Chapter 61

Chapter 61
Samael POV
I had spent my entire life building a shield—both in my mind to lock out the Elders’ ancient commands and around my people to keep them hidden from the rot of our society. I was the King of the Rogues. I didn’t bend, I didn't yield, and I certainly didn't make mistakes based on raw, primal impulses.
Yet, as the early morning fog rolled thick over the border between the hunting grounds and the neutral valleys, my instincts were screaming a single, unfaithful word.
Mate.
‘She is close,’ Ades growled, his fierce paws restlessly pacing the floor of my mind, his golden eyes burning into mine. ‘The white wolf... she’s pushing herself too hard. The connection we forced when we bit out her tracker is throwing her body into chaos. She needs us.’
‘Quiet, Ades,’ I hissed back, grinding my teeth as I adjusted the strap of my heavy leather boots. ‘She is a weakness we cannot afford. The plan comes first. We are here to infiltrate the Elders' archives, to find the prophecy and the keys, not to give in to a biological trap.’
But the truth was a heavy knot in the pit of my stomach. The night before, I had crossed a line. Driven mad by the sight of Malia talking to Warrior Helori, I had cornered her, letting the lust and the sheer possessiveness of the fated bond take over. We had torn each other apart on that cot, a frantic, sweating mess of broken rules and muffled cries. To scrub her intoxicating scent off my skin, I had thrown myself into the arms of my chosen fiancé, Mania Sidero, using her voluptuous body to drown out the echoes of my fated mate.
I thought it had worked. I thought the lingering guilt would keep Ades tightly on his leash.
"Alpha Samael," a sleek, purring voice cut through the quiet crackle of the dying campfire.
I turned around, my expression instantly hardening into a deadpan brick wall. Mania stood at the entrance of her tent, her dark hair cascading over her shoulders as she watched me with a sharp, calculating gaze.
But today, the green of her eyes carried a different kind of spark. It wasn't just her usual arrogance. It was heavy, laced with an ugly, unbridled jealousy.
"You left the bed so early again, Sammy," she murmured, stepping closer with a slow, deliberate stride. "Are you still thinking about that stowaway? The one you claim to be holding captive for our 'mission'?"
"Malia Lobo is none of your concern, Mania," I replied, my voice dropping into a low, authoritative rumble as I checked the layout map on the table. "The scouts reported a breach in the eastern perimeter near the old tunnel. I am heading there myself to clear the path before our main advance tomorrow."
"Oh, I know," she whispered, a malicious, dark grin twisting her lips. "And that's exactly why you're not going anywhere."
Before I could process her words, a sudden, blinding pain exploded at the base of my skull. A silver-tipped dart sank deep into my neck, injecting a massive, concentrated dose of liquid wolfsbane straight into my bloodstream.
I gasped, my knees instantly buckling as air was violently robbed from my lungs. I hit the dirt on one knee, my fists slamming into the earth to keep myself from collapsing completely. The world spun into an intense, blurry haze.
‘Samael! Wolfsbane! We're pinned down!’ Ades screamed in my head, his voice fading rapidly as the drug forced my wolf into a forced slumber.
From the shadows of the trees surrounding our camp, the rustling of heavy robes echoed through the silence. My heart hammered against my ribs in pure horror as three figures detached themselves from the obscurity.
The Elders.
Elder Juban, his arm still bound in a tight, clinical splint, stepped forward with a cruel, triumphant smirk looming on his wrinkled face. Behind him, two heavily armed Enforcers carried a set of silver-lined shackles.
"An excellent transaction, Miss Sidero," Juban murmured, looking down at me like a butcher evaluating meat. "The Council is deeply grateful for your cooperation in capturing this rogue vermin."
Mania stepped forward, her dark hair swaying. She looked at Juban, a flash of sudden anxiety breaking through her confident facade. "We had a deal, Elder. You promised me you would only hold him long enough to break his rebellious streak and make him forget about that Lobo girl. You said you'd release him back to me so we could proceed with our marriage alliance."
Juban let out a low, patronizing chuckle, completely ignoring her as his Enforcers kicked me onto my back and dragged my heavy, paralyzed body toward their transport. "Of course, my dear. We will return him... eventually. Once he has been thoroughly re-educated."
"Wait! That wasn't the agreement—" Mania's voice grew frantic as she took a step forward, realization finally dawning on her that she had been played by the very people she thought she could manipulate.
But it was too late. The heavy metal doors of the transport slammed shut, plunging me into absolute darkness.



The agonizing heat of a branding iron was the next thing that brought me back to consciousness.
I screamed, a raw, primal sound tearing from my throat as I was strapped down to a cold, sterile metal table. Two masked Council scientists were holding my shoulders down while Elder Juban stood over me, holding a glowing, blood-red magical artifact.
"Let us see how proud the King of the Rogues is once he bears the mark of total submission," Juban sneered.
He slammed the artifact against the back of my neck. The pain was unlike anything I had ever felt—a liquid fire that poured into my veins, wrapping around my spinal cord like burning silver chains, systematically locking Ades behind an iron wall, cutting off my healing, and forcing a crushing weight of obedience onto my soul.
The Slave Mark.
"Throw him in the lower cells with the Salvino boy," Juban ordered, wiping his hands on a cloth. "Let them rot together until Director Kodard is ready for their extraction."
Hours later, the heavy iron door of a subterranean dungeon opened, and my battered, marked body was ruthlessly tossed onto the damp stone floor. The door slammed shut behind me, leaving me in the dim glow of a single flickering light bulb.
I groaned, clutching my neck, the blood-red mark pulsing painfully against my skin.
"Well, well. Look what the cat dragged in."
A raspy, low voice echoed from the corner of the cell. I forced my head up, my eyes adjusting to the shadows. Sitting against the wall, his arms chained in heavy silver but his eyes burning with an untamable, monstrous fire, was Jasper Salvino. The Alpha heir. The Lycan.
"They got you too, Rogue King?" Jasper muttered, a dark, dangerous smirk playing on his bloody lips despite his condition.
I dragged myself up, leaning against the cold stone, a fierce surge of defiance overriding the magical weight of the mark on my neck. "They think they can shackle us, Salvino. They think a piece of magic makes us their pets."
Jasper’s eyes suddenly flared a bright, predatory gold, his Lycan aura vibrating through the very walls of the cell, cracking the stone beneath his fingers. "Then let's show these old bastards what happens when you put two Alphas in the same cage. We're getting out of here."