The Alphas Revenge: The Sin of Deceit

Chapter 71: Fascinating

Thor

Her screams were loud, but the urge to rip the door open and rescue her was even stronger.

Fascinating.

It was something I had never experienced before, and even as her cries echoed through the corridor, it took everything in me not to move toward that door. Every scream seemed to claw beneath my skin, stirring instincts I usually ignored without effort.

I watched Axel with growing amusement as he paced restlessly back and forth through the corridor like a wolf that had lost sight of its master.

He looked gutted.

Like something invisible was tearing him apart from the inside out.

It was written clearly across his face and in the rigid way he carried himself. His eyes kept darting toward the door before snapping away again, his breathing uneven and heavy as he clenched his hands tightly into fists at his sides.

It was obvious he wanted to do exactly what I wanted to do.

Push past the doors and make her screams stop.

Heck, I was convinced it was the exact same feeling clawing through my own chest.

The urge to pull her into my arms and comfort her.

To tell her no one would hurt her.

To promise her safety and defend that promise with my own life if necessary.

The feelings were there, alive and demanding release, and I let them remain inside my chest without trying to fight them away. I didn’t bother denying them or forcing them down.

Axel, on the other hand, looked like he was being slowly tortured.

His face twisted into such a nasty expression that I almost laughed. He looked like a man struggling to decide whether he wanted to save her or kill her himself.

The entire thing was deeply interesting to me.

The effect the omega had on all of us was surprising, to say the least.

She didn’t even have a wolf, which meant she was the lowest of the low, yet somehow the goddess had still decided she was worthy enough to be our mate.

That alone was enough to keep my attention fixed on her.

Folding my arms across my chest, I continued watching Axel battle against himself. He would take several steps toward the door only to stop midway, slam his hands violently against the wall, then pace away again like he couldn’t stand still.

I pretended not to pay attention to him, but truthfully there was nothing else in the corridor worth looking at besides his display of complete lunacy.

Did I want to save her?

Of course my body did.

Something deep inside me wanted to silence her screams and pull her away from whatever pain she was enduring behind those doors.

But when had I ever listened to my body?

The chanting inside the room grew louder, the strange rhythm carrying through the walls as time seemed to drag painfully slow.

I closed my eyes and leaned back against the wall, allowing the sound to wash over me while I waited for it to finally end.

Then the screaming stopped.

My eyes snapped open instantly the moment the cries disappeared and the sound of arguing replaced them.

The doors in the alpha building were built from thick wood designed to trap sound inside. Under normal circumstances we would have been able to hear every word clearly, but now the voices were too muffled to properly understand.

"It’s over! It’s over!" Axel gasped suddenly, sounding like someone who had just dragged himself out of deep water after nearly drowning.

He turned toward me just as Rex finally stepped out of the room.

I pushed myself away from the wall immediately, curiosity overtaking everything else.

But the moment my eyes settled on Rex and I felt the aura radiating from his body, I already knew.

Rex had gotten stronger.

Much stronger than the rest of us.

It showed in the way he moved, in the confidence rolling off him, and even in the subtle shift in the air surrounding him.

"We should spar," I told him instantly. "Between us. Right now."

I wanted to know exactly how much stronger he had become and just how much benefit the ritual could truly provide.

I hadn’t paid much attention to the ritual before this moment.

Not until I saw Rex walk through those doors.

The smug expression on his face was impossible to miss. He clearly believed he had surpassed the rest of us now.

It wasn’t openly written across his face, but it lingered in the way he looked at us.

He might have been able to hide it from Axel.

Not from me.

"Of course. Later," Rex replied casually, quickly making an excuse about needing to rest before heading straight toward his room. freeweɓnovel.cøm

A second later, the door slammed shut behind him.

One would think he had been the one screaming throughout the ritual.

Axel looked far too excited as he watched Gessia finally step out as well. One of the guards had already entered the room and emerged carrying Raven unconscious over his shoulder.

"I’ll be in my lab, and I’ll put her in one of the spare rooms," Gessia called out while walking away.

Axel followed her instantly without hesitation.

The smile spread across his face made it painfully obvious that he wanted answers. I watched the two of them walk side by side down the corridor, speaking quietly amongst themselves as they disappeared from view.

Letting out a deep sigh, I remained where I was for a moment longer, simply observing everything in silence.

It was obvious now that the ritual was real.

Gessia hadn’t lied.

But while Rex appeared too distracted by his newfound strength to see the bigger picture, I could see it clearly enough.

Alpha Valon of the Moonburn pack was already far stronger than any of us, and he continued growing stronger still.

One omega was not going to suddenly change that reality.

Yes, one ritual could increase our power, but by how much?

And how many more rituals would we need before we even came close to the kind of power Valon wielded so effortlessly?

That thought lingered heavily in my mind.

It bothered me enough to realize I needed plans of my own.

Because if I didn’t, then eventually I would allow myself to be dragged into the mud alongside everyone else.

I refused to let that happen.

Instead of returning to my room, I headed outside.

The sun was still shining overhead, and I wanted to hunt for a while before night finally fell.