Chapter 180: _In The Shadows Lucian’s POV
"You’ve got to be fucking kidding me right now." He groaned when he woke up with a sharp headache splitting his skull. His eyes were hazy but after a few seconds of trying to get his vision back, it became clearer, giving him a view of his current location. He wasn’t dead... Apparently. The hellhole he was at didn’t seem like any afterlife depictions he’s seen in the Lunarian libraries. No. Instead of an afterlife, he was welcomed with a stereotypical dark room with only a single overhead white crystal light that flickered occasionally, rooted to the ceiling. His nose was stuffy, his throat parched like he hadn’t come across any liquid in centuries. But that wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was the fact that he was strapped to a metal chair, his hands tied behind said chair with chains. Not just any chains either. "Argh." He hissed with pain when the sharp sting of the silver melting into his wrist boiled into his blood and bones. He gritted his teeth, his body shivering as he tried moving even if it was just a little bit. But movement meant more pain from the silver chains that bound him. "I don’t know who the fuck is out there..." He began calmly although his wolf was already clawing inside his chest to spill blood. "But you better come out and get me the fuck out of these chains. Do you know who the fuck I am?! I—"
"You’ve got to be fucking kidding me right now." He groaned when he woke up with a sharp headache splitting his skull. His eyes were hazy but after a few seconds of trying to get his vision back, it became clearer, giving him a view of his current location. He wasn’t dead... Apparently. The hellhole he was at didn’t seem like any afterlife depictions he’s seen in the Lunarian libraries. No. Instead of an afterlife, he was welcomed with a stereotypical dark room with only a single overhead white crystal light that flickered occasionally, rooted to the ceiling. His nose was stuffy, his throat parched like he hadn’t come across any liquid in centuries. But that wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was the fact that he was strapped to a metal chair, his hands tied behind said chair with chains. Not just any chains either. "Argh." He hissed with pain when the sharp sting of the silver melting into his wrist boiled into his blood and bones. He gritted his teeth, his body shivering as he tried moving even if it was just a little bit. But movement meant more pain from the silver chains that bound him. "I don’t know who the fuck is out there..." He began calmly although his wolf was already clawing inside his chest to spill blood. "But you better come out and get me the fuck out of these chains. Do you know who the fuck I am?! I—"
"Still as arrogant and proud as ever." A distorted voice echoed through the empty dark room, sending chills through Lucian’s spine.
He tried moving his head around to spot anything or anyone... But that seemed futile.
"Why don’t you show yourself so I’ll see if you’re this confident to my face?" Lucian sneered, his claws threatening to lunge out of his fingers. "Let me guess... The Dark Hand? It has to be. That explains why your letter said something about ’the truth that I seek coming for me’."
Nothing answered him other than a silence that stretched excruciatingly long.
. Lucian struggled to keep his composure, especially with the silver chains seemingly tightening around his wrist and constricting his blood flow.
The air in the room seemed stale all of a sudden and his chest burned with an overwhelming need to drive someone’s head into a wall.
"Obviously our symbol was embedded on the letter, Alpha Prince." The voice sounded closer just then, coiling around him like smoke.
Before he could react, a hand grabbed his hair from behind, pulling at it until his head faced the ceiling and pain shot through his scalp.
Lucian shuddered, biting his bottom lip due to the pain. But then his eyes landed on the culprit pulling at his hair.
It was a figure donned in a black hooded cloak. However, the cloak in question wasn’t just "black".
It fluttered around him like clouds constantly shifting, the figure itself covered in shadows that took unnatural shapes every few seconds.
Any normal person should be shitting their pants at such a sight... But not Lucian.
He was more curious and drawn to the idea of driving his claws into the bastard’s skull.
"What’s with the cloak?" Lucian forced a chuckle, resorting to trying to agitate his captor. "Did your face get scarred in a sad accident or something? Are you ashamed of yourself?"
The figure didn’t say anything or make any sounds, instead keeping its gaze on Lucian.
Lucian couldn’t even see their eyes through the dark cloak but he could tell they were staring at him. Very closely at that.
But eventually—
"Was that supposed to make me feel bad about myself?" The figure asked in an almost guttural voice, definitely belonging to a male.
But there was something off about the voice.
"Maybe... Maybe not." Lucian shrugged, forcing a smug grin. "Can we just skip to the part where you tell me what your master plan is? Because I really have better things to attend to other than... Whatever this is."
There was a long pause after he said that. The cloaked man didn’t let go of his hair, seeming like he was tightening his grip instead.
Lucian gritted his teeth through the pain, mentally telling himself that the bastard would want him alive. Even though the current situation made that seem like a pipe dream.
"Better things, hm?" The man chuckled coldly, finally releasing his grip on Lucian’s hair. "Like what? The back-and-forth game you’ve been having with your Omega mate?"
Lucian’s jaw tightened until his teeth hurt.
The cloaked man didn’t say anything else, trailing his hand from Lucian’s hair to his jaw until he finally got to his shoulder.
As he did that, he stepped forward, getting in front of Lucian and hovering above him. The cloak whipped around him still, the shadows surrounding him becoming even more prominent.
"Aw, someone’s already speechless at the mention of dear old Elian Ashford." The cloaked man sniggered, his grip on Lucian’s shoulder like a vice. "If only you placed as much focus on him as you do on crumbling the Dark Hand and your father to their knees."
Lucian slowly raised his head, his eyes blazing with fury as he glared at the cloaked figure.
Right now the only thing he could think about was seeing the face behind that darkness. To have the bastard in a tight spot that would make him gravel.
But before that... He had a couple of questions.
"How were you able to get access to my aircraft when it was so close to the Rogue king’s palace?" Lucian queried, arching a suspicious eyebrow. "How were you able to kidnap me at all? The only possibility I see is..."
He froze, dread surging through him as his mind hit a terrifying bull’s-eye.
It all made sense...
Gods above, it all made fucking sense!
His lips trembled as he struggled to speak. "The Dark hand having access to the Lunarian palace. The way that maid stepped in to take the blame for poisoning Lord Kyren. The guard who struck my mother..."
The cloaked man was silent but slowly tilted his head, further adding to the horror Lucian felt.
"You must be someone with great power within the Dark Hand, no doubt." Lucian reasoned out loud, struggling to tug his wrists out of the silver chains. "Not only that... But you’re—"
"Let me just help you out of your detective monologue." The cloaked man interrupted with a bored sigh, retrieving his hand and pulling off his hood.
When he did, Lucian’s heart dropped to his stomach. His nerves boiled with trepidation as he stared at the true face of his captor.
A face that was all too familiar.
"Sadly, I can’t let you keep your memories now that you’ve discovered my identity." The bastard showed his teeth, placing the thumb of his right hand on Lucian’s forehead. "Better luck next time, Alpha Prince."
With that, a searing warmth spread through Lucian’s forehead. It was oddly relaxing at first, but soon felt like a molten nail was being driven into his skull.
He couldn’t pretend not to feel the pain anymore.
"Ahhhhh!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, his wolf’s guttural roar echoing through the dark room.