“You found your mate?”
Jace stared at Riven as though he had just announced that the moon had fallen from the sky.
Riven leaned against the doorway of the cabin, completely unfazed by his friend’s reaction.
“Yes.”
Jace blinked.
Then blinked again.
“You actually found her?”
Riven nodded.
A grin slowly spread across Jace’s face.
“Well, damn. After all these years, I was beginning to think your mate was a mythical creature.”
Riven gave him a flat look.
Jace laughed.
“I’m serious! You spent years telling me you weren’t looking for anyone, and now you come back from one run looking like you’ve just won the lottery.”
Riven’s mouth twitched.
“I don’t look like anything.”
“You’re smiling.”
“I am not.”
“You absolutely are.”
Jace pointed at him accusingly.
“I’ve known you for most of my life. I know what your face looks like when you’re angry, when you’re annoyed, when you’re about to kill someone, and when you haven’t slept enough. That -” He pointed again.
“is a smile.”
Riven shook his head and walked past him.
Jace followed immediately.
“So?”
“So what?”
“Where is she?”
Riven stopped.
Jace nearly walked into him.
“She left.”
The grin disappeared from Jace’s face.
“She… left?”
“Yes.”
Jace stared at him.
“You found your mate and let her leave?”
Riven turned around slowly.
“She has somewhere important to be.”
Jace’s eyebrows rose.
“And you just let her go?”
“I wasn’t going to stop her.”
Jace folded his arms.
“Who is this woman?”
“Nyra.”
“What’s she like?”
Riven paused.
He thought about the clearing.
The way she had stood against four rogues despite being alone.
The confidence in her eyes.
The way she had thanked him without treating him like some legendary figure.
The way she had simply walked away after discovering he was her mate.
“She’s… interesting.”
Jace stared at him.
“That is the most Riven answer you could possibly give me.”
A faint smile returned to Riven’s face.
“She fought four rogues alone.”
Jace’s expression changed.
“Four?”
“Yes.”
“And she won?”
“She was still standing when I arrived.”
Jace let out a low whistle.
“An Omega?”
Riven nodded.
Jace was quiet for a moment.
Then he smiled.
“Okay. I like her already.”
Riven raised an eyebrow.
“You haven’t met her.”
“Anyone who can make you look this different without even trying has my approval.”
Riven shook his head.
Jace dropped into a chair.
“So tell me. What happened?”
He told Jace about the run.
The strange feeling that had driven him into the forest.
Tristan sensing something unusual.
The scent.
The wolves.
The fight.
And finally, the moment Tristan had recognized their mate.
Jace listened without interrupting.
When Riven finished, Jace leaned back.
“So she knows?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“She didn’t reject me.”
Jace nodded slowly.
“That sounds good.”
“She said she has very important things to do.”
“What kind of things?”
“She didn’t say.”
Jace looked at him knowingly.
“And you’re not going after her.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Riven was silent for a moment.
Because the truth was simple.
He wanted to find her.
He wanted to know where she was going, what she was doing, and why an Omega was traveling alone through unfamiliar territory.
He wanted to hear her voice again, wanted to see her.
But he also remembered the determination in her eyes.
Whatever she was doing mattered to her and Riven understood better than most what it meant to carry something important alone.
“I could follow her,” he said.
“But I don’t think that’s what she wants.”
Jace nodded.
“So you’ll wait.”
Riven looked toward the window.
“I don’t think I’ll have to wait forever.”
Jace smiled.
“You think you’ll see her again?”
“I know I will.”
There was something so certain about his voice that Jace didn’t question it.
Their paths had crossed for a reason and somehow, Riven knew that their story wasn’t going to end in that forest.
Not even close.
****************
Nyra walked deeper into the forest.
She had been walking for a while now, yet she still couldn’t stop thinking about him.
Riven.
Her mate.
The Most Fearsome Rogue.
Of all the wolves in the world, somehow she had ended up with him.
Nyra sighed.
“Eira?”
‘Yes?’
“Stop thinking about him.”
There was a pause.
Then Eira responded innocently.
‘I’m not thinking about him.’
Nyra almost laughed.
“Yes, You absolutely are.”
‘Maybe a little.’
Nyra shook her head.
She could still remember the way he had looked at her.
The dark eyes.
The calm confidence.
That unexpected smile and, unfortunately, she had to admit something..
Her mate was very handsome.
Extremely handsome.
Annoyingly handsome.
Okay, Nyra admitted reluctantly.
He’s good-looking.
Eira practically celebrated.
‘I knew it!’
“Don’t make it a big deal.”
“Yes.”
‘You like him.’
Nyra rolled her eyes.
“I didn’t say that”
‘You didn’t have to.’
Nyra smiled despite herself.
Then her expression slowly became serious because beneath all the excitement was a reality she couldn’t ignore.
She had found her mate but she had also just lost Mara.
She had learned that everything she thought she knew about herself was a lie.
She wasn’t simply an ordinary Omega.
She was the daughter of the former King and Queen.
The last surviving heir of an ancient bloodline.
Somewhere out there were people who had murdered her parents and spent years believing that their secret had been buried with them.
Now she had to find out why.
She needed answers.
She needed to understand where she came from, Who her parents really were, Why they had been killed, Why she had been hidden.
And why the council had been so determined to erase her existence.
Her mate was important but so was she.
Before she could build a future with anyone, she needed to understand the past that had shaped her entire life.
“Eira”
‘Yes?’
“What would be the point of finding our mate if we don’t even know who we are?”
Eira became quiet.
Nyra continued walking.
“I can’t spend my whole life wondering about this,” she whispered aloud.
She touched the pendant beneath her clothes.
The only thing she had left that connected her to the mother she had never known.
“I need answers.”
Eira’s voice softened.
‘I know.’
Nyra swallowed.
She had almost stayed.
When she stood in front of Riven, some part of her had wanted to run into him arms and stay so bad.
She had felt the pull of the bond.
She had felt the happiness radiating from Eira.
And for one small moment, she had imagined what it might be like to forget everything else.
To stay.
To let herself experience the kind of happiness other wolves seemed to find when they met their mates…
But she couldn’t.
Not yet.
There were too many unanswered questions.
Too many things waiting for her.
Too much of her own story still hidden from her.
“I promise,” Nyra said quietly.
Eira listened.
“When this is over, we’ll find him!”
Eira’s excitement returned almost immediately.
‘Really?’
Nyra smiled.
“Yes.”
‘Promise?’
“I promise.”
Eira seemed satisfied.
Then, after a few seconds, she added:
‘I like him.’
Nyra laughed.
“You’ve made that very clear.”
‘He’s our mate.’
“I know.”
‘And he’s handsome’
Nyra shook her head.
“Apparently that’s very important to you.”
‘It is!’
Nyra laughed again.
For the first time since leaving home, the weight on her chest felt slightly lighter.
She wasn’t alone.
She had Eira.
She had the memories of Mara.
She had a purpose.
And somewhere behind her, whether she knew it or not, was a man who had just discovered that his life had changed too.
Their paths had separated but neither of them believed it was the end.
For now, they would walk different roads.