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    Ronan Duskcliff sat on the edge of his hospital bed, his bandaged head still throbbing. But the physical pain couldn’tpete with what haunted him more deeply–Riley.


    It had been four, maybe five days since she vanished without a trace.


    No updates. No whispers. No leads.


    She had no money. No Pack. No allies.


    She’d disappeared wearing tattered clothes and carrying fresh wounds–some he’d inflicted himself. The image of her bleeding and barely able to stand kept wing at his mind.


    Where could she have gone?


    Where would a wolf like that hide?


    Frustrated, Ronan reached for his phone and dialed Kael Vale’s number. It rang once. Then twice.


    No answer.


    He called again. And again.


    Each time, the silence on the other end only sharpened his anxiety into a de.


    “That bastard…” Ronan growled and mmed the phone down on the bedside table. “What the hell is he doing?”


    Miles away, within the crumbling walls of Ebonw Pack’s ancestral estate, Kael Vale wasn’t doing anything productive. In fact, he could barely move.


    Drunk beyond recognition, he was curled up on the bathroom floor, body wracked with nausea. Every muscle spasmed, and his stomach felt as though it was being torn apart from the inside.


    The bitter stench of vomit filled the air as he clung to the toilet, dry heaving until he copsed backward, forehead slick with sweat.


    Pain shot through his gut like ws shredding him open.


    “Sh*t,” he croaked, dragging himself toward the living room on trembling arms. He stumbled to the sofa and copsed face–first onto the cushions, curling up like a wounded animal.


    “Riley…” he whispered through gritted teeth. “My stomach… the pills…”


    From the hallway, Luna Zara and Alpha ric stepped into the room. One look at the scene and Zara gasped.


    Empty liquor bottlesy scattered across the floor, the sharp sting of alcohol thick in the air. Kael’s face had lost all its color. His lips were pale and cracked. His eyes sunken with guilt and exhaustion.


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    Zara rushed to his side, kneeling beside him with trembling hands. “Kael, baby, what did you do to yourself?”


    He didn’t answer–only curled tighter, one arm wrapped around his stomach, the other reaching toward an empty bottle as if searching for something to numb the pain.


    ric stood at a distance, his expression carved from stone. But when he heard Kael whisper Riley’s name again, his eyes darkened with rage.


    “That cursed girl again?” he snapped. “Still thinking about her? What the hell did she ever give you, other than shame?”


    Zara turned sharply. “ric!”


    But ric didn’t stop. His fury had been building for days.


    “She’s gone. Good riddance. With a reputation like that, she’d be better off rotting in some Rogue pit!”


    He stormed to the table, mming his palm down hard enough to shake the empty sses. “You think she’s worth mourning? Compared to Scarlett? Compared to your real sister?”


    Zara’s voice trembled. “She is his sister too-”


    “She was nothing until we dragged her out of that filthy orphanage!” ric snarled. “Don’t forget why we brought her back! Not out of kindness. Not out of guilt. We needed her.”


    His voice dropped to a cruel whisper, eyes gleaming with calction.


    “And now… it turns out the little rat’s got white wolf blood in her veins.”


    Zara froze.


    Kael stirred faintly on the couch.


    “Yes,” ric continued coldly. “Rare. Almost extinct. Do you know what that means? Her blood alone is worth more than everything in this house. The Council would pay anything to study her. And her organs?” He gave a slow, sinister smile. “Still pure. Still usable.”


    Zara turned away<i>, </i>tears burning her eyes. She couldn’t listen to this. Not again.


    But ric wasn’t finished. He forced his voice into a gentle tone, feigning concern.


    “I’ll send scouts. She couldn’t have gotten far, not in her condition. We’ll find her… bring her back. For Kael’s sake<i>, </i>of course.”


    Kael didn’t respond. His head lolled back, barely conscious. Pain twisted his features, but somewhere deep inside, the guilt had settled.


    He remembered the quiet way Riley used to brew his teas. The way her small hands would press against his stomach after every meal. The way she’d hold back her own pain just to soothe his.


    When she was around, his stomach hadn’t hurt.


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    When she left… it had never stopped.


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    “I’m sorry,” he murmured, barely audible.


    Zara brushed back his damp hair and cradled him gently. “Shhh. Don’t think about it right now.”


    But Kael knew.


    He’d done this to her.


    He’d handed Riley over to wolves who never cared if she lived or died. And now–now that she was gone–it was as if some great piece of his soul had been torn out and left to bleed.


    He closed his eyes, silently praying that she was still alive.


    Somewhere.


    Even if he’d never deserve her forgiveness again.


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