Chapter 34

Riley didn't sleep that night.

She sat outside the abandoned watchtower Lena had led them to, knees pulled to her chest, arms wrapped around herself as if that would keep everything inside from unraveling. The moon hung high, a silver sliver barely breaking through the trees, casting long, twisted shadows across the clearing.

Everything felt too still.

Too quiet.

Inside, she could hear Kieran moving restlessly. She could feel him watching her through the cracks in the old stone, his presence heavy in the air. He hadn't tried to talk to her after what happened at the altar.

She wasn't sure if that made it better or worse.

The wind shifted, carrying the scent of damp earth, the lingering traces of blood still clinging to her from their earlier fight. Her body ached, her muscles screaming from exhaustion, but she couldn't rest.

Not with the words still echoing in her head.

"You think you were the hero, don't you?"

"You didn't just die, Riley. You let it happen."

She gritted her teeth, pressing her forehead against her arms.

She wanted to tell herself that Lena was wrong.

That whatever had happened in her past life had nothing to do with who she was now.

That she wasn't dangerous.

That she wasn't the reason Kieran was afraid.

But she couldn't shake it.

Because the truth was gnawing at her, tearing its way through her ribs, demanding to be acknowledged.

She hadn't just fallen.

She had let go.

And she didn't know why.

The sound of footsteps behind her made her shoulders tense.

She didn't turn. "If you're here to lecture me, don't."

Lena let out a soft chuckle. "Not in the mood for lectures? That's a shame. I give excellent ones."

Riley sighed, rubbing her temples. "What do you want?"

Lena stepped beside her, lowering herself onto a nearby rock. "You seemed like you had a lot on your mind."

"No kidding."

Lena smirked. "So talk."

Riley shot her a glare. "Since when do you care?"

Lena leaned back slightly, stretching her legs out in front of her. "I don't. But I do find you interesting." She flicked a stray leaf off her knee. "Not a lot of people get to see their death and walk away from it."

Riley's stomach twisted. "It wasn't just a vision."

Lena hummed in agreement. "No. It was a memory."

Riley closed her eyes. "Then why don't I remember all of it?"

"That's the real question, isn't it?" Lena tilted her head. "You don't forget something like that unless you make yourself forget."

Riley stiffened.

Lena continued. "So the real question isn't what happened to you? Why did you want to forget it?"

Riley exhaled sharply, looking down at her hands.

That was what scared her the most.

If she had chosen to die if she had let herself fall then what else had she been willing to do?

Had she hurt people? Had she started something she couldn't finish?

Had she deserved it?

The thought made her stomach churn.

Lena watched her, something thoughtful in her golden gaze. "You ever notice how power works in this world, Riley?"

Riley frowned. "What?"

Lena's lips curled. "The strongest ones never get to keep it." She gestured vaguely. "They either destroy themselves or get destroyed."

Riley swallowed hard.

Was that what had happened to her?

Had she been so strong that the world had to erase her?

Had she become something so monstrous that dying was the only way to stop her?

The thought sent a cold chill through her.

Lena sighed. "You're overthinking it."

Riley let out a dry laugh. "Oh, I'm sorry. It's just hard to be rational when I just saw my death and found out my best friend has been lying to me."

Lena arched her brow. "Is that the worst part?"

Riley's breath hitched.

No.

The worst part was the way Kieran had looked at her.

Like he had been waiting for this moment.

Like he had known all along that she would reach this breaking point, and all he could do was watch it happen.

Her chest ached.

Lena stretched lazily, cracking her knuckles. "If it makes you feel better, you don't strike me as someone who went down easily."

Riley huffed. "That doesn't help."

Lena smirked. "No? It should." She turned her gaze toward the trees, her expression unreadable. "Because it means whatever happened to you, whatever made you let go must have been something powerful enough to break you."

Riley shivered.

She didn't want to think about that.

She wasn't sure she could survive breaking twice.

Lena stood, brushing dirt from her pants. "Come inside when you're ready. We have a lot to prepare for."

Riley frowned. "Prepare for what?"

Lena's smirk returned, sharp and knowing. "The pack is splitting."

Riley's heart stumbled.

"What?"

Lena tilted her head. "Tobias is losing control. Wolves are turning against him. Some of them are running. And some of them?" She smiled, slow and dangerous. "They're looking for someone else to follow."

Riley's stomach twisted.

She knew what Lena was implying.

What she was offering.

Riley exhaled slowly. "And you think that's me?"

Lena grinned. "Oh, I know it's you."

Riley's hands curled into fists.

More wolves. More responsibility.

More people are looking at her, waiting for her to make a choice.

A choice she wasn't even sure she should have.

Lena winked. "Think about it."

And then, just like that, she disappeared into the darkness, leaving Riley alone with her thoughts.

With her fears.

With the weight of something looming over her like a second death.

Because if Tobias's pack was fracturing if his wolves were desperate for someone to lead them

Then history wasn't just repeating itself.

It was giving her another chance.

And Riley wasn't sure if that was a gift or a warning.

A warning.

That's what it felt like.

The wind stirred around her, rustling the dead leaves at her feet, whispering through the trees like a voice she couldn't quite hear. The weight in her chest didn't fade. If anything, it grew, pressing against her ribs like something clawing to get out.

She had seen this before.

Not in a vision.

Not in her dreams.

But in the ruins. In the memories locked deep in her bones, in the blood-soaked echoes of a past, she had tried to forget.

She had stood at the center of a war before.

She had led wolves before.

And somehow, she had lost it all.

Now the same thing was happening.

Tobias's pack was fracturing.

The balance of power was shifting.

And just like before, they were looking for someone to follow.

Someone to either save them or destroy them.

Her stomach churned.

Lena's voice still echoed in her head, smooth and knowing. I know it's you.

She didn't want it to be.

She didn't want to be anyone's leader.

She didn't want to be anyone's second chance at war.

And yet

Riley sucked in a slow, sharp breath, forcing herself to her feet.

Because whether she wanted it or not, whether she was ready or not

The past wasn't done with her.

And this time?

She wasn't sure if she'd survive it.

Or worse

She wasn't sure if she wanted to.

That was the truth gnawing at the edges of her thoughts, the one she refused to say out loud. Because deep down, in the part of her, she had spent years ignoring, she knew something had brought her back.

Not fate.

No luck.

Something else.

Something unfinished.

The trees around her whispered, the night stretching wide and endless, and for a moment, she let herself wonder

What if she didn't fight it?

What if she stopped resisting, stopped running, stopped trying to prove she wasn't the same person who had fallen all those years ago?

What if she was?

Her breath came slow and unsteady, fingers twitching at her sides.

The hunger inside her didn't feel like an enemy anymore.

It felt like a promise.

A reminder that no matter how much she tried to deny it, no matter how many times Kieran looked at her like she was still the girl he had met in Silverwood

She was more.

And maybe, just maybe

She had always been.

Not a victim.

Not a girl caught in the middle of someone else's war.

Not even a lost soul trying to piece together a life that had been taken from her.

She was something older, something deeper than just a girl who had been brought back.

Because what if she hadn't just been given a second chance?

What if she had taken it?

What if, in her final moments before the blood, before the fall, before the world had closed in around her she had made a choice?

Not to die.

But to return.

The thought clawed through her, sharp and unrelenting.

Because that would mean none of this was an accident.

Not Tobias hunting her.

Not the hunger inside her.

Not even Kieran's fear.

She had come back for a reason.

And maybe it wasn't just to survive.

Maybe it was to finish what she started.

The realization sent a shiver through her, cold and sharp like ice cracking beneath her feet.

Because if that was true if she had truly chosen to return then that meant she had known what was waiting for her.

She had known about the war.

She had known about Tobias.

She had known that Kieran, Callum, and Lena had all been here before.

And yet, she had still come back.

Her hands curled into fists.

Had she been so desperate? So determined?

Or had she simply been willing to do whatever it took to win this time?

The idea settled deep in her chest, wrapping around her ribs, squeezing.

She wasn't sure if it terrified her or thrilled her.

The night around her seemed darker now, heavier with unspoken truths. The trees loomed tall, their branches reaching toward the sky like they knew what she had just realized.

She had spent weeks searching for answers, but maybe the real question wasn't why did I come back?

Maybe the real question was

What am I supposed to do now that I have?