Chapter 30

The world swayed.

Riley's head throbbed as she came back to herself, her body heavy, slow. The numbness in her limbs was fading, replaced by a dull, aching pulse that crawled through her bones.

She was bound.

Leather straps dug into her wrists and ankles, securing her to a cold metal chair. The air around her was damp and thick with the scent of blood, earth, and something old.

Her vision swam as she blinked hard, forcing herself to focus.

Stone walls. Dim torchlight. Shadows flickering across the uneven ground.

Underground.

She wasn't in the safe house anymore.

A dungeon? A cellar? A tomb?

A slow clap broke the silence.

Riley's stomach twisted.

She knew that sound.

Tobias.

"Rise and shine," his voice drawled from somewhere beyond the flickering light. "I was beginning to think you'd sleep forever."

Riley's jaw tightened. "Funny. I was hoping this was all just a bad dream."

Tobias stepped into the light, his golden eyes gleaming with amusement.

"Dreams," he mused. "That's an interesting way to put it. You've been remembering things, haven't you?"

Riley forced her expression to stay blank. "Not really. You bore me to death every time I see you."

Tobias smirked.

"Still sharp. I like that."

He moved closer, circling her like a predator sizing up prey.

But Riley wasn't prey.

Not anymore.

She ignored the dull ache in her skull, the way the hunger inside her was stirring again.

"What do you want?" she demanded.

Tobias tilted his head. "What I've always wanted."

His smile curled.

"You."

Riley's pulse spiked.

Tobias sighed, pacing slowly. "You've been fighting it. Pushing away the truth. But you can feel it, can't you?" He gestured toward her. "The power inside you. The hunger."

Riley stayed silent.

Because he wasn't wrong.

And that terrified her.

Tobias leaned in slightly, voice dropping. "Do you want to know why you feel like this?"

Riley swallowed hard. "Not particularly."

He ignored her.

"You weren't just part of the war, Riley. You were the weapon."

Her breath caught.

Tobias's eyes gleamed. "It wasn't the wolves who started it. It wasn't the humans. It was you."

"No."

She didn't realize she had spoken until she heard her voice.

But Tobias just smiled. "Yes."

The images flashed through her mind before she could stop them.

Blood on the snow.

Golden eyes, filled with rage.

A promise. A betrayal. A war.

The ruins. The creature.

The hunger inside her.

Riley clenched her fists. "Why would I believe anything you say?"

Tobias sighed. "Because it's the truth."

He crouched slightly, leaning closer. "And deep down, you already know it."

Riley refused to look away.

She wouldn't let him get inside her head.

But something dark and ancient inside her whispered that he was right.

Tobias studied her, almost thoughtfully.

Then softly he said, "Do you want to see for yourself?"

Riley frowned. "What?"

Tobias's smirk returned. "You've only seen glimpses, haven't you? Pieces. Half-truths."

He straightened, pacing again. "What if I could give you everything? The full truth. Your truth."

Riley's stomach tightened.

Because she wanted that.

She needed that.

She was tired of the missing pieces.

But she didn't trust him.

Tobias saw her hesitation and smiled. "No tricks. No mind games. Just the truth."

Riley swallowed. "What's the catch?"

Tobias's eyes darkened.

"You accept who you are."

The words curled around her ribs, sinking in like hooks.

The hunger inside her stirred.

Tobias saw it.

He knew.

And that's why he wasn't forcing her hand.

She had to choose this.

Riley's breath came fast, uneven.

If she said yes

If she let him unlock whatever was inside her

Would she be able to stop it?

Would she even want to?

Kieran's voice echoed in her mind.

"You need to control it."

Her stomach twisted.

She couldn't trust Tobias.

But she also couldn't trust herself.

Riley closed her eyes, trying to steady her pulse.

And then

The door slammed open.

A blur of motion.

Kieran.

His golden eyes burned as he ripped through the wolves, claws flashing.

Tobias barely reacted.

He sighed. "Of course."

Riley's heart leaped into her throat.

Kieran was bleeding, but he didn't stop.

His eyes locked on hers.

And for the first time, she saw something in them she hadn't before.

Desperation.

Riley yanked at her bindings, trying to free herself. "Kieran"

Tobias moved.

Faster than she expected.

He was on Kieran in a second.

The two wolves collided, the air cracking with the force of it.

Kieran snarled, swinging hard.

Tobias dodged effortlessly.

"Still so predictable," he muttered, shoving Kieran into the wall.

Riley struggled against the restraints, panic rising.

She needed to move.

She needed to stop this.

Tobias grabbed Kieran by the throat, slamming him into the stone.

Kieran gasped.

Tobias leaned in, voice cold. "You should've stayed gone, Wolfe."

Riley saw the moment Kieran's body went slack.

No.

No.

Something inside her snapped.

The hunger roared to life.

Her vision blurred.

Her skin burned.

Tobias turned back to her, smirking.

And that was his mistake.

Because he had forgotten something.

She wasn't helpless.

She wasn't prey.

She was powerful.

The bindings shattered.

Riley stood.

Her body wasn't her own anymore.

It was something more.

Something ancient.

Tobias's eyes widened.

"Impossible," he breathed.

Riley smiled.

And then

She moved.

Faster than I thought.

Faster than instinct.

Faster than Tobias.

Her hand closed around his throat, lifting him off the ground.

Tobias choked, clawing at her grip.

Riley's breath was slow. Measured.

The hunger had been waiting.

Now, it was awake.

Tobias's golden eyes flashed with something she had never seen before.

Fear.

The pack's Alpha was afraid of her.

Riley tilted her head. "What was that you said earlier?"

Tobias struggled.

She squeezed tighter.

Then, softly almost gently she whispered:

"Welcome home."

The power surged.

Tobias let out a strangled gasp

And the world shattered around them.

A pulse of raw, burning energy exploded from Riley's core, rippling outward like a shockwave.

Tobias gasped his body arching in pain, golden eyes wide with disbelief. The walls groaned, cracks spider-webbing through the stone as the very air around them seemed to bend under her will.

Riley barely noticed.

She was somewhere else.

Somewhere deeper. Darker.

Power thrummed in her veins, ancient and endless. The hunger that had once been a whisper was now a roar, clawing at her insides, begging to be set free.

She could end this.

Right now.

One snap of her fingers, one final push, and Tobias would be gone.

Kieran's voice cut through the haze.

"Riley."

She turned.

His golden eyes weren't angry.

They weren't afraid.

They were pleading.

"Don't."

Her breath hitched.

For the first time, the hunger hesitated.

Tobias coughed, struggling in her grip.

Riley's fingers trembled.

She had him.

She had won.

But at what cost?

Her pulse pounded.

And then for the first time since waking up in those ruins

She realized.

This was her choice.

Her hand loosened.

Tobias collapsed.

And Riley took a slow, shaky breath.

Because she had just proven something.

She wasn't the monster they thought she was.

Not yet.