bChapter /bb73 /b

bEnvy /b

Warmth. It pulls me slowly from sleep like a tide retreating from shore. My body’s sore in that good, heavy bway/bb. /bMusclesnguid. Heart steady. But my mind? It’s already moving. I roll to my sideb, /bonly to feel a weight shift beside me. Strong arms tighten around my waistb, /band a soft groan tells me I’m not alone in bed. Noah. I peek one eye open to see his stupidly handsome face half–buried in my pillow,shes brushing his cheek. One arm slung around my middle, the other tangled in the nket. His breathing is deep, steady. Warmth. Footsteps sound outside the bedroom. A soft knock. Then Xavier’s voice: “Morning. We’ve got food downstairs. Shower. Meet us in the war room in twenty.”

“Bossyb,/b” I mutter.

“Charming, He corrects.

I sighb, /bnudging Noah awake with a knuckle to his ribs. He groans again but doesn’t protest, and then…Pain. Sudden. Sharp. Blinding. bI /bfreeze as a wave of heat surges behind my eyes, and I’m not in bed anymore.

bMemory /b

I’m cold. The room smells like burnt iron and wet stone. Chains rattle somewhere behind me. My skin feels too tightb, /btoo raw. I try to lift my hand and realize it’s bound. Rope? bNo/b, silver. I bite back a whimper. This is different from the first memory where I was simply observing. Now I’m…here? It feels like I’m here, like this is real. I feel everything. bI /bsee everything, but I can’t control my body, it’s like I’m just sitting passenger.

“Again,” a voice snarls…Alpha Marcus.

He steps into view, lips twisted into something between a sneer and a smile. There’s blood on his sleeve. Mine.

“I know you’re hiding something,” he growls. “You’ve survived things no pup should. You don’t flinch when you bleed. That isn’t normal. That’s power.b” /b

I shake my head, tears falling now. “I…I don’t know…”

“You bwill/b.”

He lifts his hand, and pain follows. A whip. Coated in something sharp. Everysh burns like acid, and I scream until my voice breaks.

“Do you feel that?b” /bhe spits. “Because I’m going to keep going until whatever lives under your skin finallyes out.”

33

Then there’s light. A woman steps into the room. Dressed in robes, pale eyes, and no scent. She kneels in front of me and ces a hand on my forehead.

“She’s close,b” /bbshe /bmurmursb. /b“But not yet. You’ll damage bthe /bvessel if you keep going.” Marcus snarls but steps back,

The woman hums a soft incantation. The words bslither /bdown my bspine/bb, /band the world goes ck.

bMemory /bbi– /i/bLater that Night

“Hold still, little warrior.”

ive

Felix’s voice is softer than usual. His hands move with practiced bease /bas bhe /bdabs something warm and healing against my torn back. I sit on the edge of a couch in his home, smallb, /bcozy, packed with bike parts and faded photos. I’m wrapped in a soft shirt that smells like motor oil and pine. The pain’s fading now, but I still feel hollow.

“Did I… fall?” I ask, blinking up at him.

Something flickers behind his beyes/b. “Yes,” he lies gently. “Training ident.”

I nod slowlyb, /balready forgetting the reason for the ache in my ribs. bA /bsmall voice interrupts.

Dad?b” /b

Theo, probably five at the timeb, /bpokes his head into bthe /broom. Messy hair. Big eyes.

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1:02 PM P P ·

“Why did Alpha Marcus say I’m not allowed to y with Envy anymoreb?/b”

Felix freezes for a split second. “Because the Alpha doesn’t always make the right decisions.”

Theo blinks, confused.

“She’s dangerousb?/bb” /b

“No,” Felix says, kneeling to ruffle bhis /bson’s hair. “She’s important.”

bEnvy /bPresent bMorning /b

I jolt upright in bed, gasping. Noah bis /balready sitting up beside meb, /brubbing my back. “What happenedb?/bb” /b

I shake my head, swallowing bile. “I remembered something. A… testb. /bHe hurt me. When I was a kid. He had a witch wipe it.”

Noah’s jaw tightens, eyes darkening. “Marcus.”

“Yeah.”

I take a moment to collect myself. Noah’s hand doesn’t leave my back, offering a constant soothing to the torment in my head.

“Okay. Time to start the day.” I announce, pulling off the bcovers/b. Noah looks at me uneasily. I know he thinks. I’m crazy and should probably bjust /blie down for the rest of the day, but that’s not going to happen.

The three of them are waiting when wee in. Xavier, Levib, /band Haiden, all seated around the map table, mugs of coffee steaming nearby. The energy in the room shifts the second they bsee /bmy face.

“You okay?” Haiden asks.

bI /bbsit /bdown. “No. But I’m hereb./bb” /b

I tell them the rest. What I saw. What I felt. Felix’s voice. Theo’s question. The witch. When I finishb, /bno one speaks for a moment.

Then Xavier exhales like he’s just barely containing a snarl. “He tortured you. As a child.b” /b

“Trying to force my powers to emerge,” I sayb. /b“And then wiped it so I’d stay obedient.”

“He’s not just a threat,i” /iLevi mutters. “He’s a fucking war crime with a title.”

“I want him cornered,” I say. “Not just confronted. I want eyes bon /bevery exit. I want protections in ceb, /bin case he tries bto /buse a witch again. And 1 want byou/bb, /ball of byou/bb, /bready to rip out his throat the second he makes the wrong move.

The silence that follows bis /bheavy and final.

Xavier leans forward, elbows on his knees. “Then blet’s /bmake this dinner hisst peaceful meal.”

Levi pulls out his phone, b“/bbJust /bin bcase/bb, /bI’m going to give your brothers a quick call. We wouldn’t want to bgo /bmurdering another Alpha without them knowing about it.”

‘I’m pretty sure they’ll try to race here just to enjoy the fun bof /bit.” Haidenughs.

Levi

While the others finalize the n, I step into the hall, bphone /bin hand. I call them one by one, her brothers.

Alpha King Mchi, ever the voice of calm authority, listens without interrupting. When I finish exining Marcus’s past with Envy, his voice

turns steel.

Do what must be doneb. /bIf he touches her againb, /bI expect his heart to be returned bin /ba box.”

Alphia King Julian is lessposed. “You’re telling me that bastard tortured her as a pupb?/bb” /bHis voice is ba /bsnarl. “You want permissionb? /bYou already bhave /bit. You bhave /bmy blessing.”

1

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1:02 PM P P

Alpha King Arztec is thest to pick bup/bb, /bbvoice /bgruff from battle or training. b“/bIf he’s been ying games with the bgate /bbetween realms, you don’t wait for him to act. You eliminate the threat.”

Three kings. Three green lights. Marcus may be an Alpha, but he’s not untouchable. Not anymore.

This work, Goddess bof /bthe Underworld by Sheridan Hartin, is an exclusive intellectual property legally contracted with NovelSnack. Any reproduction, distribution, or upload outside NovelFlow, AnyStories, NovGo, and Readink is unauthorized and constitutes copyright infringement.

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