Chapter 79
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Ronan scooped Tessa into his arms in a flash and growled. “What are you standing around for? She needs help–NOW!”
The hospital director’s eyes flashed–just a flicker of something smug and dark–before she grabbed the healer by the wrist and barked, “Clear the corridor! Move! Move!” The staff scrambled to obey as she ushered Ronan and Tessa out of the room.
Riley made to follow, but Alaric blocked her path.
“You disgraceful creature!” he snarled, his canines extending as anger surged. “ Get back to the estate before I drag you there myself!”
Everyone–everyone–was stopping her. Stopping her from finally unveiling the truth, from finally destroying the web of lies that had stolen five years of her life.
Riley’s vision blurred. The world tilted.
And then-
She laughed.
It started small, but quickly morphed into something raw and unhinged. Her voice rang across the hospital room, wild and hollow.
“You all ruined me. All of you!”
Alaric recoiled for a moment–only a moment–then roared in fury and lunged at her. He raised a clawed hand, intent on knocking the madness out of her.
But Riley didn’t dodge.
Her bones cracked.
Muscles tore and reformed.
A surge of heat burst from her spine as silvery fur exploded across her body.
In a flash, Riley shifted into her wolf.
Not the calm, controlled shift of a trained Alpha.
No–this was raw. Instinctual. Triggered by years of repression and betrayal.
Her silver–white wolf, massive and glowing with the rage of a hundred moons, snarled with fangs bared and eyes glowing like twin moons.
Casps filled the room.
Alaric froze.
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He was a wolf too–but he hadn’t expected this. Not here. Not now,
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The others–Zara, Kael, Maddox–hadn’t shifted. Whether from fear, restraint, or unwillingness to violate supernatural law by shifting within a human hospital, they remained trapped in their fragile human forms.
The law was clear: unauthorized shifting in human–occupied areas would draw the full wrath of the Werewolf Tribunal.
But Riley? Riley no longer cared about laws.
She pounced.
Her fangs sank deep into Alaric’s arm before he could shift. He screamed–his voice no longer the Alpha’s growl but that of a man in agony.
Blood sprayed. The scent of betrayal filled the air.
Riley tore into him again–this time across his shoulder.
Alaric tried to shift, but pain slowed him. Before he could finish, she slammed him against the wall, claws tearing through muscle and cloth alike.
“You took everything from me!” she howled through their mind link, her wolf’s voice a storm of grief and fury. “Now I’ll take it back.”
He managed to shove her away–just enough to stagger toward the exit.
But Riley was already airborne again.
This time her fangs sank into his side, and he howled–legs buckling.
In desperation, Zara lunged between them.
“Riley, stop–stop, please!”
Riley’s eyes snapped toward her mother.
But there was no recognition. Only hatred.
Zara flinched. She had never seen her daughter like this–her wolf so terrifying, so pure in its wrath.
Kael tried to grab Riley from behind.
He wasn’t even a threat.
She spun, slashing across his arm with a single swipe of her claws. Flesh split. He screamed and fell back, blood splattering across his shirt.
Maddox tried next. “Riley–don’t do this! You’ll be hunted!”
But Riley’s wolf didn’t care.
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One by one, they had turned their backs on her.
They’d let Scarlett frame her.
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They’d let her rot in a cell.
Riley’s eyes locked onto Scarlett, who was already scrambling backward.
“P–please…” Scarlett whimpered. “Sister, I–I didn’t mean to…”
“Sister?” Riley’s wolf growled, blood dripping from her maw. “You led Tessa into the Black Forest. You watched the rogues tear her apart. You wore my face, stole my name… and now you want mercy?”
Scarlett’s legs gave out beneath her as Riley advanced.
Desperate, she threw Zara forward as a shield.
Zara gasped.
Riley couldn’t stop in time.
Her claws raked across Zara’s stomach, slashing deep. Blood soaked through the Luna’s gown.
Riley staggered back in horror for just a heartbeat–her wolf blinking as if suddenly aware of what it had done.
Zara collapsed to the ground, staring in disbelief–not at the wound, but at Scarlett.
“You pushed me,” she whispered, hand trembling over her abdomen. “You… you pushed me to save yourself…”
Scarlett didn’t respond.
She ran.
Without a backward glance.
Zara’s tears flowed freely–whether from pain or heartbreak, none could tell.
Riley’s wolf stood amidst the carnage, fur matted with blood, chest heaving.
And then she laughed again.
A laugh that didn’t belong to a girl or a wolf–but something else entirely.
“You really are the perfect family,” she growled. “You love your little Scarlett so much… you’d die for her.”
Her voice echoed like a curse.
“To be used as a shield by the daughter you chose… what a beautiful bond you have.”