CHAPTER 136: An Old Friend
CHAPTER 136: An Old Friend
RHEA
The night after my discovery about the council coming to attack the north, I spent time alone. Aron stays away, probably doesn’t have enough energy left to deal with me.
Maybe he doesn’t care about dealing with me, or maybe he is planning how he is going to defeat the council, or if it is even possible to do that.
I manage to get something down my throat, a little dinner from earlier when Marcella came into my room.
No one else has been here.
Not even Aron.
Though, I doubt he knows that I know what’s happening. The council will attack the pack, and when they do, there will be a lot of blood spilled, and maybe something else even.
This isn’t a war that he can win.
The Council has its own wolves, warriors who are part of every territory in the South. They are few in number, but they are strong and have combat skills as compared to the warriors here.
The door to my room opens, but for a moment, I don’t hear it. I’m too busy indulging my own thoughts and thinking of what‘ s going to happen.
“Do you want to go for a run?”
I look up, and then snap out of it when I see Kovas standing there at the doorway. There’s a slight, crooked smile on his mouth and something warm flickers inside me. I haven’t seen him for so long that it almost seems like there hasn’t ever been a person I’m more happy to see.
Without speaking, without even caring, I stand up from my seat on the window sill and step out of the room with him.
“Am I allowed to leave?” I ask him with a raised brow.
He chuckles, “Yes, of course. I spoke with Aron. And you’ll be with me.”
I’m a little surprised to hear that, that Aron would let me out of this house but I go along with it.
We leave the house and walk toward the back end, toward the garden where there are only a few lights flickering around.
“How are you?”
“I’ve been better,” I tell him, truthfully as we come to a halt. Our eyes meet, and I notice his for a little longer. “I thought Aron would’ve-”
“Killed me?” he laughs at that. “I suppose he needs me more than anyone else.”
“So he forgave you?”
Kovas nods, “I didn’t do anything wrong by telling on him. All I did was share the truth with you. And it seems you deserve the truth.”
“I shouldn’t be here, Kovas.” I say in a low whisper. “I don’t want to be here, with him. It’s killing me.” There’s so much pain in my chest as the truth comes out, as the emotions rise out from me. I try to fight it, to keep myself composed, but a little wobble breaks and a tear spills from the corner of my eye.
“I know you won’t forgive him or let it go–what he has done. But he cares, Rhea.”
“Cares?” A chuckle falls out. “What good will that do if I keep hating him for the rest of my life? I broke the bond that we shared. I don’t understand why he’s forcing me to stay here when he knows I’m not his mate, when I’ve another, when I don‘ t want to be his.” I shake my head before looking away. My gaze moves around the empty area before it lands back on his. We walk ahead, further away from the manor, where anyone can hear us.
The path is narrow and lined with overgrown hedges.
“You don’t owe him anything. But Aron believes otherwise. He’s obsessed with you. And I’m not sure if you could change that. Maybe once when his thirst for power is sated, he’ll see what he has been missing, or if you might just let it pass, forgive him and-”
My steps halt immediately. My eyes grow wide, and anger boils inside my belly, twisting it with a heat that makes my lips part in shock and disgust.
“I’m sorry?”
“He wants you, Rhea. More than he wants anyone or anything else. You don’t know how he has changed after meeting you.” “Because I am a way to more power. That is why.”
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CHAPTER 136: An Old Friend
“That isn’t true.”
“It is.” My voice raises slightly. “He wants nothing more than that. He sees me as something that belongs to him. I know it.”
Kovas slows down and turns to me. “Could you be wrong? I know a part of him, his wolf, is a monster. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. But Aron himself isn’t.”
I scoff and shake my head.
“You can’t convince me, Kovas.”
“Right.”
We walk across the rest of the path. I take note of the garden, of the path and the route as I go.
“I know about the Council coming.” I suddenly bring up the topic. He stops for a second, and I turn around. I continue anyway. “The war. I hope that Aron doesn’t think that I’m not on his side when that happens.”
“Are you going to betray him?” he questions, voice neutral.
“No,” I state. “There’s nothing I can do against him, but I want the same thing.”
“To be free?”
I nod and look away. There are trees and tall bushes surrounding us, giving some kind of protection and cover, as if no one
will see. No one can listen.
“Do you want to leave right now?”
It’s as if he read my mind. I turn to face him again. My eyes meet his, my jaw tenses and there is something about the way he is looking at me. It isn’t with pity but rather something more like a knowledge that he knows what is going on. That he
can tell.
“What’s the point? He’ll still hunt me down like I’m some animal, a thing.”
Kovas sighs and steps forward.
“Give it some time, Rhea.”
I turn my face away from him as soon as the words slip off his lips.
“When are they coming?”
“The council?” He raises a brow. “In a night or two.”
“So quick?”
“They must’ve been planning for this longer than we thought.”
“What about me?”
“You’ll be safe here. Aron probably has something in his mind.” His eyes search the ground, his forehead creases as his brows furrow. He takes a moment to glance at me. “Don’t tell him I was telling you all of this.”
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