“Isabella! We have to go.”
Roman held me in place. “Mine.”
“Yours, Roman. Only yours.”
Raj appeared behind a tree. “Isabella?” he said. “If your plan is going to work, we have to leave now.”
After squeezing Roman’s hands in mine, I placed a kiss on his lips. “You know what to do?” I asked. He nodded and pushed a strand of hair behind my ear to see his mark. “And Derek? Will he be able to—”
Roman took my face in his hands, brushed his thumbs alongside my cheeks, and chuckled. “Yes, he’s with Michelle at the hospital. They’ll meet us there.”
“Good. This will work.” I pulled away from him. “It’ll be perfect revenge.”
Raj started into the empty forest, away from the packhouse. Roman tugged me closer one last time and placed a lingering kiss on my ear. “When this is over, I’m going to—”
“Ravish me?” I asked, smirking.
“No,” he said. “Fuck you.”
I walked a few steps away, glancing back at him. “You’re all talk, Roman… All talk.”
Chapter 54
Isabella
Though it was the late-hours of the night—when the Lycans trained and hunted—the forest was eerily quiet. No guards surrounded the perimeter of Ryker’s property. No warriors ran on the trails. Nobody—and I meant nobody—was outside.
At least, that’s what they wanted us to think.
Raj and I led Roman and his warriors toward the packhouse, not even glancing at the Lycans perched in the trees and hiding in the bushes. There was no trying to tell our side of the story. Ryker already corrupted their minds with lies about us. They needed proof, and we would deliver it.
Before we could make it within fifty feet of the packhouse, they emerged like vultures, surrounding us and stalking around theirenemy. Baring their teeth. Narrowing their eyes. Lowering their stances. Getting ready to fight with everything they had to protect the people from rogues. But we weren’t here to fight.
“Thought you could just waltz in here after what you’ve done?” Ryker asked, walking from behind the trees. “You two are nothing but rogues and traitors to the Lycans.”
I stepped forward and pressed my lips together. “I’m not here to talk to you, Ryker. I’m here to show every single Lycan that you’ve been lying to them,” I said. The Lycans stood their ground, not fazed by the noise from a traitor. “He has been going behind your back, has been hiring the rogues to kill alphas, has been killing them so he could feel powerful after he brutally destroyed Michelle and her name.”
A short burst of whispers erupted at the mention of her name before Ryker scoffed. “You’re really going to use my ex-mate to try to convince them of your sad sob story? Try harder.”
“Michelle was never his mate, were you, Michelle?” I asked, focusing my gaze on Ryker in case he tried to kill her this time. Locking her up in a cage so she wouldn’t talk was bad enough.
Michelle had her arm curled around Derek’s to hold herself steady, yet she walked forward—through Roman’s pack—with so much grace and an expression filled with only hatred. Ryker’s eyes widened, and he lunged forward—but Raj pushed him away and held him by his throat.
The Lycans broke into another fit of whispers as they stared at her in surprise.
“She’s alive.”
“The rogues didn’t take her after all.”
“Ryker said that the rogues had killed her.”
Ryker growled again, the sound echoing through the forest, and tried to push Raj away from him. He lunged in her direction again, so many emotions crossing his face. She walked in front of him, barely lifting her gaze toward the rest of the Lycans. Though she was still weak, I admired her strength to face Ryker.
“They’re telling the truth,” she said, her voice soft. “Ryker locked me in a cage for the last five years.”
Ryker growled and stared at Michelle. Raj dug his claws into his neck and forced him onto his knees. “She’s lying. They’re both crazy fucking liars.”
This was the real Ryker. This was the man he had been hiding the whole time. He wasn’t a strong Lycan; he was a weak man who used people’s weaknesses against them, who spoke lie after lie to make himself look better than he actually was.
