Chapter 6: The Abduction

LIRA

He wasn’t supposed to be real.

The stories didn’t do him justice.

Caius Vexmoor stood tall and broad-shouldered, dressed in black leathers that clung to his powerful frame. His silver eyes gleamed like moonlight on steel—cold, unreadable. But it wasn’t his reputation or power that terrified me.

It was the way he looked at me.

Like he already owned me.

“Step back, Lira,” Tobias said, his voice low with warning.

But Caius took a step forward.

“I won’t repeat myself, Tobias. She comes with me.”

My heart thundered.

“Why?” I demanded. “Why me?”

His gaze locked onto mine, and for a heartbeat, I thought I saw uncertainty flash across his face. But it was gone just as quickly.

"You’ll understand soon enough," Caius said, his voice still calm, almost amused. But I could hear the finality in his words. Like he was playing a game, and I was already a piece on his board.

A shiver ran down my spine. I hated the way his gaze made me feel—like I was a toy to be played with. But even worse was the feeling that I couldn’t escape it. That there was something inevitable about this.

Before I could say another word, everything erupted in chaos.

The Duskborne warriors, who had been standing at the ready, surged forward in a unified wave. Tobias growled beside me, his body shifting in a blur of motion. He was a giant, his silver-gray wolf form towering over the humans. His eyes locked on Caius, and I saw the fury in them. The protective instinct in Tobias was as fierce as any Alpha’s.

But Caius—Caius wasn’t a man of mere strength. He was a tactician. A master. And he knew how to control a situation.

His warriors, appearing from the shadows like ghosts, met the Duskborne forces head-on. There were no shouts, no battle cries. Just cold, calculated movements. A dance of death, where every blow landed with precision and every strike had purpose.

Tobias charged toward Caius, his wolf form a blur of silver and power. But Caius was quicker.

Too quick.

One moment, Caius was yards away from me, watching with an unreadable expression. The next, he was right in front of me. His arm shot out, grabbing mine in a firm, unyielding grip.

“Let me go!” I thrashed, panic surging through my veins. But his grip didn’t loosen. It tightened, and I felt his strength as if it were a physical weight pressing down on me.

“You’re safer with me than you are here,” Caius said, his voice low, his tone almost soothing. But it didn’t reassure me. It made me more afraid. I could feel the power emanating from him, the certainty in his every word.

“Liar!” I shouted, my voice cracking as I tried to pull away. “You’re nothing but a monster!”

The words hung in the air, but they didn’t seem to affect him. His silver eyes remained cold, unwavering.

And then—before I could fight back—something changed.

Warmth. It crept into my bones, slow at first, like the sun’s first rays warming cold earth. But it wasn’t the warmth of comfort. It was the warmth of something far darker. It made my mind grow heavy. It pulled at me, like a thick fog descending. My limbs grew sluggish, my thoughts slowing as if I were sinking into the earth itself.

“No—” I whispered, struggling to stay conscious, to keep my thoughts clear. But it was no use.

The sleepiness—the overwhelming drowsiness—drenched me in a haze. I tried to fight it, but my body betrayed me, growing weaker with each passing second. My head grew heavy, my vision blurring as Caius’s form seemed to grow distant, like a fading dream.

“You’ll understand soon,” Caius’s voice was the last thing I heard before the darkness claimed me completely.

The last flicker of light disappeared as my world dissolved into nothingness.