Chapter 80
80
Riley’s POV
I laughed.
–
日
OX
Finished
At first, it was just a low, bitter sound scraping from my throat. But then it grew–louder, harsher, echoing off the blood–splattered walls of the infirmary like a dying beast’s cry.
Tears streamed down my cheeks, hot and bitter, mixing with the blood on my face. I could taste both salt and iron. It felt like I’d clawed my way out of a grave just to die all over again.
I pointed to myself, shaking.
“Me. Your blood. Your daughter. I’ve groveled, begged, done everything to earn a place in this cursed Pack. I’ve humbled myself, torn myself apart, just to hear you say I was enough. But what did I get?”
Alpha Alaric stood there in silence. Luna Zara clutched her side, blood oozing between her fingers. Kael Vale sat slumped by the wall, blood pouring from his arm. Maddox lingered behind them, unreadable as ever.
“You never saw me,” I snarled. “No matter what I did, it was never right. I could bleed for you, and it’d still be worthless. But Scarlett?”
A bitter grin twisted my mouth.
“She could serve you poison, and you’d say it tasted like moonlight. You’d worship her every breath. But when death came knocking, who ran?”
阪
I turned slowly to Luna Zara, whose wide eyes swam with tears. “She did. She left you all behind without hesitation. Tell me–how does that feel ? ”
I laughed again–manic and raw. I heard it echo back at me from the tiled walls like the cries of a she–wolf gone feral.
Kael groaned, his pain painting his face in fresh agony.
Luna Zara whispered, “Riley…” like it was a name she hadn’t said in years. As if it suddenly meant something.
It was too late.
“Don’t call me that,” I spat.
Tears blurred my vision, and the fire inside me cooled to ashes. I knew what I’d done. I knew what it meant.
I’d spilled blood.
In front of witnesses.
There was no going back.
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They’d report me to the Wolf Tribunal. The Pack Courts would call for my execution–or worse, send me back to that prison. Five years in that cell had nearly killed me once. I wouldn’t survive it a second time.
Since the day I was released. I’d tried everything–running, fighting, seeking justice. I’d tried to end Alaric and Scarlett both, but fate had laughed in my face.
I wasn’t the monster. But they’d turned me into one.
And Scarlett? She still got everything. A warm home. Power. A Luna’s fake crown. The admiration of fools.
While I–Riley Vale, rightful daughter of the Ebonclaw Pack–was left with scars no one could see and pain no one wanted to believe.
I couldn’t kill Zara. Or Kael. Not really. Because despite everything, somewhere deep in my bones, they had once meant something.
And I hated myself for still feeling that.
My life was a sick joke. A tragedy with no end. A wound that would never close.
And suddenly, I was done.
Done with the pain.
Done with hoping.
Done with trying to prove I deserved to exist.
I turned toward the window.
Step by step, I walked to the edge.
The wind outside tugged at my hair and bloodied shirt. I climbed onto the ledge, letting my legs dangle into
the void.
All it would take was one movement.
One jump.
No more fear.
No more dungeons.
Just silence.
Behind me, voices broke the air.
“Child, please don’t-!” Matriarch Duskgrave cried, stepping forward with a trembling hand. “It’s dangerous up there!”
“Riley, sweetling,” came Mrs. Beck’s voice, tear–choked. “There’s no pain that lasts forever. Come back down. Please.”
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Mia’s sobs were unbearable. “Miss Riley–Alpha girl–don’t leave us. Whatever happens, I’ll stay by your side. Come down, baby, please…”
I turned my head slowly, the madness in my eyes fading for the first time.
I saw them.
The three women who had stood by me when no one else did.
And somehow… it softened something in me.
I smiled–bloody, broken, but real.
“Mia.” I whispered, looking straight at her. “You’re the only warmth I ever had in that house. If you hadn’t saved me when I came back to Ebonclaw, I would’ve died that winter.”
“You patched my wounds. You let me hide in the kitchen. You fed me when I was locked in the cellar. You gave me my second chance.”
Tears welled in Mia’s eyes. “Baby girl…”
“I always dreamed that if I made it out,” I said, voice cracking, “I’d repay you. I’d buy you a house. I’d send Carmen to Ashmoor Academy, maybe even abroad someday.”
“But all those dreams died the moment they locked me in that cell.”
“They took everything from me–my future, my wolf, my health. I’ve got one kidney, a shattered leg, and no way back to Ashmoor. I’m a broken mess of scars, and nothing’s ever going to fix that.”
Mia sobbed, and Matriarch Duskgrave’s eyes were glassy.
“Come with me,” the Matriarch offered gently. “They don’t want you, Riley? Fine. I do. I’ll protect you from
them all.”
But I shook my head. “You’re too kind. If I go with you, the Ebonclaw Pack will make you pay.”
I turned to Mrs. Beck–Mrs. Beck who once stood between me and the enforcers at Mooncrest’s train station, shielding me like a mother wolf.
“I never forgot what you did,” I whispered. “I called you ‘Mom‘ that day. And you acted like one. Just for a moment… I believed I mattered.”
I locked eyes with her, and a soft breath left my lips.
“Mom,” I whispered again, and the word was everything. “Thank you.”
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