Destined for Deception ✔️

Chapter 11

Everyone was freaking out. Well, everyone but Ryleigh. They had relocated to a random spot in some far-away woods. They had no property there, but Parker had panicked when Corbin had linked him to take them all away from there, so he had zapped them to the most remote place he could think of, and here they were. It didn't matter much. There was nowhere they could go that Cerise wouldn't find them. There was nowhere to run.

Around Ryleigh, everybody was cursing, kicking trees, talking in hushed tones among themselves. Each in their own way was trying to come to terms with the fact that their alpha had just been abducted right in front of their noses and was in all likelihood already dead.

"Are you alright?" Parker asked, quietly.

She pondered a response. Things had been weird between them since their kiss, and she wasn't sure where they stood. It was an odd feeling. When it came to Parker, she had always known exactly what was going on between them. He was reliable to a fault, and so was his love for her. Now she wasn't sure, and she didn't want to share her concerns with him while they were at such a strange crossroads. Besides, she hardly knew the answer. Was she alright? She thought she was. More than she probably should be. But then she had no choice, did she? With Corbin gone – deceased or otherwise – she had to step up. She could not curse and panic like the others. They were looking at her for guidance. She had to be their rock. Not being alright was not an option.

"I'm fine," she said. She rubbed her hands along the bridge of her nose, trying to get rid of the sleep in her eyes. She was fine. Sure, Corbin was her father and she respected him as such, but they weren't on good terms. She hardly loved him more than she hated him. No, that wasn't true. She loved him as much as anyone could ever love a man like him. She did what she had to do, which was ban every thought of his demise out of her head. This was not the time to mourn his loss. Especially since they didn't know whether he was actually dead. She locked her feelings tightly away and then she was, indeed, fine.

"Do you think he's dead, Ry?"

It was Josie who posed the question, the eternal scorn dissipating from her voice. Ryleigh glanced around. Everyone was looking at her, tension visible on every face.

"I don't know," she said. "If he's not, I expect that he will be soon. Cerise has no use for him. She already knows everything he knows, so he's a waste of space to her."

"But he's her mate. Surely she won't just off him," Dawn said.

"If Cerise were any other then that might be true," Ryleigh said, "but she's heartless and ruthless. She will kill him if she has no other use for him, just like she tried killing me. She doesn't care about any of us."

"Perhaps he'll escape," Ivy said. Ryleigh shot a look at her half-sister. Royce was standing beside her. Ryleigh suppressed a wan smile. She could tell he was trying to keep his face as neutral and stern as Ryleigh was keeping hers. He always acted like he was all that, but Ryleigh knew he copied her in everything.

"I doubt that," Ryleigh said. She wanted to tell Ivy that maybe she was right. That maybe Corbin had figured out a way to get away from there, but she knew Cerise, and so she knew that there was no escape. She would not lie to her people.

"Then we must save him," Mason said.

"I'm not sure we can.

"We have to try," Acton said. "We rescued you too. If we can get you from the Royal Castle, then surely –"

"No," Ryleigh said. Mason was Corbin's head warrior and Acton was his beta, and there were no two people more loyal to him than they were, but they had to see reason. "You managed to rescue me because you know where the castle is. We don't know where Cerise is. We have no clue. At the same time, she'll figure out exactly where we are. It might take her a day or two, but wherever we'll go, she'll find us. We need to focus on surviving. That's what Corbin would want."