Defy The Alpha(s)

Chapter 574: Asher Will Die

"You do know this is madness," Roman said wryly, watching as Asher drew a small amount of his venom into a syringe.

"It’s called mithridatism," Asher answered with sass. "A very solid backup plan." Without hesitation, he jabbed the needle into his arm and pushed the plunger.

Roman flinched as if he too felt the sting. "I might not know all your science crap, but I do know how my venom works, mister. And all I can tell you is that you’re taking a huge risk here."

He watched with mounting anxiety as Asher leaned back on the bed with a groan, his breath hitching as his heartbeat began to race.

Roman’s venom paralyzes upon contact, but when ingested into the body, it followed a predictable timeline:

For the first five minutes, one would experience a burning sensation, rapid heartbeat, and intense dizziness.

Then the Five to fifteen minutes, there would be violent muscle spasms, temporary blindness, and total loss of limb control.

From the next fifteen to thirty minutes, the victim’s organs would shut down, while experiencing agony so severe it drove him into a coma.

And finally, after thirty minutes, it was death by cardiac arrest as the nervous system collapsed.

From the day Roman arrived at the West Pack, he had been reluctantly supplying Asher with venom. Of course, he’d tried to discourage him, but this was Asher they were talking about. No one could change his mind once it was made up. Well, no one but Violet.

Asher was microdosing in small, controlled amounts over time, forcing his body to produce specialized antibodies. These neutralized the venom before it could spread, gradually building immunity.

The danger, however, was immense.

If the dose was even slightly too high, the venom would overwhelm his system and kill him long before his body had a chance to adapt. Thankfully, Asher was a smart, lucky bastard.

solution either. Since Roman’s venom was organic, it evolved with him. His body could subtly change its composition without his conscious control, meaning even a fully

to keep taking fresh doses, or his antibodies would

heavily. His skin had lost its

lips twisted sardonically. "Of course. How could I

Asher called him

fired back smoothly, never looking away from

the seconds tick by. "Four minutes," he announced, counting

body jerked violently, his muscles seizing under his own skin. His pupils blew wide before rolling back, leaving only the whites visible. His breathing hitched and turned to desperate, shallow gasps.

the first time he had witnessed this, it still didn’t make it any easier to watch. If anything went wrong tonight, there would be no undoing

chest. Then, as quickly as the spasms had

exhaled, only now realizing he’d been holding his breath. "Five minutes on the dot,"

sweat. He reached for the bottle of Roman’s venom, flicked out his black claws, and dipped them into the liquid. Aside from a biting numbness, there was no trace

across his face. "It

edge in his

up

plan was to use it on your traitorous alphas, not on yourself. That was the

tilting his head. "Scared that

venom isn’t static. All my body

for Dominic," Asher cut him off. "Dominic is more experienced than me. However, I’m an Alpha by birth. I’m stronger. He knows that.

I went into Patricia’s head, I saw things that convinced me he has something up his

eyes narrowed. "So the

a narrow victory," Asher finished, staring at his now dried claws. "At least, I hope so." He looked up at Roman, his voice