Chapter 201 CHAPTER 201

Chapter 201 CHAPTER 201
Adrian's POV
The first hit landed on her shoulder. I heard the crack of bone, felt the impact travel up my arm. She screamed—a sharp, piercing sound that cut through the room like a blade.

But then she laughed again.

"Is that all?" she wheezed, blood already dripping from her mouth. "Is that all you've got, you pathetic excuse for a wolf?"

I hit her again. This time across the ribs. I felt them give way under the force of the blow. She crumpled forward, gasping, but she was still laughing.

"You're nothing," she choked out, blood spraying. "You were always nothing. You'll die nothing. Just a forgotten name in Rafael's story. A failure who couldn't even kill a wolf that was already dying."

I screamed. I brought the pipe down again and again. I hit her arms, her legs, her back. I felt bones shatter under the blows. I heard her screams turn into sobs, then back into laughter.

"Mathias will never forgive you," she choked out. "He'll hunt you down. He'll make you pay for every single thing you've done to us."

"He's not coming for you," I snarled, swinging again. "He abandoned you. He chose Rafael over you. He chose his friend over his own mother."

"He chose right," she said, her voice barely a whisper now. "He chose right."

I hit her in the face.

The pipe connected with her jaw, and I felt it break. Her head snapped to the side, blood spraying across the floor. She collapsed, her body going limp.

But she was still breathing. Still alive. Still laughing.

Her face was a ruin. Her jaw hung at a wrong angle, her teeth shattered, her nose flattened against her cheek. One eye was swollen shut, the other barely open. Blood poured from a dozen wounds, pooling beneath her on the floor.

And she was laughing.

"Your mother would be so proud," she rasped, the words barely intelligible through her broken jaw. "If she could see you now. Beating a defenseless woman to death with a pipe. The great Adrian Vera. What a legacy."

"Shut up," I said, my voice shaking. "Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!"

"You'll never escape his shadow," she continued, her voice rising despite everything. "

I raised the pipe one last time.

"Curse you, Adrian Vera," she said, her voice suddenly clear despite the blood and the broken bones. "Curse you and your bloodline. You will meet a fate worse than death. You will lose everything you've ever loved. You will die alone, forgotten, and no one will mourn you."

"SHUT UP!"

"May the Moon Goddess—"

I brought the pipe down on her skull.

The impact was sickening. I felt her skull cave in under the force of the blow. A wet, crunching sound that I knew would stay with me forever. Blood and brain matter sprayed across the floor, across my hands, across my face.

She was finally, blissfully silent.

I stood there, breathing hard, the pipe still clutched in my hands. I stared down at the ruin of her body.

She was dead.

But I didn't feel satisfied.

I felt... empty. Hollow. The rage that had been burning in my chest was gone, replaced by something cold and bitter. Her words echoed in my head.

I threw the pipe across the room. It clattered against the wall and fell to the floor.

"GET IN HERE!" I screamed.

The door burst open. Two keepers rushed in, their faces pale, their eyes wide with horror at the scene before them.

"Take her body," I snarled. "Burn it. I don't care where. Just get it out of my sight."

They hesitated. I could see the fear in their eyes, the revulsion.

"NOW!"

They scrambled forward, grabbing the woman's body, dragging it out of the room. Blood smeared across the floor behind them.

I stood there, alone, my hands shaking. I looked down at myself. My clothes were soaked with blood. My hands were slick with it. I could taste it in my mouth, metallic and bitter.

My eye throbbed. The wound was still fresh, still raw. It was a constant reminder of everything I had lost.

I walked to the window and stared out at the dark grounds. The moon was hidden behind clouds. Fitting.

I tried to think about what came next. Mathias was still out there. Rafael was still alive. Vivienne was still breathing. And I was still here, broken and blind in one eye, with nothing but rage to keep me going.

But I couldn't focus. My mind kept drifting back to the woman's face. Her laughter. Her defiance. Her words.

You'll always be second.

I heard a knock at the door. Then a guard's voice.

"Master Adrian. There's someone here to see you. He says it's urgent."

I turned. "Who?"

"He didn't give his name. But he said you would want to see him."

I frowned. Who would come here at this hour? Who would dare disturb me after everything that had happened?

I took a deep breath. Then another.

"Send him to the living room," I said. "I'll be there shortly."

The guard nodded and disappeared.

I looked at my reflection in the window. I looked terrible. My face was pale, my eye bandaged, my clothes covered in blood. I tried to straighten myself, to look presentable, but it was hopeless.

I walked to the living room.

The room was dimly lit, the only light coming from a single lamp in the corner. A figure was sitting in one of the armchairs, relaxed, his legs crossed, his hands resting on the armrests like he owned the place.

I recognized him immediately.

Collins.

He looked up as I entered, and a slow smile spread across his face.

"Adrian," he said. "You look terrible."

"What the fuck are you doing here?" I snarled, stepping into the room. "You're supposed to be 
Watching the girl.”

"I am watching her," Collins said, completely unbothered by my tone. "But I needed to check in. I needed to see how you were doing."

"How I'm doing?" I laughed, but it was hollow and bitter. "Look at me. Look at what your failure has cost me."

Collins tilted his head, studying my face. "That's quite the injury. Does it hurt?"

"Does it—" I sputtered. "Of course it fucking hurts! I lost my eye! I lost my eye because your plan failed! Because you didn't take the girl when you had the chance!"

Collins raised an eyebrow, completely unimpressed by my outburst. "My plan? You were the one who insisted on going after Rafael directly. You were the one who wanted to fight him. I told you it was a mistake. I told you to be patient."

"You told me nothing!"

"I told you to let me handle her," Collins said, his voice sharpening slightly. "I told you she was important. I told you there was something special about her. But you couldn't wait. You wanted your revenge. And now you're paying the price."

I felt the rage flare up again. "Don't you dare lecture me. You have no idea—"

"Careful," Collins said, his voice dropping. His eyes flashed with something that made me stop mid-sentence.

He shifted slightly, and I saw it. A faint golden glow emanating from his skin. A warmth that seemed to fill the room. It was gone as quickly as it appeared, but I knew what it meant.

He wasn't just a Seraphim. He was a powerful one. And he was more than capable of killing me if he wanted to.

I took a deep breath. Then another.

"Fine," I said, forcing myself to calm down. "Fine. We had a truce. We agreed to work together. But you haven't held up your end of the bargain."

Collins leaned back in his chair, studying me with those unreadable eyes. "What bargain?"

"The girl," I snapped. "You were supposed to take her. You were supposed to bring her to me. Instead, you've been watching her, circling her, doing nothing!"

"I've been observing," Collins said calmly. "I've been learning. There's more to Vivienne Chen than meets the eye."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, she's not just a human. She's something else entirely." Collins paused, his eyes gleaming with obsession. "She's a Seraphim, Adrian. One of my kind. The first I've encountered in decades. And she carries something more. Something ancient and p

I stared at him. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about a power that goes beyond anything I've ever sensed. A depth to her that I can't fully explain. She's not just a Seraphim. She's something rarer. Something I've been searching for my entire existence."

His voice dropped, almost reverent.

"She belongs with me. She belongs to my kind. To my race. I will not let some mongrel wolf keep her from me. I will not let Rafael claim what should be mine."

"She's already his mate!" I shouted. "He already marked her! There's nothing you can do!"

"Nothing?" Collins laughed. "I can do whatever I want. I will unmark her. I will take her from him. I will make her mine. And there is nothing anyone can do to stop me."

I stared at him, my mind reeling. "You're insane."

"Maybe," Collins said, a strange smile playing on his lips. "But I will have her. One way or another."

"Then what do you need me for?" I demanded. "If you're just going to take her for yourself, what's the point of this alliance?"

Collins studied me for a long moment. "I need you to keep Rafael distracted. I need you to keep him busy while I work. While I get closer to her and  make her mine."

"Distracted?”

"Fight him. Taunt him. Threaten him. I don't care what you do, as long as you keep his attention away from me."

I felt the rage building again. "You're using me."

"Of course I'm using you," Collins said, completely unashamed. "Just as you were using me. The only difference is, I was honest about it."

I wanted to lunge at him. I wanted to wrap my hands around his throat and squeeze until the light left his eyes.

But I couldn't. He was stronger than me. More powerful. And I needed him.

"You expect me to just accept this?" I snarled. 

"I expect you to understand your place," Collins said, his voice dropping dangerously. "And  remember who holds the power in this arrangement."

He stepped closer, his eyes boring into mine.

"Let me be very clear, Adrian. If you go after Vivienne, if you try to hurt her or even as much as plucking a hair from her body—I will take your other eye. And then I will take your life. Slowly."

I felt the threat settle into my bones like ice. I knew he meant it.

But I also knew something else. Collins and I were still allies. This was bigger than just Vivienne. Bigger than Rafael.

We had a plan. A shared goal.

One that would change everything.

"You forget," I said, forcing my voice to remain steady. "We're still working together. This alliance still serves a purpose. Your obsession with the girl doesn't change that."

Collins smiled. "I haven't forgotten. When the time comes, when our plan comes to fruition, everything will fall into place. Including Vivienne."

He walked toward the door, his footsteps silent on the floor. He paused at the threshold, turning to look back at me.

"One more thing," he said. "That eye. The one you lost. It's a fitting punishment, don't you think?"

"What?"

"Rafael took your eye. He took your power. He took your pride. And now he's taken your leverage." Collins smiled. "But don't worry. When I'm done with Vivienne, you'll have all the revenge you need. Watching me take her from him will be punishment enough."

He was gone.

I stood there, alone, staring at the empty doorway. The rage was boiling inside me, hot and uncontrollable.

Collins.

That smug, arrogant, self-righteous—

I grabbed the nearest lamp and hurled it against the wall. It shattered, pieces scattering across the floor.

"FUCK!" I screamed.

But even through the rage, I knew.

Collins was right. I needed him. And he needed me. Our plan was bigger than my revenge. It was bigger than Rafael or his obsession with Vivenne. 

I just had to be patient.

I just had to wait.

The pieces were already in motion. And when they finally came together—when our plan finally reached its conclusion—they would all pay.

Every single one of them.