Chapter 141

Harper’s POV

My patience was already wearing thin. I could truly understand Lucas’s reservations about not wanting me to step foot back on this part of the property. The emotions and memories that had permanently scarred me were doing nothing to ease my temperament.

It wasn’t as though I expected any of the captives to spill their guts to me about their boss. However, the last thing I anticipated was being openly mocked and toyed with.

Erie was scratching angrily beneath my surface. I felt her anger first. She wanted to come out and claw the man’s face off. And, not for nothing, I shared her sentiments.

I bit back a snarl, but Lucas was nowhere near so easily placated. He took a firm step forward and let a fierce growl tear from his chest. It rattled the room into submission.

His eyes glowed with savage readiness to tear out the throat of anyone stupid enough to piss me off next.

“Who is this so-called Master then?” I asked coolly.

No one answered. They merely shared a look amongst themselves and kept their silence.

Interesting.

Whoever this person was, they managed to break several full-grown men into some twisted allegiance.

“Your loyalty to this unknown person is...Impressive, yet highly unwise,” I commented. “What exactly is it that your boss is promising you in return for such compliance? What’s in it for you, huh?”

The tension in the room was already thick, but as the seconds passed, it had grown to be nearly unbreathable. Each of the captives kept their jaws clenched like they were fighting the urge to talk.

“Tell me,” I ordered harshly.

One of the men in the front broke first. He let out a strangled noise and turned to stare right back at me.

His tone was laced with desperation as well as shame. “He promised us enhanced power,” he confessed.

The others tried to keep him quiet by ramming into his shoulders and giving him dirty looks. It wasn’t enough to keep the truth from spilling out.

“He said that everyone who was willing to carry out his work would be entitled to special privileges."

My eyes narrowed in disdain. “What kind of special privileges?”

I knew I wasn’t going to like the answer, but we needed to create some sort of profile on who this mastermind was.

“He’d let us have our fill of whatever wasn’t sold off during the auctions. Valuables. Antiques. Women.”

Several of the guards snarled in bitterness at the guy’s answer. My stomach rolled with nausea at the thought of any woman who suffered and was made to feel like nothing more than an object.

It took all of my inner strength and control not to let my darker instincts out. I wanted to go for each of their throats.

“The mere thought that any of you think that you’re entitled to profit over other people’s suffering makes me want to tear all of you to pieces,” I sneered.

All of the strenuous emotions that felt like a whirling storm inside of me were no longer willing to stay back. They poured from me in great waves, ready to take out anything in their path.

The very air was electrified. It fizzled and snapped all around us. Everyone was startled and alert, not having a single clue what to do.

I felt Lucas move in close to my side. “Harper,” he whispered. “You need to calm down.”

“I can’t,” I hissed through clenched teeth. “I can’t stop it.”

Whatever this monstrous feeling was that threatened to tear the whole room apart was defiant. I pressed both my hands to the sides of my head, trying to wrestle back the spiralling intensity that wanted to consume me.

A broken cry tore from the back of my throat. All of the captives fell to the floor in numerous sounding thuds. Their eyes glowed as their wolves howled and cried in response.

Lucas’s POV

Out of everyone in the room, I was the one most privy to what was happening. The Mater Luporum. The power was actively surging through Harper and trying to root itself within those around it.

But one thing I noticed was that the only ones that truly seemed affected by Harper’s new abilities were the captives. None of the guards, Mason, or I felt an ounce of her persuasion.

Apparently, the power was capable of being selective. That was certainly an interesting fact. However, the main issue at the moment was its instantaneous presence. In other words, Harper had no means of controlling it.

The power seemed to be linked to her emotions. The angrier Harper became, the more susceptible she was to expelling these erratic symptoms.

Every single one of the captives grew unhinged under her domineering glare. Their wolves sounded desperate to appease her and frightened to disobey.

While I was deeply impressed by what she was able to uncover from our tight-lipped prisoners, she needed to rein in her new abilities. The guards around the room were confused beyond all hell.

And rightfully so. The last piece of news that had been traveling fast around the pack was that Harper was dying.

I could tell that many of the guards were still oddly questioning the earlier interaction we all had back in the meeting room. Why they felt possessed to acknowledge Harper in such a unique manner was a matter to be dealt with at another time.

At that moment, I had a bigger problem to handle.

This power that Harper was executing from her very being looked like it was splitting her into pieces. She clutched the sides of her head in pain and whimpered for the wave of power to stop. My heart ached to help her, but I had no idea how.

Aurora didn’t exactly leave behind an instruction manual for us to follow.

I felt useless. The best I could do was try and pull Harper away from the captives and out of the dungeons. I could have kicked myself for letting this plan take place. She had no business being back in this awful setting.

I had sensed her uneasiness the moment we reached the bottom platform.

Curling my hands around her arms, I gently tugged her back. But Harper refused to budge.

“No! I still need to know more!” she shouted.

Her eyes which would normally glow golden from her world, had become entirely consumed by her pupils. Black as the void.

Her voice even dropped a lower than normal octave. “Tell me his name!”

“Harper!” I shouted over her thunderous tone. “That’s enough! I’m taking you back upstairs.”

She forcefully shook me away. “No!”

Numerous light fixtures shattered into thousands of small pieces all around the room due to the overwhelming power surge that coursed through the air.

If she were to go on like this any longer, there was no telling what would become of her. She could very well end up giving herself an aneurysm. Or some kind of internal hemorrhaging from all the stress she was placing on her body.

I couldn’t allow it.

This time, I spun her around to face me. I placed both my hands on either side of her face and looked her square in the eyes. I searched beyond the barriers of her mind. I fought to connect with her wolf.

Our bond that had been formed under the blood ritual—it was my only way of reaching her.

As soon as I found Erie, I pushed forth all of my dominance as her mate and demanded that she stop Harper from going any further.

“Put her to sleep.”

Harper released a feral growl before her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Her knees gave out, and she slipped into a peaceful state of deep slumber.