The Rejected Mate

Chapter 109

Chapter 109

Alaric's POV

I had a bad premonition. From the very moment when this masked man ordered some so-called 'product' to be brought in to him by that guard, this gnawing, creeping feeling had suddenly chewed at my head and never stopped. I couldn't tell what lay in store for us, and I thought I should not have asked them what they planned to do with us; but I supposed I was not to keep quiet and pretend that they would free us. Still, I sat where I was-the shackles tight around my wrist eating deeply in. I could hardly breathe while waiting, waited for the guard to emerge with the so-called product.

The man, tall and lean, stepped out of the shadow from the hallway he had entered with a small bottle in his hand. I didn't need to see the contents to know that it wasn't anything good. The bottle was black, dark as night, and the pill inside it was even darker. I knew about these kinds of drugs, having somewhere seen that they are dangerous, twisted, and meant to break people. They were the kind of things one whispered about in the darkest corners of our world.

My heart fell, along with my spirit, as the rogue warrior walked up to a man I instantly knew. He was a General-a high-ranking officer from one of the most powerful Packs around. I'd seen him lead his warriors in battle before, a fierce and respected figure who commanded respect from everyone around him. Now, he stood motionless, his eyes wide as the rogue warrior approached.

"No," I whispered under my breath, quickly stepping back in the shadows, so hopefully they would not notice me.

But it was too late. They were by now too interested in the General. The cat-masked man stood to one side, observing all this, and now turned to the white-masked woman. She was standing still, watching too, with her hands folded quietly in front of her. The silence in the room was heavy, and the tension palpable.

The rogue warrior uncorked the bottle and took out the black pill with care, almost reverently. The General wrestled weakly, his face contorted in confusion and fear, refusing to go down without a fight.

Don't do this," he panted, pushing at the warrior. It was no use. The rogue warrior was too strong. He pushed the General's head back and poked the pill into his mouth, forcing it down his throat.

I watched in horror as the General's body went stiff, his hands flying to his head in agony. His entire body shook as if he were caught in a storm. He shrieked-a horrible, guttural cry that roiled my stomach. It was more than pain; pure terror filtered through every note in his voice. My heart raced then as I saw blood start to leak from his eyes, nose, and mouth. A punch to the gut-the horror of it hit me that hard.

"No…," I whispered, though I knew there was nothing I could do to stop it.

I leaned back against the wall, praying that if I remained stuck to the wall, I might be able to glean something. But what happened next was worse than what I had envisioned. The struggles of the General grew weaker; his cries ebbed and then he stopped breathing. His body sagged limply in the rogue's arms, like a puppet whose strings have been cut.

For a moment, nothing moved.

The cat-masked man turned to the white-masked woman, his eyes narrow behind his mask as they darted between her and the general, limp on the floor. "What is going on?" he demanded, his voice cold, sharp, demanding answers. "Why isn't it working? Why did he scream that way, only for him to keep quiet and pale?

She did not move or say a word; she just stared back at him with her face fully covered by the white mask. I guessed right there and then that she must be the producer of the drugs-that she was responsible for manufacturing and designing this so-called product .

I could see the cat-masked man's fists clench in frustration as he began to step toward her, his body taut as if ready to snap.

But then, in the same instant it had come, the tension broke. The General groaned. It wasn't a normal groan of pain. It was as if he was waking from some deep, unnatural sleep. The warrior holding him stepped back, his hands falling to his sides as the General slowly stood, his movements stiff and unnatural.

I couldn't believe my eyes. The General, who was at death's door, stood up. There was something wrong with him, though. His eyes were empty, vacant. There was no life in them, no nothing that gave away even a single glimpse of the man I had known. He looked like a puppet on strings, his arms and legs jerking only because some other entity controlled them.

What's going on?" I whispered, taking a step forward as my heart beat wildly in my chest.

The man in the cat mask was looking equally surprised. He reached out, clamping down on the General's arm and turning him to face him. "Tell me about your Pack," he commanded, coldly, his voice like whips and knives.

The General didn't fight. He just stood there, his eyes vacant and staring, as if he wasn't there at all. His mouth opened, and words came out, but they were dead, lifeless. "My Pack… is strong… We will fight until the end…" His voice was flat, expressionless, as though he were reading from a script, like he wasn't even aware of what he was saying.

Something dark glinted in the eyes of the cat-masked man as he leaned forward, pressing for more. And with every answer, the reply came out empty, emotionless-like from some machine giving a report. The General spoke about battle strategies, names of people in his Pack, but there was no passion, no fight left in him. It was like his soul had been ripped out of him.

It felt wrong-so wrong. This wasn't the General I had seen on a battlefield. Hell, this was not even a man anymore. Something else. Something… broken.

Every word the General said dropped my heart farther. How are they doing it? What manner of power is this with a pill? To what did they turn him?

I wanted to do something, anything, but I knew it was hopeless. I was just a shadow in the corner, too far away to try intervene without being seen. So, I stayed silent, watching in horror as the cat-masked man continued to question the General, pulling out more information as the General's voice remained empty and hollow.

A thousand thoughts were running in my mind. What could anybody do to another human being? What manner of monster does such a thing to a warrior's mind with a drug, stealing his will and turning him into a puppet? I could feel the desperation emanating from the face of the cat-masked man while he tried to get the General to give more. I could hear the soft hum of the room, the weight of the silence pressing down on me, but nothing compared to the horror I felt. Horror of what this pill could do to anyone irrespective of their strength and will.