been holding just moments before.
Driven by disbelief at the scene before me, I began clapping slowly, never taking my eyes off the traitor. It didn’t take long for the prisoner to take a step to the side, distancing herself and leaning against the opposite wall, her head bowed.
“Should I schedule a wedding ceremony for the lovely couple?” I snarled with irony, my incandescent fury coloring every syllable.
“Aldren, Elowen is in heat, I… I was just going to resolve that issue and return her to the cage,” the traitor said, as if that were an acceptable excuse.
The shameless creature didn’t even bother to deny that she intended to fuck him—she kept her head lowered.
“Did that bitch’s heat make you stupid, or were you always a complete jackass and I just failed to notice?” I roared, uncrossing my arms as I felt my muscles swell.
One thing was him satisfying the heat of any other female out there. Another entirely was risking the safety of the Valmorin people so recklessly.
“Aldren, you know I would never let the prisoner escape, don’t you? I came to you to suggest this solution, but we didn’t have time. And…” he searched for more useless excuses, “I knew you would agree with me about resolving this situ—”
“Shut the fuck up!” I directed my rage at him through pheromones, and his knees buckled. Not even he, being an alpha, could escape my power.
“Victor! Serpentino!” I called my men, who flung the door open in less than two seconds.
“ALDREN!” Kehin shouted from the floor, suffering under the pain I inflicted. “You’re going to imprison me?” He turned to look at Elowen, and my fury only intensified. I poured it all into him. Unable to bear the weight of his own body on his knees, he pitched forward, slamming his hands onto the floor. “We are friends…” he groaned, struggling not to scream.
“We were. You went against my orders twice, and that is treason. No male has ever had such audacity. You are the first to disrespect me this way—and you will be the last.”
“ALDREN!” he bellowed, trying to get up. I stopped attacking him, just to see what he would do. Bracing himself against the wall, he stood, searching for Elowen with his eyes. “Tell him, Elowen. Tell him what we agreed on. That you would come back.”
“Elowen.”
With embers instead of blood running through my veins, I waited for the filthy mutt’s response. Not a single muscle of hers moved; she kept staring at the floor. A bitter laugh tore from my throat when I realized she would not speak.
“Fool. Fool. The greatest fool of men. Your lover doesn’t even have the courage to open her mouth to defend you.”
Unexpectedly, Kehin glared at me with fury. How did he still dare?
One wrong move and I would rip his neck apart right there, forgetting any gratitude I once had for our shared history.
“Of course she won’t speak—she’s afraid! What you’re doing to Elowen is unjust, fuck! She’s not a spy! I know she’s not!”
Impossible…
“Victor, Serpentino,” I called again, and they stepped closer, one on each side of me. “Restrain him.”
“Aldren, let’s talk, ple—”
Before he could get any closer, Victor grabbed his arm and Serpentino struck him with a tranquilizer dart. It would prevent him from shifting and hurting them.
“Put him in the cage. Before dawn, I’ll decide where he’ll be taken.”
Kehin opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out—the tranquilizer worked within seconds.
“And the prisoner, sir?” Victor asked.
The bitch finally lifted her head slowly, her chin trembling. She fixed her blue eyes on me, eyes that reflected the terror of her soul. I made a point of answering without taking my eyes off her.
“The bitch and I are going to have a little private conversation.”
I grabbed her by the legs and threw that excuse for a she-wolf over my right shoulder. I climbed the basement stairs quickly, to the sound of her protesting screams.
“Shut the fuck up.” I tightened my grip on her thighs.
“Help! It hurts!” she cried out, slapping my back and finally snapping my patience.
“Keep it up, you cursed spy, and you risk losing every one of those teeth,” I threatened, crossing the corridor toward my other cage.
Brave—but not stupid enough—she stopped the piercing screams, which gave way to pained whimpers.
After the second flight of stairs, I reached my bedroom and kicked the door open.
The lights turned on automatically, and I went straight to the open cage. Stepping inside, I set her down on the floor. She crawled with her arms toward the corner, as if fleeing from the Devil himself.
And under those circumstances, I was.
I wanted to stay there, to corner her and make her suffer the consequences of the torment she had caused me, but I didn’t trust my beast with her so close and so available. I jumped back out and locked her in using the modern fingerprint lock.
When I looked at my hands, I saw my claws stained with a bit of blood from her legs. Staring at her through the bars, I brought one hand to my mouth.
The metallic, faintly sweet taste filled my taste buds.
“Even your blood is bad.” It was a lie, but after her audacity, she would receive nothing from me but insults.
“Aldren, let me explain—”
The bars separated us, but nothing stopped me from circling her through the open sides. I took slow, dangerous steps toward the space where she cowered.
“Stay right there,” I snarled when I saw her start to rise, intending to run to the other side.
Pressed against the wall where the cage was anchored, she breathed like someone who had just run a marathon, eyes wide with terror.
“He told me you had allowed it and…” The closer I got to the bars, the more she shrank. “I thought it was true and—”
“I. Told. You. To. Shut. Up.” My command made her press her lips together, her chin trembling. “What was your plan? To be Kehin’s prostitute in exchange for freedom?” She didn’t answer. “Speak. Now.”