Chapter 291
LILA
The message had come long past dark, crumpled paper slipped under my door. The writing was unmistakably sharp and deliberate, belonging to Calla.
“Bring Rowan to the edge of the old quarry at sunset. Not questions, no games. This is your last task, Lila. Do this, and your secrets stay buried.”
I stared at the note, my heart beating hard against my chest as though it might jump out of it any moment. My fingers shook as I read out the words over and over, each word digging deeper into my resolve.
“This has to stop,” I said to myself whispering, pacing round the room. “But how?“.
It was as if my past had come down upon me, and the weight of Calla’s threats was crushing my will. Sinking onto the edge of the bed, my fingers clenched around the note as my head spun with
indecision.
Then, in one second, all that finally bubbled up and overflowed, and I just went ahead and punched the wall with my fist.
“Why can’t I make this end already?” I yelled out, sobbing. I went to the floor with tears streaming from my face, drawing my
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knees to my chest.
I thought of Rowan, how kind he was and how he wanted to change, how he even started to believe in me when I couldn’t. sometimes. And how was I going to betray him?
“But what other choice do I have?” I thought sarcastically, tugging at my hair furiously.
2/4
The next morning, I sought him out near the training grounds. Rowan stood beside a few young wolves, patiently offering them advice. He spotted me and softened.
“Lila?” he called, a note of concern creeping into his voice.
I faltered, my chest tight. “Can we talk?”
He nodded, stepping away from the crowd. We found a quiet. spot near the edge of the woods. I couldn’t meet his eyes as I spoke. “I. I just wanted to thank you. For everything.”
“Thank me?” Rowan’s brow furrowed. “Lila, what’s going on?”
I bit my lip, struggling to find the words. “You’ve been so kind to me. More than I deserve. And I. I don’t want to lose that.”
“You won’t,” he repeated with more feeling; his hand brushed mine. “Lila, you are far stronger than you feel. Whatever has been going on with you, you do not need to face any of it on your
own.”
With a start, the words pierced deeper than expected, and
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within a moment, I again began sobbing. He wrapped his arms around me into a gentle embrace, the warmth holding me down
in ways that had not occurred for a really long time.
That was it. That scaled the deal. I couldn’t be controlled anymore by Calla.
Later that day, I prepared myself for the meeting. Everything in my head seemed jumbled into a concoction of all sorts of possible outcomes, but one thought remained clear: this would end tonight.
When finally I reached the old quarry, the sun had already dunked below the horizon, stretching long shadows across the jutting rocks and making the place seem even more forbidding.
My heart racing, finally I spotted Calla, who waited near the edge, casual in her posture but her eyes razor sharp.
She was not alone.
There were wolves on either side of her that I didn’t know, all tall and wide shouldered with cold, calculating eyes. The very stance of them yelled one word inside my skull: danger.
Calla’s lips turned in a sly smile as her gaze fell on me. “Lila,” she purred low, her voice all sugary falseness. “You came. I knew you would.”
She ran to hug me as if she has been missing me for decades. or so but i was to deeply concerned to care about the hug as all what was on my mind was “why this amount of wolves ”
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1 froze, my breath hanging in my throat. “Who are they?” I tried to sound confident, but my voice shook.
Calla’s smile broadened. “Well baby girl, they are Insurance,” she said. Stating the bloody obvious.
“And back to the matter that brought us here, did you bring Rowan? Because so far I’m not seeing any sign of him here?
I felt my gut twist as the magnitude of the trap sank in. Calla wasn’t going after Rowan alone; this was going to be her final attack on the pack.
“Tell me, Lila,” Calla snarled, her voice going cold. “Where is he?”
I clenched my fists inside my jacket pockets, standing tall, and made myself meet her gaze. “He’s not coming,” I said, much softer than I was feeling.
Calla’s eyes slit, and her wolves moved closer to me. The silence stretched, heavy with implicit threats.
“You’ve made a very bad decision,” Calla said, the timber of her voice low and menacing.
