**Bane pov**


    "Bullshit. Aife is an only child," I spat at the man.


    No matter how much he wanted to trick me, I wouldn''t allow him to. Before I dragged Aife here, I did some research and actually sent men to look after the pack, so I knew more than they thought.


    "No, she isn''t. There''s another daughter. I don''t know the details about them, but I swear, there''s another daughter," he kept insisting.


    It wasn''t like I had many conversations with Aife about family history in general, but I still couldn''t believe that she wouldn''t mention having a sibling.


    That, however, was something I had to push aside and focus onter. Now, I had more important things to deal with.


    "Is there more details you can share or is that all?" I asked, crossing my arms in front of my chest and ring at him.


    He took a moment to think and shook his head. "That''s all I got. Can I go now?"


    Ah, there it was, the naive nature of Killian''s men in its glory.


    A dark, deep chuckle left me. I couldn''t believe he actually thought that he could toss some bits and pieces at me, and then just leave as if nothing happened.


    "I told you that if you tell me everything, you live. I don''t recall iming you would leave unharmed. Pal, you and your Alpha are bound to learn a lesson."


    His eyes widened as he started looking around for an exit. Clearly, he wanted to escape me, but I wouldn''t allow him to. Killian knew better than to get his nose in my business. If he was willing to risk the safety and lives of his own men to get what he wanted, who was I to stand in his way?


    "But you said-"


    I quickly cut him off, "I said you would live. Again, I never told you I wouldn''t hurt you. I will. Very, very fucking bad."


    With that being said, I walked to the locker in the corner of the room and unlocked it. Although I could go for many different things to torture the fucker, an axe caught my attention first.


    I reached inside and gripped it as the corner of my mouth twitched. It had been so long since thest time I got the pleasure of spilling blood, the sensation of holding a weapon nearly overwhelmed me.


    And best of all, I got to do whatever I wanted while Aife was asleep and had no idea about what I was up to. She would never find out about what happened down here.


    Slowly spinning around, I grinned at the terrified man. He pressed his back against the wall, tears filled his eyes and the stench of his fear filled the room. "Please, I have a family," he tried to plead.


    "So do I. But you didn''t seem to care when you tried to talk my family into drinking the sedatives, did you?" I announced as I stepped closer to him.


    Aife had grown on me. So much so that I truly considered her my family. If I were lucky enough, one day, we could build a family of our own. If only I was lucky enough...


    "I fucked up, I know, but I was sent by my Alpha. You should know how hard, in fact, impossible, it is to ignore Alpha''smands. I didn''t have a choice," he kept arguing.


    "Yes," I nodded as I closed in on him. "That is exactly why I won''t take this too far and torture you. I really fucking want to, but I''m a fair man, and I know how it is sometimes. Anyway, taking in the circumstances, I will allow you to leave alive. But, I need something from you."


    Without thinking, he dropped to his knees and started nodding. "Yes, anything, whatever you want, I will do it, just spare me."


    "A limb."


    "What?" His voice broke as the simple word rolled over his lips.


    "I never said the exchange would be fair. I think it is, but clearly, since you''re on the losing end, I suppose you would disagree. So, which one will it be?" I grinned and gripped the ax, ready for the action. The sooner we would get over this, the sooner I could go home and get some sleep next to my woman. Just thinking about wrapping my arms around her and pulling her closer made me warm inside.


    As the pleasant sensation spread through my body, another joined it. Anger, burning, all-consuming anger. That is what this man wanted to take away from me. He came here and imed he wasn''t doing any damage as his n failed, while in reality, he wanted to take everything I had.


    If I had arrivedter and he managed to go through with his sick ideas, he could have taken Aife away from me. And that was all I needed for the switch inside my brain to flip.


    I was left inplete darkness, no control over my body or actions. I heard a scream in the background, felt something ssh over my face and body, but didn''t see a thing. *I''m free, finally I''m fucking free.*


    His voice was hoarse as he hadn''t used it in ages, but once it echoed against the walls and reached me, panic surged through my entire being. I couldn''t allow him to get out of here and do something to Aife. Gritting my teeth, I fought back. I gripped the invisible rope that held us apart and pulled on it with all my might. I might have fallen for his tricks in the past, but not anymore. Now, I had someone to fight for.


    I could feel sweat breaking out on my forehead as he thrashed against me, doing his best to fight off every attempt I had to take control.


    *One day, one day I wille to the surface and end her. Mark my words, coward, I will end her!*


    That was all he managed to scream before I finally pushed one,st time and slowly regained the vision. It wasn''t longer than a few minutes that he took advantage of the situation, but the man who had tried to kidnap Aife definitely wasn''t going to walk out of this pack anymore.


    The scream I heard earlier and the feeling of being sshed with something suddenly made sense. I was covered in blood, from head to toes, and the head of the many on the opposite side of the room, away from his body.


    I dropped the ax and cursed under my breath. This wasn''t the n. I needed him to walk out of here and serve as a warning, not disappear for good.


    If Killian''s men saw their friend, returning with a missing limb, they would get the message. Now, it seemed, I had killed the fucking messenger.