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Claiming the RUNT
Last Updated : 2026-09-16
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"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.
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C1
"Obi, look at me when I’m talking to you! Or do I need to break a limb to get your attention?"
"I... I can't hear you if you aren't facing me, Enforcer. Please, your grip—"
"Shut it, Ashford! I don't care about your excuses or your broken ears. Your old man’s empire is ash, and you’re just the leftover trash we haven't burned yet. Stand up! The Sire is tired of waiting."
"Where are you taking me? Is it the Hollow Pit again?"
"The Hollow Pit is too good for a runt like you. You’re going to the Duke’s Suite. Cassius Okoye wants to see exactly what Gideon Ashford left behind. Move!"
"Wait, I can't keep up! My legs—they aren't strong like yours. I've been sick since the siege began."
"Keep stumbling and I’ll drag you by your hair through the halls of the Ashfang Dominion. You think being a Duke’s son makes you special? In the Shadowfang Syndicate, you’re less than the dirt on Cassius’s boots. Now, move your useless ass!"
"Is he... is he going to kill me today?"
"Kill you? Death is a mercy. He’s going to make you wish you’d died with the rest of the Black Eagle. Now, get inside and get on your knees. Sire, I’ve brought the Ashford boy as ordered."
"Drop him there, Malakai. And leave us. I want to look into the eyes of the boy who lived in luxury while I bled in his father’s gutters."
"As you wish, Sire. Don't let his pathetic face fool you; he’s still got that Ashford blood."
"I know exactly what he has. Get out. Now, Obi... look at me. Don't turn your head away. You know who I am, don't you?"
"I... I remember you, Cassius. You were the one they kept in the basement. The one my father used for target practice."
"The 'slave' you mean. For ten years, I wore your family’s brand. I watched the Yellow Teeth get slaughtered while you sat in your Silver Chamber eating off gold plates. Do you have any idea what it’s like to be treated like an animal for a decade?"
"I had nothing to do with that! I was locked away too! Because I was 'broken,' because I couldn't hear the orders—"
"Stop lying! You lived under his protection. Now, that protection is gone. This Suite belongs to me. The city belongs to me. And you? You belong to the man your father tried to destroy. Take off that shirt and get on the bed."
"What? No... please, I don't understand. Why are you doing this to me?"
"Are you deaf or just stupid? I said get on the bed! I’m going to take everything from you, just like Gideon took everything from the Okoye bloodline. I’m going to make you feel every ounce of the humiliation I suffered."
"But I’m not him! I’m nothing! I can’t even fight back! Why don't you go find my father? Why take your revenge on a runt who can't even hear the world around him?"
"Because seeing you broken will hurt him more than any bullet I could put in his chest. Your father’s pride was his 'pure' lineage, even if you were a disappointment. Now, look at this scar on my face. Do you see it? Your brother gave me this while you watched from the balcony."
"I didn't... I couldn't stop them! I’m begging you, Cassius, have mercy."
"Mercy died in the Hollow Pit years ago. Now, look at me. I want you to see the man who is going to own your soul. Why you, you ask? Because you’re all that’s left. And I’m going to enjoy breaking the last Ashford piece by piece."
Latest chapter
Claiming the RUNT 51
Obi Ashford POV"How are you holding up?"The raspy, soothing voice broke through the haze of my heavy eyelids. I blinked slowly, taking in the dim chamber, my mind still tangled in the aftermath of the torture Cassius had put me through."E-Elder Vale...?" I rasped, my vocal cords stripped raw."Amira went down to the Syndicate kitchen to fetch warm water," Elder Nnamdi Vale said softly. The elderly physician placed his hand against my forehead, letting out a short, relieved sigh. "The chemical fever from the withdrawal has broken.""How long... have I been out?" I dragged my eyes toward the window. Bright sunlight cut through the glass, blinding me after the dark storm of the past couple of days."It's past noon. Cassius summoned me late last night," Vale said, pulling a leather bag from his hip to check my pulse. "Your body went through extreme shock. Are you in severe pain?"The moment the old medic mentioned the fever, the brutal memory of the desk, the torn fabric, and Cassius’s
Last Updated : 2026-09-16Claiming the RUNT 50
Obi Ashford POV"Cassius, please..."My throat felt like I had swallowed broken glass. The words tore out of me, raw and scraped bloody, as I clutched at the heavy silk lapels of his discarded jacket.My skin was on fire. Total, agonizing fire. Every nerve under my flesh burned like a lit fuse, a sickening, unnatural fever consuming my veins from the inside out. I couldn't move. I couldn't think. Sweat drenched my forehead, sticking dark curls of hair to my temples as I lay collapsed on the cold marble floor beside the balcony doors.I had dragged myself across the room hoping the midnight air from the estate grounds would cool the blaze in my blood. It hadn't done a damn thing. If anything, the cold wind made the internal heat rage harder. My legs were useless, trembling so violently I could barely keep my chest off the ground."Pain... Cassius, it hurts... please," I choked out, dragging my chin up to look at him.Cassius Okoye stood over me in the shadows of the Duke’s Suite. He lo
Last Updated : 2026-09-15Claiming the RUNT 49
CASSIUS OKOYE POV“Why are you suddenly interested in the black market?” Draven asked, his brow furrowed as his dark eyes darted toward Obi.Obi was crouching near the edge of the shelter, wringing the rain out of his dark trousers. He didn't look at us. He was only standing here because I had dragged him out of the Silver Chamber.“Unless your boys can go through this winter without food, you can start giving me answers right now,” I replied smoothly, ignoring Obi’s quiet presence as I focused on the problem at hand.Draven shrugged, leaning his back against the wet concrete wall of the range. “I can survive just fine. And I’m certainly not in the habit of helping the man who stole my family’s territory.”He was pushing his luck. Because Draven hadn't taken the formal oath of allegiance to the Shadowfang Syndicate, I couldn't legally execute him without causing an uproar among the captured Black Eagle loyalists.“Fine,” I said flatly.Draven looked confused. He probably expected me t
Last Updated : 2026-09-15Claiming the RUNT 48
OBI ASHFORD POV“How many days to cross from the Ashfang Dominion to the Rust District?” Cassius asked Malakai.We had just turned back the crooked broker who brought those seventeen trucks of rotten meat and cut-rate grain. Malakai had crushed the door of the lead vehicle with his boot, leaving the scammer to haul his toxic cargo away into the deluge. But breaking his truck didn't solve our problem. The syndicate’s food stores were running empty, and nobody in their right mind could feed whole families on rat-eaten garbage.“It takes a full week on the black roads,” Malakai grunted, leaning his shoulder against the damp stone wall of the tactical room.The rain beat a heavy rhythm against the overhead iron beams. Our tempers were sour after the broker's betrayal.“You aren't planning a run down to the subterranean market, are you?” Malakai slammed his hands on the table, trying to figure out what Cassius was plotting.Beside him, Tavian Blake looked equally grim. He dragged a finger
Last Updated : 2026-09-15Claiming the RUNT 45
The concrete blocks have been cleared from the transit line, Boss," Tavian Blake reported, stepping into the armored vehicle's briefing space as the dawn light finally broke through the heavy smog. "The entire convoy is conducting a final inventory of the remaining crates before we cover the final
Claiming the RUNT 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 did
Claiming the RUNT 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
Claiming the RUNT C4
Obi'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
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