The Alphas Revenge: The Sin of Deceit

Chapter 82: Unfortunately

Unfortunately, Axel recovered far faster than I wanted him to.

A month bedridden would have been acceptable.

Two months would have been better.

Instead, barely two days later, there were almost no signs that he had been on the brink of death.

It was maddening.

Every time I stepped out of my room I heard his voice downstairs again, loud and overpowering as though he had not nearly died.

Most of the time he was arguing with Thor and Rex in the main hall.

Apparently finding a solution to the human weapon problem was proving more difficult than expected.

"They should thank us that we aren’t heading to the village and burning it down!" Axel thundered one afternoon, his voice echoing through the building so loudly I could hear every word from the upper corridor. "If we’re careful enough there’s no way they would find out we’re werewolves!"

"I see no reason why one or two of us cannot infiltrate the village," Thor’s deep voice followed. "Find the information we want and leave."

Then silence.

Heavy silence.

Which meant Rex was glaring at both of them again.

Whenever Rex grew truly angry, the entire room usually went quiet before he spoke.

"We might look like humans," Rex finally said, his voice carrying a deep resonance of displeasure, "but do you really think their ways are our ways?"

A loud bang echoed immediately after.

I flinched slightly, realizing he had probably slammed his hand against the table again.

"We are different! The way they communicate is different. We’ve tried this before. They do not treat newcomers well."

"Then we’ll say we’re from another village," Axel snapped, clearly nearing the end of his patience.

"The alternative is waiting for one of us to die from those weapons."

"We’ve tried that too," Rex growled with obvious frustration. "No matter what we do, they always suspect something is wrong."

I stood near the hall entrance listening carefully, barely daring to breathe.

"So what would you rather have us do?" Axel roared. "Hide forever?"

He sounded more furious than usual.

Perhaps because he had been the one most affected.

"We will go there," he continued loudly, "even if I have to go myself."

I would have been lying if I said the idea didn’t please me.

Did I want Axel dead?

Not exactly.

But if he disappeared long enough for me to escape, I certainly would not complain.

"We’ll need females," Axel continued after a moment. "Humans lower their guard around women. Besides, it’s only for a day."

Thor remained mostly silent after that, which was unsurprising. He rarely spoke unless he had something important to add.

Rex no longer argued immediately either.

Slowly, begrudgingly, they seemed to be reaching an agreement.

And I desperately needed to hear every detail.

If even two of them left the pack territory, it would mean fewer guards.

Less attention.

A chance.

Another chance to escape.

And this time I intended to succeed.

I quietly edged closer toward the doorway, straining to hear more clearly—

Only to nearly jump out of my skin when a loud throat-clearing sounded directly behind me.

I jerked around in shock.

The male guard assigned to me stood there staring down at me with immense disapproval etched across his face.

Clearly he had caught me listening.

"I was heading out," I said quickly.

His eyes narrowed slightly, but he said nothing.

I stared back stubbornly.

He was a guard.

He could not hurt me.

At least that much I still believed.

Without waiting for permission, I brushed past him and headed toward the building entrance instead. Thankfully he followed at a distance rather than stopping me outright.

Recently I had been allowed slightly more freedom around the pack territory.

Likely because they believed escape was impossible now.

I had every intention of using that against them.

Instead of heading toward the main gathering area, I wandered toward the forest borders instead, deliberately avoiding most pack members along the way.

I avoided the river too.

Too crowded.

Too many wolves.

I needed space to think.

The deeper parts of the forest were quieter, calmer. Wind rustled through the trees while fading sunlight filtered between the branches overhead.

For a little while, I simply walked.

Aimlessly.

Trying not to think about mates, pregnancies, or the suffocating feeling of being trapped.

By the time I finally stopped wandering, the sky had already darkened considerably.

I turned reluctantly toward the direction of the alpha building, preparing myself to head back—

"I figured I would find you here."

The female voice behind me startled me enough to stop walking immediately.

"Do you know how long I’ve been waiting?"

I knew the voice before I even turned around.

Lilian.

My half-sister.

I faced her slowly only to find amusement already dancing in her eyes.

"Heard the rumors," she said casually. "Something about mating with all three alphas."

I glared immediately.

"Bold," she continued with a smirk. "But clearly not something you enjoy, otherwise why would you run away?" ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

Her gaze flickered briefly toward the guard lingering several feet away from us before returning to me again.

"You sound confident," I began carefully.

But she interrupted almost immediately.

"I’m the only friend you have here right now," she said smugly, "and you know it."

I rolled my eyes and turned away from her.

"You cannot help me."

I had barely taken another step before she chuckled softly behind me.

"What if I could?"

I stopped.

Slowly.

Then came the whisper.

"So what if I could get you something that prevents pregnancy?"

I spun around so quickly my neck almost hurt.

"What?"

Even standing beside her, I had nearly missed the words.

Lilian shrugged carelessly.

"Gessia practically confirmed it without meaning to," she said. "I pay attention."

My pulse quickened.

"You were pregnant before," she continued calmly, "and now you aren’t."

I forced my face blank instantly.

"The fact that instead of acting smug over being wanted by three alphas, you look miserable tells me something’s wrong."

She stepped closer.

"And then you tried to run away."

I said nothing.

But my silence was answer enough.

"Whatever this is," Lilian murmured, "I’m guessing it has something to do with the baby."

My hands trembled before I could stop them.

For the first time in days, genuine hope flickered painfully inside my chest.

Tiny.

Fragile.

But there.

I stepped toward her quickly and grabbed both her hands tightly.

"Please," I whispered desperately. "Can you really get it?"

Her smug expression softened only slightly.

Enough to make my heart pound harder.

Because if she could—

If she truly could—

Then no matter how many times the alphas touched me...