Chapter 22
The forest swallowed Riley whole.
The ruins, the truth, Kieran all of it blurred into the background as she ran.
She didn't know where she was going.
She just knew she had to get away.
The cold night air burned her lungs. The sharp scent of pine and damp earth curled around her, the leaves crunching beneath her boots as she pushed forward, faster, farther.
She didn't think so.
She didn't want to think.
Because if she stopped running, if she let herself feel the weight of what Kieran had just told her
She wasn't sure she'd be able to breathe again.
I've done this before.
The words rattled in her skull, over and over.
Kieran hadn't said how many times.
He hadn't said what happened before.
But she had seen it in his eyes. The hesitation.
Whatever had happened in the past, it had ended badly.
And he thought it was happening again.
She pushed herself harder, branches whipping against her skin.
The forest pulsed around her, every shadow stretching too far, every sound too sharp. It was alive. Watching. Waiting.
And deep down, Riley knew
She wasn't running alone.
Something was chasing her.
The pull in her ribs the invisible thread connecting her to Kieran grew tighter.
No.
No, it wasn't Kieran.
This was something else.
Something is wrong.
The air shifted.
The night breathed.
And then
A growl.
Low. Deep. Too close.
Riley's heart slammed into her ribs.
She didn't slow down.
Didn't look back.
But she felt it.
Something big moved behind her, the ground shaking beneath its weight.
A predator.
Hunting her.
Her pulse roared in her ears.
Kieran had said she shouldn't have opened the ruins.
Had she woken something up?
The thought clawed at her, but she couldn't stop not now.
The thing behind her moved fast. Too fast. The ground trembled beneath its weight, leaves scattering as it gained on her.
She had to think.
Had to find a way out.
But the trees stretched on forever, the darkness thick and suffocating. Every time she turned, every time she veered left or right, the forest only seemed to pull her deeper.
A trap.
She was running straight into a trap.
Her breath came in ragged gasps as she pivoted sharply, trying to shake it.
But the growls only grew louder.
Closer.
The pull in her chest the connection she didn't understand tightened, like an invisible noose.
Then
A shape lunged from the shadows.
Massive.
Teeth gleaming in the slivers of moonlight.
Riley barely had time to react before the creature slammed into her.
She hit the ground hard, her body skidding through the dirt and leaves. Pain shot through her ribs, her vision blurring.
She rolled, gasping, forcing herself up.
And finally, she saw it.
Not a wolf.
Not a werewolf.
Something worse.
It stood on four limbs, but its body was all wrong too long, too twisted. Its skin was stretched taut over sinewy muscle, its mouth too wide, teeth too sharp.
Not natural.
Not supposed to exist.
Its eyes were dark, endless pits locked onto hers.
And when it spoke, its voice was not its own.
It was hers.
"You don't remember me but I remember you."
Riley's breath hitched.
No.
No, this wasn't real.
It took a slow step forward, claws digging into the dirt.
"I've been waiting for you, Riley."
Her blood ran cold.
Because even though she had never seen this creature before, even though every part of her screamed to run
Somewhere, deep inside, she knew it.
And it knew her.
She scrambled backward, her heart slamming against her ribs. "Stay away from me."
The thing laughed.
A horrible, distorted sound.
"But you called me here."
Riley's stomach twisted.
She had woken it up.
The ruins. The energy.
This thing had been waiting for her to return.
And now?
It wasn't going to let her go.
The creature lunged.
Riley barely had time to react before something else crashed into it.
A blur of motion.
A snarl deep, furious.
Kieran.
He hit the creature hard, claws slashing across its side, sending it reeling. It snarled, its skin twisting, writhing.
Kieran landed between them, golden eyes blazing.
His voice was low, dangerous.
"Run."
But Riley didn't move.
She couldn't.
Because deep in her chest, the connection between them burned.
Not with fear.
Not with panic.
With recognition.
And she wasn't sure if it was for Kieran
Or for the thing trying to kill them both.
Riley's pulse thundered as she stared at the creature that had spoken with her voice.
She wanted to believe it was just a monster. Just another threat in the endless nightmare she had fallen into.
But something deep in her chest, something buried in the cracks of her memories, whispered otherwise.
You know what it is.
You've seen it before.
You've fought it before.
The creature growled, shifting its weight as it locked its abyssal eyes on Kieran. Its twisted mouth curled into something like a smile.
"Ah the loyal one."
Kieran's entire body went still.
Riley saw the way his muscles tensed, the way his breath hitched just for a second. Recognition.
Not just from her.
From him.
He knew it, too.
A chill coiled down her spine.
Before she could speak, the creature lunged.
Kieran met it head-on, colliding in a blur of claws and snapping teeth. They crashed through the underbrush, snarling, the air thick with the sound of tearing flesh and breaking branches.
Riley's breath caught.
She should run.
She should.
But her feet wouldn't move.
Because some part of her knew
This wasn't just a fight.
It was unfinished business.
And somehow, she was at the center of it.
The realization rooted her to the spot, even as Kieran and the creature tore into each other, their bodies a blur of snarling fury and flashing claws.
This wasn't just about her being marked.
It wasn't about Kieran protecting her, or Callum pushing her toward some greater truth.
This nightmare-given form was here because of her.
Because of who she had been.
The weight of that truth settled deep in her chest, suffocating.
Kieran let out a sharp snarl of pain, staggering back as the creature's claws raked across his side. Blood splattered onto the leaves, dark against the moonlight.
Something in Riley snapped.
She didn't think so.
Didn't hesitate.
She moved.
Before she could second-guess it, she grabbed the nearest broken branch and lunged, driven by an instinct she didn't understand.
The creature turned just as she thrust the jagged wood into its side.
For a moment, everything stopped.
The thing froze, its abyssal eyes snapping to hers.
And then it laughed.
"Still fighting, even now?" it whispered.
Riley's blood ran cold.
Because the way it said it
Like it had been waiting for her to do exactly that.