Claimed By My Alpha Stepbrother.

39

Azriel

The sun was hot, and the sand blowing around in the air kept irritating my eyes, making everything worse. I wrapped a shawl around Seraphina, hoping it'd at least protect her a little. But it was nothing compared to the irritation burning beneath my skin.

We've been moving since the first crack of dawn. Every muscle in my body was tight, and my eyes constantly scanned the environment.

I didn't trust any of these people, especially the man in front of our convoy. Commander Vane.

The man was treating Seraphina like a piece of delicate glass, and it made my blood boil. He had given up the group's only camel—a sturdy, bad-tempered beast—just so she wouldn't have to walk on her fever-weakened legs since cars couldn't drive this route.

On the surface, it looked like chivalry. But I could smell the truth on him. It was a sickeningly nauseating scent of absolute greed. He didn't look at her like a human being. He looked at her like a prize, a rare gem he had finally found and had no intention of letting go.

Even though the beast within me has been calling Seraphina my mate, it has never fully registered with me. Unless I've been overlooking something crucial. My understanding of mates comes from my research, which seems to blur the lines between reality and myth more and more. Since the commander labeled Seraphina as my mate, it could only mean one thing: she was the one I would be bound to for eternity.

However, neither of us were true werewolves. I was created in a lab and have now infected her. Only true bloods had the ability to have mates.

None of this adds up!

I shook my head and continued moving forward, my eyes still observant. I noticed that the commander's men, even now, marching through the sand, several of them kept glances back at her. They were practically drooling, their eyes wide and bloodshot, looking at Seraphina the way an addict looks at his addiction.

But the one who made the hair on the back of my neck stand was the one they called Doc.

The old man dragged his useless, limping leg through the heavy sand, sweating profusely, yet he refused to fall behind. It made no sense. Who attempts a grueling, ten-day march through a wasteland with a physical disability like that? Only someone with a terrifying, unyielding obsession. Every time Doc looked at Seraphina, his faded blue eyes didn't hold desire—they held hunger. He was dissecting her in his mind.

I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd miscalculated. My fists clenched at my sides as I walked beside the camel, keeping my body between Seraphina and the rest of the men.

I thought I would be the prize when turning myself in. That had been the only reasonable explanation. I'd been so sure. I thought I could use myself as leverage, negotiate with their leaders, and buy Seraphina’s freedom. I thought I could get them to cure whatever was happening inside her head and let her go. But watching them now, a sickening realization settled deep in my gut.

They didn't care about me. They wanted her more.

If I wanted to save her, I couldn't rely on these people, and I certainly couldn't trust whatever laboratory they were taking us to. I was entirely on my own.

"Azriel," a soft, dry voice whispered.

I looked up. Seraphina was swaying slightly with the camel’s rhythm, her cheeks still tinged with a faint, lingering pink from the fever.

"I'm fine," I said quickly, keeping my voice low so the twins marching behind us wouldn't hear. "Just keep your head down."

"You look like you're about to murder someone," she murmured, leaning down slightly. "Your jaw has been clenched for six hours."

"Just thinking." I reached up, briefly touching her ankle to reassure myself. "The commander said the journey to Millbrook will take ten days at most. The second we pass through those city gates and the chaos of the checkpoint hits, we break away. I'm getting you out of here."

"And go where?"

"Anywhere away from them," I replied grimly. "I'll figure it out. Just trust me."

My heart bled looking at her. She shouldn't have been out here in the dirt, hunted and stared at like an animal. This was my fault. If I hadn't brought her out of the village, if I hadn't been so arrogant as to think I could control the situation, she wouldn't be in this danger.

***

By the afternoon of the second day of non-stop walking, the commander finally asked us to stop for a rest.

The men collapsed into the sand, groaning and passing around canteens of lukewarm water. I immediately helped Seraphina down from the camel, guiding her under the shade of a rock, away from the prying, hungry eyes.

From our bag, I pulled out the small, carefully wrapped parcels Maren had prepared for us. I handed Seraphina the sweet pieces of dried meat and the preserved fruits, ensuring she ate every bite.

"What about you?" she asked, eyeing the food in her hand and then looking at me.

"I'm fine," I said, pulling out a piece of the rough, dry bread the commander’s men had distributed. It tasted like sawdust and charcoal, but I forced it down, chewing methodically. "Eat. You need to keep your strength up."

She sighed but didn't argue, chewing slowly as she leaned her head against the cool rock face.

"I miss home," she sadly said.

I reached for her shoulder and gently patted. "I'm sure they're looking for us. They'll find us in no time." Swallowing, "even if they don't, I'll get us home."

After almost an hour, Commander Vane stood up, brushing the dust from his trousers. "Let's get going," he yelled, already moving. "Any more rest and you'll starve to death here."

Everyone groaned, shuffling as they stood up, then all of a sudden, a low vibrating rumble echoed, followed by a cloud of dust and heavy thumping.

I immediately shielded Seraphina behind me, holding tight to her wrist.

Loud growls filled the air as a group of figures came rushing down, running on all fours and sliding through the sand with terrifying speed. There were at least a dozen of them.

Commander Vane didn't panic. He spun around, his green eyes locking onto me. "Azriel! Protect Seraphina!" He turned back to his men, his voice snapping like a whip. "Get your guns out! Take them down!"

Sounds of gunshots immediately filled the air. A wave of nausea hit me as I watched the snarling and growling attackers. They smelled disgusting, like rotting flesh. Their crazed, empty eyes were locked entirely on Seraphina, their sharpened claws reaching out toward her despite being subdued by Commander Vane's men.

These people were definitely undergoing the same experiment my father had put me through. I'd wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but this only reinforced my conviction that he was definitely involved. Was he trying to create more like me?

If so, he'd failed terribly. These creatures were nothing like me. Totally different. There was no trace of humanity left in them. Their limbs were elongated, their skin grey and sloughing off in patches, their teeth jagged and broken. The experiment had gone horribly wrong. These people had been reduced to nothing but rabid, feral beasts.

One of them broke through the defense, its mutated, clawed hand reaching straight for Seraphina's face.

Before it could touch a single hair on her head, I caught it by the throat, and with a single brutal twist of my wrist, I snapped its neck, throwing its lifeless body into the dirt like trash.

"Stay behind me!" I roared over the chaos to Seraphina.

Suddenly, Commander Vane pulled a small, sleek black device from his vest. He didn't look worried, instead he looked bored. He pressed a heavy red button on the side.

SCREEEEEEEEECH!

The world exploded into pure agony.

The high-frequency shriek tore was deafening, a piercing, blinding pitch that rattled the fillings in my teeth and felt like a spike was being driven directly into my skull.

Behind me, Seraphina let out a choked cry, instantly curling into a tight ball on the ground, clawing at her ears as she wept from the sheer pain of it.

"Seraphina!" I dropped to my knees, abandoning my guard stance.

The wolf howled in agony in my head, thrashing violently against the shrieking pitch, trying to fight its way out to escape the noise. My head throbbed with a white-hot intensity. It was bad—incredibly bad—but it wasn't enough to pin me down.

I threw my arms around Seraphina, pressing her head hard into my chest and covering her ears with my palms, absorbing as much of the sound wave as I could.

All around us, the battlefield collapsed.

The feral, mutated attackers howled in absolute torment, dropping to the ground and violently writhing in pain, clutching their heads for dear life. Even those who'd been holding back the attackers dropped to their knees, groaning and gritting their teeth. It was an absolute nightmare.

I looked up at Commander Vane, who was standing in the middle of it all like a god, completely unaffected.

Those experiment-gone-wrong creatures scurried away in pain. He turned and looked at me straight in the eyes with a dreadful mixture of awe, reverence, and deep, toxic envy.

When he finally let go of the button, the agonizing shriek died down.

Seraphina fell limp in my arms, blood dripping from her nose. A chilling sensation gripped my bones.

"Seraphina!" I shouted, shaking her vigorously.

Silence followed. Her body was growing cold.

Panic set in. "Seraphina!" I cried out once more.

Commander Vane stood unmoved, clearly enjoying the situation. He smirked with withheld amusement. This was a show of power meaning that we were at his mercy and getting away when we reached the city wasn't going to be as easy as I thought.