Chapter 58
The moment Kael grabbed my arm, yelling at me to stop, something inside me snapped.
All the anger, the betrayal, the years of silent suffering–everything exploded at once.
I didn’t think. I didn’t hesitate.
I hurled the ashtray with all the rage I’d bottled inside for years.
It struck Kael square in the forehead.
A dull crack.
A splash of blood.
He staggered backward, clutching his face, blood streaming down between his fingers. The look in his eyes wasn’t just shock-
it was fear.
Good. He should be afraid.
But I wasn’t done. Not even close.
I turned my gaze to Scarlett.
She was cowering on the floor, blood already matting her golden hair, smearing across her jaw where I’d landed the first
blows.
But the sight didn’t satisfy me.
It infuriated me.
She was still breathing,
I lunged.
Slammed into her. My fists rained down like a storm unleashed–left, right, left–each strike more vicious than the last. I didn’t care about the blood, the sound of bone beneath skin, the gasps from the others.
She shrieked, tried to curl into a ball, but I grabbed her by the hair and slammed her head against the marble floor.
“You think you can ruin me and get away with it?” I snarled, not even sure if it was my voice or Nyra’s anymore. “You drugged me. You framed me. You took everything.”
“Riley, stop! You’ll kill her!”
That was Luna Zara’s voice. Distant, Powerless.
I didn’t stop. I couldn’t.
I wasn’t Riley anymore
Nyra had risen.
I felt her come to the surface like a tidal wave, crashing through my bones.
My body stretched unnaturally, bones cracking, fur erupting across my skin, my fingers lengthening into claws. Pain lanced through me, but I welcomed it. It felt right.
I felt like freedom.
Casps exploded all around the room.
She’s–oh Goddess–she’s shifting!”
+8 Pearls
“No one told me she was a–wait, is that-
“She’s a white wolf!”
I could hear them. I wanted them to hear.
Because I wasn’t just any wolf.
I was the forbidden kind. The kind whispered about in old scrolls and elders’ fireside tales. The white–furred omen-
Pure–blooded. Cursed. Untamed.
And now they had awakened me.
I turned to them, letting my words echo through the mind–link.
“Dark magic potions don’t turn anyone into a white wolf.”
–
Nyra howled a sound that split the air and made the very walls tremble. Cracks spiderwebbed across the glass chandelier above us. The lights flickered.
Everyone froze.
Even Alpha Alaric–stone–faced and always composed–took an unconscious step back. Luna Zara’s lips parted in disbelief. Warriors around the hall stiffened, their hands halfway to their weapons but unable to move.
I turned on Scarlett.
She whimpered beneath me, trembling like prey sensing death. Her golden wolf should have burst through her skin by now -any true–blooded she wolf would’ve transformed in the face of danger. But Scarlett just lay there.
Still human.
Pitiful. Weak.
And that was when I realized it.
“She can’t shift,” Nyra sneered through me. “She never could,”
Scarlett shook her head, sobbing. “No–no, 1-1 can–just not now, not here-
Lies.
All lies.
Maybe her wolf was stunted. Maybe her bloodline was impure. Maybe she’d sold her soul for magic that suppressed her true
form
But she was no warrior. She wasn’t even a wolf. Just a spoiled little girl who thought power was inherited like jewelry.
I raised my claws, curved and glowing faintly in the chandelier light.
One final strike. A kill blow. Justice for the years she stole from me.
“Don’t do this!” someone screamed.
But I was already longing
Then–pain
White–hot
Something pierced my side with a sickening thunk. A sharp sting spr
I stumbled, my vision blurring
like wildfire through my bloodstream.
My head snapped toward the source. Luna Zara. Standing there, arm extended, a silver injector in hand. Her fingers trembled, her lips moving silently in some prayer or curse,
The suppressant.
I felt it immediately.
Like ice flooding my veins. Like Nyra being ripped from my body. She snarled, thrashing inside me, refusing to go down without a light..
But even she couldn’t resist the venom laced in silver.
My transformation reversed. My bones cracked again–this time in agony. Fur receded. Strength fled. My body collapsed. Naked. Vulnerable. Trembling.
The floor beneath me was slick with blood–hers, mine, maybe both.
Scarlett crawled away, barely able to move, leaving a trail behind her like a wounded animal.
No one reached for ine
Not Alaric. Not Kael. Not Zara,
They stared at me like I was some abomination.
Only Mia ran forward, clutching a blanket, tears streaking her face. She knelt beside me, her small hands shaking as she covered my bare body.
“Riley she whispered, but I couldn’t answer. I was shaking too hard. Cold. Empty. Weak.
But even in that darkness, one truth burned brighter than the pain.
They had seen her.
They had all seen Nyra.
They saw what we could do when pushed.
They wanted to treat me like a monster?
Finc.
Next time, I wouldn’t stop.
Next time, not even a Luna’s syringe would save them.