Chapter 235
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“Lies? You’re already rotting in a cell, Kael Vale. Why would I bother lying to you?”
Finished
Tessa of the Blackmaw Pack’s voice was cold enough to frost the glass between them. “I came here for one reason–so you’d know. You wronged Riley in ways no brother ever should. It’s my responsibility to tell you the truth. Kael Vale, for Scarlett, you tore into your own blood without restraint. Now… do you regret it?”
Regret didn’t begin to cover it.
The words were knives, sinking deep into his chest. Kael felt as though claws had raked across his heart, leaving it shredded and raw.
He had once convinced himself that five years ago, perhaps Scarlett had simply guided Tessa to the forest in panic, an accident she was too afraid to admit.
But this truth was a beast he had never imagined–Scarlett, together with Alpha Alaric of the Ebonclaw Pack, had plotted to take Riley’s kidney, to harvest her organs, to offer her body to the University’s anatomy halls like discarded prey.
If Tessa hadn’t overheard their plan, Riley would have died before the moon of that year had even waned.
EL
Even spared from death, Riley had been framed, cast into a wolf prison where she was beaten and abused for five long years, her wolf weakened, her body broken.
Kael’s voice cracked, his breath ragged. “No…. it can’t be… You’re saying this just to make me suffer, aren’t you?”
The chains on his wrists clanged as he slammed his palms against the reinforced glass, his eyes bloodshot, pupils blown wide
like a cornered wolf gone feral.
Tessa, unmoving in her wheelchair, simply regarded him as one might watch a rabid animal exhaust itself.
A hoarse, guttural roar tore from his throat. “Ahhh!” Then, with a sharp crack, he smashed his forehead against the glass.
Two prison guards burst in, trying to restrain him.
“Let me go!” Kael snarled, struggling against their grip. His gaze locked on Tessa, wild and desperate. “Bring Riley to me! I’ll ask her myself—I need to hear it from her-”
Tessa’s laugh was low and without mirth. “Riley will not see you. And you, Kael Vale… will taste the life she endured here. Every last drop of it.”
With that, she hung up the phone, turned her chair, and rolled away.
Kael’s pupils shrank. “Tessa–don’t you dare walk away! I want to see Riley!“”
But she never turned back. Her scent–sharp and cold–lingered for only a moment before it, too, was gone.
Kael collapsed to the ground, the fight leaving his limbs. His lips moved in a frantic whisper, over and over.
“No I don’t believe it… you’re lying…”
The words soon blurred with tears that fell hot and unchecked.
“Riley little sister…. I was wrong. Give me one more chance. When I’m free, I’ll spend my life making this right.”
But he didn’t yet understand–by the time the prison gates opened for him, Riley would already be gone from his world, never to cross his path again.
Perhaps it was vengeance settled, or perhaps simply the truth finding air at last, but that night Riley slept with a peace she hadn’t known in eight years. No dreams. No shadows. Only warmth.
When the dawn was still a pale smear over Mooncrest, she stirred.
She rose, washed quickly, and padded downstairs with a lightness in her step she hadn’t felt in years.
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In the kitchen, Mia stood at the counter, apron tied snug, a pot already steaming.
Finished
Hearing movement, Mia turned–and her eyes lit with surprise. “Miss Riley, you’re up early today. Hungry? I’ll fix you some noodles right now.”
Riley shook her head. “I’m not hungry. I want to make breakfast… for Lucien and Matriarch Duskgrave.”
Her voice was soft, but there was a quiet pride in it. “I can’t do much here. This is one way I can give back.”
Mia’s hands fluttered in protest. “No need, dear. I’ve got it. Out you go–the kitchen’s too smoky.”
But Riley slipped her arms around Mia’s, voice dipping into playful warmth. “Please? Lucien and the Matriarch have been so kind to me. The least I can do is this. Teach me your recipe for sunshine noodles? Yours are the best I’ve ever smelled.”
Her head rested lightly against Mia’s shoulder, the gesture so close, so earnest, that it melted the older she–wolf’s resolve.
“All right, all right. I’ll teach you. And when Lucien tastes them, he’ll feel the warmth all the way to his core.”
Riley’s cheeks colored faintly. “I knew you were the best, Mia.”
The compliment was well–placed. Mia grinned, the lines at her eyes softening.
The two worked side by side, wolf and wolf, in the simple rhythm of chopping, stirring, and boiling.
Half an hour later, five bowls of steaming noodles sat on the counter–broth clear and fragrant, noodles lying neatly in the white porcelain, each crowned with a golden fried egg, scattered with bright green onions and cilantro, a few drops of aromatic oil glistening on the surface.
It was then that Lucien Duskgrave, Matriarch Duskgrave, and Mrs. Beck stepped into the dining hall, drawn by the scent.
Send Gifts