Chapter 31
The moment I stepped into the Vale estate, the scent of blood hit me like a punch to the gut. Then something else–fear. Raw, stifling fear.
Before I could take another step, the door flung open.
Scarlett crashed into my chest, trembling like a leaf. She looked up at me, tears streaking her face. “Kael, save me! Riley’s gone crazy–she tried to kill me“”
My mind reeled, still fogged by the alcohol, but those words cut through it like ice water. I stepped forward, but then I heard
it-
Zara’s scream.
I turned sharply. My gaze snapped to the living room, where Riley stood in the center, her left hand dripping blood, the knife slick with crimson. A finger–her own damn finger–lay on the floor.
My heart lurched,
“Riley!” I shouted. “What the hell are you doing?!”
She didn’t even flinch. Her face was blank, distant–as if her soul had checked out.
“That’s the debt of birth repaid,” she said to Zara, her voice eerily calm. “We’re even now.”
Zara paled, her lips moving without sound. I moved to approach Riley, but Scarlett clung to me again, sobbing harder.
“She’s insane, Kael! She said we all have to die! She
I shoved her off.
She stumbled back, her mouth open in shock.
I didn’t care.
I rushed toward Riley, just in time to see her raise the blade again–this time aimed directly at Alaric..
“You beat me half to death, she growled, stalking toward him. “Now you can die with me.”
Alaric backpedaled, his face pale, his limbs trembling. I’d never seen him like that our father, our Alpha, reduced to a frightened old wolf. But then I sensed it too–the surge of dominance, thickening in the air like a storm.
He wasn’t just afraid. He was about to shift.
The power crackling off him was enough to freeze most Betas where they stood. If he shifted now, Riley wouldn’t stand a chance. She’d be dead in seconds.
Zara must have realized it too. Her face twisted with horror. She stepped forward, not toward him–but toward her. Riley lunged.
“Kael! Stop her!” Alaric roared.
I had no choice
surged forward and wrapped my arms around her from behind, locking her elbows down. Her strength surprised me–she thrashed and kicked like a cornered beast.
“Riley! Stop! You’ll kill someone–damn it, you’ll kill yourself!”
She screamed, her voice not quite human. Her eyes were wild, glowing faintly gold. My arms trembled holding her.
And then Zara struck
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Her palm cracked across Riley’s cheek like a whip. The sound rang out like a gunshot,
Everything stopped.
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“What are you trying to prove? Zara’s voice sliced the air like a blade. “Ever since you came back, this house has
known nothing but chaos. You want to die? Fine! Just don’t drag the rest of us down with you!”
Riley froze. Her breath hitched. She stared at Zara as if she didn’t recognize her.
The knife slipped from her fingers.
“You want to know what regret looks like, Riley? Take a good look. Because you’re the one destroying this family.”
Riley’s lips parted, but no sound came.
Then her knees buckled.
I caught her before she hit the floor.
Her head lolled against my shoulder, her eyes fluttering closed. Blood smeared across my chest. I could feel her going cold.
“Riley–Riley! Stay with me!”
Mia burst into the room, pale and shaking. “Young Alpha–she’s lost too much blood. You have to take her now!”
I didn’t hesitate.
I lifted her into my arms, holding her like I used to when she was a pup afraid of thunder. Mia snatched something off the floor–her finger–and followed close behind.
“Open the damn gates!“I bellowed to the guards outside.
Alaric’s voice snarled behind me, full of venom. “Let her die out there like the rabid thing she is.”
I didn’t stop. Didn’t even look back.
But I heard the slap.
Zara. Furious. Screaming.
Good.
Let him feel it for once.
The hospital lights were cold and sterile. I sat hunched in the emergency room waiting area, my shirt soaked with her blood, hands clenched into fists.
Every second dragged.
Mia sat beside me, her hands twisted in her apron. I could tell she wanted to speak
, but I couldn’t handle small talk. Not now. Finally. I looked up. My voice came out low. “Mia… what happened? Why did she–why did Riley do this?”
Mia’s eyes welled with tears.
“She tried to hold it in, young Alpha. For days. But they kept pushing her. The Alpha… your father… he beat her, tried to force her woll to subinit. And Scarlett.”
She looked away.
I swallowed the lump rising in my throat.
I’d known they were cruel. But this? I hadn’t seen. Hadn’t wanted to.
My gaze drifted to the emergency room door.
And for just a second… I smelled it.
Something beneath the blood.
A scent. Faint, but undeniable.
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Wolf.
Not just any wolf.
Alpha–blooded.
It shimmered in the air like a pulse of heat, brushing against my senses–feral, feminine, raw–and then it vanished.
I blinked,
Had I imagined it?
leaned back slowly, heart pounding.
Riley had never shifted. We all thought she couldn’t. That she was defective. Broken.
But now…
Now, I wasn’t so sure.