Scars of the syndicate

CHAPTER 5

"I... I’m not hungry," she whispered.

The man to her right, a giant with a shaved head and arms the size of her waist, leaned over and sniffed the air near her throat. It was a long, deep inhale that made her skin crawl.

"She’s afraid," the giant chuckled. His voice was a deep bass that vibrated in her chest. "I can taste the adrenaline. It’s better than the meat."

"Bane, back off," Silas snapped.

The giant, Bane, laughed and went back to his steak, but he kept his pale yellow eyes locked on Bianca’s pulse point.

"You are here to learn how this house functions," Silas said, addressing Bianca but looking at his men. "From this day forward, Bianca is a Vane. She is under my protection. That means if any of you touches her....if any of you so much as scares her without my explicit order, you will answer to me. Do I make myself clear?"

A low murmur of "Yes, Alpha" went around the table, though several of the men looked at her with pure, unmasked hatred.

"Protection?" Cassian spat on the floor. "She’s the daughter of a butcher. She should be in the cages, not in a chair."

Silas slammed his hand down on the table, "She is the price of their surrender! We will use her to bleed them dry. Until then, she is the lady of this house. Act like you have some sense, or I’ll remind you why I’m Alpha."

The rest of the meal passed in a terrifying silence. Bianca stared at her plate, her hands shaking under the table. She realized then that Silas wasn't just a businessman. He was a king, and these men were his soldiers. But they weren't like her father’s guards. There was something primal about them, something that made her feel like she was sitting in a den of wolves.

When Silas stood up, the others followed suit instantly.

"Cassian, take the scouts to the southern ridge. I want to know if the Morettis even breathe toward our border," Silas commanded. "Bane, stay with the girl. She wants to see the grounds."

"I don't want to see anything," Bianca said, standing up. "I want to speak to my father."

Silas walked down the length of the table until he was standing directly in front of her. He was so much larger than her, his shadow swallowing her whole. He reached out and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look up at him. His thumb brushed over her lower lip, his skin burning hot.

"Your father sold you, Bianca. He didn't ask for a phone call. He asked for a receipt," Silas whispered. His eyes were no longer amber, they were a molten, glowing gold. "You belong to the North Ridge now. You belong to me."

He let her go, turning to Bane. "Take her out. Let her see what happens to things that try to run."

Silas walked out without another word. Bane grinned, a terrifyingly wide expression. "Come on, little Moretti. Let’s go for a walk in the woods."

Bane led her out of the house and onto a stone terrace that overlooked the valley. The fog was starting to lift, revealing the sheer scale of the Vane estate. It wasn't just a yard; it was miles of dense, dark forest surrounded by high electric fences.

As they walked down a gravel path, Bianca saw something moving in a clearing a few hundred yards away. It looked like an obstacle course, high walls, ropes, and deep pits. Several men were running through it, but they weren't running like athletes. They were moving with a blur of speed that the human eye could barely track.

"What are they doing?" she asked, stopping in her tracks.

"Training," Bane said. He picked up a heavy stone from the path and crushed it in his bare hand like it was a piece of chalk. The dust blew away in the wind. "We’ve been waiting a long time to finish what your father started, Bianca. We’re getting restless."

"My father is a businessman," she said, her voice trembling. "He didn't start a war with... whatever you are."

Bane stopped and turned to her. He didn't look angry; he looked amused. He stepped into her personal space, his scent raw and animalistic, overpowering her.

"Your father hunted us like vermin. He put us in silver cages. He killed our young because he was afraid of what we could do." Bane leaned down, his voice dropping to a growl. "Silas thinks we can use you for a treaty. But the rest of us? We’re just waiting for him to get bored of you."

Suddenly, a loud, piercing whistle echoed from the trees.

Bane’s head snapped toward the sound. His posture changed instantly, his back arched, and his eyes widened. "Stay here," he ordered.

He leaped towards the wood clearing a ten-foot gap in a single bound and vanished into the thick undergrowth with a speed that made Bianca’s head spin.