Chapter 89
Chapter so
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The night passes by in a blur, and so does the next morning. I don’t see Aron at all. He doesn’t come to me or let me see him. He stays away and hidden, perhaps to keep his woll in check. Or maybe something else. I can’t tell.
The here?” I ask Marcella as I walk into the kitchen by afternoon.
She glances at me and then nods. “He’s doing some work upstairs. She’s quick to change the topic. “Why don’t I prepare you some lunch, and then we can head out, and you can take your lessons?” she suggests. I can tell by the tone of her voice that she wants to push me away, out of the manor, so I don’t see Aron.
She knows it too.
“No, I’m not feeling in the mood to go there. I just wanted to talk to him.”
Marcella bates down on her lower lip before placing her knife on the counter. “He’s busy for now. Maybe another time?” I take a step back, pondering what I should do. I know he doesn’t want me to interrupt him, especially when he’s dealing with this new matter. And then the council–the pressure is mounting on him. But I want to see him, nonetheless.
I want to know how he’s doing. Whether it’s still him.
Let me warm up some sandwiches for you-
T just take a shower, and I’ll be back, I say quickly, cutting her off.
Marcella seems a little surprised but nods.
I climb the stairs and reach the office, but the door is locked, and I’m left with the decision of knocking or entering myself.
Or not doing it and letting Aron take care of his business alone, which doesn’t seem so ideal to me at the moment. It’s only a second, and I realize the choice for myself. I don’t even think before acting on it and raising my fist to the door.
The door opens in an instant after my second knock.
Aron stares down at me. “What is it?”
He sounds agitated
“Can we talk?” I question him. My gaze flicks inside, where he’s all alone and no one else is there. “For a bit?” He steps back and lets me in. He closes the door behind himself before making his way back to his desk. “There’s nothing for you to worry about. Don’t concern yourself with such i
matters; I’ll take care of them,” he informs me.
I swallow the growing lump in my throat. “But I am concerned. Are you going to attack the Redhollow
pack?”
Hen quiet
I press my lips into a thin lin
line, trying
up on his enotions and what’s running in his head.
Aron
“Yes, I will” He looks up, “But like I said, you don’t need to be bothered with these problems. I’ve already taken care of i
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Chapter 89
Kovas is arranging the wolves to attack by dawn tomorrow,
Tomorrow
That didn’t sound good
JON
K
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“What about the council? They’re still here. They’re going to know about it. Don’t you think it’s- I take a deep inhale before continuing. “Don’t you think that you’re acting out too quickly?”
Tm not. he replies easily.
“You’re not thinking straight-
“I am, quite perfectly. I should say.”
He’s not him. No. It’s not Aron who’s speaking to me. It’s his wolf. He has already given him the control to deal with this. And Kael is doing exactly that. Dealing with it
But-
He doesn’t let me speak. He gets up from his seat and walks over to me, towering over me, his eyes dark, his ja
his jaw clenched… “It’s better this way,” His voice has an underlying darkness that makes me shiver. The hairs on the back of my neck rise as if the air around him is changing. “Don’t go for training today. Stay at home, have Marcella look over you. I’ll be gone before midnight and return in the evening tomorrow. He pauses to run his finger on the underside of my jaw. It makes me tremble a little. “Stay here until then. Okay?”
I look at him, trying to find the part of him that I know.
I can’t.
I’m not able to. All I see is this part of his. It is Kael.
He’s gone.
And the thought that enters my head right after terrifies me.
“What if someone from the council visits?” I ask, “They want your reply in the claim over the Blackfang. And if you’re not here, I
Tll deal with them when I return, when I have victory against the Redhollow pack and Harrison’s head hanging from the front gate. They won’t come again after that.”
A shudder passes down through my spine as my heart thunders in my ears, threatening to break out at his words alone.
“You’re not…yourself” The words escape me in a slow murmur
His jaw twitches slightly at my words before he tilts his head.
“What did you say? He questions me, furrowed brows and confusion on his face.
I was not supposed to say that. No I don’t dare to repeat myself again. “Nothing. I just think you’re acting too quickly about the whole matter, and maybe just maybe, there could be another alternative to solving things.”
“Why do you doubt
the muscles tighten over hum
my actions? |
I notice that he’s getting angry. It shows on his face, in his eyes, in the way his jaw ticks and
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Chapter 89
“I don’t, I was just My eyes narrow on his, trying to find him, to reach for the real Aron inside him, to pull him out of his trance. To somehow wake him up from his self–induced state. But there is no hope there. None. The only person in front of me, right now, at the moment, is Kael, and that is the man I am dealing with. “Nothing”
He catches onto my hesitation and pauses, his hand reaching around to hold my chin and make me look at him. “What is it?
I blink my eyes up at him.
“Why don’t you trust me?” His tone has changed; it has gotten darker, deeper, and something that is beginning to sound
scary to my ears.
“I do.” I whisper to him.
He shakes his head and drops his hand before taking a step back. “You’re hiding something from me, Rhea. Something is in your head, I know it, he’s observant, much too observant for my liking. Especially when I’m not doing the best job of hiding what I’m trying to conceal. “What is it?” he asks.
“N–nothing.” I take a deep breath. I feel the warmth drain from my face. I shake my head to try and make the worry disappear. “Nothing. Just…it’s okay.”
He doesn’t take that answer. His mouth sets in a firm line. I can sense the frustration brewing inside of him. “You know something,” his finger trails against the edge of my chin. “Something you shouldn’t have to know.”
My breaths come out quicker. A wave of terror begins to build up, higher and higher.
I look up at him and into the endless darkness of his gaze.
He knows that I know. That I’m aware of his presence, of Kael’s presence in this very moment.
“Who told you?” He presses me for answers, his tone harsher.
My hands are shaking. I want to lie, and I want to leave. I want to be somewhere else. Anywhere.
His face morphs into something terrifying; he doesn’t let me move. His hand catches mine in an instant. “Im going to have Kovas head for telling you.”
“No, please, don’t. I grab his arm in fear of what will happen, but he is much stronger and taller than me. And he’s already leaving, leaving to kill him.
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Chapter 90
Chapter 90
Chapter 90
Rhea
