Chapter 283
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When Luna Zara’s gaze fell upon Riley, she froze where she stood.
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Her eyes locked on Riley’s figure, flickering with recognition, confusion, and a fleeting haze, before finally settling into a sharp, startling clarity. Tears spilled down her weathered cheeks, yet her lips curved into a trembling smile.
She reached out a trembling hand.
“Riley… my little Riley, you’ve finally come to see me?”
Riley’s face remained cold, her gaze as detached as frost upon stone. She looked at Zara as though she were nothing more than a stranger.
Stumbling forward, Luna Zara muttered desperately, her voice fractured yet full of yearning:
“Riley, my daughter, my sweet girl… stay with me, don’t leave me again. Please, don’t leave your mother.”
But as she lurched closer, the pack healers stationed nearby intercepted her, barring her path.
“Let me go!” Zara shrieked, thrashing violently with the strength of a cornered wolf. “That is my daughter-you cannot keep her from me!”
Her hands clawed the air, her entire body convulsing with wild resistance.
Riley, however, stood in silence, watching with cold detachment. Once, she had longed for this love-for the warm shelter of a mother’s arms. But standing here now, she saw clearly: all of it was empty. Hollow.
A bitter smile ghosted across her lips as she whispered, her voice like a shard of ice:
“Luna Zara… from this day forth, we shall never meet again.”
She turned to Caelum Knox, her voice steady.
“Let’s go.”
Zara’s broken mind still grasped the meaning of those words. Her head snapped
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back and forth, shaking violently as she cried out:
“No-don’t leave! I will protect you! I’ll never lose you again, my child!”
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But Riley did not so much as flinch. She walked away, her back unyielding, her figure receding into the light of freedom.
Zara’s screams grew feral, the ragged cries of a beast in despair. Her throat tore with the effort, her voice hoarse, guttural, almost inhuman.
‘Don’t go! Don’t leave me—!”
It took several healers to restrain her. Even then, her raw strength nearly broke their hold. Finally, a physician plunged a sedative needle into her arm.
Zara’s body jerked violently, her breath faltering. Consciousness slipped away, yet ner fading gaze clung to Riley’s retreating back-eyes brimming with a love that came far too late.
‘She’s too unstable,” one of the healers muttered. “Restrain her to the bed. If she wakes like this again, none of us will be able to contain her.”
The others nodded grimly, dragging her away without tenderness, leaving only the echoes of her guttural cries behind.
Outside the asylum, Riley inhaled deeply, tasting the clean bite of free air.
‘Where to now, Miss Riley?” Caelum Knox asked quietly.
Her eyes turned sharp, glinting like the edge of a blade.
“Tomorrow… I will see Alpha Alaric and Scarlett. My blood has remained in her body far too long. It is time I took back what was stolen.”
Later, back within the halls of the Duskgrave estate, Riley returned to her chambers with heavy steps.
Though she had walked only a little more than usual, her legs trembled, every muscle weak and trembling. Her body screamed with fatigue, each step a reminder that her time was running out.
A soft, humorless smile curved her lips.
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So little strength remained. So little time.
At least, the embroidery was complete. One final promise fulfilled.
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She had lived in silence for nearly a year now, robbed of her hearing. The silence had eroded her speech as well-too many times, words failed her, trapped on her tongue, unsaid.
Riley knew she could not stay in the Duskgrave household much longer.
Tomorrow, once she reclaimed her kidney from Scarlett, she would leave. Her path was nearing its end.
Exhausted, she drifted into sleep.
In the study, Caelum Knox stood before Lucien Duskgrave, the Alpha prince of the Stormridge Pack.
“Alpha,” Caelum reported gravely, “Riley intends to travel into the mountains tomorrow to confront Alpha Alaric and Scarlett. The roads are harsh. I fear her body won’t endure the journey.”
Lucien sat in silence, his eyes shadowed, his presence heavy with command. At last, he spoke, his voice low and resolute:
“Then I will go with her.”
The next morning dawned bright, sunlight spilling through the windows like golden fire.
Riley descended the stairs slowly, every step deliberate. In the sitting room, Lucien sat waiting, a newspaper in his hand. When her footsteps reached his ears, he looked up, his gaze softening instantly, warmth piercing through his usual cold
composure.
Caught off guard, Riley faltered, her heart skipping.
“Lucien,.. you didn’t go to the Pack Council today?”
He folded the paper, setting it aside, eyes never leaving her.
“You’re going to face Alpha Alaric and Scarlett today, aren’t you?”
Her brow furrowed.
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“Caelum told you?”
He inclined his head.
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Her hands tightened at her side. “Yes. There are things that must be ended. But Lucien…” her voice faltered, quiet but steady, “if you come with me, will it not delay your duties?”
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