Chapter 38

Riley barely slept that night.

Not because she was afraid because she wasn't.

Not anymore.

The air outside the watchtower was thick with expectation, the weight of her choice settling deep in her bones. The wind whispered through the trees, carrying the scent of damp earth and something sharper like the ghosts of everything she had lost and everything she was about to take.

She sat against the stone wall, knees drawn up, arms wrapped around herself, staring out at the darkness. Waiting.

Because Tobias would come.

He would hear about what happened, about how his wolves had hesitated, about how they had looked at her as if she was something to be followed, not feared.

She had taken her first step toward something dangerous.

And she didn't regret it.

A movement at the edge of the trees caught her attention.

A shadow shifts between the branches.

She didn't move, didn't let her heartbeat change its rhythm, didn't let her body betray her awareness.

If someone was watching, she would let them.

Because she was done hiding.

Another shift this time closer.

Then, a whisper of movement behind her.

She turned her head slightly, just enough to catch the glint of golden eyes in the moonlight.

Kieran.

He was leaning against the wall a few feet away, arms crossed, his expression unreadable.

"You should be inside," he murmured.

"So should you."

Kieran exhaled through his nose, but he didn't argue.

They sat in silence for a long moment, the space between them charged with everything that had been left unsaid.

Finally, Riley spoke. "You're still angry."

Kieran didn't move. "I'm not angry."

She arched a brow.

He sighed, rubbing a hand across his jaw. "I just don't know if you understand what you did tonight."

Riley tilted her head. "I sent a message."

Kieran's golden eyes flickered with something sharp. "You declared war."

She held his gaze, steady, unyielding. "It was already coming."

Kieran let out a quiet breath, his hands curling into fists at his sides. "You think Tobias is going to let this slide? That he'll just take this as a challenge and leave it at that?"

Riley stayed silent.

Because she knew Tobias.

She knew exactly what he would do.

He would come for her.

But that was the point.

Kieran's jaw clenched. "This isn't just about Tobias anymore. You felt it, didn't you?"

Riley inhaled slowly, feeling the echo of what had happened in the clearing.

The weight of it.

The way the wolves had looked at her, not as prey, not as an enemy but as something else.

She swallowed. "They knew me."

Kieran exhaled, shaking his head. "No. They recognized you."

The words settled deep.

Like truth.

Like inevitability.

She had spent so long searching for answers, trying to piece together the fragments of her past, to understand why the ruins had called to her, why the visions had come back, why she had been brought back at all.

And now?

She wasn't just finding answers.

She was becoming them.

A sharp wind rustled through the trees, and for a brief second, she swore she heard something beneath it.

A whisper.

A voice.

You know what you are.

Riley's breath came slow and steady.

Yes.

She did.

And Tobias did, too.

That's why he was afraid.

That's why he had spent so much time trying to hunt her, control her, erase her.

Because once, a long time ago this had belonged to her.

And now, she was taking it back.

Kieran studied her, something unreadable flickering in his golden eyes. "You're different now."

Riley turned to face him fully. "No. I think I'm finally the same."

Kieran swallowed hard. "That's what scares me."

Riley's chest ached, but she didn't let it show. "I'm not your enemy, Kieran."

He let out a quiet, humorless laugh, shaking his head. "I know that." His gaze darkened. "But I don't think you realize how easy it would be for that to change."

She stared at him.

Because she understood what he meant.

He wasn't just talking about her.

He was talking about them.

The past. The war. The choices that had already been made once before.

She took a step closer, lowering her voice. "Then stay with me. Make sure I don't become the thing you're afraid of."

Kieran's breath hitched.

For a second, he almost looked like he believed her.

Then

A sound.

Low. Distant.

But unmistakable.

A howl.

Not one.

Many.

Riley's pulse spiked.

Kieran's entire body went rigid.

He turned toward the trees, his head tilting slightly, listening. "They're close."

Riley swallowed hard, her chest tightening not with fear, but with certainty.

This was it.

The war wasn't waiting anymore.

It had just arrived.

She let out a slow breath, steeling herself.

Because she wasn't running.

Not this time.

She turned to Kieran, her green eyes burning.

"Then let them come."

The words left her lips, steady and unshaken, but the moment they did, the air around her seemed to change.

The weight of what was about to happen pressed down on her like a gathering storm.

Kieran's golden eyes searched her face as if waiting for her to take it back, to show hesitation, to prove even for a second that she wasn't ready for this.

But she didn't.

She couldn't.

Because she was done running.

Another howl split through the night closer this time.

Kieran turned sharply, his body going rigid, his hands curling into fists. "That's not just a warning."

Riley's pulse thrummed. "No."

This wasn't Tobias sending a message.

This was Tobias coming for her.

The air turned colder, sharp with the scent of wolves, of pine and rain, of something dark and inevitable.

Footsteps echoed behind them.

Lena.

She stepped onto the crumbling ledge of the watchtower, arms crossed, her golden eyes glinting with interest rather than concern.

"Well, sweetheart," she murmured, "looks like you got his attention."

Riley exhaled slowly, her fingers twitching at her sides. "Good."

Lena smirked. "Then I assume you have a plan?"

A plan.

Riley should have had one.

She should have been calculating escape routes, counting how many wolves they had on their side, figuring out how much time they had before the trees broke open with blood.

But she wasn't thinking about any of that.

She wasn't thinking about running, or hiding, or how to survive the night.

She was thinking about the wolves in the clearing, the ones who had already acknowledged her, the ones who had chosen to wait, to listen instead of attack.

She was thinking about what Marcus had said.

"If you wanted them, they're already yours."

A slow breath filled her lungs.

The howls were getting closer, the wind shifting as more wolves closed in, but she wasn't afraid.

Because this was the moment Tobias had been trying to prevent.

The moment she stopped being hunted.

The moment she stood her ground.

She lifted her chin. "I'm not running."

Lena's smirk widened. "Now we're talking."

Kieran let out a sharp breath beside her. "Riley"

But she was already moving.

Toward the edge of the clearing.

Toward the wolves in the trees.

Toward the pack that had once been Tobias's.

Because tonight, everything would change.

No more running.

No more waiting.

No more pretending she wasn't meant for this.

The wind carried another howl through the trees, but this time, it wasn't just Tobias's wolves calling for blood.

It was the ones who had already started to turn toward her.

The ones who had felt the shift, the ones who had hesitated in the clearing, the ones who deep down had always known.

Kieran moved beside her, close enough that she could feel the tension rolling off him, his breath sharp and uneven. "Riley, think about this."

She did.

And for the first time in her life, it made sense.

She wasn't trapped.

She wasn't powerless.

She was claiming what had always been hers.

Riley took another step forward, toward the darkness, toward the war, toward the wolves waiting for her

And she didn't look back.

The night swallowed her whole, the shadows curling around her like they had been waiting for her to return. The scent of wolves thickened, the earth beneath her humming with something ancient, something inevitable.

She felt the weight of every step, the pulse of something powerful and restless in her veins.

She wasn't just walking toward them.

She was becoming something else.

Something they would have no choice but to follow.

Or fear.

A final breath left her lips as she crossed the threshold, stepping into the dark.

And this time she wasn't coming alone.