Free Web NovelChapter 173: Chapter 173
Riley’s POV
"And she’s still alive?"
The second he said that, something inside me cracked and fear hit me so fast that I didn’t even think, I just moved.
I tried to rush past him, my only thought being Anna, but I didn’t even make it two steps before his hand shot out and grabbed my arm hard.
"Let go of me!" I snapped, trying to pull free, but he didn’t budge.
Instead, he pulled me back hard.
My back hit the wall, and before I could react, his arms came down on either side of me, trapping me there.
I glared up at him, my heart beating fast, my whole body tense.
"And where do you think you’re going?" he asked, his voice calm like nothing was wrong.
For a second, I just stared at him.
"What kind of stupid question is that?" I snapped. "My friend is out there in danger, Gunnar! What do you think I’m going to do? Stand here and chat with you?"
I shoved against his chest, but he didn’t move.
"If anything happens to her—"
He didn’t even flinch. If anything, the way his eyes stayed on me made it worse.
He was calm. And that pissed me off even more.
"Move!" I snapped again, trying to push him away, but he still didn’t let me go.
Then he said something that made me stop.
"It will be sweeter this way."
I blinked."What?"
My brows pulled together as I stared at him, confused and angry at the same time.
"What are you even talking about?"
He didn’t answer right away. He just looked at me like he was thinking something through, and I hated it.
Then he spoke.
"You’ll come with me," he said slowly, like he was explaining something simple. "You’ll save my brother first."
I stared at him."Wait... what?" freeweɓnovel.cøm
"You heard me."
For a second, I actually thought he was joking.
I even let out a small laugh because there was no way he was serious right now.
"You can’t be serious," I said, shaking my head. "My friend, a human is out there alone in the midst of wolves that could rip her apart, probably terrified, and you want me to just ignore that and come help your brother first?"
He smirked slightly, but there was nothing funny about it.
"You don’t have a choice."
My expression dropped."Excuse me?"
"You can’t leave this place unless I let you," he said, his voice turning cold. "And I won’t let you leave unless you come with me."
I felt anger rise so fast it almost made me dizzy.
"You’re insane," I said. "Actually insane."
"No," he replied calmly. "I’m being reasonable."
"Reasonable?" I laughed, but there was no humor in it. "You’re holding me hostage while my friend could literally die out there, and you’re calling that reasonable?"
He didn’t react to my words the way a normal person would.
Instead, his gaze hardened.
"You killed the Satyre who was going to help," he said.
I froze for a second.
"And you scared my daughter," he continued. "You talked back when you should have listened."
"Oh, so now this is my fault?" I snapped, my voice rising again. "Are you actually blaming me for this?"
"Yes," he said without hesitation.
That hit. Hard. Honestly.
I stared at him like I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
"If it weren’t for you," he went on, his voice getting sharper, "Cane wouldn’t have had to go after the antidote."
My chest tightened.
"What are you even talking about?"
"He went to get the cure," Gunnar said, his jaw tightening now. "The one meant to fix what Sapphire did to my daughter."
I blinked.
"Sapphire poisoned her," he added.
I felt my stomach twist.
"And why did she do that?" he asked, his eyes locking onto mine.
I didn’t answer. Because I was clearly confused by the sudden revelation.
"She wanted to get back at me," he said. "And the easiest way to do that was through you."
I swallowed.
"And Cane went after the antidote because of it," Gunnar continued, his voice low but intense. "Because he thought fixing the mess Sapphire did with my daughter wouldn’t escalate things. Because he thought it would stop everything from getting worse."
He paused for a second. "But now he’s the one dying."
The silence that followed felt heavy, just in a way that made everything feel real and uncomfortable.
"And you want to run off and save your friend first?" he added.
I clenched my fists.
"Yes," I said. "Because she didn’t sign up for any of this. She doesn’t even know what this place is, she is clearly clueless."
"And neither did my brother foresee he was going to be in a death situation," he shot back immediately. "But he still ended up in that situation."
"That’s not the same thing!"
"It is to me," he said coldly.
I shook my head, frustrated beyond words.
"You’re unbelievable," I said. "You’re actually unbelievable."
"And you’re selfish," he replied just as fast.
That made me snap.
"Selfish?" I repeated, my voice rising. "I’m selfish because I want to save my friend? Are you even hearing yourself right now?"
"You’re choosing her over someone who is already dying," he said.
"And you’re choosing your brother over someone who could die next!" I shot back.
"At least I’m consistent," he said.
I let out a harsh laugh.
"Wow. That’s your defense?"
"You don’t get to judge me," he said, his tone turning dangerous. "Not when you’re the reason he’s like this."
"I didn’t tell him to go!" I snapped. "I didn’t ask him to do anything! I wasn’t even aware of any of this until now"
"But it still happened because of you," he replied.
I opened my mouth to argue, but nothing came out.
Because even if I didn’t directly cause it... I was still part of it.
And that pissed me off even more.
"Listen to me carefully," Gunnar said, his voice dropping lower, more controlled now. "You will come with me. You will help my brother. And then, if your friend is still alive after that, you can go find her."
My eyes widened.
"If?" I repeated. "Did you just say if?"
He didn’t look away.
"If you refuse," he added, "then I won’t stop whatever happens to her."
That did it.
Every bit of hesitation I had disappeared.
"You’re sick," I said quietly, staring straight at him. "You’re actually sick in the head."
"Maybe," he said. "But I’m not the one running out of time."
I wanted to hit him. I really did want to.
But instead, I forced myself to breathe.
Think.
Because yelling wasn’t going to fix anything.
And Anna didn’t have time for me to stand here arguing.
"Fine," I said suddenly.
His brows pulled together slightly.
"I’ll do it," I continued, my voice steady now even though I was still furious. "I’ll help your brother."
He studied me for a second, like he didn’t fully trust that answer.
"But the second he’s stable," I added quickly, "I’m leaving. You don’t stop me. You don’t delay me. You don’t play any games."
He didn’t answer right away.
Then he nodded once."Deal."
I pushed his arm away from the wall.
This time, he let me.
He stepped aside, watching me closely as I walked past him. freewebnøvel.coɱ
But before we could leave the room, I stopped.
There was one more thing.
I turned back to face him.
He looked at me, waiting. I held his gaze, my expression serious now.
"Once your brother is alright," I said slowly, making sure he understood every word, "there’s something else I’m going to do."
He didn’t interrupt.
"I heard something," I continued. "About mate bonds."
His expression changed slightly, but he stayed quiet.
"They can be rejected, right even as I’m not one?" I asked.
The silence between us stretched for a second then I saw his jaw tightened.
I nodded once."Good."
I held his gaze, not backing down."Because I’m going to reject you first."
