Chapter 57: Lines in the Sand
Chapter 57: Lines in the Sand
Ronan POV
The night was heavy, the kind that pressed in close, damp and restless. I hadn’t slept since the fight. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Valen’s grin. Every time I breathed, I felt the shadows stir under my skin, waiting for permission to slip loose again. The knock at my bedroom door pulled me out of it. I knew it was her before I even opened the door. Sasha. She stood there, hair loose, face pale but steady. Her eyes carried the same fire I had seen from her before. I also knew what it meant. The time had come.
“We need to talk,” she said. I stepped aside and she slipped in. I glanced around the room, but there was nothing personal. It was just a room to sleep in. Not that I had done much sleeping lately. I watched as Sasha started to pace around the room. I waited, silently, for her to find her voice. “I’m going after Valen,” she finally said as she stopped and looked at me. I wasn’t surprised by her declaration. I had expected it. “Ronan, if he has her…if my sister is alive…I can’t sit here while he twists her into something…wrong. I might not…he could change her…I have to save her,” I nodded without hesitation.
“Of course. I am with you,” I stated simply. Her shoulders sagged, just a fraction. Relief. She hadn’t doubted me, but still, she had needed to hear it.
“Are you sure?” she asked. “I mean, this isn’t going to be easy,”
“I know,”
“So…you will go with me?”
“Of course,” I confirmed with a nod. “Sasha, this isn’t just your fight,” I said, and she dropped her gaze. “Valen is a threat to us all and your sister…we don’t know what’s happened to her, but we will find her. We will save her,”
“Thank you,” she said, and I shrugged. She didn’t need to thank me.
“Ronan! Sasha!” a voice boomed. Sasha and I glanced through the open door. “Alpha Kade requests your presence at the packhouse. Immediately,” we hurried out of my bedroom, and two guards stood in the living room. “Please don’t fight this,” the one on the left pleaded softly. I nodded as I grabbed Sasha’s hand. Whatever Kade wanted, we would face it together. We followed the guards out of the cabin, and the short walk to the packhouse was silent. We were led into Kade’s small living room, and the tension in the room was thick. Kade had been made comfortable in the large armchair, covered with a blanket. Delia stood by his side. The guards left us, and as soon as the door shut behind us, the tension shifted.
“You told him,” Sasha immediately said, and I frowned.
“Of course, I told him,” Delia said. I understood then. “He deserves to know before you drag him into another mess,” Kade’s gaze pinned Sasha.
“Is it true? Are you planning to leave? To chase Valen into his woods when you barely survived him last time?”
“Yes,” Sasha confirmed as she lifted her chin. She wasn’t about to back down. Not that I blamed her. And not that I expected her to. “We are,” she added, and Kade glanced at me for a brief moment before he turned his attention back to Sasha.
“Then hear me,” he said, his voice rough but strong. “I forbid it,” the words hit like a blow. My wolf bristled instantly, a low growl escaping before I could hold it back. He forbade it. As if he had some right over us. Sasha’s jaw clenched.
“You don’t get to forbid me, Kade. Not anymore,”
“You are still a part of this pack,” Kade growled. “And if you think I am just going to let you run into this trap, then you are mistaken. What Valen said was only to lure you. To taunt you. He knows your weakness, Sasha, and he exploited it,”
“How did he know?” Sasha cried out. The sudden emotion caught me by surprise. In fact, it caught all of us by surprise. “And why now? No, Kade, I have to do this,”
“No,” he said firmly. “I forbid it. If you go, then you will no longer be a part of this pack. And that is final,”
“You don’t even know if what he said is true,” Delia added, her tone soft and understanding. I frowned as I glared at her.
“My truth sense,” Sasha whispered, and it was almost as if she had suddenly lost the fight. The room pulsed with silence. Delia shifted, her smile small, satisfied. Kade’s gaze flicked to me then.
“And you? You are going to follow her into this madness?” he asked me.
“Yes,” I said, my voice firm and steady. “Because Sasha is right. If Valen has her, we can’t wait. And if he doesn’t, we will make him choke on the lie,”
“You would risk the pack?”
“I am not risking the pack. I am risking myself,” I said.
“No,” Kade repeated as he shook his head. I took a step forward.
“You have to let us go, Kade,” I said, and he looked away. “Just let Sasha and I go and check things out. This doesn’t have to be war,”
“Doesn’t it?” Delia snapped.
“No, it doesn’t,” I said as I glared at her. “And it has nothing to do with you or anyone else,” I could tell that Kade wasn’t happy. Delia looked as if she would murder me with her bare hands. I stood straighter as I silently accepted the challenge.
“Back down, Ronan,” Kade ordered. In truth, he wasn’t my Alpha, so I didn’t listen. “Fine. You two can go, but…I’m giving you fair warning, you are on your own,”
“Aren’t we always?” I muttered under my breath.
“But if Valen catches you, kills you, or whatever, it's on you,” Kade added. “You have four days. If you haven’t returned in that time frame, then I will exile you from the pack. Understood?” I glanced over at Sasha. The decision for me was easy. This was still her choice.
“Understood,” she said, and I knew that it was over. Whatever happened next, we were on our own. Kade waved his hand dismissively, and Sasha and I left. Once we were outside, Sasha took my hand and led me back to her cabin. She didn’t have to say a word. We needed a plan, and we needed it fast.