RHEA’S POV If Garrett hadn’t acted when he did, the crowd in the courtyard would have torn me apart.
The moment the traditionalist Elder pointed his wooden staff at me and yelled for the guards to seize me, two bug warriors stepped forward, their fingers curling into sharp claws.
But before they could lay a hand on me, Garrett moved like a blur of lightning.
He stepped directly into my path, his broad frame creating an impenetrable shield between me and the angry mob.
His roar echoed across the stone walls, heavy with absolute Beta authority.
“Stand down,” The warriors froze in their tracks.
Garrett didn’t hesitate.
He grabbed my arm with a firm but protective grip, yanked me up from the freezing stone floor, and practically carried me through the chaotic, shouting crowd.
He used his massive shoulder to plow through the guards, ignoring the Elder’s furious yells, and didn’t slow his pace until he had shoved me back into the safety of the guest room and slammed the heavy oak door shut.
“Lock it,” Garrett barked to the two guards outside, his voice tight with a mixture of shock and fierce authority.
“No one enters this room without my permission.
Do you understand me?” “Yes, Beta,” the guards shouted back.
Inside the quiet room, I collapsed into the chair beside the table, my knees shaking so badly they could no longer support my weight.
My hands were still bright red and hypersensitive, humming with that terrifying, unnatural heat.
The pack was turning on itself outside.
Half of them were calling me a savior blessed by the Moon Goddess, while the Elders were calling for my execution as a dark witch.
“I need to get out of here,” I thought, my mind racing in pure panic.
“I need to go home.
I need my son.” I rushed to my feet, rushed to the small window, and pulled my phone from my pocket.
My hands trembled so violently I almost dropped it onto the stone floor.
The screen lit up but the signal bars were flickering, struggling against the ancient spells protecting the Northern territory.
I dialed Maya’s number, pressing the receiver tightly to my ear.
“Come on, Maya, pick up,” I whispered, tears of fear stinging the corners of my eyes.
“Please…” “Rhea?” Maya’s voice came through the speaker, choked with static.
“Oh my god, Rhea.
Are you okay?” “Maya,” A sob tore from my throat, but I forced it down.
“How is Elias?
Is he okay?
Is he with you?” “He’s right here, sweetie.
He’s fine,” Maya said softly, trying to calm me down.
“Hold on, he wants to talk to you.” A second later, a sweet, small voice came through the speaker, instantly melting the icy terror in my chest.
“Mommy?” “Elias,” I breathed, clutching the phone with both hands as if I could hold him through the screen.
“Hi, my baby.
Are you being good for Auntie Maya?” “I’m being super good,” Elias said proudly.
“I drew a picture of a white doggy in the snow.
Mommy, when are you coming home?
The snow is really high outside, and I miss you.” “I’m coming home soon, baby,” I promised, my voice cracking with emotion.
“I promise you, Mommy will be there very, very soon.
Put Aunty Maya back on the phone, okay?
I love you so much.” “Love you too, Mommy.” A second later, Maya’s tone shifted completely, dropping into a low, deadly serious whisper.
“Rhea, listen to me.
Something is wrong.” My blood ran cold.
“What is it?
What happened?” “About two hours ago, a dark SUV with tinted windows pulled up across the street from your apartment,” Maya whispered, her voice tight with panic.
“Two large men in dark coats got out.
They were checking your windows, Rhea.
They even tried the handle on your front door before driving away.” My stomach dropped into a bottomless pit.
Darius.
My father’s men were hunting for me.
They had tracked my human identity to the city, and it was only a matter of time before they realized I had fled north or worse, before they found Maya’s house.
“Maya,” I said, my voice dropping into a razor-sharp, frantic command.
“Take Elias right now.
Do not pack anything.
Take the spare bag, get into your car, and drive to the safe house in the countryside.
The one we prepared two years ago.” “Rhea, what about you?” “I’m leaving tonight,” I said, looking out the frost-covered window into the pitch-black mountain woods.
“I’m coming straight to you.
Just keep my boy safe and be safe as well.” “We’re leaving now.
Be careful, Rhea,” Maya warned before the connection stopped and I ended the call.
I shoved the phone into my pocket and grabbed my leather bag.
I couldn’t stay here until morning.
The Elders were going to demand an interrogation, Kael was already digging into my identity, and Darius’s men were closing in on my son in the human realm.
I had to leave now and I knew that the snowstorm would be the perfect cover.
No one would spot me.
I waited until the pack house grew quiet, listening to the muffled sounds of guards pacing the hallway.
Moving like a shadow, I tiptoed to the window, unlatched the heavy wooden blind, and looked down.
A thick stone ledge ran beneath my window, leading toward the lower roof of the wall.
I threw my bag over my shoulder, took a deep breath, and climbed out into the freezing night air.
The howling wind slapped my face, burning my skin as snow whirled around me furiously.
I carefully moved along the icy stone ledge, dropping onto the lower roof, and slid down the snow-covered ledge at the edge of the fortress wall.
My feet hit the deep snow of the forest floor.
I didn’t stop to breathe.
I pulled my scarf high over my mouth and ran straight into the pitch-black woods, heading south toward the border line.
Suddenly, a deep, deafening sound shattered the quiet night.
An ancient warning horn echoed across the mountainside, its roaring blast shaking the snow from the trees around me.
My heart stopped.
A second horn answered from the fortress behind me.
An escaping intruder alert.
They knew I was gone.
And as the dark forest around me erupted with the distant, terrifying howls of hunting wolves, I knew my time had just run out.