Alpha's Ruin: He Betrayed Me, I'll Make Him Kneel

"Did she just say Ironfang?" one of the guards muttered, his jaw slacking as he stared at her back.

"Is she completely out of her mind?"

"Kaleb is over there," another warrior growled, his hand resting heavy on his sword hilt. "He will slaughter her before she even clears the outer gates."

"Bernard!" Adam roared, his command cutting through the mounting panic. "Take the boy."

Bernard did not argue. He stepped forward with quick strides and scooped Eli up into his arms. Adam did not waste another second. He lunged into a run, his boots kicking up gravel as he pursued Rhea across the open yard.

"Where is Ironfang?" Eli asked from where he was, clutching Bernard’s leather vest as the big warrior held him close against his chest.

Bernard glanced down at the child, his dark eyes tracking Adam and Rhea as she stopped. "The last place your Mama should be," he growled softly, his voice thick with unease.

Eli’s brow furrowed, his small face scowling as he looked over Bernard’s shoulder toward his mother.

Up ahead, Adam caught up to Rhea just as she reached the edge of the fence. He reached out and snagged her arm, his fingers coiling around her arm to jerk her to a complete halt.

Rhea snapped around, her eyes flashing a bright silver in the pale sunlight. "Let me go, Adam!" She yanked hard against his grip, but his fingers were like iron around her wrist.

Adam shook his head, his face drawn tight with desperation. "No, Rhea. You cannot do this. You will not make it out of those woods alive. What happens to Eli if you die in that valley?"

Rhea glanced back at her son in Bernard’s arms, then met Adam’s burning gaze without flinching. "I will return," she said, her voice steady.

Adam opened his mouth to shout, but she shook her head, her tone dropping into a desperate whisper that seemed to vibrate between them. "I know it sounds insane, Adam, but it is the wisest move I have left on this board."

"I do not agree," Adam snapped, his Alpha aura surging to the surface. The scent of pine and heavy rain flooded the air, heavy enough to make a lesser wolf bow. "Nothing about this decision is wise. You are coming with me to Bloodveil territory. I will throw you over my shoulder and carry you every mile if I must, but I am keeping you safe."

"No!" Rhea tore her arm from his grip, taking a sharp step back into the cool wind. "Every Alpha in this valley is hunting me because they think I am weak and defenseless! I cannot keep running forever! I am not going to Bloodveil. The last thing I want is to bring a war to your gates like the one that just tore this sanctuary apart!"

"No one dares cross my border!" Adam growled through clenched teeth, his broad chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. "They know what waits for them in Bloodveil lands!"

Rhea let out a ragged breath, the sheer weight of her weariness bleeding into the cold air. "My answer is no, Adam. How many packs can you fight at once when the whole territory rises against us? Also, if Ironfang falls completely to the rogues, ten more war bands will rise from the ash."

Adam’s jaw twitched as he stared down at her. His harsh amber eyes softened by a fraction as he looked at her face, the deep shadows beneath her eyes and the pale strain of a mother pushed past her limits.

"I am done running, Adam," she whispered, her shoulders dropping a fraction. "I need a safe place. The only territory I know like the back of my hand is Ironfang. I am going to put out the fire there. That is the only way my son and I will ever be safe."

"And what is your plan when you cross that border?" Adam stepped closer, his shadow falling over her small frame. "The moment Kaleb catches your scent on the wind, he will throw you into iron chains. What will you do then?"

"He will not," she said through gritted teeth, pushing down the memory of cold metal against her wrists. "He will not expect me to walk through those gates willingly. That surprise is the only shield I need to get through the main hall."

Adam scoffed, a dark sound in his throat. "You sound as if he will welcome his runaway Luna with open arms."

"No. I expect him to try and break my neck," Rhea said plainly. "But he will keep his hand when he hears what I brought him. I am offering him a deal he cannot refuse."

Adam’s brows pulled tight, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. "What deal?"

A faint smile touched the corner of Rhea’s lips. "A bargain that forces him to choose between his crown and his pride."

Adam shook his head, his jaw hardening into granite. "Kaleb does not want a mate anymore, Rhea. He wants his territory back. That is why he will lock you in a dark cell the second you step past the treeline."

Rhea let out a slow exhale, knowing in her heart that he was probably right, but refusing to let the fear take root. "You are wrong," she lied smoothly, her voice composed. "And I am wasting precious time. There are dangerous Alphas after me, and I must move before the sun drops behind the ridge."

Adam opened his mouth to argue, his hands twitching at his sides as if he meant to physically grab her again. But the words died in his throat. He stared at her, his chest heaving as he realized he could not break her resolve.

Rhea looked past his broad shoulder to where Bernard stood holding her pup. Eli lifted a tiny hand, waving to her across the stone yard with a hopeful look on his small face.

Rhea’s heart clamped tight, a sharp pain blooming behind her ribs that nearly brought her to her knees. She lifted her hand in return, her throat burning as she locked every line of his small face into her memory, terrified it might be the last time she ever saw him.

She turned her silver eyes back to Adam, her gaze turning cold as steel. "If anything happens to my boy while I am gone, I will take your head, Alpha Thorne."

Adam opened his mouth to protest, but Rhea did not give him the chance to speak. She turned on her heel and marched straight toward the forest edge, her cloak snapping in the rising wind.

She swallowed down the bitter lump in her throat, forcing her leather boots to move forward across the gravel.

Adam was right, and she knew it deep in her bones.

Kaleb would likely throw her in a dungeon. He might even try to kill her the second she crossed the threshold.

But she had one single card left to play, and if it failed to save her life, at least she would die on her feet as a queen.

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