Bonds

Chapter 53

-Alex’s POV-

Eight years old.

That was the first time the crimson color of blood stained my world. It wasn’t a scrape from a fall, a burst lip from a careless tumble. No, this blood flowed freely, painting a gruesome scene etched forever in my memory.

win I wasn’t supposed to see it. Tucked away in a forgotten corner of my father’s study, hidden amongst towering bookshelves and leather–bound tomes, I became an unwilling witness. The man on the floor wasn’t fighting back. There was no struggle, no desperate pleas for mercy. Just a look of utter defeat etched on his face, his eyes wide and vacant, staring sightlessly into the distance.

A guttural growl ripped from his throat, a sound primal and terrifying. “Get him out of my sight!” he commanded, his voice a low rumble that vibrated

the shadows, their faces obscured by the gloom. Without a word, they grabbed the now lifeless body.

strange calmness washed over me. Curiosity, perhaps, or maybe a sense of detachment that shielded me from the horrific

voice, still laced with raw anger, echoed as he

his nose but even at my age, I understood the term, keep your friends close and my enemies

knew what awaited me when My father’s voice boomed once more, “Find him!” But they did. Training, Moulding. Shaping me into a reflection of his own monstrous being. Anything but that. I was never going to be like him. 1 would be

as I rose to melt back into the shadows, a new conversation snagged

my m

Chapter 53

creeping up her cheeks stood in front of me. I hadn’t even realized when she walked up to me, “I will