Chapter 10
Samantha’s POV
I stepped into the conference hall, and I immediately felt the heavy atmosphere. It was suffocating for someone like me. The aura of the Alphas and Betas from different packs filled the space, it felt powerful, intimidating, as if it was trying to force me to cower in fear and bow my head in submission. Yesterday was different since there were more lower ranks in the event hall, serving us, but now, only the heads, right hands, and trusted advisors of the Alphas were present. My eyes immediately sought out Dominic, a compulsion I could not seem to shake. He stood near the front, exuding authority and power, and his presence seemed to be dominating the room as if he were born to command it. Even from here, I could feel the pull, the undeniable draw that I hated and craved in equal measure.
But before I could dwell on it, my gaze shifted. The rogue stood in the center of the room, restrained and surrounded by soldiers. The sight of him made my skin crawl, like little spiders crawling beneath my skin. He was a mess, a man twisted in ways that defied understanding. His eyes glowed an unnatural, hellish red, the kind of crimson that seemed to pierce through flesh and bone, and they darted around wildly, never settling, as if haunted by unseen horrors. He trembled continuously, his muscles spasming and jerking, a marionette pulled by invisible strings. Sweat poured off his pale, almost translucent skin, which was marred by veins that pulsed and writhed like snakes under the surface. They were an unnatural, sickly blue-black, spreading in chaotic patterns that made my stomach churn, a grotesque web that looked ready to burst.
His jaw twitched as though he was fighting the urge to bite or scream, and his lips were chapped, dry, cracked, and flecked with a strange dark residue. Even his hair, once thick and likely dark, had become patchy, clumps of it torn away, leaving raw patches of irritated skin. His fingernails were jagged and broken, caked with dirt and blood, as if he had clawed his way out of some inescapable prison. There was a stench, too, a vile mixture of rot and something metallic, something that made it difficult to breathe.
“This is the rogue we found near the perimeter,” one of the soldiers announced. “He was acting erratic, and we had to use silver chains to subdue him.”
The rogue’s head snapped up, and he snarled, baring elongated, jagged teeth. My heart skipped a beat. There was something... wrong, something off about him. He did not look like a normal rogue wolf. There was an unnatural wildness in his eyes, a madness that felt almost... otherworldly.
Dominic stepped forward, his expression hard as he assessed the threat.
“What are you?” he demanded, a command that reverberated through the hall.
The rogue laughed, a broken, grating sound that made the hair on my arms stand up.
“What am I?” he repeated, his words slurring. “I am what happens when your kind and theirs play gods.” He spat the last word, as if in disdain, a loathing that was caused by a torture he had undergone.