Chapter 32
Kael’s POV
Mia’s words hit me like a claw to the chest.
“Miss Riley was beaten, young Alpha. By the Alpha himself
I had already noticed the bruises–angry red welts and purpling stripes cutting across Riley’s too–pale skin. But all my focus had been on her severed finger. I hadn’t truly seen the rest.
Now I did. And I couldn’t unsee it.
My fists clenched as I tried to breathe through the storm building inside me.
“Why?” I asked, voice low, struggling to stay in control. “Why did he hit her?”
Mia hesitated, eyes darting toward the closed doors of the operating room. I could see the conflict warring in her gaze. She didn’t want to speak–but she was more afraid of what would happen if she didn’t
Scarlett claimed Riley pushed her down the stairs.” Mia said finally. “Alpha Alaric didn’t even question it. Just… snapped. Took his belt and-”
She trailed off, eyes watering.
I shut my eyes.
It wasn’t like I didn’t know what my father was capable of when he was angry. I just never imagined it’d be turned on Riley like this. Not to this degree.
Mia’s voice trembled. “Young Alpha… forgive me, but don’t you think the whole pack’s been too harsh on her? Even you…”
I looked up sharply.
She flinched and bowed her head.
Good. She should. I wasn’t in the mood for lectures.
But the guilt crept in anyway.
Because she was right.
I’d seen Riley’s pain. F’d ignored it.
Now it was bleeding all over me.
I stood and paced outside the emergency ward, every second dragging like a chain around my throat.
Finally, the door opened, and Theo Hale–our lead healer–stepped out, pulling down his mask.
“Is she- My voice cracked.
Theo gave a short nodito Mia. “Take her to recovery.”
Mia bowed and wheeled Riley’s bed toward the private ward,
When we were alone, Theo turned to me, face grim.
“It looks worse than it is,” he said. “The injuries are mostly superficial. The finger was reattached. She’ll heal
1 exhaled slowly.
But Theo didn’t move. He looked troubled.
I knew that look
336 PM d
1
+8 Pearls
“What is it?” I asked.
He hesitated.
Theo. Say it.”
He sighed. “While treating her, I noticed an old scar. Lower left side of her back. It’s clean, surgical. Maybe a year old.”
I frowned. “And?”
“Kael. Riley’s missing a kidney.
Everything inside me stilled.
“What
“Her left kidney. It’s gone. Removed cleanly, with precision. Likely during her time in confinement. I don’t know how the hell it happened–those records are sealed tighter than a vault–but it’s gone.”
My legs almost gave out
Theo saw it and reached for me, but I waved him off.
I stumbled back a step, then caught myself. My chest heaved with every breath, the air feeling thick, poisonous.
She’d lost a kidney.
In prison.
And we’d never known.
No–worse.
We’d never asked.
Theo stepped forward. “Kacl… that kind
of trauma? It might explain something else.”
I looked up.
“Riley’s wolf”
My heart skipped.
“You’ve always wondered why she never shifted. Why her bond with her wolf never formed. Well, if her body was mutilated, if her wolf was forced into deep submission from pain or betrayal, it could suppress the transformation.”
He paused.
“She didn’t reject the wolf. The wolf was caged”
Based on the faint trace of wolf pheromone I just caught from Riley, it suddenly all made sense.
I had always assumed she was too weak to complete her shift–but it wasn’t that she didn’t have a wolf.
Her wolf had been trapped all along… because she was missing a damn kidney.
I’d forgotten–she carried pure Alpha blood. She was supposed to have a powerful Alpha wolf.
I stood there, reeling. My sister had been torn apart, piece by piece, inside and out, while I sat on my throne and believed every word Scarlett fed me.
I didn’t deserve the title of Alpha.
Theo placed a hand on my shoulder, then walked off.
I stood there a long time.
+8 Pearls
Eventually, I went to her.
At the threshold of her room. I hesitated. I wasn’t ready to face her–not like this. Not when the truth had stripped me bare.
I heard Theo’s voice from inside. “You’re awake!”
A long silence. Then a rustle of sheets.
“You know, every time I see you, you’re covered in wounds. It’s like you’ve made it your thing