Page 186 of A Female Alpha for the Lycan Prince

Elden motions the guards to give us some privacy too, so when Marius and I take the last few steps to the cells, it’s just the two of us… and the monster.

Even from a distance, I can see shimmering around the cell Calvin is held in. My witch senses tell me there is a spell on it. It seems Elden isn’t taking any chances. Calvin is a lycan wolf, after all, not to mention he’s the former beta to one of the strongest alphas in the world. Psychopath or not, he didn’t get his former position for no reason. Besides, he probably has plenty of tricks up his sleeve, or he wouldn’t have been able to betray everyone the way he did.

“What’s up with his lycan?” I whisper to Marius.

“Dad says he’s broken; he succumbed to Calvin’s evil long ago,” Marius murmurs.

To say I’m stunned would be an understatement. I know that the wolf spirits of rogues tend to go quiet and lose their voice, some even going feral and never returning to their former strength and personality. But Calvin is a pack wolf. How did he do that? Break his wolf spirit?Danica, have you ever heard of such a thing?

No. I have no clue how this can happen,she admits.I can just assume something truly scarring happened to him, and then he just… succumbed to his human and his sick demands.

I have a lot more to ask on this, but I decide to keep these questions for later. Now is not the time for them.

Calvin doesn’t seem to notice our presence. He looks heavily beaten and haggard. Half of his face is so swollen, it’s hard to even see his former features. I can only imagine what Elden did when he found out the truth. On closer inspection, I notice that both his arms and legs are tied with silver chains, making it nearly possible for him to move.

Once we are standing right in front of him, Calvin slowly raises his head. I can see a slight change in his eyes. Something flickers in them when he recognizes Marius. “You came,” he smirks. “Did you miss me?”

I ball my hands into fists—the audacity of this sick psycho.Don’t,Danica tells me.

Why not!? Alpha Elden officially gave me the okay to punch him if I want to.

Yes,Danica growls.And believe me, I want to bite his arm off, but it won’t make any difference. Look at him. Look what the Alpha and Luna have already done to him.

I follow her advice and examine him properly. His skin is pale, almost gray, his cheeks are hollow. It’s clear the guards here feed him just enough to keep him alive, but no more. The lycan dungeons maintain a certain standard, so the cell is surprisingly clean. But Calvin’s clothes reek of blood and urine. There are burns all over his body which must have come from Flora’s use of silver, and plenty of wounds that haven’t healed yet. There is literally a hole through one of his hands, and it looks nastily infected. He has fingers missing, and when he smiles, I can see teeth missing too.

The front of his pants is caked in dried blood, reminding me of what Elden said Flora had done.

Torturing a werewolf can last a long time if done properly. Our wolves can heal us pretty fast, but the right amount of wolfsbane will slow down the process, while not stopping it entirely. At least, that’s how I’d do it.

I don’t know what the lycans have already done to him,Danica says.But if you really want to hurt him, you need to find another way. Our best weapon is the usual… being cold and distanced.

Her words make me frown thoughtfully. She’s right… If I punch him now, the crazy sicko would probably just laugh at me for being upset. I need to keep the upper hand and show him that Marius and I are completely unfazed by his presence. I might suck at feelings, but I know how to handle psychos.

“You were such a beautiful child,” Calvin rasps out towards Marius, successfully pulling me out of my thoughts. “But look at you now. Weak and pathetic. I ruined you for anyone else. Who would want you this way?”

I can’t describe the immense rage I feel coming over me. That fucker dares to add insult to injury!? He’s repeatedly hurt my mate in the most horrendous way possible. He freaking raped him! He’s scarred him so much that he felt like he didn’t even deserve a place in his own family, feeling the need to push everyone away because he felt dirty. And to top it all off, this monster assaulted other children too! What a total asshole! I really want to rip his throat out.

I take a quick glance at Marius, only to find him frozen on the spot like a statue. I’m not even sure if he’s breathing. It makes me will my anger down. I need to keep it together and calm him through our bond.

I’m still hurt by how Marius treated me, but I’m beginning to understand him more. Spending time with him has shown me how much of a nice guy he can actually be… he was just deeply hurt and never had a chance to cope with this anger and pain. All he could do was lash out at others, hurting himself in the process.

I feel Danica growling inside me. So much for staying calm. She always pretends like she doesn’t care for Marius, but I know she does, and she’s furious at what Calvin just said. I will my emotions down, well aware that a man like Calvin does not listen to anger, and Danica is right, he probably doesn’t even care about being punched anymore.

Instead, I tighten my grip on Marius’ hand and lean into him. “I want him,” I say while looking Calvin directly in his eyes. “There is no one I want more.”

I feel Marius’ squeezing my hand.

“He’s so weak,” Calvin hisses. “He didn’t even scream for help! You want a mate that’s so broken, so sullied? Can a regal, proud female like you really be happy with my leftovers?”

Let me out,Danica growls, letting go of her previous level-headed attitude.I will show him how to treat a child, our mate! I will make him scream! Let’s see who is going to be the leftover here!

Keep it together,I warn her. It’s working. He’s losing his cool.Stay in control with me, Danica!

I turn to face Marius. “Of course I want him. I think he’s incredibly strong,” I say with a warm smile. “For surviving the abuse of such a repulsive monster and coming out the other end alive and successful. He has so many friends and family around him, so much support. Besides, everyone is a little broken in this world. It doesn’t matter to me at all. All of these so-called shortcomings you talk about are yours. Marius survived your reign of terror, and he has saved others from your evil, making him even more wonderful in my eyes. Marius formed himself into the person he is now, the person I want.”

Marius stares at me through wide adoring eyes, the tension is falling from his body as he rests his arm over my shoulder. Calvin narrows his eyes to an angry glare, but he stays quiet. His words have no power over Marius anymore.

Marius has stayed quiet until now, but I can feel him waking up from his shock. He takes in Calvin’s frame from head to toe. “Funny,” he says, looking Calvin straight in the eyes, “I remember you being so scary, the monster of my nightmares. But look at you now… you’re just pathetic. You’re not scaring anyone anymore.” He looks at Calvin coolly. “Prince Eric will have you transported to the Council in Paris. They can deal with you.”