Riley’s POV

“Heh

FRIS

A coldugh escaped my lips before I could stop it. It echoed through the sterile hospital room, sharp as broken ss. “No wonder the maids in the Ebonw Pack look down on bme/b,” I said, my voice low, brittle with irony. “They call Scarlett Young Lady, and me? Just “Miss Riley. And they’re not wrong.”

I turned my

y gaze on Luna bZara /band Kael Vale–my so–called mother and brother.

“Because neither of byou /bever intended to acknowledge me as one of your own.”

“I’ve always just been a guest bin /byour house. A stray wolf at your doorstepb./b” I tilted my head. “Not family. Not truly.”

My voice dropped further, t band /bvoid of warmth. “So why are you still here?”

Zara flinched. bThen/bb, /bin the blink of an eye, her expression shifted. The motherly sorrow vanished, reced by cold Luna resolve. She straightened her spine, her jaw set firm.

“Whether you ept it or not. Riley, you are my daughter,” she said. “I carried you in my womb for ten months. You have Ebonw blood running through your veins. And that bond can never be broken.”

“Being born of our Packes with responsibilities. Sacrifices. As a Vale, you owe your life to this Pack.”

I didn’t respond.

She stepped closer, voice cold as iron. “Don’t forget what you promised me and Alpha ric. If you dare go back on your word and jeopardize our alliance with Alpha Lucien Duskgrave, then everything you hope to gain–your freedom, your future, the one million promised–will vanish.”

There it was.

The real reason she came.

Not concern. Not remorse.

Just the deal.

The arrangement.

The damn marriage pact with the Stormridge Pack’s Alpha heir, Lucien.

She hadn’te to check if I was still bleeding inside.

She’de to make sure the bride was still intact.

I had long since stopped hoping she’d see me as her bdaughter/b. What was the bpoint/bb? /bI bwas /bleverage to bthem/b. A rare white wolf they couldn’t tame–so now, bthey’d /bsell bme /boff instead.

Her words didn’t surprise me. I had anticipated every single one.

“If you’re finished,” I buid /bcoolly, “please leaveb./b”

I turned my face away from her. I didn’t want to see their bexpressions/b. Not their guilt. Not their lies.

?ara i breath caught. She stood there for a moment too long. bMaybe /bbshe /bstill thought I’d cry, beg, screamb. /bBut I didn’t.

There were no more tears left in me for them.

When she finally spoke again, her voice was icy. “You look fine to me. Recover quickly. bYour /bfather and I will schedule the meeting with Alpha Lucien You’ll do your dury

She turned and left without another nce.

Karl lingered. His dark beyes /bsearched my face–for what, I didn’t know. Forgiveness? Weakness?

He found neither.

He sighed and followed her out the door.

Silence settled over the room like snow. Suffocating. Heavy.

I sat

in bthat /bquiet, my bhands /bclenched in the sheets, heart beating hollow in my chest.

I wouldn’t cry..

Not, for them.

Not anymore.

Then-

“Miss Riley, you must be starving.”

+8 Pearls

Mia’s voice cut bthrough /bthe fog like warm light. She opened the insted container, and the scent of slow–simmered bone broth filled the room, bsoothing /bsomething raw in me.

I took the bowl in my hands and sipped. The warmth traveled down my throat, but it tasted like nothing.

Almost without meaning to, I whispered. “Carmen’s lucky”

Mia paused.

“She’s got you for a mother.”

Her eyes glossed over, but she blinked fast, keeping the tears at bay. She sat beside me and took my hand.

“Miss Riley,” she bsaid /bgently, “let’s leave. You, me, and Carmen. We’ll disappear. Go somewhere the Vales will bnever /bfind us. Somewhere peaceful”

God, how I wanted that

The mere thought made my chest bache/b.

But I couldn’t

Not yet.

If I ran now, they’d crush Miab. /bThey’d revoke Carmen’s Ashmoor schrship, destroy her future. And the deal with Lucien still hung over me like a chain made of silver.

No

Td marry him.

I’d take the moncy.

Then I’d leave–band /bI’d btake /bMia and Carmen

with me.

Far away from the Ebonw Pack. Far from ric, Zara, Kaelb, /bband /ball their lies.

But I couldn’t tell her that

So I said nothing Just kept sipping the soup. It was warm, but it btasted /blike bash/bb. /b

“You’ve changed,” she said softly “You’re not the same girl I bpicked /bup bfrom /bMooncrest Penitentiary. I saw it the moment you crossed the gate. You were already nning to leave.”

b“/bbWhy /bhaven’t you. Riley?” she asked quietly. “Did they threaten you?”

My throat tightened. I stared into the soup.

“No,” I whispered.

But even I didn’t believe it.

And I could see from her face–neither did she.