Chapter 53
Chapter 53
Chapter 53
Rhea
+63
When I step out of the room, a chill surrounds and seeps into my bones. I take a few steps forward, toward the right of the hallway but then I stop. I should go back and rest. But I don’t think I can. Not now.
So, I go to the other side of the hall. And I try to recall the path that Aron had taken when he took me to that lounge room where he told me I could find him there.
Maybe not this late. The voice in my head says. Maybe it’s better to go back to bed. But the curiosity drives me forward.
I reach the door which I believe is the lounge. It’s slightly open yet again and I manage to peek inside but there’s nothing in there. No one. The room is empty, no sign of anyone.
I take a step back, away from the door as the silence in this house presses down on me. Taking a deep breath and I turn, intending to go back on the same direction I came from but instead, I see another door far in the corner with light spilling through from the little gap.
Curiosity always gets the best of me.
I walk over to the door slowly, checking in behind me and then in front. It’s quiet all around. There’s nothing save for the slight creaks of the wood underneath me.
Gently, I push the door open and look inside.
It’s a bedroom–Aron’s
And it’s huge, almost as
The end of my she b
as the lounge. Well, not exactly. The lounge was a little larger.
reach the soft carpet, which doesn’t make any sound unlike the floor of the hallway. I look around, but
I don’t find him in here too. Which I feel like is a sign for me to bury my curiosity and go to sleep before anyone catches me
here.
Or worse, Marcella finds me out of bed.
Just as I’m
about to turn, my gaze falls onto the glass on top of a table that is half–empty and half–filled with something- wine, I believe.
“Rhea,”
dn’t be here.
at the sound of my own name and look to see where it has come from.
From the bathroom.
“I–I was just ” I bite the tip of my lip. There’s a moment of fear that runs through me. I’m torn between running away and running toward it.
“Come here.”
My ears perk up at his voice, and I take an uncertain step forward before shaking my head and hesitating again. I shouldn’t go inside. I shouldn’t. But I don’t hear the sound of a shower, which means he might have already gotten dressed.
Right?
“Come. It’s fine.”
1/4
09:50
Wed, 16 Apr
ས ,91%
Chapter 53
The door to the bathroom is already open, which I should’ve taken notice of when I came inside. But I didn’t really hear anything.
I step inside the bathroom, and I don’t really see anything or anyone for a moment. The shower isn’t running. It’s completely silent.
But then I see what’s ahead.
The bathroom stretches a bit inside, and across the far end, there’s a large, sunken tub, almost like a small pool. Moonlight filters in through the large arched windows at the end and reflects off the water’s surface.
And then I spot him.
He’s there, in the water, arms spread lazily over the tub’s stone edges as he sits facing the window and not the door.
For a moment, I just stand there, watching him. He doesn’t move, but I can tell he’s aware of me being here.
My eyes trail down his back, part of what isn’t submerged in the water, and then to his arms and the broadness of his shoulders.
My feet move on their own, one step and then another, before I go to him.
My actions are, once again, driven by curiosity and not reason as I stop in front of him. He looks up, at me, and I think this
is the first time I’ve seen him look up. It’s usually the opposite with him standing tall above me.
“You should be resting,” he says.
“I was feeling a bit,” I pause, almost lost for words to say in his presence. “Bored.”
“Out wandering? Or in your room?”
“In my room. I didn’t go anywhere,” I feel like I’ve to clarify that. “And I didn’t want to bother Marcella after I told her to rest.”
“How are you feeling?” He asks with concern in his voice.
I shrug, “Fine, I think.”
“Good,” His eyes wander over me, from the bottom of my feet to the top. “I suppose you’ve gotten your things, considering what you are wearing.”
I look down at my clothes, “Yes. Thank you for having them sent here somehow.”
“I asked, and they complied.”
“My parents?”
“No, not your parents. I asked Elias, and he passed down the request to your parents.”
I take a step forward, away from the window and closer to where he his. My thoughts are still scattered as I try to tell myself to leave but something–a greater force doesn’t allow me to do so.
So I edge closer until I’m almost at the end, where Aron is soaking in. I crouch down over to the side before sitting down, next to the tub with my legs folded underneath me. There’s a little platform that I use to rest my hands over.
“I wanted to ask something,” I murmur.
His eyes lower to me. “Go ahead.”
2/4
09:50 Wed, 16 Apr
Chapter 53
K 91%
“I was going to die; they were all ready to burn me for what I did,” I whisper slowly, recalling the events of that night and the words that were shared by Ezra, Catelyn, and even my brother. “How did you convince my Alpha to release me?
He leans back and sets his hands on the tub’s edges. I get a sense that he’s mulling over his thoughts before speaking,
“You don’t want to know.”
“I want to.”
“Why?”
I wonder for a second.
Why do I want to know? What’s the significance? Is there any?
“I just–I want to know.”
“And will you then tell me of the things you hide from me?”
“I’m not hiding anything,” I say, leaning a little back while hearing the water moving inside the tub.
“You are. I can tell by the sound of your heart. You’re holding things back,” he tells me, his brows arching as he speaks. “And I want to know each and everything that you have been so keen on hiding from me. I want you to tell me.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” And I didn’t. I honestly don’t know what it is that he wants from me or what he needs me to reveal to him.
His hand comes around my wrist, and I freeze instantly, but it’s not long before he tugs me forward.
“When I saw you in the cellar, your clothes were hanging, they were torn, mostly by claws,” He whispers, leaning in closer while I remain motionless and unblinking. “Should I guess what must’ve happened? Or will you tell me yourself?”
I’d be lying to myself if I said the heat gathering inside me and pooling isn’t out of fear.
I’m not afraid of him but of his intentions. Of what he can do. Not to me, to others.
“Nothing happened.”
“Don’t lie to me, little wolf,” he warns me, still holding onto my wrist. “Choose your words wisely, or I can just remove your clothes and see for myself.”
“Nothing-” I stutter out, almost breathlessly. “Nothing happened. I promise. He didn’t–he tried, but it didn’t happen.”
“Go on.”
“That’s all.”
“Who?”
“No one,” I say. I didn’t really want to mention any names, but my mind is rushing, pushing and pulling thoughts into my head.
“Who did it?”
0
“It doesn’t matter. He didn’t do it. Nothing-”
“Who was he?”
“Stop.”
3/4
09:50 Wed, 16 Apr
Chapter 53
“Name him.”
“I don’t-”
“Do you not want to see his head? I could get it delivered to you, his body too, in pieces.”
I panic, and my mouth drops, “You can’t do that. Don’t do that.”
His brow arches. There’s nothing but seriousness in his voice, in his eyes. “Tell me his name, Rhea.”
91%
+63
I want to protest, to find a way out. For some reason, I don’t want to pull that door open. My teeth drawback, nearly burying into my lower lip as my throat aches and my eyes tear up from the emotion.
There’s a small silence, and no one says a word.
“Ezra. It was Ezra,” I whisper. “He’s the leader of the gamma warriors.”
AD
