Riven’s POV
The walk back to the cabin should have felt ordinary.
It didn’t.
I moved through the forest with my hands shoved deep into my pockets, the familiar dirt path passing beneath my boots, but my mind was miles away from the trail.
It kept dragging me right back to the clearing.
To Nyra.
To the devastating heat of that kiss, and the breathless, dazed look in her eyes right after our lips parted.
For someone who had spent the last several years training himself to never succumb to distractions, I was doing a downright pathetic job tonight.
Even Tristan was unusually quiet.
For ten straight minutes, we navigated the shadows in total silence before I finally pushed a thought through our mental link.
“You’re quiet.”
Tristan’s response was instant, rumbling in the back of my mind, ‘I’m thinking.’
A dry laugh escaped me.
‘Since when do you think?’
“Since you finally found our mate.”
I shook my head, a rare, unbidden smile tugging at the corner of my mouth.
“Fair enough.”
Tristan’s smug amusement warmed through the bond, practically vibrating.
‘You like her.’
I gave a quiet scoff, stepping over a fallen log.
“She’s my mate.”
‘That wasn’t my question.’
I looked straight ahead, actively trying to suppress the grin that was fighting to take over my face.
“You already know the answer.”
‘I wanted to hear you say it.’
I let out a dramatically heavy sigh.
‘Yes.
I like her.’ Tristan purred, entirely satisfied.
‘Good.’
“You’re enjoying this way too much,” I muttered, rolling my eyes.
‘We’ve waited a long time, Riven.’
The phantom smile vanished from my face.
The lightheartedness evaporated, replaced by a sudden, heavy ache in my chest.I knew exactly what Tristan meant.
We had waited.
Years of wandering the rogue and other pack territories, years of ruthless fighting, surviving, and never having a single soul or place that truly felt like home.
Then Nyra had crashed into my life.
And somehow, in the dead center of everything that had ever gone wrong, something had finally gone right.
I slowed my pace as the cabin finally came into view through the trees.
As the romantic haze cleared, a cold, nagging thought settled into my gut.
It was a question that had been scratching at the back of my mind since our very first training session.
Nyra had never shifted.
Not once.
I had seen her fight.
I had watched her move, watching her predatory instincts sharpen with every single lesson.
I knew for a fact she was stronger, faster, and more lethal than most wolves who carried far more impressive titles than “Omega.” Yet, whenever a sparring match became difficult enough that shifting would be the obvious, logical choice to win…
Nyra stayed stubbornly in her human form.
I didn’t understand it.
And tonight, a second, far more dangerous question had joined the first.
Why did I have the distinct, unsettling feeling that Nyra was connected to something much bigger than she was letting me see?
I came to a halt right outside the cabin door.
‘You still haven’t told her,’ Tristan’s voice came quietly, the playfulness entirely gone.
My expression hardened in the dark.
‘No.
‘Will you?’
I looked toward the dirt-smudged window where a faint campfire light flickered from within.
‘Not yet.’
Tristan was silent for a beat.
‘You trust her.’
I closed my eyes, the memory of her hands tangling in my hair flashing behind my eyelids.
‘I do.’
‘Then why keep secrets?’
My smile disappeared completely.
‘Because this isn’t just a secret, Tristan.
It’s a question that could change the fate of the entire werewolf world.’
I exhaled, masking my heavy thoughts, and shoved the cabin door open.I didn’t even have both feet inside before Jace’s voice cut through the room.
“Finally!”
Jace was lounging in the armchair near the stone fireplace.
Then, a slow, insufferably wide grin spread across his face.
“Oh.”
I froze at the threshold.
“What?”
Jace stared at me for another agonizing second, his grin turning downright wicked.
“You’re smiling.”
My hand instinctively flew to the corner of my mouth.
My jaw was relaxed.
Damn it.
“I am not.”
“You absolutely are.”
“I wasn’t.”
“You were.”
I marched past him, throwing my gear onto the table.
Jace’s eyes followed me across the room, looking far too entertained for his own good.
“I’ve known you since we were kids, Riven,” Jace chuckled, leaning forward.
“I know what your face looks like when you’re annoyed. I know what it looks like when you’re pissed. I even know what it looks like right before you’re about to murder someone.”
I glanced back at him, raising an eyebrow.
“And?”
“And that expression was none of those. You look… soft.”
I tried to force my face back into a scowl.
It failed miserably.
Jace’s eyes widened dramatically, his hands flying up.
“Oh, holy hell. This is serious.”
A quiet laugh slipped out of me.
“Relax.”
Jace pointed a finger at me like he’d just won the lottery.
“You laughed! You actually laughed!”I shook my head, thoroughly amused by his theatricality.
“You’re exaggerating.”
“I have spent years trying to make you crack a smile, and now you come back from wherever the hell you disappeared to looking like you’ve discovered the meaning of happiness?”
I dropped heavily into the empty chair opposite him, staring at the flames.
“I didn’t disappear.”
“You were gone for hours.”
“I went to see Nyra.”
Jace froze mid-sentence.
The teasing smirk returned to his face at lightning speed.
“Ah.”
“Don’t,” I warned.
“I haven’t even said anything!”
“You’re thinking loudly.”
Jace leaned back, crossing his arms.
“So?”
“So what?”
“So how is she?”
I looked back toward the crackling fire, the phantom sensation of her lips tingling against mine.
“She’s good.”
Jace studied me, his playful expression finally softening into something genuine.
For a moment, the room fell into a quiet, comfortable lull.
Then, Jace leaned in, his voice dropping.
“Did something happen?”
I looked at my best friend.
The smile broke through my defenses completely, “Yes.”
Jace sat up straight, practically vibrating with curiosity.
“What happened?”
I let the silence stretch out, watching the flames dance, purely to annoy him.
When he looked like he was about to lose his mind, I finally dropped the bomb.
“I kissed her.”
Jace’s jaw literally dropped.
“You-”
I couldn’t help the rough laugh that broke from my chest.
Jace just stared at me as if I had just confessed to conjuring magic.
“You kissed Nyra?”
“Yes.”
“And she didn’t punch you in the throat?”
“No.”
“Didn’t threaten to castrate you?”
“No.”I grinned, my eyes flashing.
“Didn’t stab me either. Not this time.”
For a few fleeting moments, the feared, ruthless Rogue leader that the entire realm whispered about in terror vanished completely.
There was no bloody reputation in that cabin.
Just two childhood friends laughing over an unexpected twist of fate.
Eventually, Jace’s laughter died down into a soft chuckle.
“So,” he said, wiping a tear from his eye.
“What happens now?”
My smile faded slightly, though my posture remained relaxed.
“I don’t know.”
Jace tilted his head.
“You? The man who literally maps out every breath he takes?”
“I’m allowed to not have a plan.”
“Apparently.”
I leaned my head back against the chair, staring up at the ceiling beams.
“I’ve spent most of my life knowing exactly what my next move had to be. Find the people responsible for the slaughter. Get stronger. Stay alive. Keep moving.” I paused, my voice dropping to a raw, quiet whisper.
“But Nyra… she wasn’t part of the plan.”
Jace smiled softly.
“Maybe that’s the whole point, brother.”
“Maybe,” I murmured.
Jace watched me carefully, checking my expression before pushing further.
“What are you going to do about her, then?”
“Nothing.”Jace frowned.
“Nothing?”
“I’m not going to pressure her,” I said firmly.
“She told me she has things she needs to accomplish. A mission of her own.”
“And you’re just going to wait in the wings?”
“If I have to.”
Jace nodded slowly, a look of profound respect crossing his features.
“That sounds surprisingly mature for a ruthless rogue.”
I shot him a dangerous glare.
“Don’t make it weird, Jace.”
He chuckled, but the lightheartedness quickly drained from the room as I shifted in my seat, the weight of my past crashing back down onto my shoulders.
“There is something else,” I said, my voice turning dead serious.
Jace immediately locked onto the shift in my aura.
“What is it?”
I hesitated.
I had debated having this conversation a thousand times.
But if there was a single soul on this godforsaken earth I trusted with my life, it was the man sitting across from me.
“Remember the King and queen’s daughter my dad tol me to find and protect?
“Yeah, What about her?”
I looked down.
“I think I might have found her.”
Jace stared at me in utter shock.
“Nyra?”
Riven nodded slowly.
“I don’t know for certain.”
“Why do you think it’s her?”
“That’s the problem. I don’t have enough proof.”
He leaned forward, resting his elbows against his knees.
“There are things about her that don’t make sense. She’s supposed to be an Omega,she doesn’t really smell like one to me either, she’s stronger than she should be. Faster too. Her instincts are unusual. And she refuses to shift.Then this mission she’s been training so hard for.”
Jace frowned.
“You think she’s hiding something.”
“I know she is.”
“And you think that something is connected to the King and Queen?”
I looked at him, “I think it might be.”
Jace was silent.
“If I’m right, Nyra isn’t just my mate.” I paused,
“She could be the person my father spent his final moments asking me to find.”
The fire crackled between us.
Jace finally spoke.
“Does she know?”
“No.”
“Are you going to tell her?”
I looked toward the window.
“Not until I know the truth or have enough proof.”
Jace nodded.
That was probably the wisest answer.
Jace was dead silent for several agonizing seconds, processing the sheer weight of what I had just said.
“Riven…” he breathed, his voice trembling.
“If the Council finds out she’s alive…”