“You have exactly ten seconds to tell me why you’re standing on my land.”
The two wolves froze, they had heard the stories.
In fact, everyone had.
Riven, the Rogue who lived beyond the territories.
The man who had killed without permission, hesitation, and without answering to anyone.
Some said his body count was in the dozens, others claimed it was far higher.
Nobody knew the exact number.
Riven certainly wasn’t interested in telling them.
What everyone agreed on was one thing: If Riven decided you deserved to die, there was very little anyone could do about it.
Some alphas secretly feared Riven.
The name Riven was enough to raise the blood pressure of an Alpha who had never feared another wolf in his life.
One of the wolves swallowed.
“We were sent to investigate.”
Riven’s expression didn’t change.
“That’s not an answer.”
“We were looking into activity near the border.”
“Seven.”
The wolf blinked.
“What?”
“Seven seconds.”
Riven’s voice remained flat.
“You’ve wasted three seconds you doof .” The second wolf said and immediately stepped forward.
“Marcus sent us.”
Riven’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Marcus.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“We weren’t told.”
“Six.”
The first wolf looked at his companion in fear.
“Marcus wanted to know if you’d been seen near the eastern territories.”
“Five.”
“We were only supposed to observe.”
“Four.”
“We weren’t supposed to interfere.”
“Three.”
“We’ll leave please Riven, please spare us, please don’t kill us.”
“Two.”
“We’re leaving now.”
Riven stared at them.
“One.”
They ran.
Jace stepped out from between the trees a moment later, hands tucked into his pockets.
“You really enjoy that countdown thing, don’t you?”
Riven didn’t look at him.
“It works.”
Jace laughed.
“You could just tell people to leave.”
“They don’t listen.”
“You’ve never considered asking nicely?”
“Nope, what’s the fun in that?”
Jace nodded thoughtfully.
“Fair.”
Riven finally glanced at him.
“You’re becoming annoying.”
“Becoming?”
Jace placed a hand over his chest.
“That actually hurt.”
Riven rolled his eyes at him, turned and began walking toward the cabin.
Jace followed.
“Marcus sending people after you isn’t exactly normal.”
“Nothing about Marcus is normal.”
“True.”
They walked in silence for a few moments.
Then Jace spoke again.
“You think he’s looking for something?”
“He’s always looking for something.”
“And you?”
Riven stopped.
“I don’t care what Marcus wants.”
Jace raised an eyebrow.
“You care about something though.”
Riven looked toward the distant mountains.
“Finding her.”
Jace’s expression changed.
He knew exactly who Riven meant.
“The King’s daughter.”
Riven nodded once.
“She’s still out there.”
“Assuming she survived.”
“She did.” There was absolute certainty in his voice.
Jace studied him.
“You’ve been looking for her for years.”
“I was told to.”
“And you’re still doing it.”
“I gave my word.”
Riven doesn’t make promises casually but once he did, he doesn’t break them until they’re fulfilled.
Jace leaned against a tree.
“Sometimes I wonder if you even remember what normal life looks like.”
“No.”
Jace laughed.
“Of course you don’t.”
Riven ignored him.
His eyes remained fixed on the forest.
He had been searching for years.
He wasn’t expecting gratitude or recognition and certainly not because he believed himself some heroic protector.
His father had given him a duty and Riven intended to finish it.
[Flashback]
Years earlier, everything had been different.
Riven had been six years old, the son of the King’s Beta.
He had grown up inside the royal territory, surrounded by warriors, guards, and people who served the King and Queen.
His father had been one of the most trusted wolves in the kingdom.
He wasn’t merely a Beta, He was the loyal man who stood beside the King when danger approached, the man who noticed things others ignored, questioned certain things that happened and tried to find answers to everything.
Eventually, that vigilance became dangerous.
Riven’s father had discovered that members of the council were plotting against the King and Queen.
At first, he investigated quietly then he gathered enough evidence to prove it.
He went directly to the King and Queen.
They listened and believed him.
That was the council’s greatest problem because they had been exposed so they acted.
They murdered King and Queen.
Riven’s father knew too much, so they had to get rid of him.
They came after him but he was determined to not go down without a fight.
He fought but there were too many of them.
By the time Riven returned home that evening, his father was already dying, He was bleeding profusely from a stab wound to his stomach.
The little boy stopped at the doorway.
“Dad?”
His father turned his head.
Riven ran toward him.
“Dad!”
He dropped beside him.
His father’s breathing was weak.
“Riven…”
“I’m here dad.”
His father’s hand reached for him.
“Listen to me son.”
Riven shook his head.
“We need to get help.”
“No.”
“You’re hurt dad.”
“Riven.”
The boy went silent.
His father’s eyes locked onto his.
“You cannot stay here.”
“Why?”
“Because they will come for you too.”
Riven didn’t understand.
His father told him everything about the council, the betrayal, the King and queen’s murder and then came the final thing; The King and queen’s daughter.
Riven stared at him.
“The newborn princess”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
“I gave her to the headmaid and asked her to run away with her, I don’t know where exactly she run to because there wasn’t enough time.”
His father’s grip tightened around his hand.
“But she survived.”
Riven’s eyes widened.
“You have to find her.”
“Me?”
“Yes. You Riven. I-I believe.. in you”
His father struggled to speak.
“You must protect her. She is the last of the King and Queen’s bloodline.”
Riven didn’t understand the weight of those words yet.
He was only six but he understood one thing.
His father was asking him to do something important.
“You have to run,” his father continued.
“Get away from the council. Don’t let them find you.”
Riven shook his head.
“I don’t want to leave you.”
“You have to.”
“But-”
“One day, when you’re strong enough…”
His father’s voice weakened.
“Come back.”
Riven’s eyes filled with tears.
“Come back and make them answer for what they did.”
Those were his father’s final words.
Riven never forgot them.
That night, he ran.
A six-year-old boy carrying a secret far too large for him, He didn’t know where he was going.
He only knew he couldn’t stay.
He had been alone for hours, just running then he heard growling.
Riven stopped.
Ahead of him, another young wolf was trapped against a tree.
A larger wolf stood over him.
The boy looked terrified.
“Please…”
The wolf lunged.
Riven moved before he could think.
He grabbed a fallen branch and struck the wolf across the side.
The wolf turned, Riven stood between them, he was smaller,younger and absolutely terrified but he didn’t move.
The wolf growled.
Riven tightened his grip.
“Leave him alone.”
The wolf charged.
Riven barely moved out of the way.
The creature crashed into the tree.
Riven shouted at the boy.
“Run!”
The boy stared at him.
“You first!”
Riven looked back.
The wolf was getting up.
Riven grabbed the boy’s arm and together, they bolted.
They didn’t stop until they were deep in the forest.
Both boys collapsed against a tree, panting.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Riven asked,
“Where’s your family?”
The boy looked down.
“I don’t have one.”
Riven frowned.
“Everyone has someone.”
“Not me.”
The boy hesitated.
“I’m an orphan.”
Riven stared at him.
“You ran away?”
The boy nodded.
“From the orphanage.”
“Why?”
“They don’t maltreated us there.”
Riven understood more than the boy realized.
He looked down at his own hands.
“I just left home too.”
The other boy looked at him.
“Why?”
Riven didn’t answer immediately.
Then he said quietly,
“My dad died.”
The boy’s expression softened.
“I’m sorry.”
Riven nodded.
“What about your name?”
“Jace.”
Riven looked at him.
“Riven.”
Jace held out his hand.
“So what now?”
Riven stared at the offered hand.
Then he took it.
“We look out for each other.”
Jace smiled.
“Deal.”
That handshake became one of the strongest bonds either of them ever have.
They grew up together, survived together, fought together,side by side and eventually became the men everyone feared especially Riven.
Jace was the only person who could joke with Riven without worrying about losing his head and Riven was the only person Jace trusted with his life.
[End of flashback]
Back in the present, Jace looked at Riven.
“You’ve been thinking about your father again.”
Riven’s expression remained unreadable.
“I miss him sometimes”
Jace gave him a look of understanding.
“Right.”
Riven walked into the cabin.
Jace followed.
Inside their cabin, everything was simple.
A table.
Two chairs.
Weapons carefully stored.
Riven had no servants, no guards, no pack.
He had chosen his life this way.
An independent one, No one giving him orders or telling him what he was allowed to do.
No one deciding who deserved justice.
Jace dropped into a chair.
“So what’s the plan?”
Riven looked toward the window.
“Find her.”
“And Marcus?”
Riven’s eyes hardened.
“Eventually.”
Jace smiled faintly.
“That’s reassuring.”
Riven looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because every time you say ‘eventually,’ someone usually ends up dead.”
Riven’s expression didn’t change.
“If they deserve it.”
Jace nodded.
“Exactly.”
Outside, the forest remained quiet but somewhere beyond it, the council continued to rule.
Marcus sat at its head.
Zayne’s parents still sat among its members and none of them knew that the little boy they had once tried to erase had survived.
They certainly didn’t know what he had become.
Riven had spent years building himself into something the council could no longer control.
He had become stronger, faster, more experienced, more dangerous.
The stories about him had spread from territory to territory.
The Most Fearsome Rogue.
A murderer.
A killer.
A wolf without a pack.
A man who answered to no Alpha and perhaps the most frightening thing about him was that Riven didn’t deny any of it.
He simply didn’t care.
If someone crossed a line, they learned.
If someone threatened the innocent, they learned.
If someone believed their position protected them from consequences, they learned.
Riven didn’t need permission or approval.
He didn’t believe justice always came from a council chamber.
Sometimes…justice came from him.
He looked toward the darkening forest.
Somewhere out there was the King’s daughter.
He would find her just like He had promised his father and Riven never broke a promise.
Thank you so much for reading Nyra: The last blood.
See you in the next chapter, don’t miss out.
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