Rhea Day one was the worst. I woke up to see my guards were some of Anastasia’s older friends. They seemed delighted to see me in jail. When they opened the gate, I backed up against the stone wall but it was pointless. I couldn’t escape. They beat me until I was almost unconscious. I didn’t know if they truly believed I had hurt Anastasia or not but it didn’t matter. I huddled against the wall and wrapped my knees around myself. My left eye had already swollen so bad I couldn’t see out of it. I expected them to come bring me food and water, even if it was crap but no one ever came for anything but more beatings. I cried until I had no more tears. Then I laid as still as I could and stared at the ceiling. None of my mates came. Day two I could feel the numbness setting in. My ribs were cracked and bruised. My eye was swollen and my wrist was fractured. Anastasia’s friends still came to hurt me more but the pain was duller, less shocking. I wasn’t as surprised when I,
RheaI turned away from the boys, refusing to look at them. Ezekiel stood his ground, staring down my friends with authority in his eyes. Nina and Emma started to protest.“You can’t just throw us out of here!” Emma exclaimed.“We’re her friends!” Nina continued. “She needs us.”“Go,” Ezekiel repeated, this time with more force. Even I felt inclined to leave. “I won’t ask again.”Nina and Emma bowed their heads and left. I didn’t want them to, but they had no choice. The Alphas had asked them to leave. I listened to their footsteps until I couldn’t hear them anymore. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me.“Leave me alone,” I snapped, keeping my eyes on the ground. “Rhea—” Lionel started.“I said leave me alone,” I repeated, staring them down.The boys withered under my glare. Good. They all thought I was capable of evil, terrible things. Everyone wanted to be scared of me so badly. Maybe it was time they learned what that really felt like.“We had no idea th
RheaMany, many people showed up to my trial. Alpha Angus, Luna Simona, and some of the elders were there. Anastasia sat in a wheelchair, surrounded by the Horace brothers.She smiled at everyone who came to give her condolences and well wishes for her health. She looked awful, pale, and gaunt, as if healing was taking everything out of her. Somewhere, deep in my soul, even though all of this was her fault, I was glad she was okay. Like I said that day in the woods, I might have hated her, but I didn’t want her to die. Alpha Angus stood up and raised his hands after everyone had settled into their seats. All the present members of the pack in the room went silent. “Today, we stand to hear the testimony of Rhea, who stands accused of attempted murder against Anastasia,” he said. “Rhea, how do you plea?”“Not guilty,” I said immediately.He nodded. “All right, then. We will be the judges of that. Let Rhea’s trial commence,” he said, his voice booming around the room.
Rhea The energy in the room was shifting and I could feel everyone starting to get a bit more anxious. The brothers seemed to be drastically switching their arguments and I was grateful for their support but it still seemed in vain. “We’ve sent warriors out to look for the monster. If there are rogues, the warriors will find them,” Dylan insisted.I sighed. I wondered when they had sent out the warriors to find the rogues. I knew it wasn’t that night and therefore I had no hope that his warriors would amount to anything. I knew those rogues were long gone by now. Anastasia would have covered her bases. She was too good at being a terrible villain. Besides, rogues like that were well-trained to avoid capture. I was tired of talking. I didn’t want to run around in more circles if they had already made a decision. I didn’t need any more false hope. I had demanded they make a choice but instead, they kept bickering as if we were still debating but the battle had already been
RheaI stood there feeling dumbfounded. I was certain that I misheard him. I stared at him blankly. Everyone did until Luna Simona finally found her voice. I looked at the Horace brothers. Did that mean I had been mated with my cousins? They looked at me with equally horrified expressions. I was family with them all along. I couldn’t believe it, it all felt unreal.“You never told me you had a sister,” Luna Simona said in shock, and she looked at me and the boys. She seemed confused by the impact the Alpha’s words had on the rest of us. “They couldn’t be cousins. Rhea was mated to our sons!”Alpha Angus looked at her and shook his head. “She was not my sister by blood but she was one of my family. I made a promise to her that I would protect her daughter,” he answered.Luna Simona frowned. She seemed as confused as I felt. My eyes darted back and forth between them desperate for more information. “What do you mean? Protect her from what?” Luna Simona glanced at
EzekielRhea’s eyes widened in shock when she heard her mother’s name. I wasn’t sure why. Maybe she had heard it somewhere before? She stared at the ground, confusion and shock warring on her face. Part of me wanted to go to her, to help her, but the rest of me was still angry. After all she’d done to hurt Anastasia, she didn’t deserve my comfort, right?Part of me still needed her desperately, needed her to be okay, to be with me. I was able to ignore it for the most part, but seeing her look like this, so scared and confused, hurt me more than I’d care to admit. I pried my eyes away from her, focusing instead on Anastasia.At that moment, my warriors returned. My gaze snapped to the open door where the two of them stood. They entered the room, sweat pouring down their faces but looking proud of themselves. They must have found something. That same part of me hoped it would prove Rhea’s innocence.“What is the meaning of this?” Alpha Angus asked.“Sir, we found traces o
RheaFinally, finally, the truth about Anastasia was revealed. Everyone knew how horrible she was, and that she tried to kill me. I couldn’t believe she’d been banished, though. That was almost too good to be true. I’d never have to see her again around here. I’d never been happier about anything in my life.I sat in my room, the twins with me. They both sat on my bed while I sat in my desk chair. “So, Rhea, how do you feel?” Gerard asked.“Vindicated,” I replied. “Good,” Dylan said. “You deserve this win.”“Thank you,” I said, not entirely sure I meant it. The gratitude was real, but I wasn’t sure if I truly deserved it.Something kept bothering me as we sat and talked. Veronica was my mother. Why had the monster called me by my mother’s name? Both of my parents were dead, and Alpha Angus knew them. Surely, he could tell me something about them. I had to know.“Rhea? What’s going on up in your head?” Gerard asked.“I’ll be right back,” I said. “Come with m
Lionel Everything hurt. My body hurt, my mind hurt and I felt like my soul hurt as well. They were all separate pains swirling around, keeping me in constant discomfort. I had never been this close to hating myself before, but this time I deserved it.After everything I had done to Rhea, I deserved all the hate I could throw at myself. I remembered how she begged me to believe her, how she felt certain that I, of all people, would believe her but I didn’t. Now it all seemed so obvious.Of course, Anastasia had been lying. I didn’t want to think she would go so far as to gather a bunch of rogues to kill Rhea but I should have known better. At the very least I should have known Rhea better, enough to know she wouldn’t hurt Anastaisa like that. That wasn’t the kind of person Rhea was. I continued cursing myself for trusting Anastasia’s lies over my own mate. When I walked into the living room I could tell that Ezekiel felt the same. Rhea had actively shut us both out since t