Chapter 37
Riley had spent her entire life feeling like an outsider.
She had never truly belonged not in Silverwood, not at school, not even in her own home. There had always been something off about her, something lurking beneath the surface that made her feel like she was standing on the edge of a world she couldn't quite touch.
Now, as she stood before the wolves that should have been her enemies, wolves that should have torn her apart on sight she realized why.
She had never belonged because she had never been meant to.
Not in that life.
Not in that version of herself.
But here?
Here, with the wind pressing cold against her skin, with the fire in her veins roaring louder than it ever had before this felt right.
The wolves were waiting.
She could feel it in the air, in the way their bodies remained still yet alert, their eyes tracking her every movement.
They weren't challenging her.
They weren't even questioning her.
They were watching.
Listening.
Waiting.
She clenched her hands into fists, her nails digging into her palms as a strange, sharp ache twisted through her chest.
She had a choice to make.
Take them. Or turn them away.
Kieran stepped closer, his presence solid beside her, his voice low, tense. "Riley we need to leave."
She could hear the warning in his voice.
Not because of the wolves.
Not even because of Marcus, still kneeling on the ground, breathing unsteady as he tried to recover from whatever had happened when she touched him.
No, Kieran was warning her about herself.
Because he knew.
He felt it just as much as she did.
This moment, this choice would change everything.
But Riley wasn't sure she could walk away.
Something in her was thrumming, alive, demanding.
This wasn't power in the way she had once imagined it. It wasn't just something she could control or contain.
It was something that called to others.
Something that made them recognize her.
Something that whispered of a past she had yet to fully understand.
Riley turned to Marcus, her voice steady despite the storm inside her. "Why are they listening to me?"
Marcus exhaled slowly, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he finally pushed himself to his feet. His golden eyes flickered with something almost reluctant.
"You don't know?"
She held his gaze. "If I knew, I wouldn't be asking."
Marcus let out a rough chuckle, shaking his head. "Then you're more dangerous than I thought."
Kieran stiffened beside her. "That's not an answer."
Marcus glanced at him but didn't argue. Instead, his eyes landed on Riley again, assessing her.
"You don't smell like Tobias," he murmured. "You don't smell like the Forsaken, either." He tilted his head slightly, studying her with something close to curiosity. "You smell like something older."
A slow, cold shiver crawled up Riley's spine.
"Older?" she echoed.
Marcus nodded. "Like something that was buried a long time ago."
She swallowed hard.
Because she had felt that.
Every time she touched the ruins, every time she saw the visions of her past, every time she let her power rise instead of fighting it down
She felt ancient.
Like she had existed before this war, before Tobias, before any of them.
And the wolves knew it.
That was why they hesitated.
That was why Marcus was looking at her like he wasn't sure if she was an enemy or something worse.
Kieran's voice was tight when he spoke. "That doesn't explain why they're waiting for her."
Marcus didn't blink. "Because they're packed."
Riley frowned. "Tobias's pack."
Marcus shook his head. "No."
A pause.
Then, softly"Yours."
The words slammed into Riley like a physical blow.
She took a step back. "No."
Marcus's lips curled slightly, but it wasn't amusing. It was understanding.
"Yes."
Kieran growled, stepping between them. "That's not possible."
Marcus's gaze flicked toward him. "And yet, here we are."
The wolves behind him didn't move, didn't even blink.
But Riley could feel it now, the way the air had shifted.
She wasn't imagining it.
They weren't just waiting for an Alpha's command.
They were waiting for hers.
Her breath came too fast, her heartbeat hammering louder than ever.
No.
She wasn't supposed to have a pack.
She wasn't supposed to be leading anyone.
She had barely figured out who she even was.
But the moment she had stepped forward, the moment she had met their eyes and they had hesitated instead of attacking
She had felt it.
A connection.
A pull.
Something old and undeniable.
Something that had always been there.
Panic curled inside her chest, but beneath it something worse.
Something close to wanting.
Because what if she didn't turn them away?
What if she took them?
What if, instead of running, instead of waiting for Tobias to strike again, instead of pretending she wasn't part of this war she stepped into it fully?
What if she did what Tobias had feared all along?
What if she took his pack from him and made them hers?
The thought sent a sharp, dangerous thrill rushing through her.
Kieran must have seen it, must have felt it because he reached for her arm, his fingers firm, grounding.
"Riley," he said softly, and she heard the plea in his voice.
She turned toward him, and for the first time since meeting him, she saw worry.
Not just for her.
For what she might become.
And that was the problem, wasn't it?
He still saw her as Riley Hayes.
But what if she wasn't?
What if she had never been?
The wolves were still watching, still waiting, their bodies poised, expectant.
Marcus had fallen silent.
Even Lena, who had emerged from the watchtower to witness the exchange, stood back, her expression unreadable but interested.
Because everyone here knew it.
Felt it.
This wasn't just a battle for survival anymore.
It was a battle for leadership.
For power.
For the next move in a war that had been waiting for her to make a choice.
Riley inhaled, her fingers twitching at her sides.
And then she spoke.
"Go back to Tobias," she told Marcus, her voice steady, strong.
He frowned. "What?"
She lifted her chin. "Tell him I'm not running anymore."
Marcus's gaze sharpened. "That's a mistake."
Riley smiled.
"No." Her voice was quiet, but certain. "It's a warning."
Marcus hesitated for a long moment as if weighing whether he should listen or strike now.
But then, finally, he nodded once.
A slow, almost respectful bow of his head.
And wolves her wolves turned and disappeared into the trees.
Kieran let out a slow breath beside her, but she could feel the tension still thrumming in him, still coiled beneath the surface.
He wasn't relieved.
Because she had just made the first move.
And there was no turning back now.
There was no turning back now.
Riley had drawn a line in the sand.
She had sent a message not just to Tobias, but to everyone. To the wolves who had once hunted her, to the pack that had once been his, to the ones who had been waiting, watching, wondering if she was the same girl she had been before.
She wasn't.
And they all knew it now.
Kieran hadn't moved, but she could feel the tension in him like a live wire, sharp and dangerous. His golden eyes flickered in the dim light, his breath slow and measured, as if he was trying to hold something back.
Finally, he spoke, his voice low. "Do you know what you just did?"
Riley turned to him, her heartbeat steady, calm. "Yeah."
Something flashed across his face, frustration, anger, something else beneath it that she couldn't name.
"You just declared war."
Riley tilted her head slightly, considering. "I think the war is already coming."
Kieran exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. "That's not the point."
She took a slow step closer, searching his face. "Then what is?"
His jaw tightened. "You didn't just challenge Tobias. You put yourself at the center of this."
"I was always at the center of this."
His fingers curled into fists at his sides. "Not like this, Riley."
She lifted a brow. "Then tell me how exactly I was supposed to stay out of it?"
Kieran didn't answer immediately. He just looked at her, something raw and torn flickering beneath the frustration in his eyes.
Like he had hoped for something else.
Like he had hoped she would choose differently.
She wasn't sure why that stung.
She wasn't sure why part of her still wanted him to see her as someone who could be saved.
But she wasn't helpless.
She wasn't a girl in need of protection.
She had never been.
Riley inhaled, her voice softer now. "I'm not afraid of him."
Kieran's jaw clenched. "You should be."
Something cold curled in her stomach.
Not because he was wrong.
But because the look in his eyes told her he wasn't just talking about Tobias anymore.
He was talking about her.
The weight of what had just happened, the wolves submitting, Marcus's warning, the shift in the air, it wasn't just war.
It was claiming.
She had stepped forward, and they had followed.
Because they recognized her.
Because some part of them had already belonged to her before.
Because, maybe, deep down, she had already belonged to them, too.
Kieran swallowed hard, taking a slow step back. "You don't understand what this means."
Riley's lips parted, but before she could respond, another voice cut through the night.
"Oh, I think she does."
Lena.
Riley turned to see her leaning casually against a tree, arms crossed, watching them like a spectator at a show.
She pushed off the trunk, stepping closer, her golden eyes gleaming. "That was quite the move you just made, princess."
Riley narrowed her gaze. "What do you want, Lena?"
Lena smirked. "To see what you do next."
Riley exhaled, her pulse still thrumming beneath her skin.
Because that was the real question now, wasn't it?
What happened next?
Tobias would hear about this.
He would come.
And when he did, Riley wouldn't just be the girl who had escaped.
She would be the girl who took what was his.
And she had no intention of giving it back.
And she had no intention of giving it back.
Not now.
Not ever.
The fire in her veins burned hotter, curling around her ribs like it had always been there, waiting for her to claim it. Tobias had hunted her, had tried to erase her, had sent his wolves to drag her back into the dark
But he had failed.
And now?
Now she wasn't just surviving.
She was talking.
Kieran was still watching her, his golden eyes dark with something unreadable, but she didn't look away. She didn't shrink under his gaze, didn't try to soften what had just happened.
Because there was no undoing it.
Lena chuckled, tilting her head slightly as she studied Riley. "I hope you're ready for this, sweetheart."
Riley let a slow smile curl at the edges of her lips.
"I was born ready."