Chapter 10: We Can’t Lose Them
"Search the whole forest! We can’t lose them!" Kaleb’s voice tore through the night like a blade.
Rhea’s head snapped toward the sound instantly, panic tightening around her chest as her breathing turned ragged. They were closer than she thought. Far too close.
Branches cracked in the distance while growls echoed between the trees, the sound of hunting wolves spreading wider through the forest.
They were circling now, closing in, and still, she couldn’t make herself move. Her pride and survival instinct were tearing at each other inside her chest.
"Come on, Rhea," River growled inside her mind, restless and agitated. "We need to move. Now."
Rhea clenched her jaw hard. "I’m not following another Alpha," she shot back internally, stubbornness flaring despite the danger surrounding them.
River snarled in frustration. "Stop being stubborn and follow him already."
"He can’t be trusted," Rhea argued immediately.
"We’re not trusting him," River snapped. "We’re surviving the night."
That hit harder than Rhea wanted to admit. She exhaled sharply, her chest still rising too fast as her ears strained against every sound around her.
Then, a branch snapped barely a few yards away, way too close, and instinct finally overpowered pride.
Rhea turned immediately and bolted in the direction Adam and his wolves had disappeared.
"I see one!" a wolf shouted somewhere behind her.
"Get him!" Daniel’s voice barked through the trees.
Rhea’s pulse stumbled violently. They meant her. Her legs pushed harder despite the weakness still lingering inside her body. Branches clawed against her arms as she ran blindly through the dark forest, lungs burning with every breath.
A hand shot from the shadows and yanked her backward suddenly.
Rhea reacted on instinct. The knife was already in her hand before thought could catch up, but the stranger caught her wrist instantly, stopping the strike before it landed. Like he’d expected it.
Before she could even gasp, his hand clamped firmly over her mouth. "Shh," a low growl sounded against her ear. "I’ve got you."
Adam.
Rhea stiffened immediately inside his hold. Her back pressed against his chest, heat radiating from his body despite the cold night air around them.
His scent wrapped around her senses, cedarwood, smoke, wild rain, and something deeply Alpha that made River go strangely quiet for half a second.
Rhea’s pulse stumbled harder. "They’re close," she whispered against his palm once he loosened it slightly. "They’ll catch us."
Adam’s grip tightened briefly around her wrist before releasing it. "No," he said calmly. "Not if you listen to me."
Something about the certainty in his voice cut through the panic clawing at her chest, and Rhea stayed quiet this time.
Adam glanced toward the ground nearby and pointed toward a dark opening partially hidden beneath tangled roots and leaves. He motioned silently for her to move.
Rhea’s eyes widened instantly. The hidden tunnel. It was a safe passage. One she had designed herself years ago as an emergency evacuation route for Ironfang civilians during attacks. Only a handful of trusted people had ever known it existed.
So how did he know? Suspicion slammed into her immediately, but there wasn’t time to question it. The sounds of pursuit were getting closer by the second.
Without another word, Rhea moved swiftly toward the opening and dropped down into the tunnel. Adam’s wolves were already waiting below, their glowing eyes shifting toward her briefly before making space.
Adam jumped in after her. The second his boots hit the ground, two wolves above quickly sealed the entrance behind them, covering every trace of disturbance with dirt and branches.
Darkness swallowed them instantly.
The group moved quietly through the narrow underground passage, footsteps muffled against damp earth while distant sounds of Ironfang wolves faded overhead.
Rhea’s heart still pounded painfully against her ribs the entire way. Not from the chase anymore, but from questions, from confusion, from Adam.
Eventually, faint moonlight appeared ahead, and then the tunnel opened. Purple and crimson banners fluttered beyond towering black gates marked with the symbol of the BloodVeil pack, Adam’s territory.
Rhea slowed instinctively.
The wolves guarding the gates immediately straightened the second they saw Adam emerge from the forest tunnel. Without hesitation, the massive gates groaned open.
Every wolf lowered their head respectfully as he passed. Power and fear clung to Adam naturally, like part of his scent itself.
The group crossed into the pack grounds, and only then did Rhea finally slow to a stop. Her chest heaved hard at first before gradually beginning to settle.
Suddenly, dizziness crashed into her. Her vision blurred sharply at the edges as the adrenaline keeping her upright finally began to wear off.
Her body still wasn’t fully healed, but she ignored it and forced herself to be steady. Then marched straight toward Adam, who was already issuing orders to his wolves near the gates.
Her jaw tightened. She needed answers, and she wasn’t going to wait.
"Don’t do it, Rhea," River groaned inside her head as Rhea marched across the courtyard, one hand gripping the strap of the scroll case slung over her shoulder. "Your body is barely holding together."
Rhea ignored her. Her pulse still hadn’t settled from the escape, and every step sent a dull ache through her limbs, but stubbornness pushed her forward anyway.
The wolves of BloodVeil lined the training grounds around her, their sharp gazes following her every movement. Some looked curious, others wary, but none of them stopped her.
Her legs already felt unsteady beneath her. Cold sweat clung to the back of her neck, and every breath scraped painfully through her lungs, but anger kept her moving.
"Adam Thorne!" she snapped, her voice slicing through the night air.
Ahead of her, Adam paused mid-conversation with his warriors.
Slowly, he turned, and the moonlight caught against the hard lines of his face, its silver rays touching the dark edges of his hair. His expression should have carried annoyance after everything that had happened tonight, but instead, amusement flickered faintly in his eyes.
"Do you need something?" he asked calmly.
Rhea’s jaw tightened. "Don’t ever tell me what to do again."
Several wolves around them stiffened instantly. A low growl rippled through Adam’s men, protective and instinctive, but Adam silenced them with one lazy wave of his hand, his gaze never leaving hers.
"If that is your version of gratitude after I saved your life twice tonight," he drawled, "then you’re welcome."
"This isn’t a joke," Rhea shot back. Her vision blurred for half a second, but she forced herself to remain upright. Pride alone was keeping her standing now. "I am warning—"
The ground tilted beneath her feet abruptly. For one disorienting second, the world spun around her. The torches blurred into streaks of gold and orange. Then her knees buckled before she could stop them, and darkness rushed up fast.
Adam caught her before she hit the ground. A frustrated breath escaped him as her body sagged against his chest, frighteningly light in his arms.
"Unbelievable," he muttered, tightening his hold on her instinctively. "You break into enemy territory half-dead, threaten me in my own pack house, and still insist on being dramatic after surviving all that."
Rhea’s lips parted weakly, as though she wanted to argue, but the fight drained from her body all at once. Her head fell against his shoulder, her breathing shallow.
Adam’s jaw hardened immediately. "Get the healer," he ordered sharply.
The wolves around him moved at once.
He glanced down at Rhea again, irritation flickering across his face, though something darker lingered beneath it now. His grip tightened instinctively around her waist, his wolf pacing harder beneath his skin.
"If she dies after all that trouble," he said coldly as the healer hurried toward them, "I’ll be annoyed."
