Chapter 9 The Choice that change everything
"If you're coming, move. Now."
Rafael didn't wait for my answer.
He grabbed my hand and dragged me through the broken corridor. There were bodies on the floor that weren't there an hour ago. The smoke hit my throat and my wolf lost it completely inside me.
We ran. Behind us, Marco and Vince were tearing each other apart. Their growl shook the foundation of the earth. Their claw struck against each other like hard steel.
I didn't look back. Not because I was brave, but because I knew if I did I would stop running.
Rafael pulled me down a staircase, it was narrow and steep. It cut straight into the stone under the compound. There was no lights down here. The air smelled like dirt and something from the old days that I could not point out.
"Where are we going?" I gasped.
"Out."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only one that keeps you breathing."
He pressed his palm flat against the metal, and a heavy object shifted inside with a deep, grinding click, older than anything above us.
A tunnel opened ahead, a faint blue lines glowing along the floor which helps to guide the path. Underground pack route, the kind erased from every human map.
My wolf surged forward, not fighting me this time but moving with me and matching every step since I left the mountain. That shift hit harder than anything I ever felt.
"How long is this tunnel?" I asked, trying to catch my breath.
"Long enough to keep anyone alive." He replied.
"Rafael."
"Four minutes," he said. "If we don't slow down."
The tunnel opened into a hidden platform lined with old rail tracks, a single car was waiting in the dark as it has been expecting us.
They saw Rafael and moved instantly, clearing the path without a single word between them. All they shared in common was respect as they lowered their heads, while he passed.
"You planned this."
"I did." he replied.
He opened the car door for me. "Come inside."
I stopped walking instead and folded my arms together.
He turned around and his eyes held mine. There was no remorse in his eyes.
"You planned this before tonight," I said. "Before the attack and even before Marco was ever in the picture,. You already knew."
"Yes." He nodded.
The single word hit harder.
"How long?" I demanded.
"Get in the car, Isabella."
"How long have you been planning to take me?" I demanded again.
"Since the first time I read your father’s registrar files," he said quietly. "Three years ago."
Three years.
It twisted low in my gut.
"So this whole time," I said slowly. "Standing beside Vince and trying to be his Beta, all of it was...."
"They call it Positioning." He shrugged. "But I call it playing the long term game."
I stared at him in disbelief.
He did not look away.
"I needed to be very close to the compacts," he continued. "I also needed access to the archives, the border data and the treaty networks. It turns out that Vince has all of it and that is why I needed him."
"And me?" I asked. "What did you need me for?"
He held the car door open.
"I needed you to make a choice no one else would survive making." he explained.
A loud noise tore through the tunnel behind us.
"They found the door," one of his guards informed him.
Rafael turned to me.
"I'm not going to compel you," he said. "I’m not Vince. I’m not Marco. But if you stay here for another thirty seconds, the decision will be made for you."
The tunnel behind us opened with metal scraping the floor.
The engine of the rail car roared to life.
My wolf surged forward, making my hands tremble.
I climbed aboard.
The door closed tight. The car jolted forward and Rafael sat opposite me, observing me as he always did, l knew deep down how was planning our next move.
"You mentioned wanting to change the system," I said as the tunnel sped by outside.
"Yes."
"By leveraging me?" I asked.
"By respecting your choice," he corrected.
"That’s almost the same." I argued.
"No," he replied. "It's different. A tool doesn’t choose what it builds."
I glanced at my hands. The faint marks on my skin had shifted; I hadn't noticed until this moment. The sigils my father had traced during my childhood were barely moving, as if they were alive and reacting to something.
"What did my father really create?" I whispered.
Rafael pulled a worn journal from his coat and set it down between us.
I recognized the handwriting instantly.
My father's.
"He left this for you," Rafael said. "Not for Vince. Not for any of us, but you.."
I reached for it cautiously.
"He anticipated your flight," Rafael continued. "He knew you would be captured. He foresaw everything."
"And he allowed it?" My voice trembled.
"He orchestrated it," Rafael said. "Every detail. Every participant involved and every conflict that has ever happened."
"Why?"
The car jolted as something hit the tunnel wall behind us. The guards steadied themselves. The rail car picked up speed.
Rafael's gaze bore into mine.
"Because the only one who could permanently rewrite the compacts," he said, "was someone who understood their true cost."
The tunnel gave way to darkness, and the city engulfed us.
From behind, a voice erupted through the comm system. It was low and very authoritative.
Vince.
"Rafael," he said. "If you harm her, I will dismantle everything you've built. Every connection. Every network. Every city that has sheltered you." He growled louder.
His eyes held rage and his wolf was fighting to take full control despite Vince trying to control it.
A brief silence followed.
"Bring her back. Or I’ll destroy your world first." he added with a colder and more chilling tone,
Rafael glanced at the comm system and then back at me.
"It’s your choice," he said.