Chapter 177

Lewis POV

Still!

My body completely unable to move while I helplessly watched the horrors of Dylan's defilement as it unfolded in front of me. I screamed and shouted as loud as I could, but all my protests, all my objections fell on death ears.

The screams coming from my chosen mate sent my blood cold, and my veins bulged as I strained my body, attempting to force myself out of Josh’s unbreakable command, to no avail. The strong scent of blood filled the room, and tears built in my eyes as I watched her torture.

My eyes couldn’t even close due to the kings order, and my entire body felt the pain. I was going to tear him to shreds for ever hurting her.

“Are you watching, Lewis?” I swallowed thickly when Josh suddenly stopped his defilement, and grabbed my girls neck, pulling her towards him all the while she coughed and spluttered for breath trying to get away. “Dylan is my mate… MINE. Now the entire world will know it.”

His hands moved to her arms, holding her tightly while allowing his fangs to protrude, he gave me a sickening grin before sinking his teeth into her flesh. Blood poured into his mouth, and a loud scream left Dylan’s mouth just as a shout left mine…

“NO!” My own shout woke me up from my awkward slumber on the day of my execution.

My hands and arms had become both numb and extremely stiff from my positioning. My limbs were bent behind my back and looped around a thick wooden beam, my wrists were connected together by a set of thick silver shackles that had began to cut into my skin from the consistent burning they caused.

For the past two nights I had been plagued with nightmares, every second my eyes were closed I would relive the day I left Dylan in the palace alone. Here, in the dungeon there was nothing else to do except sleep and think. The two things that haunted me the most.

I was tired, and my fatigue had hit me like a brick. I genuinely hadn't realized just how used to sleeping next to Dylan I had gotten, I hadn’t noticed how much she truly took over my being, and how her scent would bring me back from my rampant thoughts. My mind wandered to her every single minute that passed and I prayed to the moon goddess above that she was alright. Although I knew that Gill would look out for her, and I’m sure my parents would too.

I was to be killed in less than 12 hours, my heart was scheduled to be physically torn from my chest, it was the most efficient way to kill a lycan. I suppose it will cause less pain this way, and that was a mercy that was never granted to my Dylan.

I'm not afraid to admit that I was scared. The dungeon I was currently in was dark, and damp. The smells coming from every square inch of the place caused silent gags to shoot through me, and my hearing was picking up the sound of every single footstep from above me in the main pack house.

"What does it feel like?.." I heard a voice from behind the bars of my cell and growled loudly when the scent of Warren met my nose. A few seconds later he appeared, and nonchalantly rested his arms on one of the horizontal bars on the locked cell door. "Knowing you're finally about to die?"

"At least I will never have to look at your face again." I spat looking up at the man who used to kiss the ground Josh walked on. I always knew he would end up taking up a title if something ever happened to me or Oliver. The bastard was as brutal and cruel as Josh himself, if not more so, because I honestly always thought Josh could be somewhat redeemable, obviously I was wrong, however with Warren, I had always hated the smug bastard and the thought of redemption never once crossed my mind.

"I wonder if his grace will let me be the one to rip your heart out." His shit eating grin widened at the thought and I noticed his claws elongate at the spoken thought. "I'd love to feel it beating in my hand before I crush it."

"Why not just do it now then?" Was it wise of me to goad? Probably not. But seeing the pure anger on his face gave me a great deal of satisfaction. Besides, if I could make him pull the trigger early, then maybe it would cause infighting within Josh's ranks. "Maybe Josh has your leash wound too tightly."

"Hmm, maybe it's simply because I don't want King Josh's mate, Queen Dylan, to unfortunately miss out on witnessing your downfall. I would love to be a fly on the wall when she sees the broadcast. I suppose I'll just have to imagine her inevitable breakdown, my guess is it’ll be extremely entertaining, of course I know king Josh will soon be with her to pick up the pieces." Ok, now my own anger had risen ten fold. I jerked in my restraints with a growl, however that quickly turned into a groan when my wrists felt the brunt of the silver, eliciting a gleeful laugh from the psychopath in front of me. "Ouch, that sounded like it was painful."

"Fuck off Warren! You know as well as I do that Josh never deserved to have a mate. He won't pick up any of the pieces, he'll pick away at them until they're completely broken." Dylan truly would never, ever bounce back if Josh got his hands on her again. It's taken so long for her to be able to do every day simple tasks, even now she still wasn't eating or sleeping as well as she should be... my girl would be gone completely.

"That's what I'm looking forward to witnessing. He almost had her crushed before, he can and will have her again." The bastard smiled as he finally unlocked the cell door and stepped inside. His teeth gleaming in the dim light, and his grin beaming more than ever. "You know? In my opinion, King Josh has always been far too lenient with you. If it were down to me, I would have killed you the second you were mated to that whore Iliana." What?! My anger quickly dissipated at the mention of my first mate, Warren had no right to even utter her name, he had never met her, and had no privilege to an opinion.

"Don't speak her name!" I growled my fists clenching tightly behind my back as my eyes glared in hatred. The mere mention of Illana hit me like a thunderbolt, freezing me in place. My mind reeled as memories of her, surged to the surface. It sent a jolt of disbelief through me, quickly followed by a wave of anger that crashed over me like a storm. What the hell did he mean by that? She had nothing to do with this.

"Have I hit a nerve there?" He walked over to me, and crouched he down in front of me so that he was eye level with my sat bound form. "So defensive over a girl who rejected you for someone with more to his name."

Without even thinking about it, I allowed my head to jerk forward quickly, instantly making direct contact with his own. His crouched body lost its balance and he wobbled before falling on his ass, holding his nose with a wince as blood gushed from his nostrils. My own face contorted into a frown, however I covered my pain with a smug grin at the short burst of violence.

"I told you... not to speak about her!" He just laughed at me, shuffling out of the way before standing up and sniffing loudly, placing his sleeve on his nose in an attempt to quell the bleeding.

Warren’s eyes flashed before his gaze landed on me, a twisted smile creeping onto his lips. “I guess you’re Still playing with the king’s leftovers.” He sneered. “How does it feel, Lewis, knowing that you’ll always be second best? First Illana, and now Queen Dylan. You’re just picking up what Josh discarded.” Warren’s smirk deepened, clearly savoring my reaction. “The two are the same in some regard…” He paused his speech long enough to land a direct punch to my jaw, the impact caused my head to jolt to the side and a very slight trickle of blood found my tongue. “The king showed his rage to both of your girls, the second they wouldn’t do as told.”

His words twisted in my gut like a knife. The air between us felt electric, charged with tension, my pulse pounding in my ears. I couldn’t make sense of what Warren was implying. Illana’s death had been a tragedy, it had nothing to do with Josh! He found her just after the hunters did, the anger inside me grew hotter, burning through my confusion and replaced it with pure hatred.

"Alright, I can see that’s a distasteful subject…” He held his hands up before smirking wickedly. “Let's just talk about Dylan instead then, and this pathetic little attempt at playing rebellion! she's manipulated hundreds of people into dying for a futile, and ridiculous cause..." I felt sick to my stomach as I looked at the sadistic bastard in front of me, I swallowed thickly tasting the lingering red metallic substance as I did so and frowned at the pain in my wrists. There was genuinely nothing I could do to stop myself from hearing Warrens words. "I knew before even Josh did, that human had tempted you, she must be amazing in bed to have turned you away from the title of royal Beta."

It was never that simple. I felt connected to Dylan as soon as my eyes met her in the schools hall.“You speek of Temptation?" I repeated, my voice steady. "That couldn't be further from the truth. At first, it was admiration. I admired her strength. She is human. Not only that but she’s a human who for years had been forced into compliance, and yet she stood up to us, she stood up to Josh in ways none of us ever did. She resisted him. She never backed down, even when he all but broke her. Being able to witness that... well, it made me realize that If someone like that, can stand up and resist that kind of tyranny, then why can't we?"

"Dylans discipline has been far too lenient…” He murmured. “She is far too clever and far too calculated to have been left to her own devices..." Lenient my ass. They fucking branded her for goddess sake. I will admit that she is lucky not to have been killed, however I wouldn’t ever say she experienced any leniency. "But... Once Her Grace has been crushed, she will fall into place, right by the kings side, and she will stand silently behind him as he rules over everyone...exactly the way the goddess Luna had intended. She might even be able to provide an heir or two. Wouldn't that be something." He began chuckling sarcastically, as if the notion of Dylan being forced to conceive was the funniest thing in the world. "Just Imagine how she would feel knowing she birthed the next ruler."

"She’d kill herself before she'd let Josh do anything to her.” I knew her by now, I knew for a fact, she truly would embrace death before being dragged back to the palace to be with Josh forever.

He just chuckled. Exiting the Cell and locking the door once again behind himself. He gripped the bars, much like an ape attempting to escape and smirked, looking me directly in the eyes.

“Not if King Josh causes her physical paralysis, first.”