"Where on earth did you go?" He spat out harshly as he got to where she stood, taking a quick glance behind her, "Don't you realise you're right at the Border separating our Pack from theirs?"
As she stared at his face, images of him and Eleanor kissing barreled into her mind, how he had stared at her with no affection and How he had told her off, shattering the mate bond in the process.
To Ethan, Rhia has always been obedient. They were mates, so she's always been a sucker for him. She's been so blinded by love, she never thought twice about the way he treated her, or how he spoke to her sometimes like she was nothing.
The only thing that probably had him running up to her right now was the tug of the mate bond. It's a good thing they haven't sealed the deal yet.
"I just came here to check on a few things. As you can see, I'm alright," She replied, keeping calm although a bit of spite could be heard in her words.
Then, she walked past him and strode toward the canopies. Ethan came up behind her, rolling his eyes, "Are you mad at me? Is this because I had still refused to sleep with you and seal the mate bond?"
"No," She replied, "And you don't have to worry about that anymore. Take all the time you need," She flashed him a curt smile and continued, but Ethan laughed this time.
"You expect me to believe you?"
She paused, glancing back at him, "All I'm saying is, I won't push anymore. Moreover, this isn't the time to be having this conversation,"
With that, she walked off and into the dense canopy of trees, heading toward her father's tent from earlier. As she approached, she saw Jack among the warriors, which only confirmed her suspicion.
He had come over to report to the Alpha that she was gone, and Killian had tossed the matter aside.
As she walked past the tent, Killian came out and she stopped in her tracks and stared at the man that had taken everything away from her. His grey eyes looked dead into hers, hard like rock.
"Where have you been?"
"I thought something was off in the fog ahead, so I went close to the borders to check. But it turned out I was wrong,"
He took a quick look at her, and his eyes found the dried blood that had run down both palms, "What is that?"
"Nothing to worry about, Father. Just a few scratches when I stumbled into some thorns. I'll head back to where you positioned me,"
She walked past him, feeling a bit of tension in the air. Rhiannon knew Killian - that excuse might not have been enough to sate his curiosity, but it's not like he's going to push into the matter even more.
He doesn't give a glimmer of care about her.
Rhiannon and Jack returned to their former position, and in less than an hour everything was ready for the ambush. Rhiannon watched from above as the warriors stealthily walked into the dense fog, breathlessly waiting for the fight to break out and the sound of growling wolves to fill the air.
But, it never came.
The night grew deeper, minutes turned into hours, and still, nothing happened.
All the warriors returned, along with the Alpha. Jack got the signal telepathically from one of the other warriors for them to leave, and by dawn everyone was at their various homes...the battle never fought.
Rhiannon lived alone. When she had turned eighteen, she had found her a place in the Pack lands together with layla and left Killian's house. The house looked exactly as she remembered, since she hadn't changed anything even in the future.
She moved straight to the shower, and took a long, cold one. No matter how hard she tried, she could not stop replaying every scene that happened in her past life.
The pain of the poison, the kick from her mate and the frenzied snarls from the rogues as they tore her into shreds was still fresh in her mind.
A smirk appeared on her face as she stared into the bathroom mirror, staring at the younger version of herself. The innocence was gone, and the conviction it held had dominated.
Just then, she heard the front door open and someone walked in.
Stepping out of her bath and into the living room, she met Eleanor already seated comfortably on her couch. A smile that was all too fake spread across her face the moment she saw Rhia, "Hello, Rhia," Her voice cooed.
A wave of unease and irritation washed over Rhia's body, and she almost shuddered right there. Those words only brought the memories of her past life - what was going to happen in a year - haunting her even more.
But, they also fueled her passion for revenge.
"Hi, El," Rhia forced a smile, "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I heard the Ambush sank. Dad said they all went in, but there was no one in the Timberfang Pack lands. Although there were subtle signs, pointing out that they had left just before dad arrived," Eleanor explained, her grey eyes never leaving her twin sister.
"Seems to me like they already anticipated our attack and fled. Dad should be proud. They're afraid of us," Rhia replied.
"Aren't you disappointed? It means every plan you made has gone to waste,"
Rhia eyed Eleanor from the side. Eleanor has always had a way with words, to try and make her feel miserable.
"No lives were lost. I couldn't be more content," As Rhia turned her back on Eleanor to pick up something, her face changed to that of intense rage right before she managed to block it out with a tight smile again, "What about you? Dad left you in charge to look after the Pack while he was gone. Anything... interesting happen?"
Eleanor shrugged, "No," Her eyes gleamed with something dark, and Rhia zoomed into it, "But Ethan came over for about two hours while you guys were gone,"
Rhia's face twitched, and her memories clicked into place. Something like this had happened in the past about a year ago.
Yes! It was exactly the same night after the ambush had gone wild, and she had returned home. Eleanor had come to see her, and had mentioned Ethan coming over to the Alpha's house sometime during the night.
"What for?" Rhia asked, repeating the same question like before.
"To see me. He was worried, you see," A look of desire danced through El's eyes, and she softly licked her lips as if she was savouring something that happened while he visited.
Back then, Rhiannon hadn't thought much into it. Instead, she had rolled her eyes at her sister and laughed it off.
This time, Rhia wasn't so stupid and carefree. She knew exactly what that meant, recalling how Eleanor had told her the day she died that they'd been on it for almost two years.
"That's nice of him," She tightly answered.
"By the way, I convinced dad to throw a small celebration tonight for the somewhat successful ambush. You're coming, right?"
Another past event, and a devilish idea sparked up in her head.
"Yes," Rhia replied.
Eleanor stood up, "Good. It's happening downtown. I'll see you tomorrow night, then,"
"See you," Rhia waved lazily with a frown etched on her face as her 'twin’ sister left the house.
Rhia walked into her room, and lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Now that she was alone, she was thinking of how she would get her hands on the Pack's Grimoire.
Important objects and artifacts of the Pack were kept in the storeroom, which was a large underground space that was sitting below Killian's study room. She had five days to get it and meet him, meaning she would have to get past Killian first since he's mostly in his study.
Plus, the storeroom might be filled with a few traps to catch intruders who managed to go in without his permission. It would be hard to get her hands on it, but she had already made a promise and she wasn't giving up.
Just as she thought deeper on how to go about this, the Front door was thrown open and hurried footsteps came running into the house. Rhia's heart jumped, and she was out of her bed instantly.
She threw her bedside drawer open, pulling out a small blow up balloon, which was filled with smoke bombs she had made in her Lab that had the effects of disorienting and disrupting the senses of a werewolf, long enough for her to make an escape.
As she waited anxiously for the intruder to come into her room, she searched for any memories of the past where her house was raided, or when she had been attacked at home.
There was nothing like that.
"Rhia!!" A familiar small voice yelled from the sitting room, and Rhiannon froze.
No way.
"Rhia! I'm back, and I can tell you're in your room," The voice said again.
Slowly, Rhiannon returned the balloon back into the drawer and forced her legs to move.
She held her breath in anticipation as she walked out, and there, standing in front of the open fridge with an open bowl of ice-cream, was Layla, her best friend.
