The supreme dao

de-eyed and lifeless, the elders who had trained them were scattered among the car

his knees, his hands trembling. Aric stood beside him, shock paralyzing his every muscle

been shattered

to faint but his brain couldn't function, his eyes couldn't tear away, it was like an overload and all he could see was b

erent thought. He wished to faint, to escape the gruesome reality, but his body r

ruined

t before the children arriv

sighted," one of t

their leader, Leven

conscious almost immediately, collapsing into the gore. Aric wasn't so fortunate. He was bathed in the blood of his loved ones, their wide, lifeless eyes st

the other kidnapped children were held. The other children, covered in dirt and

was forced to wade through the viscera, her blood soaking into his skin. He saw her empty, accu

ent. The proud wolf's spirit was broken, his once fierce eyes now dull with pain and humiliati

th cold, unfeeling eyes. Overwhelmed by the sheer brutality and the magnitude of his loss, searing the face of the beginning of his

wly from the wound. His heart pounded in his chest, and his head felt as though it was about to burst. The voices in his mind swarmed him, loud, relentless, and cruel, drowning out any coherent thought. He wanted to

and even humans alike. The air was thick with fear, the sound of whimpers and soft sobs drifting through the tent. Aric turned his head slightly, his heart skipping a beat when he r

his parents die? Or should he absolve him, knowing that even an alpha couldn't have beaten all those men?

croaked out a single question, his voice rough and jagged,

. His voice, when it came, was low and hoarse. "There's no

tell me what to do!" His voice was raw, filled with pain, unshed tears and the anger of a boy who had lost everything. Silvermane flinched, retreating into himself, and th

ing the captives and pointing at those they wanted to buy, he couldn't tell how long he's been out or how long it's been since captured, but it was at most a day's journey as no food or water had been given. The smell of sweat, blood, and f

They were quickly huddled into a cart, a small, cramped space that barely fit them all. The cart creaked under the weight of

The wild oxens-wild creatures known for their strength and savagery-pulled the carts, bodies bent under the strain of their labor. These beasts, once free and proud, were now slave

w colder as they traveled. Aric pulled his hands tighter around himself, feeling the chill bite at his skin, but his bloodied clothes offered little warmth. He looked around th