Chapter 4

• Riley’s POV
• The prison gates groaned open like the jaws of some ancient beast.
• Light hit my face for the first time in five years. It should have felt warm.
• It didn’t.
• The clothes I wore when I entered—now sagged off my body, hanging loose over skin stretched too tightly across brittle bones.
• I limped forward, one foot dragging behind the other. Not because I wanted pity.
• Because that’s all my body had left to give.
• A black Bentley idled at the curb. The window slid down with a soft mechanical whir.
• Kael.
• His gaze dragged over my legs, a sneer curling his lips.
• "Still pretending to be weak after five years in a cell?”
• His voice was sharp, cold—like glass dipped in poison.
• My throat tightened. The sting behind my eyes caught me off guard.
• My brother.
• The one I once tried so desperately to please.
• I said nothing. Just kept limping past him.
• Kael stiffened behind the wheel.
• In his memory, I was the eager puppy, always rushing to serve him, always begging to be seen.
• He remembered me waiting outside his office with homemade soup during winter storms.
• He remembered me massaging his shoulders when he came home late, pressing slippers to his feet with trembling fingers.
• He remembered the girl who adored him like a god.
• But that girl died somewhere between the prison bars and the courtroom bench.
• "Get in," he snapped.
• When I didn’t move, he huffed and softened his tone—just a touch.
• “Mom and Dad arranged a welcome dinner for you.”
• Mom and Dad.
• The words felt foreign now.
• Three years in that house taught me a bitter truth: I was never their daughter.
• Not really.
• I was the inconvenient reminder of a life they tried to forget.
• And Scarlett? She was their sun, moon, and stars.
• I said nothing. Just kept walking.
• Kael cursed, slammed the door, and came after me.
• His hand clamped down on my wrist and yanked hard.
• "Are you done playing this little drama?"
• I stumbled, hitting the ground hard. Pain shot through my leg like a knife. I tasted blood.
• Kael towered over me, face twisted in disgust.
• "Still acting fragile? Five years wasn’t enough to knock the lies out of you?"
• He yanked me to my feet like I was garbage.
• "You lured Tessa into that forest. You know what happened to her. And you still dare to act like a victim?"
• I looked up at him from the ground, swallowing the scream in my throat.
• "You were convicted because of evidence. Because the scent at the scene was yours."
• "And Scarlett’s?" I whispered.
• He didn’t answer.
• Because he knew.
• He knew the earring he’d found in the mud wasn’t mine.
• He knew the message came from Scarlett’s device.
• And yet, he stood in court and said nothing.
• He yanked me to my feet, sneering.
• “Don’t think your time’s up. Tessa’s still unconscious. Until she wakes, your guilt remains. And you still owe Scarlett an apology.”
• Apology?
• I didn’t answer. Just pulled my arm free, stepped away.
• The distance stung him more than my words could.
• “Come home,” he said again, trying to make it sound like an offer.
• Like it meant something.
• “Riley.”
• My heart clenched.
• That voice.
• Even after all these years, I knew it immediately.
• Maddox.
• He stepped into view—shoes polished, suit immaculate, face carved from the same cold stone as always. But it was the voice that gutted me.
• "Congratulations on your release," he said, like this was some kind of graduation ceremony.
• If someone else had said it, I might’ve forced a smile. Might’ve said thank you.
• But not him.
• Not the boy who once swore to protect me.
• Not the man who stood in court and helped condemn me.
• Not the one who begged me—begged me—to take the fall so Scarlett wouldn't have to suffer.
• “She wouldn’t survive prison,” he’d said.
• “But you… you’re strong, Riley. You’re used to pain.”
• I nearly vomited.
• This man—this mate—had stood in the courtroom and watched them drag me away.
• He’d looked me in the eye as the sentence was read and said nothing.
• Worse.
• He’d rejected me through the bond the moment the cell door closed.
• I still remembered that pain. The mindlink tearing like muscle off bone. His voice saying,
• “I reject you.”
• And now?
• He wanted to pretend we were still something?
• He reached out. “Riley, I came to take you ho—”
• “I’m going home with Kael,” I said, cutting him off without looking at him.
• Just loud enough for him to hear the contempt in every syllable.
• Kael blinked in surprise.
• Maddox’s hand froze mid-air.
• I walked away—limping, trembling, barely holding myself together.
• But I didn’t look back.
• Not because I wanted to go home with either of them.
• I didn’t want to go anywhere with anyone.
• But the truth was, I was still on a leash.
• One month. That’s how long my observation period lasts.
• One wrong move, one excuse, and the Vale family could have me thrown right back into that werewolf prison.
• And this time, I wouldn’t come back out.
• So I walked. Not for Kael.
• Not for Maddox.
• Not even for myself.
• I walked because the system was still watching.
• And for now, I had to play the part.