With a deep inhale, she moved. Her hand shot up to grip Castiel’s wrist, fingers digging into the sensitive underside where tendons and nerves ran close to the surface. She twisted sharply, using her weightand the element of surprise to wrench his arm upward. The blade wavered in his grasp, his shock palpable as he stumbled back a step.
“What in the?—”
She didn’t give him time to recover. Pivoting on her heel, she slammed her elbow into his forearm, the force jolting the knife free from his grip. The blade clattered to the ground, the sound sharp and final against the stone.
Without hesitation, she kicked it away, the weapon skidding across the cavern floor to land near Kaelen’s boots.
Castiel’s composure shattered as he lunged, but she was already shifting, one foot sliding back, knees bent, weight balanced. Her hands rose instinctively—defensive, steady—her body remembering what fear tried to erase. She trusted it completely. Her breaths came fast and shallow, but her stance held firm, refusing to yield.
He skidded to a halt, staring at her as though she’d transformed beyond recognition.
“You lost the moment you assumed I’m still the girl you betrayed.” Her voice was quiet, every word honed to a blade’s edge.
They had the upper hand now, but Reiya wouldn’t run into the safety of Kaelen’s and Alarik’s arms—not just yet.
Not while there was still unfinished business with Castiel. Not while the weight of his actions demanded to be confronted.
“This is the end, Castiel,” Alarik said, his voice dripping with finality. “You have nothing now.”
Castiel’s eyes narrowed, the faintest twitch betraying his tension. “What about the Xian family? The little girl Mei Mei?” His tone was edged with mockery, but the defiance was clear. “If you think I’d give away their locations so easily?—”
“You don’t need to,” Kaelen cut in, his words as smooth as they were firm. He turned to Reiya, a flicker of pride in his gaze. “Reiya had it all figured out quite quickly, hadn’t you, love?”
Before Castiel could respond, the steady cadence of boots echoed against the cave walls. Captain Marzius stepped forward, his crisp uniform and composure shattered the tension.
He spoke calmly, and loudly, “A Sparo has just arrived, my princes,bearing word that the Xians have been found and rescued. They are on their way to the Turasid Palace as we speak.”
He inclined his head in a polite bow before retreating into the shadows, his words lingering like a nail driven into Castiel’s crumbling position.
“You underestimated our familiarity with our lands,” Kaelen said, stepping closer. “We’ve made careful study of the northern regions. Hassamir, considering he’s been working with you, should’ve advised you better.”
“You have no more leverage over us, Castiel,” Alarik added. “Come with us willingly. Peacefully.”
Castiel smirked, the expression a blade’s edge of defiance. “You really think it’s that simple, don’t you?”
Reiya stepped forward before either of her Alphas could answer. Her gaze locked onto the man who’d once been her friend, but was now a stranger cloaked in cruelty.
She asked the question she wanted answered most.
“Why?”
His smirk deepened. “My freedom is better than the illusion you’re clinging to. This world? It’s a cage, built on instincts and bonds designed to keep you docile. I’m offering somethingreal—a world where no one decides your fate but you.”
A faint, bittersweet smile tugged at her lips. “Strange, isn’t it—how easily those words come to you while you’retrying to decidemyfate.”
Castiel opened his mouth, but no sound emerged.
She shook her head. “Real freedom doesn’t come from tearing everything apart. It comes from building something worth fighting for. You think rejecting bonds makes you free? It doesn’t. It only makes you alone.”
His jaw tightened, but he pressed on, his tone darkening. “Alone is better than enslaved. What you call love and trust are merely chains disguised as choices. I’m giving you the chance to break them.”
“No,” she snapped. “You’re not breaking chains—you’re replacing them with your own. You talk about freedom, but all you’ve done is strip away my choices all the same and force your own version ofcontrol. You’re no better than the Alphas you despise—just another tyrant with a prettier lie.”
For a heartbeat, she saw him—not the man before her, cold and sharp-edged, but the boy she’d once trusted, the boy who had stood at her side with laughter in his eyes and promises on his tongue. For a moment, the ache of that memory tightened in her chest.
And then, slowly, she released it—the last fragile thread of the Castiel she’d known.
Her voice softened, barely a breath. “You were my closest friend, Castiel. And you broke my heart.”
