Chapter 56
Chapter Fifty-Six
REIYANA
T he desert wind whipped her cheeks as they rode deeper into the desolate expanse. Reiya’s mind raced, darting between fear and the faintest flicker of hope.
Her Alphas would’ve found the clues by now. The pendant, the bracelet—they’d know what they meant.
Kaelen would’ve seen the glint of crystal in the dirt, his sharp eyes narrowing as he crouched to retrieve it. He’d be impatient, a storm brewing in his chest—but Alarik would ground him.
‘She’s telling us something,’ he’d say, his voice calm but assured. ‘We just have to trust her.’
Trust. The word twisted in her chest, both a comfort and a weight. She couldn’t lose faith in them now. Not when she knew they were working hard deciphering the clues she left behind. Not when she knew they’d follow.
First, they’d order Captain Marzius to send a Sparo to Zahalyar. A team of soldiers had been dispatched days ago to increase watch for bandits attacking the water caravans providing relief to the areas most affected by drought.
They’d get the urgent message, and they’d find the Xians.
A sharp shift in Castiel’s posture broke through her thoughts. His head turned slightly, his body going rigid as he looked over his shoulder.
“Well, well,” he murmured, his voice low and mocking. “It seems your gallant Alphas are quicker than I gave them credit for.”
Her heart jumped, and she craned her neck to follow his gaze. In the distance, faint silhouettes moved against the moonlit dunes—two riders cutting through the desert at breakneck speed.
Kaelen and Alarik. She knew it with every fibre of her being. And at a distance behind them, a contingent of Asadian soldiers.
Castiel kicked the horse, urging the beast forward. The animal surged beneath them, sand kicking up in its wake.
She clung to the saddle, her mind racing. They were close. They could catch him if he faltered.
But Castiel, as if reading her thoughts, veered sharply to the right, angling toward a jagged outcrop of rocks looming in the distance.
Her pulse lurched, a hollow clench deep in her belly. “Where are you taking me?” she forced out, her voice low and taut, anger coiling just beneath the words.
He didn’t answer immediately, his focus narrowing as he maneuvered the horse with practiced ease. When he finally spoke, his smooth tone was laced with dark amusement.
“Somewhere they can’t follow so easily. I scouted these caves last night and made preparations. Perfect for losing pursuers.”
Her pulse hammered. She had to think, to act.
“You’re delaying the inevitable,” she said, her voice sharp. “You won’t win, Castiel. They’ll find me. They’ll stop you.”
He didn’t answer.
The horse skidded to a halt just outside a jagged rock formation, its hooves scattering loose stones across the hard desert floor. He dismounted with ease, movements fluid as he looped the reins over a weathered rock.
His smirk deepened as he turned to her, sharp eyes gleaming with purpose.
“No sense in bringing the horse,” he said lightly, gesturing toward the cave’s dark, yawning mouth. “It won’t manage the terrain inside. But you and I, dove? We’ll make quick work of it. ”
Reiya’s gaze darted to the black void ahead. The air here felt cooler, damp—a faint whisper of stone breathing. Her chest tightened, but she kept her voice steady.
“What’s inside? Another one of your traps?”
He chuckled softly, adjusting his cloak. “Think of it as a shortcut. The caves cut straight through the ridge. And on the other side . . .” His smile turned razor-sharp. “A fresh mount awaits. You should know by now—I never move without a backup plan.”
Reiya’s heart pounded hard. Behind them, the faint echo of hooves stirred the air—Kaelen and Alarik were closing in. She needed to stall him, to buy them precious seconds.
“It’s too late, Castiel. You’re only making this worse for yourself.”
His hand closed around her arm, pulling her from the saddle with a grip that was firm, not yet cruel.
“Come now, dove,” he murmured, voice like silk drawn over a blade. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”
The moment they stepped inside, the temperature shifted. Dry, cool air swept against Reiya’s skin, and the rough walls closed in around them—weathered sandstone, cracked and brittle from centuries of wind and heat.
The cave smelled of dry stone and dust, with only the faintest trace of moisture carried on the occasional whisper of wind through the tunnels. Pebbles skittered beneath their steps, the soft scrape of leather soles against rock filling the hush.
There were hundreds of caves like this scattered across Numeria—narrow, winding, and treacherous.
The desert tribes were infamous for making their strongholds in places just like this, their knowledge of the terrain turning the land itself into a fortress.
Easy to enter, impossible to map—these tunnels could swallow entire patrols.
Her mind raced as she scanned the path ahead. She kept her steps measured, careful—then, with each brush against the walls, she dragged her nails lightly across the rock, leaving faint scratches. Small, desperate marks. With luck, Kaelen and Alarik would see them.
Follow me , she willed silently. Find me.
The cave walls tightened around them. Soon, there was only enough room to walk in a single file. The air grew even cooler and more damp, thick with the scents of earth and stone. Reiya hesitated for a fraction of a second before Castiel’s hand pressed firmly against her back, nudging her forward.
She stiffened but didn’t resist, stepping carefully over the uneven ground. Jagged rocks jutted from the walls, narrowing the path even further.
His footsteps echoed too close behind her.
“I trust you’re not thinking of running,” he murmured behind her, his voice smooth but edged with warning.
“This is futile.”
“The princes are persistent,” he admitted, almost to himself. “But persistence won’t save them if they take the wrong path.”
Reiya glanced over her shoulder. The distant sound of voices reached her ears—faint but unmistakable. Her heart soared.
They’d arrived.
Castiel paused, his head tilting slightly as if listening. His hand fell to the hilt of the dagger at his belt, his posture shifting subtly. “They’re closer than I thought,” he muttered, urgency seeping into his tone.
Reiya’s pulse quickened, her mind racing. ‘Keep him distracted.’
“You’re not as clever as you think,” she said, her voice cutting through the silence. “They’ll outsmart you.”
She turned just in time to see a smirk curling his lips—but the crack beneath it was visible. The confidence no longer touched his eyes, the cool composure fraying at the edges.
“We’ll see about that, dove.”
With a sharp shove, he forced her forward into the darkness, leaving her no choice but to keep moving.
The passage widened into a broad chamber, its walls lined with jagged arches that loomed overhead like the ribs of some long-dead beast. Fine dust drifted from cracks above, and moonlight slipped through narrow crevices in the ceiling.
Footsteps echoed—quick, closing in. A blade hissed free of its sheath, and before she could react, Castiel seized her, dragging her back flush against his chest.
His arm clamped around her waist as the cold edge of a knife grazed her throat. He leaned in, his tone deceptively soft .
“Stay very still, dove. We wouldn’t want your Alphas witnessing something they can’t ever unsee now, would we?”
Her pulse should’ve been racing, but instead, a strange calm settled over her. Despite the precariousness of the situation, her mind was clear, her breathing steady. She met his gaze without flinching, her voice smooth, unwavering.
“You think they’ll stop because of this? You don’t know them as well as you think.”
He chuckled, though the sound was humourless. “Oh, I know them well enough. Brave, reckless Alphas—ready to throw their lives away for a pretty Omega.”
He tilted his head, the knife pressing slightly closer. “But how brave will they be when they realize one wrong move could cost your life?”
The footsteps on stone grew louder, reverberating through the cavern like a storm rolling closer. The faint clink of metal echoed off the jagged walls, a haunting reminder that the confrontation was inevitable.
Castiel stiffened.
“Ah, there they are,” he murmured, his voice low and mocking. “Right on cue.”
Her pulse thudded fast beneath the blade. She held herself still, ears straining. A faint shift in the air—soft footsteps, the subtle drag of boots on stone—and she knew.
Kaelen and Alarik were there, just beyond the dark, and they had stopped.
Alarik’s voice rang out, cold and precise. “We wouldn’t want to do this, would we, Castiel?” His tone was measured, a sharp edge of menace underlying his slow, calm words. “What would be the point of coming all this way, only to ruin your plans now?”
Castiel chuckled, the sound all nonchalance, though Reiya felt the tension radiating from him. “I’d say the torment on your faces as you watch her die would be prize enough,” he said, his voice lilting as if he were savouring the thought.
“You despise Alphas, it’s quite clear,” Kaelen’s voice cut through the air, sharp and biting. His figure loomed closer, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. “But leave her out of it. If you want to fight, fight us. If you want to kill, kill us—if you can.”
The words hung between them like a gauntlet thrown down, daring Castiel to respond. For a moment, silence stretched—the only sound the wind whispering through the rocks.
Reiya’s pulse thundered in her ears, each beat loud and insistent as she kept her gaze fixed ahead. The sight of her Alphas centred her.
The trust that they’d survive this, somehow, kept her calm.
She would go home with them, together.
“Bold words,” Castiel said, his tone deceptively light, but she imagined his eyes gleaming with malice. “But tell me, Kaelendrin, do you even know where your limits lie? How far are you willing to fall for her?”