Riley’s POV

The moment Kael grabbed my arm, byelling /bat me to stop, something inside me snapped.

All the anger, the betrayal, the years of silent suffering–everything exploded at once.

I didn’t think. I didn’t hesitate.

I hurled the ashtray with all the rage I’d bottled inside for years.

It struck Kael square in the forehead.

A dull crack.

A ssh of blood.

He staggered backward, clutching his face, blood streaming down between his fingers. The look in his eyes wasn’t just shock-

it bwas /bfear.

Good. He should be afraid.

But I wasn’t done. Not even close.

I turned my gaze to Scarlett.

She was cowering on the floor, blood already matting her golden hair, smearing across her jaw where I’dnded the first

blows.

But the sight didn’t satisfy me.

It infuriated me.

She was still breathing,

I blunged/b.

mmed into her. My fists rained down like a storm unleashed–left, right, left–each strike more bvicious /bthan thest. I didn’t care about the blood, the sound of bone beneath skin, the gasps from the others.

She shrieked, tried to curl into a ball, but I grabbed her by the hair and mmed her head against the marble floor.

“You think you can ruin me and get away with it?” I snarled, not even sure if it was my voice or Nyra’s anymore. “You drugged me. You framed me. bYou /btook everything.”

“Riley, stop! You’ll kill her!”

That was Luna Zara’s voice. Distant, Powerless.

I didn’t stop. I couldn’t.

I wasn’t Riley anymore

Nyra had risen.

I felt here to the surface like a tidal wave, crashing through my bones.

My body stretched unnaturally, bones cracking, fur erupting across my skin, my fingers lengthening into ws. Painnced through me, but I weed it. It felt right.

I felt blike /bfreedom.

Casps exploded all around the room.

She’s–oh Goddess–she’s shifting!”

+8 Pearls

“No one told me she was ba/b–wait, is bthat- /b

“She’s a white wolf!”

I could hear them. I wanted them to bhear/bb. /b

Because I wasn’t just any wolf.

I was the forbidden bkind/bb. /bThe bkind /bwhispered about bin /bold scrolls and elders’ fireside tales. The white–furred omen-

Pure–blooded. Cursed. Untamed.

And now they bhad /bawakened me.

I turned to them, letting my words echo through the bmind/b–link.

“Dark magic potions don’t turn anyone into ba /bwhite wolf.”

–

Nyra howled a sound bthat /bsplit the bair /band made the very walls tremble. Cracks spiderwebbed across the ss chandelier above us. The lights flickered.

Everyone froze.

Even Alpha ric–stone–faced and alwaysposed–btook /bban /bunconscious step back. Luna Zara’s lips parted in disbelief. Warriors around the hall stiffened, their hands halfway to their weapons but bunable /bto move.

I turned on Scarlett.

She whimpered beneath me, trembling like prey sensing death. Her golden wolf should have burst through her skin by now -any true–blooded she wolf would’ve transformed in the face of danger. But Scarlett justy there.

Still human.

Pitiful. Weak.

And that bwas /bwhen I realized it.

“She can’t shift,” Nyra sneered through me. “She bnever /bcould,”

Scarlett shook her head, sobbing. “No–no, 1-1 can–bjust /bnot now, not here-

Lies.

All lies.

Maybe her wolf was stunted. Maybe her bloodline bwas /bimpure. Maybe she’d sold her soul for magic that suppressed her true

form

But she was bno /bwarriorb. /bShe bwasn’t /beven a wolf. Just a spoiled little girl who thought power was inherited like jewelry.

I raised my bws/b, curved and glowing faintly in the chandelier light.

One final bstrike/b. A bkill /bblow. Justice for the years she stole from me.

“Don’t do this!” someone screamed.

But I was already longing

Then–pain

White–hot

Something pierced bmy /bside with ba /bsickening thunk. A sharp sting spr

I stumbled, my vision blurring

blike /bwildfire through my bloodstream.

My head snapped toward the source. Luna Zara. Standing there, arm extended, a silver injector in hand. Her fingers trembled, her lips moving silently in some prayer or curse,

The bsuppressant/b.

I felt it immediately.

Like ice flooding my bveins/b. Like Nyra being ripped from my body. She snarled, thrashing inside me, refusing to go down without a light..

But even she couldn’t resist the venomced in silver.

My transformation reversed. My bones cracked again–this time in agony. Fur receded. Strength fled. My body copsed. Naked. Vulnerable. Trembling.

The floor beneath me bwas /bslick with blood–hers, mine, maybe both.

Scarlett crawled away, barely bable /bto move, leaving a trail behind her like ba /bwounded animal.

No one reached for ine

Not ric. Not Kael. Not Zara,

They stared at bme /blike I was some abomination.

Only Mia ran forward, clutching a nket, tears streaking her face. She knelt beside me, her small hands shaking as she bcovered /bmy bare bbody/b.

“Riley she whispered, but I couldn’t answer. I was shaking too hard. Cold. Empty. Weak.

But even in that darkness, one truth burned brighter than the pain.

They had seen her.

They had ball /bseen Nyra.

They saw what we could do when pushed.

They wanted to treat me like a monster?

Finc.

Next time, I wouldn’t stop.

Next time, not even a bLuna’s /bsyringe bwould /bsave them.

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