The Witch and Her Four Dangerous Alphas

Chapter 24: Chapter 24: What Makes Us Monsters

Kael’s Pov

The room fell into an eerie silence the moment Selene was dragged away. The warriors had roared with approval, their bloodthirsty cheers still echoing in my ears like an aftershock, but now there was nothing, just the sound of a few scraping chairs and boots leaving the room.

One by one, the crowd dispersed. Even my brothers left, each with different expressions. Lucian smirked, soaking up the attention like a damn peacock. Luca walked out without a single word, like none of this had touched him at all. And Aeron... I didn’t dare look too closely at Aeron during the spectacle. I didn’t want to know what he really felt. I dont know why...but I am afraid to look in his eyes.

Most of the warriors were probably already on their way to the quarters...to enjoy the show, as they called it. It should’ve satisfied me. It should’ve felt like justice.

But it didn’t.

Instead, something thick and burning settled beneath my ribcage, like my own body was rebelling against me. My wolf, usually silent and obedient, suddenly clawed at the edges of my mind. He was snarling at me with restlessness. Go to her. Help her. The voice was primal, filled with urgency.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" I growled to myself, shaking my head like I could knock the thoughts loose. "She’s nothing. A tyrant’s daughter. Why do you want to protect her?"

But my wolf slammed harder, vicious, almost panicked.

I gritted my teeth. Not again. Not this shit again.

The last time I’d felt this twisted, this torn, was when I saw her in chains for the first time, she was silent, wounded. Even then, my wolf had stirred uncomfortably. And now? It was worse. Furious, I tried to shove him down, to bury him under rage and reason.

She’s done something to you, I thought bitterly. That bitch has bewitched you. Even my own wolf turns against me.

The thought made my blood boil. My fists clenched, jaw tight as I paced near the long table.

"This is punishment," I muttered aloud, the words a lifeline. "She deserves this. After what her father did...to our mother...and what after she did."

But my wolf didn’t back off.

Instead, he growled low in my mind, cold and accusing.

what makes you different from her

I froze.

my lungs turned

What makes you different...

the truth buried in that question. But the harder I tried to ignore it,

close to desperation. "She had power. She could’ve stopped

to the gut, her face from moments ago suddenly flashed

when she screamed

the moment she was being dragged toward the door... her eyes—They were hollow

died before they even

like a

moved. The chair screeched as I shoved it back, and I stormed out the door, my heart thundering like war drums in my ears. I followed the scent trail—the sweat, the booze, the sick anticipation staining the air. As I

Silence.

Not the right kind.

Something was wrong.

didn’t think.

kicked the door open with one

And there she was.

arms wrapped around her body as if she could vanish into herself. Her skin was bruised, smeared with dirt. Her hair tangled and hiding half her face. Her lips trembled, but no sound came.

had

warriors around her froze. Caught mid-jeer, mid-grin. A few of them had already started unbuckling their

sight turned

And I stopped thinking.

saw my

The same

growl the moment we saw her. It wasn’t anger at the warriors—it was rage at me. At us. And as I stood there, surrounded by the bastards who dared to touch her, my wolf didn’t ask for control...he

voice splitting the room, full of fury and something darker—something I didn’t want