Claiming the RUNT
"I told you once, Obi... power is the only truth. Your father taught me that while I bled in his gutters. Now, I’m the one with the power, and you’re the one on your knees."
In the cold, ruthless world of the Shadowfang Syndicate, the weak are nothing but collateral. Obi Ashford was born the "runt" of the most powerful mafia dynasty in the country—the Black Eagle. Deaf, sickly, and discarded by his own father, Duke Gideon Ashford, Obi lived as a ghost in a gilded cage, bearing the literal scars of his family's cruelty on his back.
But when the empire falls, the ghosts come back to haunt the living.
Cassius Okoye has returned. Once a high-born heir himself, he spent ten years as a branded slave in the Ashford household after the Duke razed his family to the ground. Now, he is the Sire of the Syndicate, the man who conquered the Ashfang Dominion in a single night of fire and blood. He came for vengeance. He came to destroy every last Ashford.
When Cassius finds Obi trembling in the Hollow Pit, he expects to find a monster's son. Instead, he finds a broken boy who can’t even hear the threats whispered in his ear.
Cassius promised to give the Ashford heir hell. He intended to use Obi to break the Duke's legacy, claiming him as a slave, a toy, and a debt to be paid in the bedroom. But as he peels back the layers of Obi’s past, he discovers a horrifying truth: the boy he wants to destroy was never the enemy—he was the first victim.
Lire
Chapter: C7"Obi Ashford? Is he still breathing or did the fever finally take the last of that Black Eagle pride?""He’s in your Suite, Cassius. Amira brought him in an hour ago. He’s out cold on the sofa. Looks like a discarded doll someone forgot to throw away. He’s skin and bone, Sire.""I don't have time for a dying boy. Tavian, keep the Enforcers on the perimeter. I have to scrub this street filth off me before I even think about dealing with Gideon’s mistake. Tell the doctor if the runt dies before I get back, it's his neck.""The doctor says he’s stabilized, but his heart is weak. He’s a runt, Cassius. He doesn't have the constitution of a soldier. He shouldn't even be alive after a week in the Hollow Pit.""He’s alive because I haven't given him permission to die yet. Now get out. I need ten minutes of silence and a hot shower.""Don't take too long, Sire. Malakai is waiting for you in the Pit. He’s been 'playing' with Draven Ashford for three hours. He’s starting to get creative.""I’m c
Dernière mise à jour: 2026-05-12
Chapter: C6"I am not letting him wear this filth, Selah. It’s a death sentence for his dignity. Look at this—it’s nothing but thin lace and shame! Obi is a man, not a toy for the Shadowfang Syndicate!""He’s whatever the Sire says he is now, Amira. You think the Black Eagle showed us mercy when we were the ones in the dirt? Put it on him or I’ll tell Malakai you’re obstructing Syndicate business. You know how he handles 'obstructions'.""Obi is sick! He has a fever! How can you stand there and talk about orders when he can barely lift his head?""Tell him to find his strength, then. Because if he’s naked when Cassius walks in, it won't be the fever that kills him. That’s what all of us had to do to survive Gideon’s reign—we learned to serve. Now it's his turn.""You were the Duke's favorite once, Selah. You of all people should know he had nothing to do with his father's cruelty!""And yet, I was the one covered in soot while he was the one in silk. Now the silk is gone. Make sure he's ready. Th
Dernière mise à jour: 2026-05-12
Chapter: C5"I’m begging you, Cassius, show some mercy to Master Obi! He has endured enough at the hands of his own blood! Please, let me go to him! Let me be in the Hollow Pit with him so he isn't alone in the dark!""You want to rot in a cage for an Ashford? Get up, Amira. Your loyalty is misplaced. I don’t care about your tears or the sob stories regarding the Duke’s parenting style. He was a Prince of the Black Eagle. That makes him my enemy.""Sire Cassius, Tavian is here. He says it’s urgent. Step aside, woman.""What is the status, Tavian? Did the Enforcers secure the perimeter?""Forget the perimeter for a second, Cassius. The boy is out cold. He’s unresponsive in the cell.""What do you mean 'unresponsive'? Did someone touch him without my orders?""No, he’s just fading. His system is crashing. He won't survive the night unless we bring in Elder Nnamdi Vale or a proper Syndicate doctor. He’s circling the drain.""Obi! No! Sire, please, save him! He’s innocent! He shouldn't have to pay fo
Dernière mise à jour: 2026-05-12
Chapter: C4Obi's looking like a corpse again, isn't he? He's barely breathing over there in the corner of the Hollow Pit.""I told you, the kid was born a runt. Gideon’s bad blood. He’s shivering like he’s in the arctic, but the cell is like a furnace tonight. I'll give him forty-eight hours, max.""Think the Sire wants him dead? He’s been down twice this week. If the lungs don't give out, the infection will.""If Cassius has any sense, he’ll put a bullet in the Ashford boy’s head and end the misery. It’s a waste of a cell. My family spent ten years in the gutter because of the Black Eagle, but even I feel sick looking at that skeletal thing. He’s a walking ghost.""Yeah, well, ghosts don't pay debts. Let him rot. It’s more than the Ashfords gave our people when the Yellow Teeth were running the streets. Let’s get a drink; the runt isn't going anywhere but the morgue.""Go ahead, Malakai! Cut me! You’re still a dog in a suit! I’m Draven Ashford! I’ll burn this city with you inside it! AHHHH!""K
Dernière mise à jour: 2026-05-12
Chapter: C3"The shirt Cassius left on the ground is so oversized it almost reaches my knees, like I'm wearing a tent. He’s massive, isn't he?""Shut up, Ashford. Just keep moving. You’re lucky the Sire didn't finish what he started with your brother Draven. You're still breathing.""Why did you stop dragging me? Are you tired of hurting me already?""I'm not a monster, kid. I just follow orders. Besides, how did a devil like Gideon Ashford father someone as small and broken as you? You can't even hear the sirens when they go off.""I... I can't understand you when you look away. Is the First Lord watching this? Does the sky always look this dark from the Hollow Pit?""Forget the sky. Get inside the cell. I’ll make sure someone throws a scrap of bread your way. Move it, Obi.""It’s so cold in here. My skin feels like it’s on fire but I can’t stop shaking. Is this another fever?""So, the Ashford boy is a ghost in his own head? He truly can't hear a word?""That’s the word from the Syndicate scout
Dernière mise à jour: 2026-05-12
Chapter: C2"Why am I the one paying for his sins? Why don't you direct this vengeance toward my father instead? He is the one who ran the Syndicate!""You think I haven't asked that same question every night for a decade? Why me? Why my family?""I don't know... I didn't choose to be born an Ashford!""Look at me, Obi! My parents are rotting in the ground because of Gideon. My younger siblings were executed while I was forced to serve as a foot soldier for the Black Eagle, treated like a dog in the Ashfang Dominion. Your father told me that power is the only truth—that the strong do as they wish and the weak suffer what they must. Now, I have the power. Take off that silk. Get on the bed.""Please... don't do this. I’ve never... nobody has ever touched me. Please, Cassius!""You're begging? I spent ten years begging! Every time Gideon or Draven used me as a punching bag, I begged. And you know what they said? They said a slave has no right to words. You aren't a Duke's son anymore. You’re my pro
Dernière mise à jour: 2026-05-12
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