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"Tie her up," Silas commands his men.

With not a second wasted, I was immediately pushed to my knees while another ties a rope around my wrists behind my back. Soon, I had no choice but to release my grip on my weapon as someone forces my hands open.

"You son of a bitch," I hiss out.

"Tsk. Tsk. You need to control your mouth more, young lady," he drawls. Getting out of his puny little throne, he marches towards me with a glass of water.

Like I expected, he poured it on me with ease. I shiver when the coldness hits my skin. My hair was damp and a piece of hair covered my face, and it irritated me that I couldn't move the strand away.

Letting out a humorless chuckle, I continue, "Wine would've been fancier, you cheapskate."

He squats down so we met eye level and I took this opportunity to spit at his irritating face.

Silas closes his eyes in what I assume is an attempt to calm himself down. Bringing a hand to his face, he wipes himself clean and fakes a smile. "You and Theo really do belong to each other. Immature."

"Look who's speaking," I snarl at him.

This wipes off the counterfeit smile on his visage, replaced by a scowl. As if sensing his master's displeasure, the man who tied me up grabs my hair forcefully.

Oh no, my poor scalp.

"What is this?" I laugh out. "Thing 1 and Thing 2?"

Before I know it, a strong hand slaps my face so hard I could feel the scalding heat of its imprint on my skin.

I scoff. "Is that all you've got, old man?"

"No," he responds. I glare at his amused expression. "I'm just saving the best for last."

My cheek was hurting from the slap and the constant tugging on my scalp was making my headache much worse than it already is. In addition, the wolfsbane was also making me more exhausted.

"Why are you doing this, you fucking jerk?!" I scream at him.

"Revenge, my dear," he tells me as if it was the most obvious answer in the whole universe. "I'm a hungry man."

"Immature," I mock, imitating his voice in a high-pitched tone.

"You don't understand anything, do you?" he questions. I could sense his anger increasing more and more that it almost made me laugh. "You don't understand the pain of betrayal. I trusted Cara and she let me down. I offered to take care of her and that bastard child, and she rejects me. I loved her and she left me. Why should I be the one suffering?"

Okay.

"Then kill that bitch Cara, you son of a gun!" I scream at him, exasperated. "What do I have to do with this bullshit?!"

"You see, as hypocritical as it sounds, I would never lay a finger on my mate. The mate bond won't allow me and I won't let myself do so either. I loved her then and I still love her now. Too bad, us together is just plain toxic," he voices out. A dry chuckle follows right after.

"That's so fucking cute, it makes me sick," I spit out.

He ignores my statement and continues talking, "So I thought to myself that if I can't kill her to feed my dissatisfaction, why can't I just make hers and the peoples' lives around her a living hell?"

"You psycho," I snarl. "You're one sadistic son of a bitch, you know that, right?"

Again, he disregards my insults and proceeds to his speech, "I can't fall asleep at night knowing that while people like you fall asleep soundly, I'm still up, struggling with my displeasure. I need to kill someone and bring suffering to your privileged lives to fulfill my satisfaction."

I grumble out, "I didn't ask for your bedtime story, asshole."

"Sadly, your precious little mate is too difficult to get rid of. And too bad for you, I don't have a single fucking clue on who screwed my mate and destroyed my life," he continues. By now, his smirk was long gone and a scowl painted his face, his eyes twinkling with malicious intent. "If I can't kill him, why can't I just kill you instead?"

Using my peripheral, I note the way Ian stiffened at his words. His head was down—an act that surprised me since he was a wolf filled with pride. And that's when the realization hits me.

I resist the laugh of pure disbelief that was forcing its way out of my lips.

"What would you do?" I question Silas with a smirk. He raises a brow quizzically. "What would you do if that man was right here, right now?"

I peer at Ian, who jolts and lifts his head, his eyes wide as they met mine. I break eye contact, not wanting to see a sign of weakness on the brother I used to admire.

On the contrary, the question seemed to pique the Rogue King's interest.

"I'll kill him—no. I'll make him suffer. I'll torture him for hours every single day to remind him of the suffering he's caused me. And I'd feed him, give him a bed to sleep in, and clothes to wear," he avows. His eyes glimmered with so much malice, it frightened me. "I'd keep him alive and let him wake up to the sun rising only for me to torment him until daylight ends again and again."

"Wow," I breath out and gulp visibly.

"Luckily for me and unfortunately for you, you decided to be a little sunshine and pranced around our complications," he tells me.

"Funny," I mutter to myself, tasting the bitterness on my tongue. "You have the wrong sibling."

This man was stupid for not picking up my hints.

"Stop talking," he snarls at me.

"You're fucking stupid, dickhead!" I snarl back. "You really think killing me will relieve your conscience. Theo will just rip your limbs apart if I didn't already. One by one. You know what will work, though? Murder that coward of a mate of yours!"

My flesh was burning from the wolfsbane and my head felt like it was being pulled apart. Yet, my mouth and voice box felt more energetic than ever.

"You talk too much," he growls at me. His eyes were flickering from blue to a bright red, his wolf asking for release. "You know, I'm surprised you're still alive with the amount of wolfsbane you've consumed for the past 24 hours."

"I don't know if I should be scared or flattered," I huff out.

He gives me one last crazed smile before he pats his pants and gets up on his feet.

"Give me the syringe," he commands another of his cronies.

Prick.

I warily eye the small, yet dangerous needle that was carefully placed on his palms. Silas approaches my knelt body with a sadistic smile and I return the favor.

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into, asshat," I tell him, my voice wavering—much to my dismay. My throat was dry and I stop myself from kindly asking him for the cup of water.

"Oh, I do know what I'm getting myself into," he replies with a cocky smirk. Grabbing my shoulder forcefully, he injects the powerful poison into my system.

This time, the effects were fast and not gradual. Pain shoots through me, making me jolt. A burning sensation travels from my feet to the top of my head and it felt like I could blow up any minute now. I would have fallen do the floor face first if not for the person pulling my head up by grabbing my hair.

Despite the ringing in my ears, I could make out Silas's amused words, "Can you hear that?"

I use all my strength in an attempt to clear my mind momentarily and figure out what the hell he was talking about. And then it reaches my ears: wolves howling and the sound of paws meeting the ground. Thousands.

"It's the sound of war," Silas whispers to my ear, his smirk growing.

I cough out blood on his white shirt, feeling satisfied.

A familiar sensation I knew too well strikes me.

It starts with a quick, familiar tingle. Then, waves of intense heat hits me, making my head pulse in agony. And finally, scorching and uncontrollable energy consumes me.

"I guess dear brother hasn't told you this, yet, Silas," I taunt. I could feel my wolf start to emerge, demanding release. "You might want to make better allies. If there's a next time, that is."

The only response I received was an unsure but curious glare.

"Wolfsbane might make me weak, but it makes my wolf insane, dipshit," I growl.

And that's when I let my wolf take over and lunge towards the man who has completely lost his mind.