Free Web NovelChapter 6: She Has To Pay
One step. That was all it would take. Rhea could already picture it. The knife across Kat’s throat before Kaleb even realized what was happening.
"Not now." The voice rumbled low inside her mind. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
Rhea froze instantly. Her wolf. The sound of her voice felt almost foreign after so many silent months that, for one disorienting second, Rhea thought she imagined it.
Her chest tightened painfully. "I want them dead, River," Rhea breathed silently, her fingers trembling around the knife.
Images flashed violently through her mind. Eli’s death, Kaleb’s betrayal, her body bleeding out on cold stone floors.
"I know," River growled softly. "And we will make them pay."
A slow shiver crawled down Rhea’s spine. River sounded stronger, awake, angry, and most importantly, alive.
Rhea gritted her teeth and forced herself to look around instead of charging blindly toward the voices. Guards patrolled the halls nearby. Too many. And she was still recovering.
If she attacked now, she would die before getting close enough to finish the job. The realization burned.
With a shaky breath, Rhea shoved the knife back into place beneath her cloak. Not yet. But soon. Very soon.
She turned silently and slipped deeper into the corridors instead. The familiar halls stretched endlessly around her, lit by flickering wall torches that cast long shadows across the stone floors.
Rhea kept her hood low and her movements careful, slipping between blind corners and dark alcoves whenever guards passed nearby.
Every step through Ironfang felt surreal. This place had once bowed to her, now she moved through it like prey hiding from predators.
Finally, after several tense minutes, she reached a heavy wooden door at the end of an isolated corridor. The archive room.
Relief flickered briefly across her face. If the truth existed anywhere inside Ironfang, it would be here.
Rhea slipped inside quickly and eased the door shut behind her. The lock clicked softly into place, and silence swallowed the room.
She let herself breathe for the first time since entering the pack house as she pressed her back against the archive door, her chest rising and falling hard as she listened carefully for footsteps outside.
But there was none. Only silence.
Slowly, she pushed herself away from the door and moved deeper into the room. The scent of dust, old parchment, and aged wood wrapped around her immediately.
Tall shelves stretched from floor to ceiling, packed tightly with records collected over generations of Ironfang rule. Moonlight slipped through the narrow windows, casting pale silver across the rows.
Rhea moved quickly between them, her pulse still uneven beneath her ribs. Her eyes scanned the carved labels until she finally stopped.
Death Records. The words made her stomach tighten painfully.
Her fingers moved fast over the shelves as she searched, parchment brushing softly beneath her touch.
Eli. Please. Her throat tightened as panic slowly began creeping higher into her chest.
Then a click sliced through the air and the archive door opened. Rhea’s entire body went rigid at the sound of someone stepping inside. Then the door shut again behind them with a soft thud.
Instinct took over immediately.
Rhea moved silently between the shelves and pressed herself against the shadows,her heart slamming wildly against her ribs as she pulled the knife free from beneath her cloak. The steel felt cold against her palm.
Her breathing slowed deliberately as River stirred beneath her skin, alert and dangerous. She closed her eyes briefly, not in fear, in preparation.
If she had to kill to survive tonight, she would. If she had to spill blood to escape Ironfang alive, she would do that too. Anything but getting caught again.
"Luna?" A soft female voice broke through the silence.
Rhea’s grip tightened instantly around the knife.
"Can you hear me, Luna?" the voice whispered again carefully. "I know you are here. I saw you come in." A pause followed. "I only want to help you."
Rhea frowned slightly. The voice sounded familiar, genuine, nervous. Still, she didn’t lower the knife.
Carefully, she stepped out from behind the shelf. The moment the woman saw her, relief flooded her expression.
"Goddess!" Mira rushed toward her before Rhea could react and wrapped her arms tightly around her. "So it’s true," she whispered shakily. "I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me."
Rhea stiffened automatically at the contact, every instinct still screaming caution despite recognizing the omega instantly. "Mira," she said quietly. "You shouldn’t be here."
Mira pulled back quickly, fear flashing across her face. "Luna, why did you come back?" she whispered urgently. "If the Alpha sees you, he’ll make sure you really die this time."
The words landed hard because they were true.
Rhea nodded once. "I know." Her voice came out rougher than she intended. "I just—" Her throat tightened painfully. "I need to know how my son died."
Saying the words aloud reopened something raw inside her chest.
She looked at Mira desperately. "Did you hear anything? See anything?"
Mira hesitated. Then guilt flickered across her face. "I’m sorry, Luna," she said softly. "I did not see it happen."
Rhea’s shoulders tightened slightly in disappointment. But Mira wasn’t finished.
"There were rumors," she added quietly, glancing nervously toward the door. "The servants talked after it happened."
Rhea’s pulse quickened instantly. "What rumors?"
Mira swallowed hard. "They said Eli was poisoned."
The world seemed to stop for a second. Rhea stared at her without breathing.
Mira’s voice dropped even lower. "They said your sister did it."
Rhea felt her stomach drop. Kat poisoned Eli?
River snarled deep inside her chest. "She has to pay."
"They said Lady Kat feared he would never accept her child as the Alpha heir while Eli was alive," Mira continued carefully. "That the Alpha loved him too much."
A low growl vibrated through Rhea’s body before she could stop it.
"She deserves death," River snarled viciously inside her mind.
Rhea’s eyes burned painfully as tears gathered despite every effort to hold them back. Her son. Her baby. Murdered because he existed. And Kaleb had allowed it.
"I can’t believe he did not stop her," Rhea whispered brokenly. The betrayal hurt almost worse than Eli’s death itself.
Mira lowered her head silently, unable to answer that.
The archive suddenly felt too small, too suffocating. Grief twisted violently into rage inside Rhea’s chest. She inhaled once, slow and shaking. Then her expression hardened completely.
"Go back to your quarters," she said suddenly.
Mira’s eyes widened as Rhea immediately started toward the door.
"Luna, wait." Mira hurried after her, panic threading through her whisper. "Where are you going?"
Rhea didn’t stop walking, her fingers tightened around Kaleb’s knife. Her wolf growled beneath her skin, bloodthirsty and awake.
"To take back what’s mine."
