Chapter 622: Beneath the Castle Where Silence Screams
That night, Sophia did not return to her room.
Her mother did not allow it.
Instead, she was taken beneath the castle that sat alone atop the hill, its silhouette carved against a sky that no longer felt like night but sothing heavier, sothing watching.
Sophia had never known a place like that existed.
Not beneath the world she understood.
Not beneath anything she had ever been allowed to see.
The stairs spiraled downward for so long she lost sense of ti, her small hand held tightly as she was led deeper and deeper into stone that grew colder with every step.
The place did not feel like a part of the castle.
It felt like sothing that had been buried and left to rot.
Chains.
Iron.
Blood.
And sothing worse than all of it combined.
Sophia stopped walking.
Her feet refused to move forward.
Her eyes adjusted slowly, and when they did, she saw him.
A man.
Bound on sothing like a platform carved into the stone floor, his arms stretched and locked above him with silver chains that bit into skin already torn open. His legs were restrained the sa way, forcing him into stillness that did not belong to anything alive.
Blood stained his clothes.
Dried in so places.
Fresh in others.
His head was lowered at first, but even from where she stood, Sophia knew him.
The sa man.
The one she had seen with the woman who had the boy’s eyes.
Her breath caught.
She shook her head imdiately, as if refusing recognition could undo what she was seeing.
"No..." she whispered under her breath.
But her mother only smiled beside her.
Like this was nothing more than a routine evening.
"That man," her mother said softly, as if introducing sothing at a dinner table, "is Alaric, the Alpha of the pack you destroyed, the father of the boy who sneaked into my garden."
Sophia did not respond.
She could not.
Her eyes were fixed on him now, as if looking away would make it worse.
Her mother’s hand left hers.
And before Sophia could even register the change, another hand gripped her arm, firm and unyielding.
The man holding her slled of blood and tal, the scent so strong it made her stomach tighten instantly. His grip was not painful, but it was final in a way that made her understand she could not move even if she tried.
She did not like him.
Her gaze flicked up at him once, and sothing in his expression made her look away imdiately.
Her mother stepped forward, moving toward Alaric slowly.
Alaric lifted his head at the sound of her footsteps.
Even restrained, even broken in places that made breathing look like effort, his eyes were steady.
And then he saw Sophia.
Sothing shifted in his gaze, sothing similar to recognition. But his gaze did not linger for long as it focused on the man holding Sophia.
"You..." he said hoarsely. "Darius."
Darius only chuckled darkly.
"Don’t look at like that," he said lightly. "Ambition is a powerful thing."
Alaric’s gaze did not soften.
"You would betray your pack for her?" he asked.
Darius tilted his head slightly, almost amused.
"I would do worse for less."
Sophia did not understand the weight of the words, but she understood tone.
And his tone made her feel cold.
Alaric’s attention shifted back to Victoria.
"What do you want?" he asked.
His voice was rough now, strained, but still intact in a way that irritated the silence around him.
Victoria stepped closer.
Her heels echoed faintly against the stone.
"You are going to tell where your son is," she said gently.
Alaric’s jaw tightened.
"My son has nothing to do with you," he replied.
Victoria smiled.
"It has everything to do with ." She said, then tilted her head slightly, as if rembering sothing casual.
"Sophia t him," she added.
At the ntion of her na, Sophia stiffened.
Alaric’s gaze flickered toward Sophia again.
"And now I need to know where he is," her mother said.
Silence followed her words.
Alaric did not answer her. Instead, his eyes returned to Darius.
"You really think this ends well for you?" he asked quietly.
Darius shrugged again.
"I think it already has."
A faint sound escaped Alaric then.
Victoria’s patience thinned.
Her expression shifted slightly, and then she moved.
The sound of impact echoed through the chamber.
Alaric’s head turned slightly from the force, blood trailing from the corner of his mouth as his chains rattled violently.
Sophia flinched.
Her body moved before her mind could stop it, and the grip on her arm tightened imdiately, pulling her back into place.
"Don’t," Darius muttered under his breath.
Victoria stepped back slowly, adjusting her hand as if nothing had happened.
"Let’s try again," she said softly.
Alaric lifted his head again.
His breathing was heavier now.
But his eyes were still clear.
"I don’t answer to you," he said.
Victoria’s smile returned.
"Of course you don’t."
She turned slightly.
And then she looked at Sophia.
And sothing in that gaze made Sophia’s chest tighten instantly.
"Sweet girl," Victoria said gently, "have you seen anything about this man?"
Sophia’s body moved before her fear could fully settle.
She nodded.
Alaric’s eyes widened slightly, but he did not say anything.
"If you kill him," she said, voice shaking slightly, "you will die too."
The chamber went still.
Victoria blinked slowly.
Then she smiled at her.
"Oh?" she said softly. "You said sothing similar before. If I hurt the boy’s family, then I die. But you see, my sweet girl, his mother is dead already, and I’m still alive."
Sophia swallowed nervously.
"I know you are lying," her mother said.
Sophia swallowed again.
"I’m not."
Victoria studied her for a long mont.
Then she crouched slightly so she was level with her.
Her voice dropped.
"You have until morning," she said calmly, "to give a real answer."
Sophia’s breath caught.
Before she could respond, Victoria straightened.
"Darius," she said without looking away from Sophia, "take her away. Lock her in a cell."
The grip on Sophia’s arm tightened again.
As she was led away, her eyes flicked back once to Alaric, and even at that point she vowed to co back for him. And while Darius took her away, neither he nor her mother noticed that she was taking note of every turn, every corner, and every trick to open the cells.
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