Just as Aylin had anticipated, the prey had taken the bait and the moment they finished breakfast, the guards who were in charge of the dungeon arrived to inform them of Dariel's request to meet them.
In just one night, the man had lost his sanity. Not only was he tied to the poles, forcing him to stand the entire night, he was even made to stay with the corpses of his own people. The trauma had been too much for him to take and Dariel had surrendered quicker than Aylin had anticipated.
"How were you this affirmative that Dariel would fall into the trap, Commander?" Azimir walked beside her as they proceeded towards the dungeon to meet their prey, with the warriors of Aranill and Ideni following them closely.
"Dariel is not a smart man, Alpha. Otherwise, he would not have dared to attack us if he knew what the repercussions of his actions would be. He was influenced by someone and all it required was to push him to his limits." Aylin said with a smile and Azimir nodded thoughtfully.
"Staying in a dark, cold cell with nothing but corpses to keep him company is enough to break him and we got what we wanted. Moreover, his respect and admiration for his Alpha were evident on his face. If I am not wrong, he would not wish to implicate him due to his actions." Aylin glanced at Azimir who was already looking at her and her cheeks heated up immediately.
Just one look from him was enough to send her heart fluttering in madness. Azimir had kept her thoughts and dreams occupied the entire night and only she knew how she had struggled to fall asleep. His words, his touch, his kisses from the previous day kept appearing in her mind, making her lose her composure entirely. It was only when the first rays of the dawn fell on her that she finally fell asleep, the exhaustion from the day's events pulling her into darkness.
Fortunately for her, Azimir had not accompanied her during breakfast and it had only been her and her warriors. Now that they were in such proximity with each other as they walked together, Aylin could not stop her emotions from running haywire.
She averted her eyes away from him immediately and closed her eyes in embarrassment, not noticing Azimir's lips arching up in delight. Her flustered behavior only made Azimir smile and he had the sudden urge to run his fingers on her blushing cheeks. But he controlled himself and allowed her to calm down herself.
"You are right, Commander." Travis who had been listening to her from behind, interrupted her and Azimir scowled in annoyance.
Azimir did not know why but he started to suspect the man's intentions towards Aylin and he glowered at him immediately. The human's presence alone was enough to keep his guards up and stop him from clinging to the lady who he had started to like.
Travis was just about to approach them when he noticed the upset Alpha glaring at him and he slowing down at once, not knowing why he was even furious in the first place.
'What did I do?' He wondered to himself, his frown deepening in fear. Among all the Alphas he had met previously, he was only terrified of his Alpha King. But now, Travis was sure that the Alpha of Ideni had replaced him and occupied the throne to be the most intimidating Alpha, for him at least.
Travis stopped speaking and lowered his head and Azimir's annoyance dissipated on seeing him stop.
'He knows his place at least.' He thought to himself and stepped closer to Aylin, proclaiming his position to everyone. He was careful enough to not cross his limits for he had an inkling that it would only irk Aylin and that was not what he wanted.
Aylin came out of her thoughts when she felt Azimir's hand brushing against her gently and instinctively, she moved away from him much to the young Alpha's annoyance. He gave her an unimpressed look but did not do anything about it.
Azimir's sulking face almost made Aylin burst out into laughter. But she gave him face and swallowed her laughs as she watched the guards who were leading them towards the dungeon. Silence engulfed them and Azimir waited until he could not bear it anymore.
"You are right, Commander." He started and his heart was elated to gain her attention on him again.
"It would be impossible for anyone to stay rational after experiencing such hell. Only a few people can bear such mental torture. I am glad that you did not spare the other men we had captured. I am impressed, Commander." He praised and Aylin only smiled at him this time.
"Those men deserved it, Alpha. I am not that forgiving to let go of people who intend to harm the people around me intentionally without any reason. They are my enemies and if I let them go, they will return to attack me again. That is not what I want, not when my life as well as the people with me would be in danger."
Aylin stated her reasons for getting all the attackers except Dariel killed and Azimir's eyes gleamed in understanding. She was just like him in matters like these and Azimir was glad that she was not gracious and merciful. She was exceptional and his admiration for her grew as time passed.
The group reached the dungeon and they walked down the steps towards the cell where Dariel was being held captive. The guards unlocked the gate and Aylin and Azimir stepped inside.
Dariel had his eyes closed and he was breathing slowly. In just one day, he looked weary and old and pitiful. But nobody pitied him.
Azimir nodded at one of the guards and the man poured a bucket of cold water on Dariel, waking him up from his nap. He blinked a few times to clear his vision and once he saw the people in front of him, Dariel's face paled in fear. Subconsciously, his breathing quickened and his feet turned cold.
Everyone disregarded his state, reveling in his fear instead. To them, it was the biggest form of torture and pain they could inflict on him.
Aylin folded her hands and stepped forward, smiling sardonically at him. "I believe you have the important information we are looking for."
Dariel's eyes snapped to hers and his lips parted in shock. It did not take him long to realize that this was a trap and he had fallen into it brilliantly.