The Alphas Revenge: The Sin of Deceit

Chapter 77: I’ll be back

Raven

The next morning, I went looking for poison.

Not actual poison.

Anything.

Anything that could make me sick enough to avoid Axel.

I searched through the kitchens first under the careful eyes of the guard assigned to me. He stayed close enough that I could hear every shift of his boots against the floor, every small breath he took whenever I paused too long beside something.

It was suffocating.

I reached toward a basket of dried herbs, only for him to immediately speak.

"What are you looking for?"

I forced myself not to flinch.

"Tea," I answered softly. "I haven’t been sleeping well."

His eyes narrowed with suspicion before he stepped closer and examined the herbs himself.

"I’ll ask the kitchen workers to prepare it."

Of course he would.

I pulled my hand back slowly.

"Thank you."

The guard remained beside me the entire time afterward, watching every movement I made like I was some dangerous criminal instead of a prisoner pretending to cooperate.

Maybe I was both.

I tried again later outside near the storage area, pretending I wanted fresh air while searching desperately for anything rotten, anything spoiled, anything that could make me ill enough to buy myself time.

But there was nothing.

Not even the berries growing near the edge of the trees were left unguarded because the moment I walked too close, the guard stepped in front of me.

"You’re not allowed past this point."

"I know," I whispered.

The days dragged painfully.

Every hour felt heavier than the last.

And no matter where I went, someone watched me.

The windows.

The halls.

The courtyard.

Even when I sat quietly doing nothing, I could feel eyes on me constantly.

Like I had stopped being a person the moment they captured me.

By evening, dread had already settled heavily inside my chest.

I sat alone in my room staring at the floor while darkness slowly swallowed the walls around me.

Maybe he wouldn’t come tonight.

Maybe something important had happened.

Maybe he changed his mind.

Maybe—

The door suddenly opened without warning.

My heart dropped instantly.

For one brief second, hope flickered inside me as I thought it was the guard bringing food.

Then Axel stepped inside.

The hope died immediately.

He shut the door firmly behind him before locking it.

My chest tightened painfully.

He didn’t even look at me properly at first.

Instead, he started pulling off his shirt with rough irritated movements while glaring in my direction.

"I don’t want to do this any more than you do," he said sharply.

I lowered my head quickly, panic already building inside me as I desperately searched for another excuse.

Anything.

Anything at all.

Axel tossed his shirt aside carelessly before stepping closer.

He looked exactly like I remembered.

Huge.

Broad.

Overwhelming in a way that made the room feel smaller around him.

His red hair fell slightly over his forehead, and his light brown eyes fixed on me with nothing but anger.

Once upon a time, he had looked at me differently.

I remembered that clearly.

The first time we met, there had been curiosity in his eyes.

Warmth.

Interest.

Now there was only resentment.

Hatred.

To Axel, I was no longer Raven.

I was simply the woman tied to the massacre of his pack.

The woman he voted to kill the very first night they found me.

"Strip," he ordered.

My trembling fingers barely reached the edge of my dress before I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"It’s my red season."

The words escaped so quickly I almost startled myself.

Axel froze.

Then a deep scowl crossed his face immediately.

For the first time that night, relief rushed through me so strongly I nearly collapsed from it.

But my heart still pounded violently because if he asked for proof—

If he checked—

Then everything would fall apart instantly.

"Gessia said you wouldn’t get it this month," he said sharply.

His voice filled the room deeply enough to make me instinctively shrink back.

I kept my gaze lowered.

"I... it came unexpectedly."

The silence afterward felt endless.

I could feel him staring at me.

Judging me. freewebnøvel.com

Trying to decide whether I was lying.

My palms turned damp with sweat.

"When will you be done?" he finally asked.

Relief nearly made my knees weak. freewёbnoνel.com

"A few days," I answered quickly. "Maybe four."

I needed time.

Just a little more time.

Time to think.

Time to escape.

Time for something—anything—to happen.

I waited for him to call me a liar.

Waited for him to shove me onto the bed anyway.

But he didn’t.

Instead, Axel moved suddenly closer until his shadow swallowed me completely.

Then his hand grabbed my jaw hard enough to hurt.

I gasped softly as he forced my head upward.

"Look at me."

Reluctantly, my eyes lifted toward his.

The rage in them terrified me.

"In a few days," he said slowly, "I’ll come back. And when I do, I won’t listen to excuses."

His grip tightened slightly.

"Before I walk through that door, I expect you spread out your legs, ready for me."

My chest tightened painfully.

"Understood?"

The growl in his voice made it clear he wasn’t asking.

"...Understood," I whispered.

His expression remained hard.

"You’re useless," he snapped suddenly. "You contribute nothing to this pack. You eat our food, take our space, and you can’t even do the one thing required of you."

Each word struck deeper than I wanted to admit.

I stared at the floor desperately, refusing to let him see the tears burning behind my eyes.

His fingers dug painfully into my jaw.

"You should consider yourself lucky you’re still alive."

I stayed silent.

What could I even say?

That I never asked for this?

That I never wanted any of it?

None of it mattered anymore.

Axel released me roughly before stepping back.

"You’d better not test my patience again," he warned.

Then he grabbed his shirt and pulled it back on with irritated movements.

Before leaving, he paused near the door.

For one brief second, I thought he might say something else.

Something softer.

But his expression only hardened further.

"You should pray Gessia keeps protecting you," he muttered before walking out.

The door slammed shut behind him.

The sound echoed painfully through the room.

My legs finally gave out beneath me.

I collapsed onto the bed shaking violently, my hands clutching the blanket as panic crashed into me all at once.

I had bought time.

Only time.

Nothing else.

And time disappeared quickly.

The next few days passed horribly.

Every morning I woke hoping for a miracle.

Every night I slept disappointed.

I tried speaking carefully to Gessia again about the red potion, but she grew visibly irritated the second time I mentioned it.

"It takes time to prepare," she snapped. "Stop asking repeatedly."

After that, I didn’t dare push further.

I couldn’t risk making her suspicious.

But desperation slowly clawed its way deeper into my chest with each passing hour.

There was no escape.

No poison.

No sickness.

Nothing.

The guards still watched me constantly, and even leaving my room required permission now because Axel apparently believed I was planning something.

Maybe he was right.

I stopped sleeping properly.

Stopped eating enough.

My nerves felt stretched so tightly that every sound startled me.

And the closer the promised day came, the harder it became to breathe normally.

I sat alone one evening beside the small window in my room, biting harshly against my lower lip as my thoughts spiraled uncontrollably.

I remembered Rex.

The memory came suddenly enough to make my chest ache.

That strange overwhelming feeling that had taken over me the night I slept with him.

The way my body stopped feeling entirely like my own.

The strange haze.

The heat.

The loss of control.

At the time it terrified me.

Now?

Now I silently prayed for it.

Because maybe if it happened again, I wouldn’t have to fully experience what Axel planned to do.

Maybe whatever had overcome me then would return and numb everything.

Maybe I wouldn’t have to feel him touching me.

Maybe I could disappear somewhere inside my own mind until it ended.

The thought alone made shame burn through me.

I curled tighter against myself on the bed, pressing trembling fingers against my mouth.

I hated this.

I hated all of it.

The helplessness.

The fear.

The waiting.

Most of all, I hated that survival now depended on surrendering pieces of myself over and over again.

A quiet knock sounded suddenly against the door.

I froze immediately.

My pulse quickened.

"Food," the guard called from outside.

Relief flooded me so intensely it almost hurt.

Not Axel.

Not yet.

I wiped quickly at my eyes before standing shakily and moving toward the door.

But even as I reached for the handle, dread still remained lodged heavily inside my chest.

Because deep down, I already knew the truth.

Time was running out.

And sooner or later—

Axel would come back.