Chapter 55: He Saw Your Face
Rhea’s head whipped around, her silver gaze raking over the ancient stone chamber. There was no sudden spike of shock in the air. No dropped jaws from the high tier.
The elders sat in grim silence like they already knew. She turned her stiff neck toward Kaleb. The great Alpha of Ironfang couldn’t even look her in the eye. His amber gaze was glued to the floor.
Rhea’s brows pulled into a tight knot. "What does that mean?" she demanded, her face twisting as she struggled to breathe past the sudden thickness in her throat.
Adam tilted his head and watched her. "Are you still asking, Rhea?" his deep voice rumbled. "You and Kaleb thought you had everyone fooled. But the other packs are not stupid. We all knew who truly won the battles for Ironfang. It was you. A leash on you meant a leash on Ironfang."
"Those spineless bastards," Kaleb growled under his breath, his upper lip curling as a foul, bitter scent rolled off his skin.
"When news spread that the pup was sick, the rival packs moved in," Adam explained. "They wanted the boy as leverage to break you and Ironfang. That is why I took him and hid him. I will not say where he is in this chamber. Secrets travel fast."
Rhea’s pupils dilated. She looked from Adam’s unyielding chest to Kaleb’s tense, sweating frame. "So you all placed a price on my baby’s head for that reason?" she whispered, the words choking her. "Because you all wanted to leash me?"
"They did, Rhea," Adam corrected. "I only put gold into the pot so I could stay close to the trackers and get firsthand intelligence on who was hunting him."
"And then you conveniently saved me by the river?" Rhea let out a bitter laugh. Her teeth bared slightly. "You had your spies track me? You pretended to play the savior just so you could force me into a pact in exchange for protection?"
"No, Rhea," Adam growled, his chest expanding as his aura flared in pure frustration. "That is not why I pulled you from the mud. You were always—" He clipped his jaws shut, the words dying behind his fangs as he cut himself off.
Rhea stared at him, slowly shaking her head as a cold weight settled in her gut. "I was such a pathetic fool," she whispered. "You put on the mask of a savior while holding all the collateral. Kaleb was right about you. You aren’t a protector. You are just another vicious, greedy wolf playing with a mother’s grief."
"Rhea!" Adam’s large fist slammed against his thigh, his knuckles cracking as he fought to keep his inner beast from ripping through his skin. "You don’t know what you are talking about. And you sure as hell know nothing about my wolf." He leaned down, his shadow completely swallowing her. "I may be vicious, but I am not just another greedy wolf."
Rhea met his fierce gaze head-on, refusing to back down even as the raw sincerity in his scent wrapped around her senses like a thick blanket. She forced her heart to freeze against it. "Prove it," she challenged, her silver eyes glinting. "Do not tell me where he is. Just take me to him."
Adam stared deep into her eyes, the golden fire in his gaze slowly dimming. He tore his face away from her, his jaw locking so tight the muscle twitched under his stubble. The air between them filled with the heavy, stifling scent of restraint and unspoken secrets.
"In due time," he muttered, his voice flat. "You will see him."
Rhea let out a ragged breath, turning away in disgust.
"Is there also a bounty on Paul’s head?" Kaleb’s mocking voice cut through the tension, his tone dripping with sour suspicion. "Because we all know this grand act of benevolence is just a false mask, Thorne. You are simply rearranging the chess pieces to favor BloodVeil. Why else would you rescue the sons of the one man you despise so much?"
"This has absolutely nothing to do with your pathetic ego, Kaleb," Adam said, not even turning his head to look at him. "I kept Eli breathing solely because of Rhea. That is the only truth."
Kaleb narrowed his amber slits, a dark, dangerous realization dawning on his face. He leaned over the rail, his nostrils flaring as he caught the subtle shift in the BloodVeil King’s scent. "Did you fall for my Luna? Is that why you dragged her from the mud? You want her in your den?"
Adam remained perfectly still for a long, suffocating beat. Then, he shook his head slowly and turned his back on Kaleb, facing the dais. "That is all I have to offer this Council."
Kaleb scoffed, a wild, victory-starved laugh bubbling in his throat. "I am right, then," he nodded, sneering.
Rhea whirled on Kaleb, her brows drawing together in raw, unadulterated horror. "You knew?" she whispered, the words scraping her throat. "You knew there was a silver bounty on our baby?"
Kaleb frowned, his jaw locking as he refused to speak. Rhea looked up at the silent elders, then snapped her gaze back to her former mate, her claws sliding out of her fingertips.
"You knew those vultures were hunting him, and you still ordered him to be thrown into the deep woods? You didn’t even bother to send your trackers when he disappeared?"
"Don’t you dare judge my command!" Kaleb snapped, his temper exploding as he half-rose from his seat. "I knew the price on his head! That is exactly why I wanted him dead before a rival pack could capture him and use a half-dead child against me! How was I supposed to know the vanguards I trusted would sell me out? Huh?"
"Because you are the Alpha King!" Rhea screamed. River’s terrifying, guttural roar bled completely into her human vocals, vibrating the stone floorboards. "And you were his father!" she roared, her silver eyes flashing a blinding white.
"Calm your beast, Luna!" Elder Magnus bellowed, his voice carrying the full weight of a high elder’s command, slamming into the room like a physical shockwave.
Rhea snapped her head toward him. Her chest heaved. "I want answers! Until I hold my son, I will never be calm!" she cried. Tears finally blurred her vision. Her voice shook with raw maternal grief.
Elder Seraphine looked down at her from the dais, the ancient sharpness in her eyes softening for a fraction of a second with profound understanding. She turned her clouded gaze toward the BloodVeil King. "Where are the children of Ironfang, Alpha Thorne?"
Adam let out a slow, heavy sigh, the tension leaving his massive shoulders in a defeated rush. "Paul will be delivered to the safety of this Council at first light," he said quietly, then went silent.
Rhea swallowed the hard lump of tears in her throat. She looked at Adam, her eyes stinging. "I just hope for everyone’s sake that my boy is truly safe."
Adam looked down at her, his expression softening as he gave her a firm, unwavering nod. "Yes," he replied. "He is safe. And he knows his mother is alive, too."
Rhea’s eyes widened. The final dam broke, and a flood of hot tears spilled over her cheeks as she and River wept together in the quiet of her mind.
"I made sure of it, Rhea," Adam added, his voice dropping into a rough whisper. "Before we marched, I brought him to the glass. I made sure he saw your face while you were still sleeping, even when the pack healers weren’t sure you would make it through another night."
"Then why?" Rhea choked out, her voice cracking as she clutched his leather furs, her fingers trembling against his chest. "Why won’t you just take me to him right now?"
"Because the moment you walk through that gate as his mother, every wolf watching this Council will know exactly where to look," Adam replied. His jaw twitched violently, and beneath his heavy lashes, his amber eyes sparked with the rare, unshed tears of a beast holding back the world to keep her safe.