Page 196 of The Alpha's Pen Pal

“How many scars would you say you have on your shoulder, Haven?” Sebastian asked, twirling the knife between his gloved fingers.

She furrowed her brow, and her hand reached up to stroke her scars. “I don’t know…” she said thoughtfully. “Probably at least ten?”

“Ten?” Sebastian repeated, and she nodded. “I can work with that.” He smiled.

He sauntered back over to Lennox, and with a slow downward slice, he cut the neck of Lennox’s shirt, exposing his shoulder, neck, and chest to us. The sizzle of flesh and a hiss from Lennox’s lips followed the rip of the fabric as drips of wolfsbane from the knife hit his skin.

“What do you think, Lenny? One cut on your marking spot for each of Haven’s scars?” Sebastian asked, placing the flat of the blade against Lennox’s marking spot. “Does that sound fair, Sparkles?”

“If he lasts that long,” Nolan said to us through the mindlink.

Sebastian snickered, his lip curling. And faster than you could say “Crescent Lake,” he sliced into Lennox’s neck twice in quick succession, leaving behind two sizzling, bleeding gashes.

Lennox let out a prolonged grunt, his head tilting back and the tendons in his neck tensing. But he kept his mouth shut tight, not relenting in the slightest.

Haven’s body was still in my arms. The only movements she made were caused by her inhales and exhales from breathing. But through the bond, I could simply feel her anger.

No fear, no hesitation. Just rage, resentment, and revulsion towards the weak male we had chained in silver.

Sebastian rained three more blows on Lennox with the knife. One cut went up his neck towards his jaw, and the other two crossed over his collarbone and across his chest.

All five of the gashes on his body oozed blood. It dripped down his chest and soaked into the fabric of his shirt that hung by mere threads around his neck.

“You know,” Nolan said, making Sebastian pause to glance at him over his shoulder. “That knife has a really sharp blade. It’s a true high-quality knife,” he mused.

Sebastian stepped back and looked at it in his hand, holding it up to the light.

“Huh. You’re right,” he said with a soft chuckle. “Lycan teeth are sharp, but don’t cut quite this cleanly. What was I thinking?”

He unceremoniously dropped the blade on the floor and went back to the tray, where he picked up a serrated dagger, and I swear Haven’s lips twitched with a laugh. He dipped it in the wolfsbane and then marched back over to Lennox, who was still putting on a brave face, but his mask was cracking.

“Again, why do you believe she is Selene’s daughter?”

Sebastian leaned into Lennox’s face, putting his hand on his wounded shoulder to balance himself. Lennox’s lip curled, and through his grunt of pain, he prepared his saliva to spit in Sebastian’s face. But instead, the spittle just landed on his chin, the wad of it dripping down from his lip and making a mess on his face.

I squeezed Haven’s body to prevent myself from laughing, and to hide the shaking of her own shoulders. Nolan and Seb, however, both had matching smiles of cruel amusement at his attempted defiance.

“Cute,” Sebastian sneered. “The pup is trying to keep up with the wolves.” He chuckled. “Now answer my question,” he growled, punctuating his command with a pinch of Lennox’s shoulder.

The hiss through Lennox’s teeth was loud, but it was cut off by Seb cutting his neck with the new knife, the serrated knife.

He cut him twice. The first time, Lennox yelled out, his entire body tensing against the pain of the blade. The second time, he was silent, but there were tears of pain streaking down his face.

Seb went in for a third cut, and Lennox cried out, “My dad! It was my dad, okay?!”

Sebastian paused, the knife still against the skin on his neck, the wolfsbane leaving a burn mark.

“My dad told me she was Selene’s daughter,” Lennox panted out, his chest heaving and his voice almost destroyed from his screaming, crying, and grunting.

“And where did he get his information from? How did he know or figure it out?” Sebastian pressed, pushing the knife so it nicked Lennox’s skin.

“I don’t know,” he replied with a shake of his head.

Sebastian sighed and pulled the knife across his neck and collarbone as quickly as the serrated edge of the blade would allow him to.

“I DON’T KNOW!!” Lennox screamed, his voice almost a sob. “I don’t know,” he whispered through his crying. “I didn’t even know that’s what she was until recently. Until right before her birthday.”

“You expect me to believe you didn’t have this information about her the whole time you knew her? That the only reason you wanted her before was so you could be an alpha of a pack?”

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