Chapter 20 CHAPTER 020
Soren's entire body trembles as if he's been drenched in the coldest water, but he isn't cold. It’s the rush of adrenaline in his body that causes the violent shake.
He stays hovering over the dead body of the alpha, his breathing coming hard and fast. Blood trickles from the corner of his lips and down his chin, dripping onto the already stained floor. His eyes remain bloodshot—wide, unfocused, almost feral, while the metallic scent of blood thickens the air.
For a second, he doesn’t move as the alpha beneath him is still, neck twisted at an unnatural angle, eyes frozen in shock and dead, with Soren’s fingers still curled into the man’s collar, knuckles bone-white from the force he used and from the rage.
“He's a monster!” The Big Boss screams frantically, struggling against the hands that hold him down.
Soren finally blinks at the dead alpha, and he falls to the side, scampering away from it, finally shaking from the coldness of the room and fear of what he has done. What has he done?
Reign tilts his head as he watches him for a moment longer before approaching him. Silently, he takes off his coat and throws it over Soren's shoulders, wrapping him with Enigma scent and warmth.
Reigns squats in front of him, clipping his chin between his gloved hands and lifting his head, smirking when Soren trembles under his touch. “Breathe…” he orders, realizing Soren is holding his breath.
Soren feels tears sting his eyes as he stares at Reign. He shouldn't be overwhelmed by something like this, but the emotions hit him hard. Soren might have seen dead bodies in the underground ring, but he has never taken a life. He has only ever knocked out his opponent. Not kill or go crazy on them. Does this make him a monster?
“I'm sorry. I shouldn't have sneaked out,” he apologizes with trembling lips. “I didn't mean to kill them,”
For a moment, Reign simply studies him, then his smirk deepens, slow and terrifying, while his eyes glint with something sinister and unreadable as if he finds the sight of Soren attractive.
It makes Soren tremble even more because he doesn’t know if the Enigma is here to save him or end him.
“They deserved more than death, don’t you think?” Reign murmurs.
Soren’s breath hitches in his throat, and his pulse races.
“They tried to hurt you.” His thumb brushes lightly under Soren’s jaw, tilting his head just slightly higher. “You hurt them back. That’s what they deserve.”
There's something twisted in the way he said those words, like a man who has done more than take lives and set the world on fire, like a man who has the world in the palm of his hand.
“He’s crazy and unstable; he should be locked up forever!” The big boss continues to yell, blood soaking through his shirt from the wound in his shoulder.
Reign stands. He leaves Soren’s side and heads towards him. He holds his hand out, and one of the men places a gun. Reign wears a smile as he squats to the big boss’s level; he goes still as the muzzle presses into the hollow of his throat, right above the frantic pulse jumping beneath his skin.
“Unstable?” Reign repeats softly, as if tasting the word.
The Big Boss shakes violently, “He killed them! He’s not normal—he's a monster!”
“He's attractive with all the blood, don't you think?” Reign's lips curl into a weird smile, dropping the temperature of the room with his pheromones.
The Big Boss's eyes widen, but Reigns isn't done.
“You touched what’s mine; why should your body remain intact?” His eyes glint.
“No,” the Big Boss sobs, fear crawling through every inch of his veins while tears sting in his eyes. “I didn’t touch him! I swear! It was them—they—please, don’t kill me. I—I, I’m willing to tell his secret. He’s not what he says he is!”
Soren’s eyes widen, and his breath catches in his throat.
Reign reels towards him, but Soren immediately avoids his eyes. The enigma tsk and turns back to the alpha. “Is that so? Tell me his secret; I might consider keeping you alive."
Soren's heart pounds so hard in his chest that it feels like it’s about to rip out as he realizes his entire life is going to be over now. He might never see Iris and Theo ever again, and it’s all his fault—his fault for making the wrong decisions without thinking them through. He bites his lips and hugs his knees to his chest. This is his fate.
“H-he-he’s an…”
BANG!
The sounds echo loudly and ear-deafeningly, causing Soren to jerk as he whips his head sharply, and his eyes widen as the large body of the big boss drops to the ground with a large bullet hole in his throat, bleeding profusely.
Reign discards the smoking gun beside the dead body and stands to his feet. He turns and heads back to Soren, who watches him with wide, fearful eyes, and when Reign reaches his hand out, Soren flinches and hides his face, but Reign grabs his arm and pulls him to his feet, and in one swift motion, he carries him bridal style.
Soren gasps, automatically wrapping his arms around the alpha’s neck. He unsurely looks up at Reign, but the enigma is staring at his men.
“Clean up the mess,” he orders, and without another word, he strides over the dead bodies and out of the room with Soren, who’s covered in blood and weighs nothing.
~~
No matter how hard Soren scrubs his body with soap and water, the smell of blood still clings to his skin almost like a second skin. He hates it. Hates that he lost control and killed those alphas. Hates that he could easily be blackmailed and used just to keep his secret. And most importantly, he hates what his life has become.
By the time Soren steps out of the bathroom, his skin has gone pale from how long he stood under the shower. He steps into the bedroom dressed in a pair of pajamas and a sweatshirt. His gaze finds Reign, who stands waiting at the door, arms crossed over his chest. He has removed his suit and gloves, and the sleeves of his shirt are folded to his elbows, displaying his tattoos.
Soren freezes; he stares at the floor and brings his hands together, fondling his fingers while his heart hammers hard in his throat.
“Come closer, Fox."
Soren stops himself from flinching, and slowly, he drags his feet over to Reign and stops a few feet away, but Reign reaches forward and yanks him forward, their bodies colliding. Soren’s breath stutters.
Reign stares down at him. “You didn’t seem shaken when you killed those alphas. Why are you so shaken in front of me?”
Soren refuses to look at him; he feels like a soul trapped in an unknown body. Maybe because he isn’t an alpha. Maybe because he looks like the devil in a suit. Maybe because Soren is scared of the devil.
Reign grabs his face and lifts it, their eyes meeting. “What else are you hiding from me, Fox?”
If Soren could read the enigma’s eyes, he would have been able to tell what he was thinking, but his eyes remained as blank as a sheet. Soren doesn't think as he mutters. “Nothing,’
“That’s not what I was told.”
“Yet you killed him before he could reveal whatever secret he thought he had of me,” Soren counters. He can’t stop wondering why Reign killed the Big Boss without hearing him out.
Reign twinkles. “He touched what was mine; do you think I was interested in hearing him out? He didn’t deserve any second after.”
Soren swallows, and his heart skips a beat at the word 'mine.'
Reign lifts his face slightly higher. “So tell me, Fox, what else are you hiding?”
You see, Soren is a liar, and he has lived his whole life lying to survive, so another lie to cover up his previous lies won’t hurt him. He blinks as he looks into Reign’s eyes, and without a second thought, he blurts out.
“I have no secrets."