Chapter Five

*The Sodom Pack*

Glasses shattered. Vases split against the stone floor, spraying shards across the black marble like sparks from a raging fire. The entire wing of the fortress trembled with his wrath.

Outside his quarters, a woman lingered,seduction made flesh. She wore red like blood itself, a body-hugging gown with a slit that climbed indecently high up her thigh. Every step she took was a slow sin, her hips swaying with cruel grace. Her hair tumbled in dark, glossy waves down her back, her lips plump and painted the deep red of temptation. Long iron nails gleamed when she flexed her fingers, sharp enough to pierce bone. Her chest strained proudly against the thin fabric, daring the world to look and fall.

The guards and maids tried to bar her way. “My lady, you cannot—”

She shoved them aside like they were nothing but twigs, her nails scraping against the walls as she stormed forward, each click of her heel echoing like a countdown.

The moment she crossed the threshold, a roar tore through the chamber.

“Get. Out!”

A vase hurtled toward her face with murderous force. She didn’t flinch. With a flick of her wrist, her nails sliced through the air, shredding the porcelain mid-flight. The pieces clattered harmlessly to the floor around her heels.

She smiled, slow and wicked, dragging a talon across her lips as though savoring the moment. “Mmm,” she purred, her voice rich as wine. “The last time a man was this crazy for me was… oh, about three hundred years ago.”

Her gaze locked on him. The beast of a man, seething in the ruins of his own rage, his chest heaving, his aura bleeding dominance that made the air thick enough to choke.

And still, she smiled.

It was him.Aldric.

She licked her crimson lips, her nails flexing as her gaze raked over the wreckage of his chamber. “Aldric,” she drawled, savoring his name like forbidden fruit. “Still throwing tantrums instead of claiming your bride? Tsk, tsk… I expected more.”

Her heels cracked against the marble, each step deliberate, shards of broken glass crunching beneath her feet like bones. She walked as if the destruction was her runway, her slit gown whispering over her thigh with every slow, taunting sway of her hips.

Aldric’s glare could have split the earth. His shoulders heaved, his chest bare beneath his half-open shirt, the marks of rage carved across his skin like molten fire. His claws flexed at his side, dripping faint traces of blood where he’d already torn his own palms in fury.

“Don’t test me, Lilith,” he growled, voice low and deep, carrying a weight that made the walls themselves tremble.

She tilted her head, feigning innocence as her tongue traced the curve of her teeth. “Why haven’t you gone to her yet? Your little omega bride is waiting. Or…” Her lips curled into a smirk. “Are you afraid?”

Aldric’s laugh was sharp, humorless, like steel grinding against stone. “Afraid?” He stepped forward, towering over her, his aura slamming into her with the force of a storm. “He was there.”

Her playful smirk faltered for half a heartbeat. “Who?”

His jaw clenched, eyes burning with hatred. “Dylen!.”

Even saying the name was like spitting venom. His voice dropped to a snarl, his every word vibrating with loathing. “That bastard,the same man who once put a blade through me and left me to bleed like a dog. And now… now he stands under the same roof as my betrothed bride.”

His claws raked against the table, slicing it in half as his voice thundered. “It disgusts me. That she breathes the same air as him. That his hands ever touched what is supposed to be mine.”

Shards of wood clattered to the floor. His chest rose and fell like a beast barely restrained.

Aldric’s snarl echoed through the chamber, sharp enough to rattle the very glass still clinging to the shelves.

“I hate him,” he seethed, his claws biting into the wood beneath his hands. “Not because he's trying to claim what's mine. But because every knee bends to him. Because they worship a tyrant who has spilled more blood than I ever dreamed. He wears ruthlessness like a crown, and still, they call him lord.”

Lilith prowled closer, her heels crunching glass, her red gown trailing like a ribbon of flame. She circled him slowly, her nails grazing the air near his shoulders as though she wanted to dig them into his skin.

“You wanted his throne,” she purred, her voice low, intimate. “You wanted the world to bow at your feet instead.”

His jaw clenched. “I challenged him once. The fool in me thought strength was enough.”

Her smirk widened as she dragged a talon across his chest, just above the scar that still lingered beneath his shirt. “And he reminded you it wasn’t, didn’t he?”

Aldric’s hand shot out, grabbing her wrist. “He left me broken,I healed too slowly and damn it! I haven’t fully recovered. I won’t rest till I see him stripped of power, humiliated and bleeding beneath my claws.”

The sharp sound of heels clicking against broken glass filled the chamber. Lilith’s gown clung to her curves, the deep slit revealing toned legs with each step, her nails glinting like polished blades. Her lips curved into a dangerous smile as her eyes, which were red as fresh blood,raked over Aldric.

“I despise him as much as you do,” she purred, her voice dripping with venom. “Dylen chose a weak little omega like Evelyn over me,an Alpha, a goddess in flesh! I was going to destroy him slowly, emotionally… but not now. Not when the chance to break him completely lies wide open.”

Her words coiled around him like smoke, feeding the fury that already lived in his chest. Aldric’s jaw tightened, hatred flashing in his storm-gray eyes.

Then, in a sudden motion, he reached forward, hooking his finger into the dip of her gown, right between her breasts. He yanked her closer until her soft flesh pressed firmly against his chest, the scent of her perfume wrapping around them like a trap.

His gaze burned into hers, dark, unflinching, as if daring her to breathe.

“Tell me, Lilith,” he murmured, his voice a low, dangerous growl. “Why did you come here dressed to kill? To taunt me? To tempt me? Or…” His lips curved into a cruel smirk. “…to remind me you’ve always been willing to sell destruction with those pretty curves?”

Lilith didn’t flinch when Aldric pulled her closer. Instead, her lips parted in a wicked smile as she slowly raised her hand and trailed one long, iron nail across his shoulder. The movement was languid, teasing… until she pressed down hard enough to break skin. A bead of crimson welled up, sliding down the hard line of his muscle.

Aldric grunted but didn’t move, his stormy eyes locked on hers as though daring her to go further.

Balancing on the tips of her heels, Lilith leaned in, her lips brushing dangerously close to his ear as she whispered, “I’m here because you need me, Aldric. And because… in return… I’ll make sure you get exactly what you crave.”

Her nails dragged lower, another line of blood beading across his flesh. Slowly, with deliberate hunger, she lifted her fingers and licked his blood from the sharp metal, her tongue curling around it with obscene delight.

When her gaze snapped back to him, it was molten with desire and power.

Her voice dropped to a sultry whisper that filled the shattered silence of the chamber.

“Here is the price,” she purred, her tongue still wet with his blood. “Satisfy my aching cunt… and I’ll heal you. You’ll have the strength to bring Dylen to his knees.”

“Deal?”