025
Isolde.
Isolde went pale like a ghost. The gasps she took were ragged. She perspired, rooted to her spot as Draco strode further into the room. The sun peeking through the wide bay windows cast shadows over his frame.
The frown on his face made his scar more menacing at the moment. It took all her willpower for Isolde to maintain her stance and not cower before Draco.
Her eyes roamed down to his lips, and she remembered them devouring Edrand's. The thought gnawed at her, and she balled her fingers into tight fists.
She stepped backward reflexively when she saw him advancing further into the room. Alfos stood behind, weighing everything with a deadpan expression.
"Edrand?" Draco crouched, taking in Edrand as blood dripped from his lip and nose. He gently pulled his fringes away from his temple, watching his male.
Edrand had just recently recovered from his mental disorder, and this female had the audacity to mistreat him? Draco's mind warred. Isolde saw the pitiful look on his face as he watched Edrand bawl.
"Draco...she...pushed me," Edrand stuttered, running short of breath. Isolde stared aghast, her heart pounding when it dawned on her that Edrand was lying. "I did nothing...but she pushed me. My love, she's brutal. She's violent. She tried to kill me..." Edrand began to throw a huge fit.
He kicked his legs Into the air like a child, bawling. But Isolde wasn't having it. She'd rather die than have this male lie about her.
"That's a lie. He started it all. He tried to touch me!" She yelped, restraining herself from leaping forward and smacking Edrand.
He's evil. A liar and a manipulator. Isolde hummed inwardly as the distinct voices began to rattle in her mind again. The voices she heard whenever he was within reach.
"I don't lie! You intentionally tried to kill me!" Edrand hissed, falling into Draco's arms. He held him, running his hand through Edrand's hair.
Blazing iridescent eyes turned to Isolde, burning her up. She bit into her lip, lowering her head to avoid Draco's gaze.
"Is it true?" He asked, his voice as cold as ice. He kept running his fingers through Edrand's hair.
"No, my lord." To address Draco by his title was harder for Isolde than she thought. But given the circumstances, she knew it was paramount. "Roga was here when it all happened." She added and turned to Roga. Isolde moved close to the woman and urged her, "Tell him what happened, Roga. Tell him," Isolde nudged Roga.
Draco pinned his eyes on them. Alfos frowned, as did the sentinels flanking his sides. Despite her desperate urging, Roga couldn't bring herself to speak.
The woman kept her face down, afraid to even flutter her lashes in front of Draco and Edrand. Her actions totally disappointed Isolde. Her blood ran cold as she looked at the female longer than she could afford.
It came as a surprise to Isolde when she felt the sting behind her lashes, and she knew it was tears. She'd been betrayed by the same woman she was trying to defend earlier.
"So it was all a lie after all," Draco broke the deafening silence, shaking his head. Isolde refused to meet his gaze. "You deliberately hurt Edrand? Do you know who he is to me?" He roared the last words, startling Isolde, and she shrieked.
Watery eyes fiercely met his face. Teeth gritted with the corners of her mouth squeezed.
She blinked away the tears threatening to rain down her cheeks.
"Edrand," Draco called, flicking a glance down at Edrand. The male hummed, and Draco asked, "What punishment do you want me to give her?"
Isolde's eyes skittered around the room, settling on Alfos as if begging him to come to her rescue. As usual, Alfos remained aloof. Who knows what punishment Edrand would decide for her?
"My love," Edrand moved his gaze over her body and then demanded, "Lock her in the Viper's Mouth until the first light. I want her to pay for hurting me."
Roga gasped at Edrand's words. The sentinels beside Alfos flinched, letting Isolde know that the Viper's Mouth wasn't a good thing. She began to panic when the name whirled in her brain, dawning on her with a note of familiarity.
It was like she'd heard it before, but Isolde didn't know where. Terror surged through her mind as she panted, glaring at Edrand.
He had a faint smirk on his face as he listened to Draco order his sentinels. "Take her to the Viper's Mouth right away."
"No! I did nothing to him!" She hissed, wrestling to pull her hand away from the sentinels' hold. Her attempts failed.
Draco stood to his feet with Edrand in his arms. He lumbered to the exit while Edrand leered at Isolde. As they were about to pass Alfos, the beta uttered,
"My lord...please reconsider."
"There's nothing to reconsider, Alfos, She hurt my male, and she'll pay for it," Draco sternly declared, ignoring Isolde's curses and protests about her innocence. Draco walked away, cradling Edrand.
By now, Isolde was a bawling mess. For some reason, that Viper's Mouth scared her more than it should. She thrashed against the sentinels, trying to kick at them, but their hold never yielded.
Alfos stepped into her space, detached blue eyes boring down at her for longer than a minute.
"I didn't do it..." She tried to defend herself, but Alfos said into her face, "I warned you. Unfortunately, you never listened."
His powerful hand nabbed her arm. The sentinels' grip loosened, and with a firm nudge, he began to take her away from the Luna training room to the Viper's Mouth.
___
Alfos's heart pounded as he dragged the breeder. The Viper's Mouth brought back so many memories he had buried deep in the recesses of his mind.
Memories about Andriandita.
He remembered the day their father ordered for Andriandita to be locked away after Edrand accused her of stabbing him in the hand. Only Alfos believed his sister was innocent, but their father didn't believe it.
Andriandita could be many things, but she wasn't vicious. Yet Edrand painted her in a bad light before their parents, and Mr. Wilbur had her locked in the Viper's Mouth.
Since Andriandita was born, she was never loved by their father because of his misguided idea that Andriandita wasn't his biological child due to what happened to their mother.
The memory made Alfos wince, and he unknowingly tightened his grip on Isolde's arm. She yelped, but her cries weren't enough to break through the fog of memories flooding Alfos' mind.
Before Andriandita was born, their mother was raped by their father's brother, Myakiah Wilbur. It appeared the man had long been admiring their mother, and when he had the opportunity to be alone with her in a barn, he took the woman against her will.
Of course, their father murdered his brother without a second thought. His love for his mate, their mother, didn't die. Their bond grew even stronger. The only person who took all the blame was Andriandita.
To their father, she was a cursed child, and that was why he didn't bother to save her, even though he knew the Butcher was about to kill all the female species.
Their father let Andriandita die, even when he could've prevented it. The only time he reacted was when his mate, their mother, was also killed. Unfortunately for Mr. Wilbur, the Butcher spared no one, not even his friends' mates.
The day Andriandita was locked in the Viper's Mouth, she barely survived. Her system was filled with toxins-Wolfsbane.
That was an experience Alfos couldn't forget, cradling his nearly dying sister in his arms when the sentinels removed her from the Viper's Mouth.
It somewhat annoyed Alfos to put the breeder into the Mouth. Given that she's human, the Controller would switch the toxins to Duskthorn, a toxin known to be dangerous to human beings.
No matter how much he hated it, Alfos would only obey Draco's orders. It was the oath he swore.
As they arrived before the building molded with bricks and devoid of life, Alfos tugged on Isolde, pushing her into the building. They walked through the hall as Isolde's shrieks intensified until they stopped in front of the chamber that housed the Viper's Mouth.
Alfos took the key from the wall and latched it on the lock, unlocking the door, and then he pushed it open, revealing the chamber of pain.
TBC.