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.

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 immune Asher could still be

protected, Asher had to keep taking fresh doses, or his antibodies

you timing me?" Asher asked with a hoarse voice, breathing heavily. His skin had lost its color, sweat breaking out

"Of course. How could I miss timing your grand descent

called him through gritted

fired back smoothly, never looking

minutes," he announced,

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

this, it still didn’t make it any easier to watch. If anything went wrong tonight, there

Then, as quickly as the spasms had begun, his body went slack. His pupils came back

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

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

grin spread across his

said, the edge in

looked up

to use it

head. "Scared that your venom won’t

"My venom isn’t static. All my body has to do is

I’m an Alpha by birth. I’m stronger. He knows that. And that’s why he’ll

dabbles in the black market. When I went into Patricia’s head, I saw things that convinced me he has something up his sleeve for

narrowed. "So

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