Chapter 12: To Die For Paper
Before Rhea could fully process the thoughts spiraling through her mind, the door opened. Her head snapped toward it instantly, her chest rising and falling hard as Adam stepped into the room.
He leaned against the doorway like he owned the air around him, his broad shoulders relaxed, his dark eyes fixed on her.
It irritated Rhea how calm he always looked, as though nothing in the world could truly threaten him.
"Most people survive betrayal by crying about it," he said, his gaze moving over her slowly, taking in the tension in her body, the fire still burning beneath her skin despite everything she had endured. "You responded by breaking into a fortified pack house."
Rhea’s brows furrowed. Instinctively, her hand flew to her shoulder. The leather strap was gone. Her pulse roared in her ears. "Where is it?" she demanded immediately, panic flashing through her chest before anger buried it.
Adam didn’t answer right away. Of course, he didn’t. Instead, he pushed off the doorway and stepped further inside.
River reacted instantly. A low warning growl rolled beneath Rhea’s skin before the scent even fully reached her. Cedarwood, smoke, and rain-soaked earth. Dangerous.
"I can’t help but wonder what exactly goes on in your head," he said calmly, unfazed by the sharpness in her voice.
"If I hadn’t gone back, no one would’ve done it for my son," Rhea shot back. The words cracked apart at the end despite her effort to keep them steady.
For one awful second, silence stretched between them.
Then, ignoring the dizziness clawing at her temples, she shoved herself to her feet too quickly. The room tilted for half a second, but she forced herself to be steady, her jaw tight.
Adam’s gaze darkened slightly as he watched her sway. "You can barely stand," he muttered.
"And yet I’m still standing." Her eyes flashed. "So stop avoiding the question."
For a moment, neither of them moved. The tension between them thickened, heavy enough for her wolf to pace restlessly inside her chest.
Adam’s eyes lingered on her longer than necessary, not pitying, not soft, but with something bordering on respect. Almost. "You are stubborn," he murmured. His gaze lingered on her for a second too long before his jaw tightened slightly. "That explains why you survived."
Rhea’s pulse stumbled strangely at the low rumble in his voice. She hated the rough edge of his tone, the way his gaze pinned her in place like he could see straight through her defenses.
"Adam." His name left her mouth sharper this time. "Where is the case? Hand it over now, or you will—" She stopped abruptly, pressing a hand to her forehead as another dizzy spell slammed into her. The room tilted dangerously around her.
Before she could steady herself, Adam’s hand closed firmly around her wrist. Warm and far too steady against the chaos spinning through her body.
"If you’re planning to collapse again," he said, "at least finish threatening people first."
Rhea glared at him, though the effort alone made her head pound harder. "Let me go."
Adam didn’t budge. Instead, he guided her toward the bed with irritating ease, his grip unyielding as he pushed her down onto the mattress despite the way she resisted.
"Stop arguing and sit." The deep command in his voice brushed against her wolf instincts in a way she immediately hated.
"Stop arguing and listen to the man," River grumbled loudly inside her head.
Rhea shut her eyes briefly, forcing herself to breathe through the dizziness clawing at her skull.
His eyes flicked briefly to her lips before returning to her gaze. "I read them," he admitted. "Every strategy. Every defense point. Every war contingency." His gaze held hers steadily. "Ironfang survived because of you."
Rhea swallowed hard. No one had said those words out loud before, not even Kaleb.
Adam studied her face carefully, as if watching the realization settle inside her. Then his voice dropped lower. "Do you know what your Alpha did after you fell at Blackridge?"
Rhea’s stomach tightened painfully. "Don’t call him my Alpha."
A flicker of approval crossed Adam’s face so quickly she almost missed it. He moved closer still until she could feel the heat rolling off his body. "Good," he murmured. "Because he never deserved you."
The words landed dangerously. Rhea’s throat tightened unexpectedly, not because she believed him, but because she had never thought anyone would say it.
Adam finally held out the leather case. "Your precious scrolls are safe."
Rhea jolted from the bed and reached for it immediately, but the moment her fingers brushed his, a sharp jolt shot up her arm, like her body reacted before her mind could understand why.
She froze. So did he.
Adam’s fingers tightened around the case for one sharp second, like instinct reacted before thought could suppress it.
Her breath hitched softly. His eyes darkened immediately, something dangerous flickering beneath the control on his face. His wolf was close now. Too close.
The air between them shifted instantly, charged with something raw and instinctive that made River lift her head in alertness.
Rhea jerked her hand back first, her heartbeat suddenly uneven.
The corner of Adam’s mouth curved slowly, not quite a smile. "Interesting," he said softly.
Rhea’s breath caught for the briefest second. Then she snatched the case from him and stepped back, putting distance between them before her body betrayed her again.
Adam shook his head as he looked down at her. "You really would have died for paper."
Her jaw tightened instantly, anger cutting through the weakness. "For paper?" she shot back. "These plans belong to me."
"No," Adam replied smoothly. "They belonged to the Luna who created them. The same Luna your pack betrayed, poisoned, and tried to bury. To the version of you foolish enough to hand them over for free."
The words struck harder than she wanted them to.
Rhea frowned, her fingers curling against the strap of the case, but no argument came out this time, because some ugly part of her knew he was right.
She had bled for Ironfang, sacrificed for it, and built strategies that kept their enemies from tearing the pack apart. And in the end, they had buried her as if she meant nothing.
Adam watched the realization flicker across her face, his dark gaze sharp enough to strip through every defense she had left.
"Why did you never take credit for any of it?" he asked after a moment. "You sat beside my nephew in council meetings and let everyone believe he was some tactical genius." A low scoff left him. "All Kaleb ever did was repeat your ideas back to the room."
Rhea swallowed once, forcing the ache in her chest back down. "I was Luna," she said quietly, though steel still threaded through her voice. "Protecting my Alpha and my pack was my responsibility."
She paused, her shoulders loosening slightly beneath the exhaustion. "But that’s over now."
The room fell quiet after that.
Adam watched her carefully, as though waiting to see what version of Rhea would rise from everything they had done to her.
River’s growl rolled low inside her chest. "Now they will learn what it costs," she snarled softly. "To bury a wolf and call it mercy."
