05

Kessa

I didn't sleep. How could I? Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Ronan's scarred face inches from mine, felt his breath against my skin, his voice promising to help me destroy everything.

The room hehad given me was bigger than my entire bedroom back home. A huge bed dominated the space, covered in dark silks that probably cost more than my father spent on me in a year. The tall windows overlooked snow covered mountains that glowed silver under the moonlight. It was beautiful, but it was a cage.

I sat on the edge of the bed, still wearing the dress I had borrowed from Mia for the date, the date that had turned into a nightmare, or maybe a twisted kind of help, I wasn't sure yet.

My phone buzzed for the hundredth time and it was Mia. I had been ignoring her calls since I got here, but guilt finally won.

"Kess! Oh my god, where are you?" Her voice was frantic. "I've been calling for hours. Your location says you are." She kept quiet for a bit. "it can't be right. It says you are in Asa territory."

I swallowed hard. "It is right."

"The blind date wasn't your guy," I said quietly. "It was Ronan Asa."

"WHAT?" Mia practically screamed. "Kessa, get out of there right now! He is., he will kill you! Your father—"

"I know who he is." I cut her off. "AndI am staying."

"Are you insane?"

Maybe, probably.

"He made me an offer," I said. "He will help me get revenge on my father, on Dylan and on all of them."

"Kess, no. No, no, no. You can't trust him. He is dangerous. He is,"

"So am I." The words surprised me as much as they surprised her. "Or at least, I am going to be."

Mia was quiet for a long moment. When she spoke again, her voice was softer. "What did they really do to you?" Everything,I wanted to say. They broke me, pushed me off a cliff, left me for dead.

"Enough," I whispered instead. "They did enough."

"Kess..."

"I have to go," I said, my throat tight. "I will call you when I can."

I hung up before she could argue. The knock on my door came exactly three seconds later. "Come in," I called, expecting Sage or maybe a guard.

It was Ronan. He had changed out of his formal clothes into dark jeans and a simple black shirt that somehow made him look more dangerous, not less. The mask was gone, he didn't bother hiding the scars anymore.

"Can't sleep?" he asked, leaning against the doorframe.

"Can you blame me?"

A ghost of a smile crossed his lips. "No."

He stepped inside, and I fought the urge to move back. I wouldn't show fear, not anymore. "I need to know something," he said, his eyes locked on mine. "When you agreed to my deal, did you mean it? Or were you just trying to stay alive?"

The question caught me off guard. I expected threats, maybe more accusations about his dead mate. Not this. "Both," I answered honestly. "I want to live. but I also want them to pay."

He studied me for a long moment, like he was trying to see past my skin into whatever was left of my soul. "Your father never wanted you," he said. It wasn't a question.

"No."

"Your brother?"

"Hates me."

"And the mate you mentioned at dinner, the one you didn't want to talk about?"

My chest tightened. "He never loved me, he was using me for a chance at power. When my father chose Dylan as Alpha instead of me, Quinn moved on to my best friend."

Ronan's jaw ticked. "The same best friend who you believed pushed you off that cliff."

I froze. "How did you."

"I told you I found you at the base of that cliff," he said quietly. "What I didn't tell you was that I saw her do it, saw her push you, saw her walk away like you were nothing."

The room spun. "You saved me," I breathed. "The note! that was from you."

He didn't deny it.

"Why?" I asked. "If you thought I was her, if you thought I was Aurora, why would you save me?"

Something dark and conflicted crossed his face. "I don't know. Instinct, maybe, or stupidity." He moved closer. "When I saw you falling, something in me just moved. I couldn't let you die."

"Even though you wanted to kill me yourself?"

"Even though," he agreed.

We stood there in the silence, two broken people studying each other like puzzle pieces that shouldn't fit but somehow did.

"I need you to understand something," Ronan said finally. "This deal we made, it is not going to be easy. Your father will come for you, Dylan will want blood, and when they find out you are here, working with me."

"They will call me a traitor."

"They will call you worse than that."

I lifted my chin. "Let them."

His eyes flashed with something that might have been approval. "There is one more thing."

"What?"

"Until we figure out why you look like Aurora, why you smell like her, I need to keep you close. Very close." He took another step forward. "That means you will train with my pack, eat with my pack, live as one of mine."

"I am not one of yours."

"Not yet," he murmured. "But you will be."

The certainty in his voice sent chills down my spine.

"And if I can't prove I am not her?" I asked. "If you never believe me?"

His hand came up to cup my face, thumb brushing across my cheekbone with devastating gentleness.

"Then I will have to decide," he said softly, "whether revenge matters more than whatever this is between us."

"There is nothing between us."

"Liar." His breath ghosted across my lips. "You feel it too, the pull, the connection. It is why you trusted me at dinner, why you got in my car, why you are not running right now even though you should be."

He was right, and I hated it. "I should go," he said, but he didn't move, neither did I.

"Ronan?"

"Yes?"

"When we destroy them, my father, Dylan, all of them, I want to be the one who does it, not you. Me."

Something fierce and proud blazed in his eyes.

"Then we would better make sure you are strong enough," he said. "Training starts at dawn. Don't be late."He dropped his hand and walked to the door, pausing at the threshold. "And Kessa? Welcome to the Asa pack. Try not to die."

Then he was gone.

I stood there alone in the too-big room, my heart racing, my mind spinning. Tomorrow, everything would change, I would start becoming someone new, someone strong enough to face the people who broke me, someone strong enough to break them back.

I walked to the window and stared out at the dark forest beyond. Somewhere out there, my father was probably celebrating. Dylan was probably laughing. Quinn and Fiona were probably together, thinking they had won. They had no idea what was coming.

I pressed my palm against the cold glass and smiled. Let them celebrate while they could, the fire was just beginning to burn.