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54 Chapter 54
54 Chapter 54
Betrayed By Blood-
Avery gasped in shock, her heart pounding hard in her chest, audible to her. Her widened with panic as the table fell deathly silent, all eyes fixed on her, on them.
eyes
“Avery,” Xander’s voice was low and rough. The grip on her wrist tightened, and she gasped as she was yanked forward, her body crashing into his.
For a moment, everything around them seemed to freeze.
Avery’s heart raced, her mind scrambling to make sense of what was happening. She could feel Xander’s breath against her skin, his grip like iron.
In an instant, the room erupted.
Cain’s chair scraped loudly against the floor as he shot up from the table, his golden eyes burning with rage. Every inch of Cain’s body screamed to tear him apart, his wolf thrashed inside of him, growling to be let out.
Avery flinched, her face pale, but Xander didn’t seem to care. He held her tightly, his grip tightening without a single thought in his head.
Lydia shot to her feet, her voice frantic with panic as she called out, “Xander!” But the words fell on deaf ears. Xander didn’t move, didn’t even seem to hear her. His gaze
remained fixed, focused on Avery.
Cain snapped.
In one swift, predatory motion, Cain crossed the distance between them. His hands shot out, gripping Xander’s shoulders with a force that made the other man stagger. Without a word, Cain shoved Xander away from Avery, throwing him against the wall with such violence that the entire room seemed to shudder. The force of the impact left Xander gasping for air, his back slamming into the stone with a crack.
“How dare you?” Cain growled out lowly, the entire table now disrupted, everyone flying to their feet in panic and fear. His eyes locked onto Xander, who was now on the floor, grasping for air.
“Did you lose all semblance of reason in your brain to act so stupidly right in front of
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me, or have you grown so bold that you don’t realize who I am anymore?” Cain gritted
out.
Xander, still dazed from the blow, struggled to lift himself up, his hands shaking. “1–I
didn’t mean-”
“Shut up.” Cain’s voice was ice–cold. In a blur of motion, Cain grabbed Xander by the throat, lifting him off the ground easily. “Are you insane?” He spat out once more, his grip tightening around Xander’s throat, cutting off his air supply.
Lydia rushed towards them, “C–Cain–Please, he didn’t mean to-”
Cain snapped his head at her, his normal green orbs now turned to gold. It wasn’t just Cain anymore. His wolf had taken over, and all semblance of reasoning was out the window.
Lydia’s body trembled the moment she saw his eyes, she staggered back, her throat constricting. There was no reasoning with Cain any longer.
“A–alpha–C–Cain-” Xander struggled to speak but was unable to, Cain’s grip was like iron, rendering him useless.
“Shut up!” Cain snarled angrily. He threw Xander aside once more, sending him crashing to the floor. Xander groaned in pain, but Cain wasn’t finished. Without giving him a second glance, Cain turned back to his seat, his gaze locking onto the place where Xander had just been, his eyebrows raised as something shimmered in the light. It was small yet caught his eye. It looked eerily familiar, too familiar, and it had just dropped from Xander’s body.
Xander’s body trembled in fear, his breath shallow as he pulled himself upright. He shook his head, trying to clear the fuzziness, but he couldn’t. It was like his brain was in a permanent blur, rendering a part of him useless.
“What is this?” Cain asked, his voice gravely low and deep. Xander managed to look up, his eyes falling on the silver bead in Cain’s hand.
Xander’s eyes widened at the sight of the bead. His lips parted, but no words came out, his mind sluggish and disoriented. The room felt like it had shrunk, the weight of
Cain’s anger suffocating everyone present.
“Answer me, now,” Cain growled out. He didn’t look at Xander as he spoke, his focus fixed entirely on the small object in his hand. The same one he had found in the woods,
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the same one in his pockets right now. The same one he found with the assassin.
“I–I don’t…” Xander stammered, “I don’t know what that is…”
Cain’s gaze snapped to him, “You don’t know?” His voice was quiet, too quiet, and somehow more terrifying than his growls. “It just happens to fall from you?”
Lydia stepped forward hesitantly, her hands raised in a gesture of submission. “Cain, please,” she began, her voice trembling. “Xander wouldn’t-”
“He wouldn’t, but he did!” Cain snapped, his voice thundering through the dining hall. He threw the bead at Lydia, who caught it swiftly, her eyes scanning it. It was the same one. Her face turned sickly pale at the realization, her body shaking violently from within. She shook her head, refusing to believe the insinuation. It was wrong. All of it was wrong.
“T–this is a mistake. You know Xander. He would never-”
“Silence!” Cain’s voice thundered through the hall, making everyone flinch. Lydia froze in place, her face pale, her lips trembling as she took a step back.
Xander was on his knees now, his body shaking as he tried to meet Cain’s eyes. “Alpha, I swear… I didn’t put that there. I didn’t-”
“This bead just magically happened to fall right out of your clothes. This same bead an assassin had on him when he attacked me in the woods today? You have the exact same type on you.” Cain finally let out.
The hall erupted in chaos as Cain’s words filled the air. Cain was attacked in the woods. by an assassin? Someone sent an assassin to him?
King Alaric stepped forward, his hand stretched out. “Alpha Cain, I think it might be better if you settle this carefully. An assassin attacking you is grave, but your warrior being accused of it is-”
“Tell me when I asked for your opinion, Your Majesty? This is about the affairs of my pack, and I see to it as the Pack Alpha. You have no right to butt your head into something that doesn’t concern you, King Alaric. Not when you can barely manage your own affairs.” Cain spat out.
It was like a punch to Alaric, his face redder than possible, his fists clenched at his sides as his world boiled from within. This was the most disrespectful thing Cain had
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said to him.
Cain’s patience snapped. In a blur of movement, he was in front of Xander, dragging him to his feet by the collar of his shirt.
“You think I’m a fool?” Cain snarled, his voice venomous. “You think I don’t see through this pathetic act? First, send assassins to kill me, then you have the audacity to do this?”
“C–Cain, I didn’t-” Xander choked, his words cut off as Cain’s fist collided with his jaw, sending him sprawling to the ground.
“I will teach you what it is to be a traitor. I will teach you what happens to traitors and backstabbers. I will make an example of you. You don’t deserve mercy,” Cain growled, advancing toward Xander again. “You don’t deserve to breathe.”
Xander scrambled back, his hands raised in a feeble attempt to ward Cain off. “P–please, Alpha, I-”
Before he could finish, Cain grabbed his arm, his grip unyielding. Without a word, he raised his other hand, his claws glinting in the light.
The hall erupted into chaos.
“Cain, no!” Lydia screamed, rushing forward, but she was too slow.
Cain brought his claws down with brutal force, cutting off Xander’s arm in one swift
motion.
Xander’s scream pierced the air, raw, as blood splattered across the floor. The severed arm fell with a thud, the scent of blood filling the room.
Cain stood over him, breathing heavily, his golden eyes blazing with rage. “Let this be a reminder to everyone,” he said, his voice cold, “I do not condone traitors and
betrayals.”
He turned to the guards standing frozen, “Take him to the dungeons. Let him rot there until I decide what to do with him.”
The guards hesitated for a fraction of a second before snapping into action, dragging Xander’s trembling, blood–soaked body away.
