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C3
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2026-05-12 05:57:05"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 scouts, Cassius. Obi Ashford was born a runt in the Black Eagle hierarchy. Weak lungs, bad heart, and stone deaf. Tavian says he survives by reading lips, but if you aren't facing him, he’s lost."
"That explains his silence when I was behind him. But Tavian, explain the marks. His back is a map of scars—old ones, new ones. Someone used a heavy belt or a whip on that boy for years. Who?"
"You're actually concerned about an Ashford's skin? Did the conquest soften your head, Sire?"
"Don't test me, Tavian. We don't slaughter the weak for sport. That’s what Gideon did. I want to know why the Prince of the Ashfang Dominion was treated like a common street snitch in his own home."
"I can find out. I’ve secured the girl who used to attend to him. Amira Cole. She’s been his shadow since they were kids. Should I have Malakai break her?"
"No. Bring her to the Duke’s Suite. I’ll handle the interrogation myself."
"You? Personally? You have an entire city to restructure and a gang to rebrand, Cassius. Why waste time on a servant?"
"Because the boy’s eyes don't match his name. Just bring her."
"Your name is Amira Cole. You served the Ashford runt, didn't you?"
"P-please, Sire Cassius... my name is Amira. I’ve been with Master Obi since he was seven. Please don't kill him. He’s not like his father. He’s not like Draven."
"I didn't ask for a character reference. Tavian, leave us. Take the guards. I want her to speak without a gun to her head."
"Are you sure, Sire?"
"Go. Now, Amira, look at me. I have limited patience. I’ve spent a week cleaning the blood of the Black Eagle off these streets. I don't want to repeat my questions."
"What do you want to know? Obi... he never hurt anyone. He spent his life locked in the Silver Chamber with his books."
"I saw his back tonight. Someone turned his spine into a trophy of scars. Who whipped him? And why would a Don do that to his own blood?"
"You... you saw them? Then you must have... oh, First Lord, what have you done to him? Hasn't he suffered enough under Gideon's hand?"
"I’m the one asking questions here. Who did it? Was it the Duke?"
"It was everyone! If he missed a command because he couldn't hear, Gideon would strike him. If he stumbled during training, Draven would use the belt. They hated him for being weak, Sire. They hated him for being a 'stain' on the Ashford legacy."
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
Claiming 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
Claiming 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
Claiming 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
Claiming the RUNT 47
OBI ASHFORD POV“Good morning, Obi!”Malakai’s loud voice shattered my thoughts before I could even find my footing in the grand hallway. I flinched, my boots skidding on the cold marble floor. My dark suit coat felt suffocating around my chest, but I pulled the lapels tight, hiding the tremor in my fingers.I gave a stiff, tiny nod, keeping my jaw locked. "Good morning, Malakai."Silence stretched between us like a drawn wire. I couldn't look him in the eye. I didn't belong in the Ashfang Dominion, and I certainly didn't know how to speak to Cassius’s top enforcer. The silence turned heavy, suffocating.Malakai rubbed the back of his neck, forcing a tight grin. "It’s a good day today!"Right on cue, a brutal crack of thunder rattled the floorboards under our feet.I turned my head toward the tall arched windows on my left, my brows drawn low as water slammed against the thick glass. "It’s a downpour," I said, my voice deadpan and flat."Yeah... well, guess we got different ideas of w
Claiming the RUNT 46
Obi Ashford POV"This room is completely wrong," Tavian Blake muttered, his boot heels echoing against the bare concrete of the high-security sector. "Cassius told Kaz to lock you up in a place that fits the family, but this looks like a holding block."I stood in the center of the cold, windowless space. The floor was uncarpeted stone. The only furniture was a narrow iron bed and a rusted metal locker. Nothing about it suggested that the former underboss of the Black Eagle Syndicate had ever lived here."I am not complaining," I said, my voice quiet as I kept my eyes fixed on the blank wall. I hated looking directly at Tavian. Every time I did, I remembered the horrifying expression on his face when he caught me in the library with Cassius—the sight of the conqueror pinning me against the mahogany desk, claiming my life as his leverage."The Duke's Suite is right next door," Tavian said softly. He stepped closer, tapping my elbow to make sure I caught his expression. "Obi, look at me
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
Claiming the RUNT 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 a
Claiming the RUNT 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 left
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