novelraw Chapter 139: What Are They Hiding
Chapter 139: What Are They Hiding
Leon’s POV
Alpha Ryan stormed into the room, his eyes glowing a fierce, protective amber. He didn’t care that we were the Triple Alphas or his brothers-in-law. He walked straight past us and pulled Lana into his arms, shielding her body with his own.
"Ryan, wait—" Liam started.
"No," Ryan growled, his chest heaving. "I know I shouldn’t interfere in family matters, but my wolf is restless. I can feel the panic radiating off my mate from across the halls. She is carrying three pups, and this kind of stress is dangerous. You are crossing a line."
I looked at Lana, who was shaking against Ryan’s chest, her face pale. The guilt hit me like a physical blow. I stepped back, raising my hands in a gesture of peace.
"Brothers, calm down," I muttered to Leo and Liam. "She’s pregnant. We’re going to hurt the pups if we keep this up."
Leo looked like he wanted to punch a wall, his jaw locked tight, but he slowly retreated. The silence that followed was brittle. Lana looked up from Ryan’s shoulder, her eyes red-rimmed.
"I’m sorry," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "Just... wait for the memorial. Please. If you love me, just wait two more weeks."
Ryan glared at us, his protective stance not wavering. "I think it’s time for you to go. My mate needs to rest."
"You can stay the night here," Lana offered, her eyes pleading with us not to leave on such a bitter note. "Please, just rest."
But we couldn’t stay. Being in this house, seeing her happiness while our lives were turning into a graveyard of lies, felt like salt in a raw wound. We shook our heads in unison—a silent, synchronized refusal. We turned and walked out, the sound of our boots echoing like a funeral march on the polished stone floors.
The drive back to the airfield was silent. The black SUVs carved through the German countryside, but none of us were looking at the scenery. We boarded the jet, the engines roaring to life, and the moment the cabin door hissed shut and we were airborne, the dam finally broke.
Liam was the first to explode. He paced the narrow aisle of the jet, his movements erratic and full of a wild energy. "An oath!" he barked, slamming his fist against the back of a leather seat. "Did you hear her, Leon? She said they all took an oath. Our sisters, our fathers—everyone! Why do I feel like whatever they are hiding is so massive it’s going to crush us?"
I sat back, staring at the ceiling of the plane, my mind spinning. "An oath means it’s a blood secret," I whispered, more to myself than to them. "Something they had to swear to keep hidden. I wonder what our fathers must have done behind our backs. What kind of secret requires a whole family to be sworn to silence?"
Leo was sitting in the corner, his thoughts lost. He looked more dangerous than I had seen him in years. "I still can’t figure it out," he said, his voice terrifyingly quiet. "What did they do? Did our father kill Scarlett? Did he arrange for the rogue attack just to get her out of the way?"
"No," I said firmly, though a part of me trembled at the thought. "Our fathers are many things, but killing a pack member, an innocent girl we loved? That’s a line I don’t think even they would cross."
"Then is she alive?" Leo snapped, his head whipping toward me. "Is Scarlett alive, and they’re just hiding her? Is she locked away somewhere while we spend three years crying over an empty grave?"
We all went silent at that. The air in the pressurized cabin felt thin, suffocating.
"Scarlett can’t be alive," Liam said, his voice cracking. "The seers told us her spirit had moved on. Almost six different seers from different regions can’t be wrong."
We fell into a heavy silence, each of us marooned in our own dark thoughts. I stared out the window at the clouds passing beneath the jet, my mind looping back to the same impossible question: How could she be alive? I had felt it. That agonizing, visceral snap of the mate bond that felt like having my heart ripped out through my ribs. The silence that followed in my soul was a sign that she was dead... unless... something was involved. Something dark enough to mimic death.
I looked at Leo and Liam, my chest tightening. I hadn’t told them yet. I hadn’t confessed that Scarlett and I were mates. We were all mourning her, but the secret of our shared bond was a weight I wasn’t ready to add to the chaos. Not until I knew the truth.
We landed in the dead of night. We barely spoke as we stepped off the jet, offering clipped goodbyes before retiring to our separate wings.
I headed straight for my bathroom. I stripped off my clothes and stood under the shower, turning the handle until the water was ice-cold. I needed the sting to drown out the noise in my head. Afterward, I collapsed onto my bed, but sleep felt like an enemy. I forced my eyes to stay open, staring at the ceiling, terrified of what my subconscious would conjure.
Eventually, exhaustion won.
"No! Scarlett, don’t!"
I jerked upright in bed, a strangled shout tearing from my throat. I was panting, my skin slick with a cold sweat, my heart racing.
"What was that?" I whispered into the darkness, my voice shaking.
The dream was still vivid, etched into the back of my eyelids. In the vision, the three of us—Leo, Liam, and I—were trapped, screaming, begging Scarlett to stop. She was standing in front of us, her face pale and her eyes filled with a devastating sort of love.
A silver knife was pressed firmly against the delicate skin of her throat.
"I have to," she had whispered, her voice echoing as if from a great distance. "If I don’t... you three will continue fighting. You’ll destroy each other. This is the only way to save your lives."
And then, before I could reach her, she had sliced her own throat.
I buried my face in my hands, trembling. The image of the blood—bright, red, and far too real—stained my thoughts. It felt less like a dream and more like a memory of something that hadn’t happened yet. Or perhaps a memory of what had truly happened three years ago.