Riley’s POV

    Pain.

    +10 Free Coins

    That was the first thing I felt as consciousness wed me back from the void. The anesthesia had worn off, leaving only the raw, stabbing agony that radiated from my side. My new kidney-my own kidney, returned to me-burned like fire under my skin. Each breath felt like swallowing knives, and a cold sweat broke over me, dampening the thin shift clinging to my body.

    I forced my eyes open.

    Darkness.

    Not the dim haze of nightfall, not the shadow of hospital curtains, but smothering, unnatural ck. Panic fluttered in my chest until I heard the rough rustle of fabric.

    With a harsh “whrrp,” the heavy drape was yanked away.

    Light flooded in, searing my vision. And there she was.

    Selene Ashford.

    Her smile was a twisted parody of grace, sharp as a fang. She leaned forward, amusement and malice mingling in her expression. “Riley Vale,” she drawled, savoring my name like venom on her tongue, “tell me how does it feel to live like a mongrel in a kennel?”

    Her voice slithered around me, mocking, cruel.

    —

    She began to circle the iron cage that confined me, her heels clicking against the floor with predatory rhythm. “Tsk, tsk. Who would’ve thought the betrothed of Lucien Duskgrave, Alpha Prince of the Stormridge Pack, would one day be reduced to this? A dog in a cage.” Herughter cracked sharp in the air, shrill and grating.

    The words would have gutted anyone else.

    But I’d long since learned what it meant to be beaten, starved, caged, stripped of dignity. Insults slid off me like rain off a wolf’s coat. I had already been made into

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    prey so many times that mockery no longer pierced me.

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    So I sat in the cage, back straight despite the ache in my side, and fixed her with a steady stare. My silence was my answer. My eyes told her the truth: she was nothing but a jester to me. A wolf howling into the void, desperate for attention.

    My calm only fanned her rage.

    Selene spat curses, her voice climbing higher with every breath. She circled, pacing like a restless predator. Ten minutes, maybe more-her voice cracked, her throat rasped, yet she raged on.

    I didn’t give her the satisfaction of a single word.

    When atst she faltered, her lips dry and her fury spent, I let my own words spill, low and cold. “Are you finished?”

    Her eyes narrowed.

    “Good. Because now it’s my turn.” I leaned forward, my hands curled loosely around the iron bars. “You’ve forgotten what happened six months ago. You’ve forgotten how I broke you then. Do you really think Lucien would forgive this? Do you think he won’t smell your stink of betrayal the moment I tell him?”

    The venom in my voice drew her close. Her face twisted, rage burning like wildfire. She leaned so close her hot breath ghosted my skin.

    “Bitch,” she hissed, her eyes bloodshot, veins straining in her neck. “You and Carmen ruined me! Took everything from me. I have nothing left to lose. Nothing! Do you hear me? I’m barefoot on broken ss now, and I don’t care if I bleed. If I go down, I’ll drag you with me.”

    Her madness radiated off her like heat.

    Her lips peeled back in a grin that showed too much tooth. “I want to watch you die slowly, Vale. I want to watch the Alpha Prince cradle your corpse, watch the light die in his eyes. Oh, the look on his face when he realizes you’re gone will be exquisite.”

    My jaw tightened. I narrowed my eyes, letting my own truth cut her. “Then listen well. I’m already dying, Selene. My body is broken beyond repair. But you?” I tilted my head, my voice like a wolf’s snarl, quiet but sharp. “You could live decades. Every breath you take is one I can rip away. If I can trade this failing body for your

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    life, it will be a fair bargain.”

    The words struck. I saw the fury re brighter.

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    Her shriek ripped through the room. She mmed her hands against the cage, shaking the iron until it rattled. “I’ll kill you! I’ll rip you apart, bitch!”

    I remained still, watching her unravel. The predator in me stirred, calm in the face of her hysteria. She thought me prey, but her frenzy betrayed her-she was the cornered one, snapping wildly at shadows.

    In truth, I almost weed the thought of death. Death meant freedom. No more pain. No more scars to carry. And I had my vengeance-Scarlett was gone. That knowledge gave me peace.

    Selene’s eyes burned with wild light. Her hands fumbled across the table until her fingers curled around the hilt of a fruit knife. She brandished it with a trembling grip, her chest heaving.

    She was going to stab me.

    I didn’t move.

    But then, atst, the silent wolf in the corner spoke.

    Maddox.

    His voice cracked through the room, heavy with contempt. “Selene, have you lost your mind?” His gaze cut between us, sharp and assessing. “Don’t forget why you sought me out. You promised me Riley. And in return, you swore you’d im Lucien Duskgrave for yourself. Now she’s mine, and you’ve yet to fulfill your end of the bargain. So why waste her life before you’ve even secured his?”

    The knife stilled in her hand.

    I watched her with cold eyes, caged but unbroken, waiting to see which wolf would bare their fangs first.