Third Per

POV

The door mmed open.

Alpha ric

His worde

stormed in, already shouting. “Kael Vale, get up right now! Why the hell did you unterally terminate-”

caught in his throat.

Lying in the center of Kael’s massive bed was Riley.

Pale.

sleep.

groggy,

her limbs tangled in silken sheets, she blinked against the dim morning light, clearly startled from a restless

ric stood frozen, the fury in his expression slowly morphing into stunned disbelief.

Behind him, Luna Zara gasped aloud. “Riley? Why are you sleeping in your brother’s bed?”

Brother?

For a heartbeat, Riley forgot where she was. The scent of cedar and smoke, Kael’s scent, still clung to the sheets. It was surreal.

Why had he brought her here?

He had always hated her. For years, she had been forbidden from even stepping past the threshold of his room, while Scarlett had wandered in and out as if she owned the ce.

Now, suddenly, this.

ric’s expression darkened again as he scanned the room, clearly searching for his son.

But Kael was nowhere in sight.

“Where is he?” ric demanded, his voice sharp and clipped.

Riley didn’t answer. Her face was unreadable as she slowly rose from the bed, her movements hindered by her injured leg. She limped toward the door, expression impassive.

But ric and Zara stood in her way, blocking the exit.

Riley paused, brows slightly furrowed. “Step aside.”

10

ric’s jaw clenched. His earlier anger, fueled by the crumbling alliance with Ronan’s ckmaw Pack, surged forward in full.

“I’m your father,” he snapped. “Is this how you speak to your elders? No shame, no discipline. Just like always. A disgrace.”

Zara tugged on his sleeve. “ric, please-

He cut her off. “Why wasn’t she in her own room? What is she ying at? This is the very first night she returns to Ebonw, and she’s already causing problems.”

“She’s not a child anymore,” he growled. “And even if Kael is her blood brother, sneaking into his bed like this–what the hell is she thinking?”

Luna Zara’s face paled. “Enough! Don’t say another word.”

But the implication lingered, venomous and vile.

Riley’s fingers curled at her sides. She felt it–the bitter sting of humiliation, the slow burn of betrayal rekindling in her chest. The way ric looked at her–it wasn’t the gaze of a father. It was the stare of a hunter sizing up a threat.

Her voice was

but cold. “Are you

done?”

Her father’s breath caught. Riley’s tone had the razor edge of someone who had long since stopped begging to be loved.

“Then step aside. I’m leaving.”

ric refused to move,

ped down on her forearm. Without warning, she was When Riley attempted to edge past them, a cold, brutal grip mped down on her forearm. Without warning, she was shoved backward.

She crashed to the floor with a muffled cry, her injured leg twisting beneath her.

The pain was immediate and blinding.

“ric!” Zara shrieked. “You’ve lost your mind!”

“She’s not going anywhere until I get some answers.”

Riley pushed herself upright with shaking hands, biting back the pain. She lifted her head, forcing herself to meet ric’s gaze.

“Why don’t you call Kael if you’re so desperate for answers?” she said through gritted teeth. “Maybe he can exin why I’m here. Because I sure as hell can’t.” here.

Zara fumbled for her phone, quickly dialing. The ringing began–nearby.

From the study next door.

The two of them turned in unison and burst into the adjacent room.

The lights were off. The scent of alcohol hung heavy in the air.

Zara turned on the lights.

Kael was slumped against the wall, legs sprawled, surrounded by empty whiskey bottles. His eyes fluttered open at the intrusion, and he squinted against the sudden brightness.

ric was livid. “Look at yourself. Look at what you’ve done.”

Kael didn’t answer. He only lifted ia /ibottle, realized it was empty, and let it drop with a hollow clink.

“Why did you dissolve the alliance with ckmaw?” ric roared. “Do you know what this means for Ebonw? For Scarlett?”

Kael’s eyes gleamed with something like contempt. “Did Ronan consider all that when he turned the prison into hell for Riley?”

Everyone fell silent.

Kael rose, swaying slightly but focused now. “He ordered his people to beat her. They snapped her bones. Forced her to drink from toilets. Zapped her with silver needles. You want to know why she limps? Her leg was shattered with wooden clubs. That’s why.”

Zara staggered back, hand pped over her mouth.

ric blinked, stunned.

“You’re lying,” he said weakly.

Kael pulled out his phone, tapped the screen a few times, then held it out.

Their own phones buzzed simultaneously.

ric’s eyes scanned the screen. Cold, clinical notes. Hospital logs. Surveince stills. Photographs of injuries that should never have been inflicted in a licensed detainment facility.

Zara sobbed openly.

ric stared at the images, color draining from his face. “You… were too rash. You should’ve consulted us. Ending the alliance

like that will cost us-

“It already cost us,” Kael said quietly. “It cost her five years of her life.”

ric’s phone rang again. He stepped aside to answer it.

His expression copsed into horror. “What?”

Zara moved toward him. “What’s wrong?”

“We’ve lost ten billion,” he muttered. “Overnight.”

Zara’s knees gave out. She caught herself on the desk. “What are we going to do?”

“There’s only one option,” ric said after a pause. “We need to restore the alliance. Grovel if we must.”

“And the price?”

ric hesitated.

Kael’s eyes narrowed.

ric exhaled. “Ronan says… Riley has to kneel before his sister’s hospital bed and beg for forgiveness.”

A chilling silence fell.

Then Scarlett’s voice rang sweetly from behind them. “Sister, it’s sote–why are you loitering by Kael’s study door?”

Riley turned slowly, her eyes meeting the girl who had taken her ce.

Scarlett’s smile didn’t reach her eyes.