Aiden Frost's POV
Pain was the first thing Aiden understood.
Not sound.
Not light.
Not even fear.
Just pain.
It came in waves, pulsing through his skull like someone had cracked it open and poured fire inside.
His throat was raw from screaming, but the screams had ended long ago, swallowed by exhaustion, swallowed by the dark.
He didn't know how long he had been unconscious.
Minutes?
Hours?
Time didn't matter.
What mattered was that he was alive.
Aiden's eyelids fluttered, heavy like lead.
When he forced them open, the world came back in blurred fragments.
A ceiling.
Not the warehouse ceiling.
This one was clean. White. Sterile.
Aiden's breathing hitched.
Hospital?
No… not a hospital.
The air didn't smell like antiseptic. It smelled like something sharper. Something metallic. Something expensive.
His wrists were tied.
His body jerked instinctively, but the movement sent another stab of pain through his ribs.
He gasped, clenching his jaw.
His vision cleared slowly.
He was strapped to a chair.
The room was dim, lit only by a single overhead lamp that cast harsh shadows across the walls.
The floor was smooth concrete, too clean to be abandoned, too quiet to be normal.
Aiden swallowed hard.
His tongue tasted blood.
His heart began to pound.
Then he heard it.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Measured.
The kind of footsteps that didn't rush because they already owned the world.
Aiden's eyes widened as a tall silhouette emerged from the darkness.
Not Diamant.
Not Evan.
Someone else.
The man wore a long black coat, his hands hidden in his pockets. His face was partially shadowed, but Aiden could see enough.
Cold eyes.
A calm smile that didn't belong to a human being.
Aiden's breathing became uneven.
"Who… who are you?" he rasped.
The man stopped a few feet away and tilted his head as if studying an insect.
"You don't recognize me?" the man asked softly.
Aiden's throat tightened.
His mind scrambled through names, faces, rumors.
No one fit.
The man chuckled, as if amused by Aiden's confusion.
"It doesn't matter. You won't forget me after tonight."
Aiden clenched his fists, the rope biting into his skin.
"Where am I? What do you want?"
The man stepped closer, his scent hitting Aiden like a blade.
Alpha.
Not just alpha.
Something heavier.
Something… wrong.
Aiden had been around Dominant alphas. He had seen Diamant Reed's aura swallow entire rooms.
But this?
This wasn't dominance.
This was authority.
The kind of presence that didn't command… it ruled.
The man leaned down slightly until Aiden could see the glint of amusement in his eyes.
"I want to know something," he said. "Did you really believe you could erase Diamant Reed's mark and walk away alive?"
Aiden's jaw clenched.
He didn't answer.
The man's smile widened.
"How brave. How stupid."
Aiden's blood ran cold.
Then the man turned away, walking slowly toward a table Aiden hadn't noticed earlier.
On it were neatly arranged items.
A syringe.
A small vial.
Aiden's breath caught.
Claim Reductant.
His eyes widened in horror.
The man picked up the vial, turning it between his fingers like it was a jewel.
"This is impressive," the man murmured. "A serum capable of tampering with something as sacred as a Dominant's claim."
He looked back at Aiden.
"You really are useful."
Aiden's throat tightened.
Useful?
Before he could speak, the door behind him creaked open.
Aiden twisted his head.
Two men walked in.
Not Valken Labs security.
Not Reed International.
They were dressed in black suits, expressionless, carrying something heavy between them.
A body.
Aiden's stomach lurched when he recognized the face.
One of his lab assistants.
The beta who had helped him prepare the serum.
His mouth was gagged.
His eyes were wide with terror.
Aiden's heart dropped.
"No…" Aiden whispered. "No—leave him out of this!"
The man in the black coat smiled as if Aiden had told him a joke.
"Oh? You care?" he asked.
Then, without warning, he lifted his hand.
One of the men punched the beta assistant so hard his head snapped sideways.
Aiden's entire body jerked against the restraints.
"STOP!" Aiden roared.
The man's gaze sharpened.
He walked forward again, slow, deliberate, like a predator that enjoyed watching prey struggle.
"You were very bold," he said softly. "You kidnapped Noah Lane. You erased Diamant Reed's claim. You killed their child."
Aiden's face twisted.
"I didn't—" his voice cracked. "I didn't mean to—"
The man leaned in.
"But you did."
His tone turned colder.
"And because you did… you now have value."
Aiden's eyes widened.
Value?
The man straightened, hands returning into his pockets.
"You're a wounded animal," he continued. "A pathetic alpha who lost control of his own obsession."
Aiden's breathing became uneven.
"But wounded animals bite harder," the man said. "And that makes them perfect tools."
Aiden shook his head violently.
"I'm not anyone's tool."
The man stared at him for a long moment.
Then he laughed.
A soft laugh.
The kind that didn't hold humor.
It held cruelty.
"You don't get to choose," he said.
Aiden's pulse thundered.
He swallowed.
"Why… why am I here?"
The man's eyes gleamed.
"Because I saved you."
Aiden froze.
Saved him?
The memory slammed into him like a truck.
The warehouse.
Diamant's scent crushing him to the ground.
Evan's men dragging him away.
Screams.
Blood.
The order:
Cut off his hands. Destroy his eyes.
Aiden's stomach churned.
He remembered his own panic. The way he had clawed at the floor, trying to crawl away.
He remembered thinking:
This is it.
He remembered begging.
Then—
Darkness
He had expected torture.
He had expected death.
But he was still here.
Alive.
Aiden's eyes narrowed.
"You saved me… from Diamant?" he whispered.
The man smiled again.
"Yes."
Aiden's mind spun.
Why would anyone do that?
No one dared interfere with Diamant Reed.
No one.
Unless…
Unless they were even bigger.
The man walked toward the table again, picking up the syringe and examining it with calm interest.
"You are going to repay me," he said casually.
Aiden's voice trembled.
"Repay you… how?"
The man's eyes lifted slowly.
"By helping me bring them down."
Aiden's blood ran cold.
"Diamant Reed," the man said. "And Evan Leigh."
The name Evan Leigh struck something sharp in Aiden's chest.
Aiden clenched his jaw. me
He hated them both.
But fear still crawled under his skin.
Because even in his hatred…
He knew something.
Diamant Reed wasn't a man you challenged.
Diamant Reed was a man who destroyed.
Aiden swallowed.
"You want their downfall?" he asked slowly.
The man nodded.
"I want their empire burned," he said. "I want their pride ripped out. I want them crawling."
Aiden stared at him, breath shaking.
"And why…" Aiden whispered. "Why do you want that?"
The man turned away, walking toward the shadows again.
His voice came back, low and eerie.
"Because I am the head of all alphas."
Aiden's entire body stiffened.
The head of all alphas.
The phrase sounded like madness.
Like a delusion.
But the air itself felt heavier when he said it.
As if the world acknowledged the title.
Aiden's throat went dry.
The man continued.
"And Diamant Reed…" he paused. "He has forgotten his place."
Aiden stared at his back.
His mind raced.
Who was this?
What kind of organization existed above the Dominant alphas?
Aiden felt sweat form on his forehead.
The man looked over his shoulder, eyes glinting.
"You have a choice, Aiden Frost," he said. "Serve me, and I will give you protection."
Aiden's voice was hoarse.
"And if I refuse?"
The man smiled.
"Then I will hand you back to Diamant Reed."
Aiden's heart dropped straight into his stomach.
Silence filled the room.
The beta assistant whimpered softly behind him.
Aiden's hands trembled in the ropes.
His mind screamed at him to say no.
But fear strangled his pride.
Fear of Diamant.
Fear of what would happen if he was returned.
Aiden swallowed hard.
"…What do you want me to do?" he whispered.
The man's smile widened.
"Good boy."
Aiden's jaw clenched at the humiliation, but he stayed silent.
The man stepped closer again, his shadow stretching over Aiden like a guillotine.
"You already hurt Noah," he murmured. "You already damaged Diamant Reed's
mark. You already shattered his world."
He leaned down, voice becoming a whisper.
"So now… you will finish the job."
Aiden's eyes widened.
He shook his head.
"No. Noah—" me
The man's gaze snapped cold.
"You don't get to say his name like you care," he hissed. "You destroyed his child."
Aiden's throat tightened.
The guilt twisted inside him.
The man stepped back again, calm returning like a mask.
"I will decide what happens to Noah Lane," he said. "You will decide what happens to yourself."
Aiden's chest heaved.
His breath was shaking.
Then the man nodded to the guards.
"Untie him."
The ropes were cut quickly.
Aiden fell forward, coughing, his wrists burning.
The guards hauled him upright.
The man tossed the syringe case toward Aiden.
Aiden caught it instinctively.
"Keep it," the man said. "Your little invention will be useful again."
Aiden stared down at it, nausea rising.
The man turned away, walking toward the door.
But before leaving, he paused.
"One more thing," he said.
Aiden lifted his head.
The man's eyes were dark.
"If you ever betray me…"
His smile returned, sharp as a knife.
"…I will make Diamant Reed look merciful."
The door opened.
The man walked out.
And the room plunged into silence again.
Aiden stood there shaking, gripping the silver case like it was the only thing
anchoring him to reality.
His chest rose and fell violently.
He was alive.
But he wasn't free.
Not anymore.
Aiden stared at the darkness where the man had vanished and whispered to himself:
"…What kind of monster did I just shake hands with?"
And deep inside, for the first time…
Aiden Frost felt real fear.