Cage's POVEvery word Berrilyl said in anger felt like a knife pointed at my chest, and her words hurt. My head was racing with conflict and confusion. I couldn't help but notice the harsh truth in her remarks, even though she blamed Grace for her predicament and called her a "slut" and a "spy" in a disgusted tone. The evidence—or what seemed to be evidence—overshadowed that fact, though, and caused me to question her motivations.As Berrilyl continued to argue, her voice trembling with fury, my eyes narrowed. I had always known Berrilyl as a woman of strength, someone who spoke her mind, who took charge of situations. Her words were frequently cutting, if not vicious, but she always spoke with honesty. Even now, despite the wrath in her voice, I could sense the truth in her charges. But this time, her words couldn't remove the uncertainty that had crept into my thoughts. After the way she laugh and spoke when my men's that were spying at her brother died, I wouldn't doubt if she trul
Berrilyl’s POVIt felt like the pain just hit me out of nowhere, just suddenly and relentless, like some kind of wild storm raging inside of me, twisting and burning, tearing me apart.The strength gave way in my knees, and I sank on the cold, rough floor. A strangled cry was pushed from my mouth because the pain had increased, it was barely registered in a strangled cry that submerged into the pounding noise ringing in my ears.Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Cage turn to me, shock and concern etched upon his face. But it wasn't his reaction that caught my attention. No, what caught my focus, what burned in my vision, was Grace.She was smiling.It wasn't a wide, obvious grin, but it was there, a subtle, triumphant curve of her lips that sent rage coursing through me so badly. Even through the haze of pain, anger bubbled up within me, sharp and all-consuming."You," I hissed through gritted teeth, my voice trembling with fury.Grace's smile quickly disappeared, replaced by an
Cage's POVGrace's trembling figure leaned into me, and soft cries filled the room. Her tears were staining my shirt, but I didn't mind at all. The sobs came out strong and full of pain from her fragile, body that seemed to be crushed."Why does she hate me so much, Cage?" Grace asked, sobbing quietly, her voice small and breaking. The shaking of her shoulders with every breath told her that she was doing everything to hold herself together.I let out a sigh, rubbing a hand over my face. I knew Grace didn't deserve this. Sweet, gentle, kind, the exact opposite of Berrilyl. "I don't know," I muttered, though the answer came to me unbidden.I remembered those days when Berrilyl and I were together, the cruelty in her eyes and the sharp edge of her words. She'd been wild, reckless, and unkind. The pain she had inflicted was deeper than she might have realized. Grace had done nothing to deserve Berrilyl's ire, and yet, here we were."She's always been this way," I said, my voice hardening
Cage's POVThe poison worked faster than I could have ever imagined. One moment, Berrilyl was standing here eating the food, defiant as always, and the next thing that happened was that she was on the floor, her body was convulsing and turning an unnatural shade of blue. I had never seen anything like it before, and seeing her sent a chill down my spine. I didn't like seeing her like this at all. It was making me very scared and I was feeling so confused about what was happening here. It was so crazy. If I knew I wouldn't have made her eat it. She would have been fine.The physician I summoned stood over her, his face was pale and drawn as he examined her. He couldn't even meet my eyes as he spoke."There's nothing I can do. This poison isn't like any I have seen. It was strange. I can't... Cure it" the doctor said.The words didn’t register at first. My ears were ringing, my mind spinning. I watched Berrilyl’s chest rise and fall in shallow, uneven breaths. Her lips were turning a s
Cage's POVThe tension in the room was unbearable. Berrilyl’s breaths were still shallow, barely a whisper of life left in her. I had already exhausted every option, and the constant cycle of physicians entering and leaving with nothing but grim faces was starting to wear on me. The weight of helplessness pressed down on my chest.I didn’t know what to do anymore. The fear was suffocating, gnawing at my insides, and no matter how hard I tried to control it, it was consuming me. I couldn’t lose her. I couldn’t lose Berrilyl. The thought of her slipping away from me, of her dying without ever knowing how much I needed her—how much I still cared—was a pain I couldn’t bear.I didn’t care if anyone thought I was overreacting. I didn’t care if my actions seemed desperate or irrational. None of it mattered. Not now. All I could think about was her, lying there, her skin turning blue, her breaths shallow and barely there. It felt like time was running out, and I had no way to stop it.I just
Cage's POV The room was silent but for the sound of Berrilyl's light breathing. The physician leaned over her, placing a small pill between her lips, and coaxed her to swallow. Her body quivered, yet lay still. Her face was pale, damp with sweat. "She's stable for the time being," the physician said, breaking the silence. “The pill will help neutralize some of the poison, but her body is still under attack. I’ll need to prepare a bath with these herbs.” She pulled a bundle of dried green leaves from his bag, their sharp, earthy scent filling the air. “You’ll need to wash her body thoroughly. The toxins can seep through the skin, and this will help draw them out.”I nodded, glancing down at Berrilyl's fragile form. The weight of responsibility pressed against my chest. "What do I need to do?"The physician handed me the herbs, herinstructions clear but grim. "Boil these in water and let it cool to lukewarm. Use the solution to bathe her completely. It's critical to cover every inch o
Cage's POVI watched Berrilyl being locked in her fragile lifeless state for three days. She lay so still, her chest rising in shallow breaths so light that I'd lean in to make certain she was alive.The pills the physician had prescribed seemed to do little, if anything, to help her. I crushed them into powder every day, dissolved them in water, and fed her with painstaking care. But with each dose, my hope dwindled further.Her hair, which was heavy and shining, now had broken even with the simple touch of fingers. And her skin was pale as it had acquired that uncanny blue tint, jeering at my efforts. With every passing hour, this felt like a knife, twisting in my chest and grimly reminding me of my helplessness.For the first time in so many years, I had become really scared.I lay awake, staring at the ceiling as my mind whirred with memories. How could I? Every time I shut my eyes, I saw her, her sharp eyes ablaze with hatred, words that cut into me like shards of glass. Now, tho
Cage's POV"Cage I don't just understand what is going on with you anymore. You've been the best person in the world, and you've been very nice to me but all of a sudden you've changed. You've changed to start caring about your enemy" She said in a very sad voice that would have broken my heart but it didn't seem to matter to me. I didn't feel bad for her but instead, I pitied Berrilyl."It's like you have turned upside down. You aren't yourself anymore. You're like a strange Cage. A Cage that has turned so different" she said.What she said hit me hard. I didn't pay attention to what she at first but I looked at myself and looked at Berrilyl. I had told myself that I'd never have anything to do with Berrilyl anymore and I would make her pay for every single incident that happened. My determination to make sure that I get my revenge on her and her brother was still the same but I couldn't just sit back and watch her die as much as I hated her or as much as I wanted to take my revenge
Berrilyl's POVTo my surprise, I heard that my brother's pack was left with no alpha and it had been taken over by some group of greedy wolves. The best part of it was that his Luna wife and the others were taken as concubine under the current leader apart from his wife Lucia who had gone earlier with some people of the pack who believed of in her and some of the slaves in the palace that agreed to help her escape. All the slaves he captured had been set free by Lucia but the ones who stayed due to greedy reason were now all under their new leader.In my opinion, Lucia was very lucky she could escape with some of the people I knew were righteous. The rest of them that I even had as friends were all sleeping with Owens behind my back so I didn't care what happened to them since they didn't bother deceiving me or hurting my feelings. They enjoyed my brother and Owens so they could also enjoy the aftermath. I just felt bad a little since I had many memories there but soon I realized t
Berrilyl's POV"Are you still in love with that idiot after everything he put you through?" William asked but I ignored him. What I needed was a way that I could make Cage forgive me for everything that I did. For every single thing that happened between us that I ruined, the people that died and leaving his face like that. There were just too many when I thought of it, and I didn't know how exactly I was going to make him forgive me. I figured out that I'd continue to try no matter what. He was the only true love I ever had."You are thinking about him. Aren't you?" William said looking at me with anger and frustration."Of course I am. Why not?""Really Sis? He punished you. Killed Owens. Turned you into a public slave, allowed people to mistreat you like you were nothing!""Yes, I know. And Owens's death was caused by Cage, and to me, it's a good thing because you knew that bastard was cheating on me, and you encouraged me to get married to him, and with what I did, I kinda deser
Cage's POVI arrived on the scene to witness something that I had not expected: William, cold and firm, was denying Berrilyl. The words coming out of his mouth were so bitter, as if he had no second thought, no remorse about what he was telling her. His eyes, which were usually so cold, were colder, harder than ever. He gazed at her as a stranger, as a failure, as something that could be discarded. There was no sympathy on his face, only complete disinterest.Berrilyl was before him, her own face twisted and pale with feeling. I could observe the shame and remorse reflected in her eyes.I remained in the entrance, observing them, trying to comprehend what I was seeing. A part of me that continued to resent her. The lies, the hypocrisy, that she had been an accomplice to so much pain. But part of me felt sympathy for her. She was also used, duped by the man she loved more than anyone. I was torn at the time, between my anger at her for what she'd done, and the sense that she was a vict
Berrilyl's POVI remained silent at the doorway, concealed in the darkness, ensuring I didn't make any noise. Williams was completely unaware that I was present, hearing everything he said. I didn’t want him to realize I was concealed just behind the door, listening in on what he was saying. My heart pounded while I remained frozen, wishing he wouldn’t see me because I wanted to listen to what he had to say.My heart ached as I listened to the betrayal, the secrets I never could have dreamed of. William's calm, assured tone now trembled with something evil. He spoke of manipulation, and plots to destroy us, and I was only beginning to understand the depth of the lies he had convinced me with. My Alpha, my brother, whom I had thought I could trust and at one point in time even suspected would never desert me, was the architect of my agony.Cage's men were standing in front of me and turned to look at me with their blank faces. It was time. I had heard enough. They had come to drag me fr
Berrilyl's POVI stood there in shock, my eyes fixed on Cage's. My heart was pounding within me, my head spinning from what he'd told me. He'd been so serious, as if he knew so for certain, speaking of something from my past that I didn't remember myself.I didn't believe him, I just didn't want to do that.I couldn't get the words I'd heard him say out of my head.It was William, my brother whom he had raised up, who guarded me, and who had always cared for me. Cage, however, abducted me, he enslaved me, and now he expected me to embrace his reality?I clenched my fists tight, biting the nails of my palms as I spun around and ran towards my room.I needed to get my head together.The moment I closed the door behind me, I inhaled deeply and my chest tightened in rage. My emotions were all tangled up, but one thing was for sure, I just couldn't believe Cage.I jumped at the knock at the door. My body hardened. Had Cage returned?I hesitated and crept toward the door, slowly opening it
Berrilyl's POVWhen I regained my consciousness I looked around and found myself in a very dark place that I could at first hardly see a thing. I tried raising my hands and felt severe pain; I was wounded in different places; it was so painful, and some were deep.Despite that I knew I had to get out of where I was, so I mustered all the courage in me to crawl out of the damn dark room and started shouting for help. My voice wasn't as loud as usual but I did my best to sound loud."Hahaha, oh my! See who's on the floor behaving like a snail. Who's in charge now? You disgusting asshole" I heard a voice say but couldn't clearly identify it."Does your head still hurt? I mean, does your body hurt? I remember throwing you in here, and it made a very loud thud," the man said again, and I realized it was none other than Cain. He had come back to take revenge on me. It became clear to me that all my crawling and shouting was useless and trying to run away from him was hardly going to be im
Cage's POV If someone had helped William escape from the hidden dungeon and find a way out of here, it either meant that he had brought someone with him who we didn't capture and was sneaking around then saw the perfect opportunity to let him go or we had a spy among us.The thought of having a spy in our midst left me dumbfounded. The spy must have known our pack so we'll that the hidden dungeon wasn't only unhidden but could be operated by whoever the spy was.Was I this careless to have never figured it out? When the spies were killed all of a sudden, I should have known there was still more to it, but I blamed Berrilyl since she always had more than one way of communicating with her brother, and I was caught up in so many problems that I forgot to investigate such a dangerous attempt further.Even if he had a someone with him who we didn't capture, there was no way the person would have got through the guards, the security system was tight which meant the only way he could escape
Cage's POVI wasn't that intoxicated. I was just tipsy. I knew where I was and what I was doing, still. But even with the alcohol in my system, I could feel my mind slipping, becoming less clear, less sharp. The edges of my world blurred, and everything felt a little lighter and easier to deal with.With that said, I didn't attack Berrilyl. She had already left, and something made me know it was not yet time to follow her. She was angry and scared. I could see that from her eyes as she turned her back on me. But she needed space, and I knew that if I followed her, things would just get worse. It was not the first time Berrilyl had left me, and I knew it would not be the last. So I simply released her.I did what I always did whenever I had to focus on other things instead. I took a hold of the mask again. It was more about obscuring my mind, and my emotions rather than hiding my face. My feelings. My thoughts. The mask gave me a feeling of control and detachment. Wearing it, I felt so
Berrilyl's POVIt was a day to my engagement already, and I had decided to carry out my plan. I had prepared for days now on how to escape, but the only way out that I could think of was to get rid of Cage. It was the last thing I could think of to save myself from getting married to him, and tonight I was going to carry out my plan.The night was calm as I walked down the halls of the mansion. There was just the soft thud of my steps against the quiet. My heart was racing, and I felt this crazy mix of fear and resolve. Was I going to do it? I stood before Cage's door.My mind was telling me that this was what I needed to do, but my body was tense and unsure. I'd never been more nervous in my life. I'd practiced this moment so many times in my mind, but now that it was here, it wasn't quite the same. Still, I could not go back. I had to move forward.I pushed the door inward slowly, as quietly as possible. The room was black except for the feeble flickering of candle flames at the ed