Chapter 7

• Dominic's POV
• Vivian walked in quickly, wearing a proper long dress. She took in the scene before her, her face showing just the right mix of shock and heartache.
• I remembered when I had stepped toward the two women earlier. I caught a guard’s eyes flicker before he quietly stepped back half a pace. I hadn’t paid attention then. Now it was clear: He went to inform her.
• "They are just children! How could you be so ruthless!" Vivian rushed forward to pull me away.
• "Get lost." I shook off her hand.
• "Dominic!" Vivian screamed. "They are your sister and your friend!"
• "They provoked the wrong person." I looked down at the two fools sobbing on the floor.
• "We were wrong! We were really wrong! Please spare us!" Aurora and Rebecca cried as they begged.
• I looked at their pitiful state, listened to their cries, yet felt nothing inside. This pain wasn’t enough, far from enough.
• It couldn’t erase the image of my mother slowly dying, nor could it silence the beast of helplessness gnawing at my heart.
• My anger didn’t cool. It burned hotter, fed by the uselessness of striking back without real power.
• “If there’s a next time, it won’t stop at a broken foot.” I pulled my boot back and stared at Vivian. “Control your daughter,” I said slowly, each word cold, “and stop sending messages to your useless son, Ares.”
• Her face froze for a second, then softened into fake sorrow. “I don’t know what you mean, Dominic. I only pity the children.”
• I ignored her lies and glanced at the guard who had slipped out earlier. He shook, his head dropping fast. Vivian followed my eyes, and her face turned pale. It was good; she understood.
• I leaned closer. “We caught Ares’s right hand, Leonard.” Her pupils shrank.
• “He told us where Ares is,” I whispered near her ear. “Soon, I’ll have him.”
• Her body stiffened.
• Straightening, I walked out. Behind me, Aurora and Rebecca’s cries mixed with Vivian’s pitiful act.
• The dungeon was cold and damp, the air thick with rust and blood. At least here, nothing was hidden, no masks, no lies.
• The torturer bowed when he saw me. “Alpha King.”
• “Did he talk?”
• Shame filled his eyes. “Leonard is strong. We tried everything. He hasn’t said a word.”
• I stepped inside the cell. Leonard hung in chains, his body a map of whip marks, blood, and sweat dripping together. He lifted his head, eyes burning with hate.
• “Dominic.” He spat blood.
• I waved the torturer away and pulled up a chair. Mark stood behind me, silent as a shadow.
• “What did Ares give you to make you this loyal?” I asked.
• Leonard smirked. “A bastard who killed his own father knows nothing about loyalty. Or honor.”
• “Tell me where he is,” I said flatly, “and I’ll make your death quick.”
• "You, a father-killer like you," he finally spoke, his voice hoarse, "do you think I'm afraid of death?"
• I nodded. “Good.”
• I stood up, took a whip from the wall, and without a word, raised my arm and lashed out.
• Fresh blood ran down his back. He groaned but clenched his jaw, refusing to scream.
• I struck again and again. Blood sprayed warm across my face. Fury pounded in my veins, Cassius’s voice clawing inside me. “Kill him! Tear him apart!”
• But Leonard stayed silent, stubborn and unyielding like stone, and that look in his eyes was one I had seen before in my father’s gaze when I rebelled, the same contempt that marked me as despicable.
• The fire inside me raged even hotter, and I stopped not because I was tired but because of the heavy weight pressing down on my chest.
• I threw the whip to the ground.
• My useless brother Ares, why did he deserve such loyalty? I killed my father, took the throne, yet all I gained was betrayal and schemes.
• I had never known that kind of loyalty. The thought made me angrier than the strikes on my own body. I hurled the whip again, the sound echoing through the cell. Physical torture was pointless. His loyalty only made me look like a fool.
• I turned to Mark behind me.
• "Watch Vivian day and night. I want to know everyone she meets, every word she says, and every letter she sends."
• "Yes, Alpha King."
• I left the dungeon behind, leaving Leonard's groans and the sound of iron chains.
• My dear stepmother, Vivian, would surely try to warn her precious son.
• The trap was set. Now, I had to wait for the prey to walk in.
• But as I walked down the corridor, the fire in my chest didn’t die. Leonard’s cursed face wouldn’t leave my mind.
• That defiance, that stubborn refusal to bow, sickened me. The taste of defeat tightened in my chest.
• Leonard’s eyes, sharp and burning, pressed into my mind like fire. I hated looking at them. I wanted to see a different face instead. Eyes that would break, cry, and plead with me to stop.
• Alina.
• Her face flashed in my mind.
• I walked faster to my room. How’s my new pet doing?