Free Web NovelChapter 83: Unexpected Summon
Raven
"What do you want in return?" I asked, keeping my gaze fixed on her.
Lilian looked worse than the last time I had seen her. Dark circles stained the skin beneath her eyes, and her face had lost the sharp vibrance it once carried. She looked exhausted, like someone had placed a burden on her shoulders that was far too heavy for her to bear.
When she didn’t answer immediately, I repeated myself.
"What do you want in return?"
Outside, it was probably dinner time already. Most people in the pack would be gathered together, eating and laughing like everything in the world was normal.
But Lilian wasn’t here for casual conversation.
She would never come to me unless she needed something.
"I need you to give me an opportunity to seduce Alpha Rex," she finally said quietly. "Any of the alphas is good enough."
The answer should have shocked me, but it didn’t.
After her father—her alpha—had been killed, and with only one brother left alive, she had nowhere else to go. This pack had become her only option. She couldn’t simply run away. Another pack would either reject her or force their alpha to kill for the right to take her in.
The rules were cruel and strict.
If Lilian wanted security and a future inside this pack, then she needed the favor of the alphas.
"I don’t care about whatever you have going on," she continued, her voice dropping so low I had to strain to hear her. "That’s your business. I can get it from the healer on your behalf."
My chest tightened.
"...and in exchange, I intend to bind myself to an alpha."
There was no way I would warn her. No way I would tell her what kind of danger that would put her in against Gessia.
Gessia’s obsession with the alphas was terrifying. Possessive. Manic.
She wanted every single one of them for herself.
"Deal," I answered immediately. The impatience in my own voice disgusted me, but I couldn’t help it. "How soon can you deliver?"
"Two days," Lilian replied confidently.
She stepped closer until only a small distance separated us. If I leaned forward even slightly, our faces would touch.
Her eyes narrowed.
"And if you go back on your word," she murmured softly, "do I need to remind you how displeased they would be if they found out what you did?"
A threat.
But she wasn’t the only one capable of threatening people.
Fear twisted violently inside me.
If the concoction she promised me failed, then everything I had done would be meaningless.
Worse than meaningless.
Deadly.
I stared directly back at her. freeweɓnøvel.com
"If you lie to me," I said coldly, "and it doesn’t work, then I guess you’ll be seeing your father soon."
I made sure she understood exactly what I meant. I would tell the alphas everything. I would reveal that she was connected to me—that she was my sister, or close enough to it.
Her jaw tightened.
"It would be a shame if Brandon had to die too," I added.
Anger practically poured out of her, thick and suffocating, but I didn’t care. I didn’t look away. I didn’t flinch.
Eventually, I stepped back first.
I could keep Axel away from me for two days.
Even if I had to beg.
Even if I had to humiliate myself completely.
I would do it.
Without another word, I turned and headed back toward the alpha building.
I wasn’t surprised when the guard immediately followed after me the moment he realized I was leaving. I barely even noticed him anymore. His constant presence had become another reminder of what I truly was here.
A prisoner.
I went straight to my room.
When dinner arrived, I ate painfully slowly, my nerves stretched thin with every passing second. I kept expecting Axel to walk through the door at any moment.
Every sound outside made my stomach clench.
Every set of footsteps sent panic racing through me.
But he never came.
And with each minute that passed, relief slowly settled into my chest.
By the time night deepened, exhaustion had finally begun pulling me toward sleep.
I was just on the edge of drifting off when a hard knock slammed against my door.
I jerked upright in shock.
The door opened before I could respond.
My guard stepped inside, his face barely visible in the darkness.
"Get a coat and follow me," he ordered.
For a brief second, I wanted to refuse.
But what would be the point?
I didn’t wear chains, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t imprisoned.
I grabbed the only coat I owned and slipped it on quickly. One of the servants had given it to me because the weather had been growing colder lately.
My heart was already pounding by the time I stepped outside my room.
The guard gestured sharply for me to follow him instead of speaking aloud, and unease immediately crawled through me.
We were going somewhere.
To meet someone.
My greatest fear was that it would be Axel.
He was the last person I wanted to see tonight.
Still, I followed silently because I had no choice. Throwing a tantrum wouldn’t save me. Refusing wouldn’t change anything.
I was weak.
That truth followed me everywhere.
The guard moved quickly ahead of me like he already knew exactly where we were going, and I stayed close behind him through the quiet halls.
It wasn’t until we stepped outside that I finally spoke.
The night air hit my skin sharply, cold and unsettling. There was no one around. No guards nearby. No movement.
My anxiety spiked immediately.
"Where are we going?" I whispered harshly. "I’m not going anywhere else with you."
Panic was already beginning to claw its way up my throat when I suddenly heard footsteps approaching.
I looked up.
Then instantly stumbled backward in shock.
A tall figure emerged from behind the side of the building, stepping calmly into view.
Alpha Thor.
For a moment, I could only stare at him.
Oddly enough, Axel would have been easier to expect.
But Thor?
Thor almost never acknowledged me at all.
Seeing him here, in the middle of the night, instantly filled me with dread.
He walked closer slowly while I stood frozen in place, unable to look away.
"Alpha," I greeted quietly.
My voice sounded small compared to the pounding of my heartbeat.
Thor ignored the greeting completely.
Of course he did.
That alone wasn’t unusual.
But the fact that he had called for me at all—that was what terrified me.
Nothing good ever came from the alphas wanting something from me.
Nothing.
I wanted all of them far away from me.
As far away as possible.
