MATED TO THE SECRET ALPHA
Chapter 94: The Mask Man’s Brutality

In the heart of the forest...

"You’re saying you don’t know?" the masked man repeated, his gaze boring into Xavier.

Xavier’s expression remained steadfast. "Yes, I don’t know," he replied, his tone firm and resolute.

The masked man fell silent, his gaze lingering on Xavier as if to gauge the sincerity behind his words. The air was heavy with tension as he scrutinized Xavier’s expression, searching for any flicker of deception or hidden truth. "I trust you," he finally said.

"How could you believe him?!" Victor yelled, his face reddening with indignation as he took a step forward, his eyes blazing with accusation.

This masked man had been excluding them in his plans and treating them like subordinates. He wouldn’t let them question Xavier or go near him, citing that Xavier was his guest.

And now, when Victor thought the masked man would force this confession from Xavier, the masked man had abruptly ended the inquiry, seemingly satisfied with Xavier’s denials.

’How could he?!’ Victor’s outrage boiled over. "On whose authority are you acting with such impunity?" he demanded, his voice dripping with indignation.

Moss and Gideon’s brows furrowed in unison, their expressions mirroring Victor’s discontent. They, too, had been unsettled by the masked man’s recent changes. His brilliant strategic mind had once been a valuable asset, but his increasingly autocratic behavior was eroding their trust. He was better as their strategist, not their overlord.

How could the three men who had long solidified their positions as perceived Alphas of their respective rogue groups possibly be content with a masked stranger reducing them to subordinate roles? Their ego and pride made it unthinkable.

The masked man turned to leave, ignoring Victor and the others’ evident anger, but Victor swiftly blocked his path, his eyes blazing with defiance. "You’re not going anywhere," Victor growled, his voice low and menacing.

"Go back and extract the truth from him!" Victor bellowed, his anger boiling over. "Torture him if you must! You have the truth serum. Use it!"

The memory of the fiery red wolf still seared his mind. The agony it had inflicted upon him still lingered, a raw and festering wound that refused to heal. He’d almost succumbed to death at the wolf’s jaws, and Victor’s mental scars still throbbed with a mixture of fear, anger, and helplessness.

Victor prided himself on being strong and powerful, but the encounter with the fiery red wolf had left him feeling embarrassingly vulnerable. Despite the wolf’s wounded state, with its stomach bleeding profusely, Victor had been unable to land even a single blow, his usual confidence and prowess reduced to impotence.

How could he not seethe with resentment? How could he not be consumed by a burning obsession to track down the wolf and rally his hundreds of loyal followers to join him in a fierce and merciless revenge?

"Out of my way," the masked man’s low growl rumbled in his chest. It was a warning, one that Victor would do well to heed, but Victor was too far gone, his emotions simmering in a volatile stew of anger, frustration, and humiliation.

And then, in a swift and shocking motion, the masked man’s hand shot out and plunged into Victor’s stomach, the gruesome sound of flesh tearing through fabric echoing through the air as his hand protruded from Victor’s back, snapping his tailbone with a sickening crunch.

The tent fell silent, everyone’s eyes widening in horror as they froze in stunned disbelief, their minds struggling to comprehend the sheer brutality of the attack.

Victor’s eyes widened in shock as he felt the masked man’s hand rip through his stomach. He tried to speak, but choked out blood into the mask.

He trailed downward, his legs buckling beneath him as his vision began to blur, life slipping away from him as his mind struggled to comprehend the gruesome reality of his situation.

Moss and Gideon rushed forward, their faces etched with shock and horror, as they desperately tried to catch Victor’s limp form, their voices echoing in panicked unison, "Victor! No!"

They didn’t like each other, their every interaction a simmering brew of tension and one-upmanship as each one tried to assert their dominance, to lead the other two. Yet, despite their mutual disdain, they’d grown to tolerate each other, their forced camaraderie forged in the fires of necessity, a begrudging respect born of shared adversity.

But this, the loss of one of their own, in a situation as brutal and senseless as this, struck a chord deep within them, awakening a flicker of genuine emotion beneath their hardened exteriors, and for a moment, their animosity towards each other was forgotten.

With a thundering roar, they charged towards the masked man, whom they’d both recognized as a sworn enemy, their sharp claws elongating, bodies half-transformed, as they summoned the ferocity of the wild beast in them.

But it didn’t take long before the two brutes, Moss and Gideon, were sent crashing to the ground, their half-transformed bodies no match for the masked man’s inhuman strength, his blows swift and merciless as he dealt with them like mere nuisances, leaning them with barely any strength left.

Standing over their battered bodies, the masked man loomed, his voice dripping with malice as he began, "I won’t kill you yet, I have use for you. You’ll go out there, gather all your rogues, including those of Victor’s, and pay homage to your new Alpha... me."

Gideon’s eyes blazed with extreme fury as he spat out the words, "You wish!" His voice was laced with venom, and his body trembled with rage, despite the obvious pain and weakness that threatened to consume him.

Moss’s voice was a low, menacing growl as he snarled, "I’d rather die!" His eyes, filled with a fierce determination, locked onto the masked man, daring him to make his next move.

The masked man stayed silent for a moment, his gaze fixed on Moss’s battered form. Then, with a hint of resignation, he sighed, "As you wish."

With that, he raised his foot, but just as he was about to stamp Moss’s head, Gideon’s voice thundered through the air, "STOP!"