Alpha Damien's Trouble Maker (by Ruby Anne) novel Chapter 161

Chapter 161

Chloe

“Terrifying.”

“What power.”

“And he is so young.”

The voices swirled around me like distant echoes with awe andar, but this was neither the time nor the situation to let them distract me. My body was suspended slightly above the ground, the Dragon Fang coiled tightly around my torso and one arm, its sharp edges grazing my skin just enough to remind me how easily it could slice through me if my brother willed it.

I tried, at first, to pull my arm free from where the whip had pied it against my side, but no matter how much strength I put into it, the whip would not budge. Instead, it reacted as if it were alive, tightening incrementally the harder I struggled, pressing into my ribs until a sharp ache spread through my ches

I forced myself to stop resisting.

There was no point.

Once my brother’s whip wrapped around you, breaking free through brute strength alone was impossible. The more I fought it, the more it punished me. I had learned that lesson long ago. So instead of panicking, and of wasting what little air I could still draw into my lungs, I stilled my body and focused on steadying my breathing, even though his other hand had come up to grip my neck firmly enough to make each inhale thinner than the last.

I lifted my gaze to meet his.

I ignored the pressure around my throat. I ignored the sting of the metal edges biting into my clothes. I ignored the way black spots were beginning to gather at the corners of my vision

“Weak.”

The word was thrown at me again, this time not just from him but from somewhere in the crowd, and I felt nothing when I heard it. There was no anger, or humiliation in me. Why would react to something I had heard my entire life?

Weak. Fragile. Useless. A burden. Even my own twin brother believed it without hesitation.

Caspian has always hated me.

He never tried to hide it either. But I could not blame him.

After all, I was the reason our parents were dead.

When I was a child, there were people who discovered that my magic levels were unusually high for my age. They wanted to use me, and control me, so they lured me away with sweet words and kindness. I was too young to understand their intentions. By the time I realized something was wrong, it was already too late. I was too weak to escape.

My uncle, the Alpha, had been away at the time. It was my parents who came searching for me. They found me. And they died because of it.

Since that day, the blame has never left my shoulders. The servants’ whispers followed me through the halls. Some of them looked at me with pity, others with resentment.

No matter how much I wished we could return to the days befor that tragedy, I knew we never would.

Caspian hated me. And, for a long time, I hated myself too.

The only ones who treated me with genuine kindness were my grandfather and my uncle, in their own quiet ways. And then there was Noah. He was the first person outside my family who treated me well without expecting anything in return, and looking at me as if I were either a burden or a tool.

That was why, when my brother approached me before this match and made his threat so calmly, I did not hesitate.

“If you lose,” he had said, “that strange boy and his friend will no leave this arena alive.”

Maybe this was how it was supposed to end, but just before the darkness could swallow me whole, a voice brushed against my mind.

Just because you are weak does not mean you deserve to die. Even weak people are strong.’

I flinched.

My eyes snapped open.

That voice… it sounded so familiar.

I forced my blurred vision to focus, and when it did, it landed on Noah.

He was staring at me, and the look in his eyes was nothing like the calm indifference he usually wore. Beside him, Miles looked frantic, his usual smile gone.

I blinked.

Impossible.

Did I just hear Noah’s voice in my head?

Only an Alpha and a Luna could communicate through mind-link. Noah was neither. So how was I hearing him so clearly? How was his voice echoing inside my mind as if he stood right beside my thoughts?

Noah did not look confused. He looked composed.

‘Even a small mouse can bite when cornered. A tiny ant can liften times its weight. So who is he to decide what you are? Even if you are weak, you can be dangerous. Show him that. Show him how dangerous a calm wolf can be once it bares its fangs when he wants to.