<h4>Chapter 695: Tricked</h4>


    Olivia’s POV


    ?The massive rogue camp was twice asrge as the prisoner had described. Hundreds of tents stretched into the trees, and the air stank of unwashed bodies and blood. The Rogue King stepped out from thergest tent, a cruel smile stretching across his face. He didn’t look surprised; he looked as though he had been waiting for us to arrive.


    ?"The Trinity and their fire-breathing Luna," he called out, his voice dripping with venom. "I knew you couldn’t resisting for me."


    ?Lennox stepped forward, his wolf glowing in his eyes. "How dare you cross our borders," he roared, his voice echoing through the trees. "How dare you touch our home. You will not leave this forest alive."


    ?"You killed my mate!" the King screamed back, hisughter vanishing into raw, ugly anger. "You didn’t just imprison Annabe; you beheaded her like amon criminal! You took my soul, so I will take everything from you. I will wipe everyst one of your bloodline off this earth."


    ?"Over my dead body," I snapped. I felt the heat rising in my chest. I raised my hand, and a white-hot me began to dance across my fingertips, ready to turn this camp into an inferno.


    ?"I wouldn’t be so sure about that, little girl," the King said, pulling a small ck device from his belt. "My spies weren’t just there to kill you at the altar. While you were busy dancing, they were nting bombs in every corner of your mansion. And I believe your precious children are currently inside, tucked away in their ’safe’ room."


    ?My blood turned to ice. My me flickered and died as my heart stopped.


    ?"You’re lying," Lennox hissed, but I could feel his hands shaking through the bond.


    ?The Rogue King sneered and pressed a small red button on the side of the device.


    ?BOOM.


    ?The ground beneath us vibrated. Even from miles away, the sound of a massive explosion ripped through the air. A plume of ck smoke began to rise in the distance,ing from the direction of our territory.


    ?"No!" I screamed. I braced myself, my power surging to teleport back to the mansion, but the King pointed the device at me.


    ?"Don’t," he warned. "That was just thebat training grounds. The next button blows the East Wing. The one after that? The library and the safe room beneath it. If you teleport, if you move, if you even blink wrong, I’ll turn that mansion into a graveyard before you can touch the door."


    ?I froze. I could feel the truth in his words. Through the bond, I felt Lennox’s mind frantically reaching out to Golden and the guards back at the mansion.


    ?Golden, report! Lennox’s mental voice was a scream. Search the foundations! There are explosives in the house! Get the kids out!


    ?Levi stepped up beside me, his teeth bared and his eyes fixed on the King’s hand. "Drop that device," Levi growled, his body coiled like a spring. "If you hurt those kids, there won’t be enough of you left for the crows to eat."


    ?"Then I suggest you tell your warriors to stand down," the Rogue King mocked, holding the detonator high. "Because right now, I’m the only one who decides if your heirs wake up tomorrow."


    ?I looked at Lennox. His face was pale, his Alpha pride warring with his terror as a father. We were trapped. I looked at the ck smoke rising from our home and felt something snap inside me. The fear for my children was there, but it was being drowned out by a white-hot, tectonic rage.


    ?"I don’t care," I snarled, my voice echoing with a power that shook the trees. "If you touch them, I will burn the very air out of your lungs before you can blink."


    ?I gathered every ounce of my magic, my fingers igniting into blinding white pirs of me. I was ready to strike, ready to end him—but the Rogue King just smirked.


    ?"Now," he whispered.


    ?The ground beneath us didn’t just shake; it vanished.


    ?A massive, magically reinforced sinkhole opened up directly under our feet. Before I couldunch my fire, the earth swallowed us whole. I fell into a dark, suffocating pit. As I tried to scramble up, strange, glowing vines shot out from the dirt walls, wrapping around my arms and legs. They weren’t just vines—they wereced with wolfsbane and silver. They burned my skin and, worse, they acted like a power dampener.


    ?I tried to teleport. I squeezed my eyes shut, reaching for that familiar tug of space, but it felt like hitting a brick wall. My magic was being sucked out by the ground itself.


    ?Beside me, I heard a grunt of pain. Louis was pinned next to me, the vines tightening around his throat as he struggled to shift. Half of our vanguard warriors were trapped in the same trench, their wolves howling in agony as the enchanted earth suppressed their spirits.


    ?But Lennox and Levi had been a second faster. They had lunged forward as the ground gave way, their Alpha reflexes allowing them to catch the edge and roll onto the solid grass.


    ?Lennox stood up, his clothes shredded, his fangs fully extended and dripping with saliva. He looked like a demon birthed from the forest floor. His growl was so loud it made the rogue warriors step back in fear. Levi was right beside him, his ws extended, his body a blur of lethal tension.


    ?The Rogue King looked down into the pit at Louis and me, then turned his gaze back to the two Alphas who were still free. He threw his head back andughed, a sound of pure triumph.


    ?"Did you really think I’d fight fair?" the King said, looking at Lennox. "You always were the arrogant one, just like your father said. You’re so focused on the bombs and the battlefield that you forgot to look at where you were standing."


    ?He stepped toward the edge of the pit, dangling the detonator over us.


    ?"Now I have the Luna and one brother in a cage," he sneered. "And I have the detonator for your children’s lives in my hand. So, Lennox... Levi... tell me. Are you going to fight me and watch your family die, or are you going to show me just how much an Alpha is willing to crawl to save his blood?"


    ?Lennox’s eyes were pure gold, his pupils blown wide with a killing intent so strong I could feel it through the bond, even through the dampening vines.


    ?"I am going to tear your heart out through your back," Lennox promised.


    ?The Rogue King’s smile widened. He didn’t just look like a warrior anymore; his eyes began to swirl with a dark, sickly violet light. He slowly rotated his wrist, his fingers contorting in a strange, rhythmic motion.


    ?Suddenly, a pain like a thousand jagged knives ripped through my nerves. It wasn’t the vines; it wasing from the inside out. My blood felt like it was boiling, and my bones felt like they were being crushed by an invisible vice. I gasped, my back arching against the dirt wall of the pit as a strangled scream escaped my throat.


    ?"Olivia!" Lennox’s roar was filled with such raw agony it vibrated in my soul. He took a predatory step forward, but the King merely flicked a finger toward Louis.


    ?Louis let out a choked cry, his hands wing at his chest as he copsed into the mud beside me. The binding vines glowed brighter, feeding off the King’s dark energy.


    ?"Stop! Stop it!" Lennox yelled, his voice cracking. He halted mid-stride, his massive hands trembling and his ws digging into his own palms until they bled.


    ?The Rogue King let out a low, chillingugh. "I am not just any King, Lennox. I am a sorcerer. A King of the shadows. I spent four years learning the arts that would make your Alpha strength look like child’s y."


    ?He twisted his hand again, and the pressure on my lungs tightened. I couldn’t breathe. My vision began to spot with ck. Through the bond, I felt Lennox’s absolute terror.


    ?"I can kill your mate and your brother with just a twist of my hand," the King said, his voice smooth and terrifyingly calm. "I don’t even need the bombs to end your legacy, but they are a nice touch, aren’t they? One little ’click’ and your pups are stardust. One little ’twist’ and your Luna is a corpse."


    ?Lennox stood frozen, his chest heaving. He was a beast capable of killing hundreds, a warrior who had never backed down, but right now, he was a man staring at the death of his entire world. He looked at me, his golden eyes pleading and filled with a helpless rage. He knew that if he lunged, or if he even breathed in the King’s direction, I wouldn’t survive the next second.


    ?"Get on your knees," the Kingmanded, the violet light in his eyes ring. "Both of you. Now. Or I’ll let you watch her heart stop before I blow the house."


    ?


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!