LOGINRiley’s POV
I swallowed hard, knowing the smart thing, the sane thing, the Riley-Grayson-CEO thing, was to turn around and walk out of this club right now. Walk away from the three men who looked at me like I was already naked on their bedsheets. Walk away from the revenge that tasted like honey on my tongue. So I turned. One step. That was all I managed to take before a hand clamped around my wrist, large, hot, unforgiving and yanked me back so hard I stumbled, my heel catching on nothing. My vision tilted as my back hit the wall of a narrow hallway that led to God knows where. The bass from the club thudding through the plaster. The grey-eyed one was suddenly in front of me, caging me with his body. His scent slammed into me: leather, and something deadly that made my knees want to fold. “What—” My voice cracked. “What are you doing?” He didn’t answer. He just stared down at me, his pupils blown wide until only a thin ring of storm-grey remained. The hallway lights flickered over the sharp cut of his cheekbones. “What do you say to our offer, Riley?” His voice was quiet. I tried to pull my wrist free but his grip only tightened, his fingers pressing over my pulse that was racing. “No...I—I don’t want this,” I managed, the lie tasting like ash. “That my marriage is open does not mean that I can fuck just anyone ” His eyes flashed into actual molten silver bleeding into the grey and the air around us dropped ten degrees. Behind him, the other two rose from the booth. No one in the club looked over. No one dared. “Just anyone?” he repeated, soft and venomous. He stepped closer and I stepped back, my spine meeting the cold wall. Another step. Another. Until his chest brushed mine and I had nowhere left to go. His head dipped closer, his lips grazing the shell of my ear. “If I decided to start right now,” he whispered, breath hot on my face, “I’d punish that mouth of yours first. I’d make you kneel on this dirty floor and choke on me until you forgot how to say no.” Heat flooded me so fast I swayed. My thighs clenched involuntarily, shame and want tangling into something vicious. I hated that my body answered him. Hated that I even painted the picture in my head. “Get away from me,” I hissed, but it came out breathless and broken. He laughed, low and mean. “You want this. I can already feel it.” From behind , the amber-eyed one spoke, voice cruel. “Look at her eyes Cane. Little human’s soaked already and we’ve barely touched her.” The third one with silver eyes and the coldest leaned against the opposite wall, his arms folded, watching me intently “She still thinks she has a choice,” he said, almost bored. “Adorable” Cane? So that was his name, dragged his nose along my jaw, inhaling like he was memorizing my scent. “Tell me again you’re not interested,” he murmured. “One more time and we’ll bend you over that table in front of everyone in this club. I’ll make sure they all see exactly how boring you’re not Riley” My breath hitched. A tear slipped free from my face, grief, rage, lust, I didn’t know anymore. He caught it with his thumb and swiped it off. “Ethan took something from you today,” the amber-eyed one said, stepping closer. His voice gentle but cold. “Your son. Your dignity. Your illusions. Let us take something back for you.” I shook my head, but it felt weak. “Why? Why do you want to help me get back at him?” Cane was slow . “Because taking what he threw away,” he said, voice low enough to cut, “is the only thing that will make destroying him feel good.” The silver-eyed one finally moved, crowding in on my left until I was trapped between three walls of their muscle and heat and threat. He didn’t touch me, but his voice slid down my spine like ice water. “We share everything, Riley. Territory. Women. Especially women who walk in here wrecking with heartbreak asking to be ruined.” My knees actually buckled and he caught my other wrist, pinning both arms above my head against the wall with one hand. The stretch burned as Cane's thighs shoved between my legs, forcing them apart, the fabric of my dress sliding up high. “Say it,” Cane growled against my throat. "Tell us you accept the offer and want this.” “I—” The word fractured on my throat. Ethan’s voice echoed in my skull [You're boring, pathetic, a walking tragedy]. I closed my eyes and saw Wendy bent over his desk, heard my baby’s last heartbeat on the monitor. Something inside me snapped a second time today.“Fuck you,” I whispered. Kain’s grip turned brutal. “Wrong answer.” “No,” I said louder, meeting his eyes. “Fuck him. Fuck Ethan. Use me. Ruin me. Make me forget.” Silence dropped between us, a hard and heavy silence. Then the three of them smiled viciously. And just immediately, Cane's mouth crashed into mine without warning, with no softness atall, no permission, just possession. His teeth scraped my lower lip until I tasted blood. His tongue forced its way in, claiming every corner like he was marking territory. I whimpered into him, hating how desperately I kissed him back. The silver eyed one slid his hand up my thigh, under the hem of my dress, his fingers tracing the edge of my lace pants that's already soaked through. “Jesus Christ,” he muttered against my neck. “She’s dripping for us.” He still held my wrists, his free hand coming up to fist in my hair, wrenching my head back so Cane could devour my throat. I was shaking so hard my teeth chattered. My dead son’s face flickered behind my eyes. Ethan laughing while he fucked my best friend. The open marriage I’d thrown at him. I looked at the three men who could destroy me more thoroughly than Ethan ever had. And I said the words that burned my soul to ash.“Take me.” Cane's eyes flared darker. The other one released my wrist only for Cane to hoist me up by the thighs, slamming my back harder against the wall. My legs wrapped around his waist on instinct. I felt him, his huge, rigid bulge pressing against me through his jeans and a panicked moan escaped me as he looked at me intently. “Not here Cane” The other one said, voice rough with restraint. “Private room. Now.” Cane released my hair as the cold air rushed in where his body had been but he didn't’t put me down. He simply turned and carried me deeper into the hallway like I weighed nothing, my dress rucked up to my hips, my panties exposed to anyone who dared look. But no one did Cane kicked open a door at the end of the hall and said "When we're done with you, we'll send you back to him so thoroughly claimed he'll smell us on you for weeks and know exactly who owns you now "CANE'S POVThe crash from the room hits like a gunshot. Power surges through the air, making the hair on my arms stand up. I don’t wait. I bolt for the door with Caden right behind me. Summer scrambles off the bed and runs after us, her small feet slapping the floor.“Stay close,” I tell her without slowing down. My heart slams against my ribs. Riley was unconscious when we left her. We burst outside into the pack courtyard. The place is pure chaos. Pack members shout and shove with angry faces. Someone yells crazily. Another screams about the burial. The whole pack feels like it’s ready to tear itself apart.That's when I see what’s going on—Laden.A group of warriors has him on the ground. They drag him by the arms. His face is swollen and bloody. One eye is already shut. Blood runs from his mouth. They must have beaten him bad before they dragged him here. He coughs and spits red onto the dirt.I stop for half a second. Part of me wants to keep walking. Laden somehow contributed t
CANE~ I pace the room back and forth, my boots hitting the hardwood floor with every step. The space feels too small for all this tension. Caden leans against the wall behind me, arms crossed, watching me like he’s waiting for me to snap. Our mother Amelia sits in the chair by the window, her face tight with worry. And then there’s little Summer, curled up on the bed with her knees pulled to her chest. She looks so small and lost it twists something deep in my gut. Amelia breaks the silence first. “The Satyre really said that?” Her voice comes out sharp. “Then what happens to Gunnar? We don’t even know where he is. Riley just made his body disappear during the burial. Does she mean he’s alive somewhere but in a different world or something? That sounds crazy.” “Or true,” Caden finishes. He pushes off the wall and stands straighter, his shoulders tense. “We saw what Riley did. That silver fire. The way everything went white. You can’t fake power like that.” I stop pacing and rub a
Third person POV The room had no walls, at least none that the eye could find. Darkness stretched in every direction, not quite black and not empty, but endless and ancient. Strange symbols glowed beneath the floor in intricate circles of silver and gold, and the letters moved across the ground as if they were alive. At the center of it all lay a body—still and silent. It belonged to a young woman, with silver flames drifting gently around her skin before fading into nothing. Beside her knelt another woman, her face hidden behind a long veil that covered her eyes completely. Yet somehow she saw everything. Her fingers moved slowly over the unconscious woman’s forehead as her lips whispered words no human language should ever know. The sounds were soft, ancient, and incredibly powerful, and the air itself seemed to listen. Wind began to swirl through the endless space, slow at first and then growing stronger. The symbols on the floor brightened in response. The body on the ground rem
Riley's POV “Do you want to say something?” Every face turned toward me. I froze, unsure if I could or even should. But then I looked at Gunnar, and suddenly I knew I had to. My legs shook as I walked forward. The closer I got, the harder it became to breathe. Finally I stood beside him. For a long moment I simply stared, then reached down and touched his hand—cold, still, and so terribly wrong. I laughed weakly. “You know, you’re a real jerk.” Several people blinked, and I heard Summer sniffle behind me. “I thought you hated me more because of my ignorance but you didn't.” A few smiles appeared. “You annoyed me.” More smiles broke through. “But every single thing you say is always true.” Cane muttered, “Facts,” and I pointed at him. “See? Even your brother agrees.” A tiny ripple of laughter moved through the crowd. Then my smile faded. “I didn't even feel safe with you. I didn't even get to see you smile for a second.” My voice started to shake. “You always showed me your ind
RILEY'S POVI didn’t remember walking to the burial grounds. One moment I was standing in Gunnar’s room, staring at the dark shirt folded neatly over the chair, and the next I found myself outside with the entire pack gathered around me. The sun hung low in the sky, far too low, casting long shadows that reminded me time was slipping away. It meant they were really going to put him in the ground, and the weight of that truth pressed down on me until I could hardly breathe.Summer gripped my hand so tightly that my fingers ached, but I didn’t ask her to loosen her hold. I needed the pain. I needed something real to anchor me and remind me this wasn’t just a nightmare I could wake up from. People parted silently as we approached, their eyes heavy with sorrow, but no one spoke. What could they possibly say? Sorry your mate died? Sorry you accidentally killed the man who loved you? Sorry life is so cruel? None of it would help. None of it mattered.My eyes found him immediately. Gunnar
Riley's POV"What do you mean he is fading?" I asked Cane. My voice sounded scared even to me. I looked at the beast with the iron bar still in its back. Right before my eyes, Gunnar started to change. His big beast body got smaller. Fur went away and skin came back. In a few seconds he was back in his human form on the ground. He coughed hard and blood came out of his mouth. The iron bar was still buried deep inside his back. That was when it hit me. He was dying.No no no. This is not happening. Cane and Caden had just told me about the prophecy. I could not believe it happened so fast because of my stubbornness. I stood there looking at him. My legs felt weak.I did not know when tears started sliding down my cheeks. Gunnar looked up at me and smiled even though he was hurt. He raised his hand slow and wiped my tears with his fingers. His hand felt cold."Thank you, Silly girl" he said soft. "Take care of my brothers for me, Riley. You would right?"He coughed again. Blood came out







