Chapter 370: His Choice

Rebecca’s POV

For several seconds, nobody moved. The Tiger leader stood between Rola and me while the Dark Fire continued burning around the three of us. Beyond the wall of black flames, Kaden remained completely still. Kane, Logan, Melvin, the witches, and dozens of warriors surrounded the area, but nobody dared come closer.

The Tiger leader smiled as he looked at Kaden. "Perhaps you didn’t understand me, Alpha King," he said calmly. "You choose one woman, and she lives. The other dies."

"No," Kaden replied immediately.

The Tiger leader’s brows lifted. "No?"

"No one," Kaden said firmly. "I’m not choosing between them. Let them both go."

A quiet laugh escaped the Tiger leader. "That’s not one of your options."

"Then give me another one," Kaden replied.

"There isn’t another one." The Tiger leader raised one hand, and the Dark Fire surrounding us suddenly moved closer. I stumbled backward as the heat hit me, while Rola moved toward me at the same time. Within seconds, the circle around us had become smaller.

"Choose," the Tiger leader ordered. "Or I’ll kill them both."

Kaden’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t answer. My heart began beating harder as I stared at him through the flames. I hated myself for wondering what he was going to say. I hated that despite the danger we were in, some part of me still cared about his answer.

Rola was his girlfriend, and I was his former mate. Three years ago, I had been the one who asked him to let me go. He had respected that decision and rebuilt his life without me. Whatever had happened between us a few nights ago didn’t suddenly erase any of that, but I still couldn’t stop watching him.

Kaden wasn’t looking at Rola or me. His eyes remained fixed on the Tiger leader, studying him with an expression I couldn’t understand.

"Ten seconds," the Tiger leader said before beginning his countdown. "Ten."

Kaden remained silent.

"Nine."

I could hear my own heartbeat as I stared at him through the flames.

"Eight."

Still nothing.

The Tiger leader smiled as the Dark Fire moved closer around us.

"Seven."

Kaden’s jaw tightened even more.

"Six."

Kaden finally spoke.

"Rola."

My heart stopped.

For a second, I wasn’t sure I’d heard him correctly. Beside me, Rola went completely still, but she didn’t say anything. The Tiger leader’s brows lifted slightly, and even he seemed surprised by the answer.

"The Lycan princess?" he asked.

Kaden’s expression didn’t change.

"Yes," Kaden replied. "Save Rola."

Something inside my chest broke.

Neither Rola nor I said anything. I simply stared at Kaden through the flames, waiting for something else. An explanation. A hesitation. Anything that would tell me I had misunderstood him.

Nothing came.

Of course. What exactly had I expected? Rola was his girlfriend. She was the woman he’d spent the past four months building a relationship with, the woman he called every day when they were apart, the woman he sent gifts to and had allowed into the life he’d rebuilt after me. She was his future, and I was his past.

So why did knowing that suddenly hurt so much?

Maybe because only a few nights ago, I’d been in his bed. Maybe because I’d fallen asleep against his chest and woken to his kisses. Maybe because he’d told me we needed to talk after the war, and some stupid part of me had started wondering if that conversation might lead somewhere I had spent three years telling myself I didn’t want to go again.

Apparently, I had my answer now.

The Tiger leader turned his head toward me, and the smile spreading across his face made my stomach twist. "You heard him, Rebecca," he said calmly. "He’s made his choice."

I swallowed hard. Yes, he had, and I wasn’t the woman he’d chosen.

But I won’t die.

The moment that thought entered my head, something inside me changed. I wasn’t going to stand there waiting for this man to kill me simply because Kaden had chosen someone else to save. If Kaden wasn’t choosing me, then I would choose myself.

My eyes moved toward Rola. "Grab me."

Rola’s eyes snapped toward mine. She didn’t ask a single question. She immediately moved closer and grabbed me, and I wrapped one arm tightly around her waist before reaching for my magic.

The Tiger leader’s smile disappeared. "Don’t!" he shouted as he moved toward us.

The resistance hit me immediately. Pain exploded through my head so violently that my knees nearly gave out. The Dark Fire seemed to grab hold of my power and push it back inside me, refusing to let me cross the barrier. I cried out but tightened my arm around Rola, refusing to release her.

I could hear shouting from outside the flames, but I couldn’t tell who was saying what anymore. My entire body felt like it was being pulled in opposite directions. Earlier, I had tried to teleport beyond the Dark Fire and failed, but I didn’t need to go far now. I didn’t need to carry twenty people. I only had Rola with me, and I only needed to move us a few feet beyond the wall.

The Tiger leader raised his hand, and the black flames surrounding us suddenly surged.

"Rebecca!" Kaden shouted.

I closed my eyes. For once, I didn’t think about Kaden or the choice he’d just made. I pictured the ground directly outside the Dark Fire and pushed against whatever was holding my magic back.

Pain ripped through my head. For one terrifying second, nothing happened, and I could feel the flames getting closer. I screamed and forced everything I had left into my power.

The world disappeared.

Rola and I crashed onto the ground outside the Dark Fire. My shoulder hit first, sending pain down my arm before the rest of my body followed. Rola landed beside me, still holding on to me, and for several seconds, I couldn’t even breathe. When I finally opened my eyes, I saw normal ground beneath me.

We were outside.

"We did it," Rola gasped beside me.

A furious roar came from behind us, and I twisted around just as the Dark Fire collapsed inward on the place where Rola and I had been standing seconds earlier. The Tiger leader stumbled backward, clearly shocked that we’d escaped.

He didn’t get another chance to do anything.

Kaden shifted, and one second later, his wolf was charging toward the Tiger leader. Before the man could raise his hands to summon the Dark Fire again, Kaden’s wolf split into three identical wolves.

The Tiger leader barely had time to react. One wolf attacked from his left, another came from his right, and the third charged directly at him. The first knocked him onto the ground while the second sank its teeth into his arm before he could use his power again.

The third went straight for his throat.

I heard the sickening sound before I fully understood what had happened. When I looked again, the Tiger leader’s body was lying motionless on the ground, while his head lay several feet away.

Just like that, he was dead.

The three identical wolves stood around his body for several seconds before two disappeared. Kaden’s real wolf remained, breathing heavily with blood covering his muzzle.

I slowly pushed myself upright, but my legs immediately threatened to give out. Rola grabbed my arm before I could fall.

"Easy," she said breathlessly.

I looked at her. She looked just as exhausted as I felt, but she was alive. We both were.

"You saved my life," Rola whispered.

I looked away for a moment. Kaden had chosen her, and somehow, I had ended up saving her anyway.

"You would have done the same for me," I replied quietly.

"I would have," Rola said without hesitation.

I believed her.

A healer hurried toward us, but movement farther ahead caught my attention first. Kaden had shifted back, and he was walking toward us, wearing only a pair of pants. Blood covered several parts of his body, and exhaustion was written across his face. His eyes moved between Rola and me as he approached, but suddenly, I couldn’t stand there anymore.

I didn’t want an explanation. Not now. Maybe not ever. When Kaden had believed one of us had to die, he’d chosen Rola to live. That was all I needed to know.

I gently removed Rola’s hand from my arm.

"Rebecca?" Rola called.

"I need to find Stephanie," I replied quietly before turning away.

"Rebecca."

Kaden’s voice stopped me, but I didn’t turn around. My eyes burned as I stood there with my back to him, forcing myself not to look at the man who had just answered a question I hadn’t even realized I was still asking.

"You need to let the healers work on you," Kaden said behind me.

I swallowed past the painful lump in my throat and shook my head.

"No," I replied, keeping my voice as steady as I could manage. "I just want to go home."

Before he could take another step or utter another word to stop me, I reached deep down for the final, flickering ember of my magic and teleported away.