002

VIVIENNE POV

Weakness, the one thing I swore I’d never taste again and it was the first bastard greeting me when I tried to open my eyes.

It's pathetic, insulting and unforgivable.

My limbs felt like wet cement, my head full of static and knives. Whoever did this had a death wish and I meant a slow one. The kind where I carve initials into their spine while they scream my name.

“Ivy?” my voice rasped, eyes still shut, reaching for my wolf, my power, my rage, my teeth... anything!

Ivy answered, but barely, just a faint twitch and strangled breath, she's weak, poisoned and caged.

“Merda(shit)…” I hissed under my breath. “Who the fuck is fucking with our life?”

My mind went feral instantly, thoughts slamming into each other, there were enemies everywhere, betrayal is always on sale and revenge is my favorite meal.

But this attack felt personal, deliberate and calculated.

Enemies are oxygen in my world, sure… but someone had just tried to suffocate me.

I forced one eye open and light stabbed into my skull and my vision blurred, then focused, then blurred again. The room was concrete, cold, filthy, some underground piss-stained dungeon pretending it had class. Chains at my wrists, ankles, neck. Someone really thought they were funny.

My body throbbed with poison, heat, hunger, and murderous intent, 

The wolfbane was extremely potent, the kind brewed by people who shouldn’t fuck with alphas unless they have a death wish.

Power, I had always needed it, craved it, hungered for it like I craved a good rough fuck after a kill, all i ever desire was a chaotic, sweaty, unhinged power that made men whimper and gods tremble.

And right now?

I had nothing.

Just my mind, my fury, and a bitchy attitude that could slice throats without touching a blade.

Where the hell is Marcus?!

Was he in danger too?

Dammit!!

“Oh, che cazzo(Oh,what the fuck)…” I spat, trying to shift even a little, but my body didn’t obey. “If I ever find the stronzo(asshole)who did this, I’ll peel his skin off and gift‑wrap it.”

"I'll miss your bitchy attitude when you're gone," a familiar voice sneered, thick with that lazy arrogance I’d know even if I was deaf, blind, and dead twice over.

My head whipped to the side, pain rocketing through my skull, eyes narrowing and for one wild second, I hoped it wasn’t him, hoped the universe would let me keep one sliver of dignity.

But there it was, his scent, cheap cologne, cheap arrogance, and that old, greasy smile that made me want to shatter teeth.

Marcus.

Bastardo(Bastard).

“Marcus?” My voice almost cracked. Almost. “No fucking way. You’re not this stupid. You can’t be.”

He grinned, crouched right in front of me like I was an exhibit at the fucking zoo. I lunged, feral, ready to bite anything off, fingers aching to gouge out his lying eyes but the chains held, burning cold against my skin, my body too limp to do shit.

Pathetic and humiliating.

I made a note to murder him slowly when this was over.

“Took you long enough,” he drawled, flashing that knife-blade grin. “Thought I wouldn’t get to see you awake before the big show.”

I bared my teeth,, “What do you want?”

I was direct, deadly and no delusions. Reality stared me in the face, and I stared right the fuck back... this was pure planned betrayal, no damsel in distress act will fool him, he knows what I am.

Marcus licked his lips, eyes cold, voice soft in that way people use before they commit real crimes. “I wanted your love,” he said, casual, like he was ordering wine at dinner.

I rolled my eyes so hard I saw stars. “Oh, please. Don’t hand me that sentimental merda(crap/shit), Marcus. You? Love? I’ve seen snakes with more loyalty. Tell me another story, stronzo(asshole).”

He laughed loudly, unhinged, echoing off the filthy concrete walls.

"Smart as always."

“Yeah, that’s how you build an invisible empire, moron. Not with your dick, but with your head, wouldn’t expect you to get it.”

His smile twisted, something ugly flickering behind his eyes.

“I really did love you, boss. But what you represent…that power, that fear, che potenza(that power), you made me want it. And since you will never give yourself to me, never once let yourself be owned, now you have to go. Out with the queen, in with the king.”

I spat at his feet, watching the red hit his shoes.

“Keep dreaming, Marcus. The only crown you’ll ever wear is the one I nail to your fucking skull.”

He stood, that smile growing, stretching across his face and my rage lit him up from the inside, sick bastard... It's like my fury was his favorite dessert.

“Careful, Viper,” he murmured, voice low and venom-sweet, “you have no power anymore. And where you’re going, nobody gives a fuck about how sharp your tongue is if you’re on your knees.”

I smiled back, bloody, feral, and unbreakable.

“Oh, Marcus… sweetheart… if you think I need power to destroy you, you’re dumber than your dick looks.”

His jaw clenched, just enough to make me smirk harder.

“What exactly have you done?” I hissed. “Because I KNOW you’re too fucking stupid to plan this. Who set you up to this? Who pulled your leash? Volkov? One of my rivals? Or some whore you’re fucking who promised to stroke your ego?”

Marcus stepped in, crouched, voice dropping low and mean, eyes sparkling with a hate he’d always tried to call love. “Oh, I wanted to kill you, but damn, I knew your ghost would be a pain in the ass. So when someone offered me what was worth more than loyalty, I had to take the risk to take you down, Viper.”

I grinned, blood on my teeth. “You sold me for scraps? Typical. Too stupid to even betray me with style.”

He growled, actually growled and then lifted his boot and kicked me.

The impact cracked across my ribs, my vision exploding into white stars. Pain ripped through my chest, but I refused to go limp, I refused to pass out.

No.

I stayed awake out of spite and smirked anyway then, spat blood at his shoe again. “That's all you got, Marcus? Hit me harder, maybe I’ll finally respect you and by the way, you hit like a malnourished choirboy.”

That made him snap.

Marcus crouched in front of me, grabbed my jaw hard, fingers digging into my cheeks. “Goddess, even now you won’t shut up,” he whispered, breath hot, eyes blown wide with fury and something sickeningly lustful. “You run your fucking mouth, makes me want to break you and fuck you at the same time.that mouth… fuck… you have no idea how good that mouth is when it’s not running.”

I smirked, dripping contempt.

“Oh, I have an idea. I’ve seen the way you whine. Pathetic. You fuck like a man who’s scared the pussy will bite him.”

His nostrils flared and he slapped me hard, my head cracking to the side.

I let out a dark , manic, psychotic little sound.

“Hit me again, stronzo(asshole)… maybe you’ll grow a spine this time.”

Marcus’s breathing changed, it seemed hungry, hateful. He reached out and dragged his fingers down my throat, slow, possessive, and disgusting.

“You remember earlier?” he whispered. “Bent over your desk? Screaming? Begging? You were dripping for me...”

“I was wet because the office was hot, idiota. You think you did that? Please. I’ve had better orgasms from expensive wine.”

He snapped into a full-body twitch of rage.

His hand shot out, gripping my hair, yanking my head back so violently I gasped but I still glared straight into his eyes.

“You’re still talking,” he hissed.

“And you’re still disappointing,” I hissed back.

He punched me hard, my head slammed into the concrete wall and blood trickled warm down my temple.

The world flashed black, then came back shaky and spinning and still my mouth, my glorious, weaponized, venom-laced mouth kept going.

“That's all, Marcus?” I croaked, smiling even as blood dripped down my lips. “My grandmother hits harder and she’s dead.”

His face twisted and he struck again and my vision flickered, darkness tugged at the edges but I refused to let him have the last word.

As consciousness slipped, my voice slurred, sharp as a blade dipped in poison, 

“Quando ti troverò(when I find you)… I’ll rip your balls off… and make you eat them…”

He hit me one last time in full strength and

the world snapped to black and even as the darkness swallowed me whole, my fading breath managed one last insult...

“Pezzo di merda(Piece of shit)…”