Chapter 371: His Reason

Kaden’s POV

Rebecca disappeared before I could stop her.

For several seconds, I stared at the empty space where she had been standing. I could still see the look on her face before she turned away from me. She had tried to hide it, but I knew Rebecca too well. I knew when she was angry, when she was afraid, and when she was trying desperately not to let anyone see that she was hurting.

And I had hurt her. Again.

The silence around me finally registered, and when I looked around, I realized several warriors were staring in my direction. Some were looking at me, others at the Tiger leader’s headless body, while a few were still staring at the place where Rebecca had disappeared. The battle was over, but there was still too much work to do for everyone to stand around watching me.

"Stop staring and get back to work," I ordered, forcing my attention away from Rebecca. "Search every building again. I want every prisoner accounted for and every injured warrior taken to the healers. Check the bodies and make sure every Tiger is dead."

The warriors immediately began moving, and the silence was replaced by voices, footsteps, and commanders shouting instructions across the ruined grounds.

"Logan," I called.

Logan stepped toward me. "Alpha."

"Get reports from the commanders at the other five territories," I instructed. "I want to know if the Dark Fire is still down and whether they’ve secured their packs."

"I’ll contact them now," Logan replied before walking away.

I turned toward my brother. "Kane, make sure all the prisoners we rescued are moved somewhere safe. Get the seriously injured ones to the healers first, and have the warriors search every building one more time. I don’t want anyone left behind."

Kane studied me for a moment, probably noticing that my attention wasn’t completely on what I was saying, but thankfully, he didn’t mention Rebecca.

"I’ll handle it," Kane replied before walking away.

Once he was gone, I finally looked at Rola.

She had managed to stand, although one of the healers remained close to her in case her legs gave out. Dirt and blood covered her clothes, and exhaustion was obvious on her face, but the way she was staring at me told me she wasn’t thinking about any of that.

"Rebecca was your mate," Rola said quietly.

I went still.

It wasn’t a question, and there was no point lying to her anymore. Too much had happened tonight, and after everything she had witnessed between Rebecca and me since arriving here, she deserved the truth.

"Yes," I replied.

Rola stared at me for several seconds before slowly nodding. I watched understanding begin to settle across her face as she looked briefly toward the place where Rebecca had disappeared.

"That’s why you knew each other so well," Rola said when she looked back at me. "That’s why she knew things about you that I didn’t. That’s why things always felt strange whenever the two of you were in the same room."

"Rola, I’m sorry," I said quietly.

Her eyes remained on mine. "Do you still love her?"

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t.

Apparently, my silence was enough because Rola swallowed hard and looked away. For a moment, neither of us said anything. Warriors continued moving around us, carrying the injured and searching through what remained of the battlefield, but it felt like Rola and I were standing somewhere completely separate from all of it.

When she finally looked at me again, there was hurt in her violet eyes.

"Then why did you choose me?"

I remained silent.

"Why, Kaden?" Rola asked. "Because I’m a Lycan princess? Because I’m going to be Queen someday? Were you afraid that if you chose Rebecca and allowed me to die, my father would blame you? Were you worried it would cause another war?"

"No," I replied immediately.

"Then why did you choose me?"

I looked at her but didn’t answer. There were things Rola deserved to know, but this wasn’t the place to explain them. She was exhausted, I was barely standing after everything my wolves had taken tonight, and there were still hundreds of people around us dealing with the aftermath of the battle.

"Rola, go and rest," I told her. "Let the healers examine you properly. We’ll talk about this later."

Her expression changed. "You expect me to just walk away after what happened?"

"No," I replied. "I expect you to let the healers take care of you because you nearly died tonight. You deserve answers, and I’ll give them to you. Just not here."

Rola stared at me for several seconds. I could tell she wanted to keep asking questions, and I couldn’t blame her, but eventually, the anger seemed to leave her shoulders.

"Fine," she replied quietly.

The healer beside her reached for her arm, and this time Rola allowed the woman to help her. She took a few steps before stopping and looking back at me. There were a hundred questions in her eyes, but she didn’t ask any of them before finally turning away and leaving with the healer.

I watched her go, knowing the conversation waiting for us wasn’t going to be easy.

"I know what you did."

The voice came from behind me, and I turned to find Melvin walking toward me. He had already shifted back into his human form and was wearing a pair of pants someone must have brought him. Blood and dirt covered his body, and there was a cut along his shoulder.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, frowning.

Melvin stopped a few feet away. "I’m a king too, Kaden. I’ve dealt with enough enemies to know when someone is playing a game."

I remained silent.

"You knew the Tiger leader wasn’t going to save the woman you chose," Melvin continued. "You knew he was going to kill her."

I looked at him but said nothing.

"You knew the moment you gave him a name, that woman would become his real target," Melvin continued. "So when he asked which woman you wanted him to save, you said Rola."

Again, I didn’t respond.

I didn’t need to because Melvin was right.

I wasn’t naive when it came to games like this. There was no reason for the Tiger leader to give me the power to decide who survived. He hated me. He had just lost the war, his men were dead, and the six territories his people had taken were being freed. He didn’t want to give me something I wanted.

He wanted to hurt me.

The moment he asked me to choose, I knew the woman whose name left my mouth would become his target. He wanted me to tell him who mattered most and then make me watch her die.

So I gave him Rola’s name.

It was a gamble. A dangerous one, especially because Rola’s life mattered too. But I believed it was the only way to keep the Tiger leader from knowing the truth.

If I had said Rebecca’s name, I believed he would have killed her.

Melvin watched me quietly for a moment before speaking again.

"So practically, when you chose Rola, you were choosing Rebecca."