Karyme POV:
They dragged me to the Main Hall. Archie sat on the obsidian throne, looking like a king of the underworld.
"We found them," the Head Warrior said.
Two warriors dragged in a sobbing Faustina. She looked disheveled, but unharmed.
"Oh, Archie! The rogues... they said the Luna paid them!"
Archie's eyes snapped to me.
Another warrior walked in carrying a burlap sack. It was stained with mud and reeked of sulfur and something sharp-industrial solvent. The sack moved.
"A rogue pup," Archie said, voice dead. "Used to distract the guards. Is this your accomplice?"
"No!" I crawled forward. "Don't touch him!"
Archie picked up a heavy iron fire tong, the tip glowing red.
"Tell me the truth."
"I didn't! That's not a rogue!" I sobbed. "Archie, look! That is your blood! That is our son!"
Archie froze. He sniffed the air, but Faustina had done her work well. The chemical stench masked everything. All he smelled was the solvent and the faint, underlying scent of a trespasser.
"Our son?" He laughed darkly. "We have no son. The curse kills them all. You're lying to save a filthy rogue mongrel."
"His name is Jalen! Please!"
"You are insane."
He raised the iron tongs.
He swung.
The iron struck the sack with a wet crunch.
The scream wasn't human. It was a child in agony.
I vomited blood onto the marble. The mother-child bond shattered in my chest.
"Stop!" I gargled.
Archie stared at the sack. Doubt flickered in his eyes.
"Alpha... the heir is scared," Faustina whispered.
Archie's face hardened. "Just a rogue."
He raised his boot.
