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Home / MM Romance / Claiming the RUNT / Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

All Chapters of Claiming the RUNT: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

45 Chapters

21

"Get them under control, Malakai, or I swear the next sound I hear from that pit will be the snapping of necks," Cassius growled, his voice a low, dangerous vibration that made the very air in the corridor heavy.Malakai shifted his weight, his scarred hand hovering near his holster. "They’re restless, Boss. They can feel the shift coming. The Black Eagle isn't going to stay quiet much longer.""I don't care about their restless blood," Cassius snapped, turning on his heel. "I care about the cargo. If the Duke’s boy dies in that hellhole before I get what I need, you’ll be the one explaining it to me in the hollow. Clear?""Crystal, Boss."The pain was a living, breathing thing, tearing through Obi’s frame as his joints ground against one another. It was a suffocating pressure, like molten lead being poured directly into his marrow. Every breath felt like inhaling shards of glass."ARGHH!" Obi choked out a guttural sound, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the freezing concrete

22

"Do not dare forget the debt we are owed, Aria. You saw what those monsters did to Venna, to Leane, to the brothers who died in that furnace of a mine. Their blood is on the hands of the man who sired the boy sleeping in the other room. Never lose sight of that."Aria clung to me, her fingers digging into my shoulders with desperate, possessive force. I stood rigid, my skin crawling at the intimacy. Ten years of brutality had turned every touch into a reminder of everything I had lost and everything I was forced to endure."I haven't forgotten a single second of that nightmare," I growled, my voice low and serrated."Then explain this," she hissed, pulling back to look at me, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "You give him the Suite? You protect him? You let him breathe the same air as us while the rest of our people suffer the scars of the past? You even let him slip through your fingers at the gala. Why are you shielding the offspring of the man who turned our lives into a slau

23

"Hanna, stop pacing! You're making the room spin," I snapped, though the edge in my voice wasn't directed at her. I slumped against the frame of the bedroom door, my skin crawling from the cold that had settled into my marrow. Every shadow in the hall looked like a threat."Obi? Thank the heavens, you're back." Hanna didn't wait; she was across the room in a blur, her arms wrapping around me with a desperation that shattered the last of my composure."I didn't think I'd make it out," I sobbed, my voice tearing through my throat, each sound raspy and broken from the pressure that had been applied to my windpipe. The phantom sensation of Cassius’s fingers around my neck remained, a cold, suffocating reminder of how easily he could have snuffed me out."Shh, you're safe now. You're with me. Just breathe." She stroked my hair, her touch the only thing keeping me anchored."He’s not finished, Hanna. He’s never finished. My future... it’s gone. He’s going to use me until I’m nothing more th

24

"I don’t care what the law states, Cassius. You are playing a dangerous game with the King’s patience," Amira whispered, her hands trembling as she smoothed the fabric of the bedsheets in the newly assigned suite. "He is looking for any excuse to dismantle your claim on the Ashfang Dominion."I didn’t turn around. I stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, looking out over the sprawling, industrial skyline of the city—a city I had reclaimed from the blood-stained hands of the Ashford lineage. My reflection in the glass looked like a stranger: cold, hard, and utterly ruthless."The King doesn’t care about justice, Amira. He cares about power," I replied, my voice steady, devoid of the exhaustion I felt in my marrow. "And as long as I hold the keys to the Hollow Pit and have the board rigged in my favor, he cannot touch me. Not today.""But Obi?" She hesitated, her eyes darting toward the door where the boy—no, the man I had dragged out of the dirt—was currently being held. "You’ve made hi

25

"I can't go out there, Hanna," I rasped, the sound tearing through my throat like jagged glass. My limbs felt heavy, anchored to the mattress by an exhaustion that transcended physical injury. "They look at me like I’m a disease. I can’t face them again."Hanna sat at the edge of the bed, her face a mask of restrained agony. She held a damp cloth, dabbing it against my forehead with a tenderness that only deepened the ache in my chest. "You have to, Obi. If you don't show yourself, if you don't stand beside him, they’ll say you’re weak. And if you’re weak, he loses his grip on the Ashfang Dominion. He’s already using you as his shield—you can’t let that shield shatter.""I am not a shield," I whispered, turning my face into the pillow to hide the fresh tears. "I’m a pawn. Nothing more.""You are the heir to the Ashfang name," she countered, her voice dropping to a fierce, urgent hiss. "Even if they stripped us of our standing, even if they made us slaves in our own territory, the bloo

26

"You seem a bit shaken, Obi. Perhaps the weight of your new status is pressing down on you?"The King’s voice was smooth, like oil poured over rusted metal. I stood in the shadow of Cassius, my hands trembling as I tried to keep my gaze fixed on the gravel beneath my feet. I could feel the King’s eyes—predatory and calculating—raking over me, assessing the damage that had been done the previous day."I am merely honored to be here, your highness," I replied, my voice thin.Cassius shifted, a subtle movement that shielded me further from the King's view. "He is still adjusting to the transition, Uncle. Being pulled from the shadows of the Hollow Pit to the head of the table is a jarring experience for anyone.""A transition indeed," the King chuckled, a sound that held no mirth. "From a discarded piece of trash to a Syndicate head’s partner. A meteoric rise, wouldn't you agree? I assume you’ve been keeping him well-fed, Cassius?"I felt my stomach turn. They were speaking of me as if I

27

"I gave you the terms of our arrangement the moment you stepped into the Shadowfang Syndicate," I said, my voice cutting through the thick, oppressive air of the suite like a blade. "I never promised you a future. I never promised you anything beyond a roof over your head and the protection of my name."Aria trembled, her face contorting with a mix of betrayal and frantic denial. "After everything I’ve done? After all the time I spent keeping the inner circle from tearing each other apart? You’re discarding me for a boy who doesn't even know his own name?""Obi is the only reason the Ashfang Dominion hasn't descended into total anarchy," I countered, stepping closer until I was looming over her. "The Syndicate members were ready to carve me up the moment the King left. By claiming him, I bought us time. I bought us legitimacy. You call it a betrayal; I call it strategy.""It’s not strategy to be with him!" she screamed, her voice cracking as she lashed out, hitting my chest with her f

28

"What is it that you think you’ve found, Obi?" I kept my voice steady, though the weight of the old parchment in my hands felt like lead. The library was silent, save for the distant sound of the Blackfang Enforcers patrolling the perimeter. My men were restless, and the atmosphere in the Syndicate headquarters had been brittle ever since the King’s departure.Obi didn't sit. He remained standing, his gaze flickering nervously between me and Tavian. He tapped a finger against the cover of the oldest tome he’d retrieved. "I found records from before the purge, Cassius. Before the Shadowfang Syndicate took over the Dominion. There are references to 'blood resonance'—a theory that the shifter condition isn't just a curse, but a connection. A biological tether."Tavian leaned forward, his brow furrowed in skepticism. "Blood resonance? We’re talking about a man turning into a predator, not a chemical reaction. You’re telling us you found a manual for how to control a monster?""It’s not ju

29

I backed away until my heels hit the cold stone of the wall, my breath hitching in my throat as the Brinetallon’s two heads snapped at the air, its tails twitching with lethal intent. Its eyes, milky and soulless, locked onto me, ignoring the chained monster entirely."Please," I whispered, though I knew the creature understood only the language of carnage.The lycan roared again, a sound so thunderous it shook the dust from the ceiling, causing the Brinetallon to momentarily recoil. It was frustrated, desperate to reach me, but the silver chains bit into its flesh, keeping it anchored."If you want me to live, break them!" I screamed at the lycan, not caring if it understood. I grabbed a loose metal pipe from the floor, my hands trembling violently.The Brinetallon lunged. It was faster than any human, a blur of muscle and dripping venom. I ducked, the tail slicing through the air where my head had been a second before, taking a chunk out of the stone wall. I scrambled to the side, m

30

I wiped the remaining traces of the bland porridge from my mouth, signaling to Hanna that I would be back as soon as I could. The beta, Tavian, didn't bother to glance back, his pace aggressive and focused. We bypassed the crowded medical tents and headed toward the main administrative wing of the stronghold. The air was thick with the smell of scorched timber and damp earth, a stark reminder of the carnage that had unfolded barely twenty-four hours ago."Why does he need me?" I asked, though I already knew my voice would likely go unanswered. I hurried to keep up with his long, steady strides. "Is it about the mines? Or the fortification of the perimeter?"Tavian stopped abruptly in front of the heavy, reinforced oak doors of the inner sanctum. He looked at me, his eyes scanning my face with a mix of curiosity and something that looked almost like pity. "You’ll see. Don't stutter, and for heaven's sake, don't try to negotiate. He’s in a volatile mood, and if you haven't noticed, the

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