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 andmore 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.
