Page 127 of Filthy Royal

His claws pushed against his nail beds, the bitter taste of jealousy and hate burning at the back of his throat.

Fucking Kadon Stormhart.

The shit who’d delivered the final punch in the tournament and knocked him out—taking not only Damien’s pride but also the money and, most significantly, Scarlett.

Of course the bastard was on the hunt to reclaim his golden-girl prime omega.

Damien pulled Scarlett tighter against him and imagined giving Stormhart the same treatment he’d given Prince Jai.

“I want every inch of this tunnel system searched.” Kadon’s orders rang out.

A nervous voice piped up: “But the trackers indicate—”

“Could be a distraction.” Kadon dismissed the other male. “Plus, I’ve assigned another team to follow those signals. Just do your fucking job.”

“Yes, Alpha Lord, apologies.”

Damien wasn’t sure of the full count, but at least thirty pairs of boots rushed past.

“Quiet!” Kadon’s voice rang out again.

Silence fell, making it easy to discern another set of footsteps approaching.

“Who the hells is that?” Kadon growled. “I told the other team to tackle the northern tunnels.”

The hum of lasers firing up filled the air, indicating that these arrivals were armed with more than just basic tasers.

Damien knew it couldn’t be Maddox.

The power inside Scarlett seethed, apparently recharged enough to cause trouble at the worst possible moment. It sent those damned pulses straight to his dick and shot splashes of black along the wall, and all Damien could do was hope that her gift wasn’t strong enough yet to trigger another collapse.

“Stand down.” A new voice echoed through the tunnel. “I’m here for the same reason you are.”

Though he couldn’t see him, Damien recognized the new speaker too.

He’d never forget that deep voice, especially since he could still hear the male it belonged to saying he preferred Stormhart to win the tournament.

The new arrival was none other than Luc, Scarlett’s brother.

Realizing who it was, Scarlett went feral in his arms, trying to get to her brother.

Fuck. That.

Damien held tight, her heel kicks against his shins barely noticeable. “Stop.” He kept his voice low. “You’ll hurt yourself.”

She struggled harder.

“Don’t.” He whispered the word against her ear. “If they come for you, at least one of them dies, just like Prince Jai.”

She stiffened, then the fight went out of her, her body going lax against his.

He couldn’t dredge up even a sliver of guilt. No one was taking her from him.

He shifted to get a better view from his small lookout.

Stormhart stood at one end of the tunnel, Luc at the other.

“Lasers off now,” Stormhart shouted at the guards.

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