Chapter 17: Lab Destruction
DRAVEN
But I didn't smile. My face remained stoic as I glared right into her eyes.
"Never speak her name again. You have no right, no audacity, to mention her name ever again, Sienna."
I hissed, pulling out of her face. Her skin was red with my mark, fresh and angry.
"I am sorry, Alpha. But the truth remains—you need to choose a bride. And I am more than worthy enough to be that."
She finished, but I wasn't surprised. That was Sienna, always wanting more.
"Leave!"
I hissed, turning away from her as I walked toward my closet, grabbing a shirt and pants.
I had important matters to deal with—matters that had to do with the Drainers and the council.
"Does she know?"
Sienna's voice drummed through the silence the second I walked out from my dresser. I saw her still standing there, and it took everything in me not to rip her head off.
I had done enough—taking her blood was a rule I wasn't meant to break. Never take the blood of one of my own.
And Sienna wasn't just one of my own. She had been with me through thick and thin.
And she was her personal maid…
"Sienna!"
I snarled again, my lips tightening with anger.
"Alpha King, we went to her pack, ruined it, destroyed it for every sick thing her great-grandfather and her father did to us. And yet, you haven't given her an inch of the pain we felt. You haven't made her suffer. You're holding back, and this is unlike you. You aren't making her suffer like the Lord of Misery would." She stopped, then turned around, walking toward the door before pausing to look back at me.
"Because I know you don't just break fingers or bones—you detach them from their bodies and watch them burn to ash while they scream. So why are you holding back, Alpha King?"
She finished, her eyes intense, burning with accusation. Then she bowed, the door opening with a gentle breeze slipping into the room.
Sienna was right about one thing—I was holding back.
I wasn't making her suffer as much as she should.
But she was wrong about another thing.
That was all part of the plan… and it was something Sienna would eventually see.
I walked back to my study, pulling out parchment and quill as I scrawled roughly across the paper.
A heavy knock resounded on the door, and Kwan walked in.
His eyes scanned the rough table where I had just fucked Sienna, then shifted to my serious expression as I scribbled on the parchment.
"You seem quite busy, Alpha, but there's been a development."
He said. My head flashed toward him, then back at the paper.
"What sort of development?"
He coughed slowly, like the words were struggling to fall from his lips.
"Found dead bodies at the southern border. A fire outbreak at the lab—the lab was destroyed. No assets found. Blood samples taken."
"What!"
I said, standing up sharply with force, not believing what he just said.
"You must be joking."
I hissed because I knew no one dared come into my pack. No one dared cross into my territory to destroy it.
No one had the guts.
"Yes, Alpha. And I think you need to see this for yourself."
My eyes snapped toward him, still not believing that someone had dared to start a war. They had harmed my people and destroyed my assets, my lab.
"Let's go."
I said, pushing toward the door.
I ignored the bows I received from the people as we passed. My mind kept tugging with what Kwan had said.
"Send in chariots to take us to the labs."
Kwan said.
"No. You come ahead. I will go before you."
I stopped him, and with one burst of speed, I rushed out from my castle using my vampire speed.
That was enough to take me past the lands, ignoring the sharp tree vines tearing through my skin as I ran through the maze of forest.
The moment I reached the southern borders, a terrible smell stung my nose—so horrible it made my insides twist.
"What is that smell?"
I hissed, clearing the bush path that covered my view. That's when I saw it.
A body.
No—two bodies. Three. Even more.
Dismembered, torn into pieces, skulls scattered. And they were from the witches—the witches I had put in alliance to start an experiment, to find a cure, to destroy the virus called Drainers that my blood had created.
And they were dead, lying scattered and dismembered across the ground.
Buildings were burnt down to ash, and everything looked utterly destroyed and scattered. Papers, runes, everything looked shredded.
Leaving no single shred of evidence, no trace of our work or purpose.
My lips tightened, brows flared up, and hands clenched with anger as I stared at the scene in front of me.
"Who did this? Who fucking did this?"
I whispered, walking toward the dead bodies and kneeling to examine them. That's when I heard the sound of horses arriving at the border.
It was Kwan, with six of my other men. And with them was Sienna.
I frowned, my gaze shifting toward her.
"You are not supposed to be here."
I hissed, and she quickly bowed.
"I'm sorry, Alpha King, if my presence annoys you, but I'm part of the council, and this is a serious matter that needs my attention too. Who dares attack our pack?"
She replied. I knew she was right, but the fact that she wanted something more meant I couldn't fully trust her.
But I knew none of my men could betray me.
Yet no one had access to this part of the border. It was protected with black magic that prevented anyone from entering unless they were among a limited few who had access.
I turned to stare at the dismembered face of one of the witches. There was no blood on her face—just bodies torn into pieces. Yet no single drop of blood. It looked as if their blood had been drained completely, like someone had taken every drop and destroyed them, leaving them empty.
"I can't find blood anywhere, Alpha. Their bodies seem to be completely drained, then dismembered. These are more than Drainers, Alpha. Drainers suck blood, and they're scared of witches. But this one…"
Kwan trailed off, his voice uncertain.
I turned around, catching something—markings on the wall. They were sharp claw marks, like an animal's, but something was different about them. They looked… human yet animal. These weren't werewolf claws. These witches were strong, and yet something had broken through the barrier.
And those markings on the walls, those claws…
My mind slowly zoned out, finding myself in a trance-like state where it felt like I was alone. That's when I saw it.
The way they clawed against the walls, the speed behind the strikes—it was something I hadn't seen before. Something I hadn't heard of.
Fast enough to kill anyone. Sharp enough to sink teeth into their victims' throats.
Strong enough to rip them apart into tiny little pieces.
I zoned back in quickly, my breathing steady, my mind returning to the present as my men watched me carefully.
"These are not Drainers. And one thing is for sure—they don't want my lab to continue. And they took my blood samples."
The weight of that realization settled heavily in the air. Someone knew what we were doing. Someone wanted to stop it.
And whoever they were, they don't know who they just messed with.