LOGINBeta Riven’s Pov The torches burned down slowly around us and the cold settled into the yard and we didn’t talk about Claire or the elders or what I was going to say before the audience. We just trained. The way we had a hundred times before all of this. The way we had when things were simple and the pack was whole and I wasn’t supposed to be dead. After the sixth round he stopped and braced his hands on his knees. “You’re still pulling every strike,” he said between breaths. “Because of the chest.” “My strikes are landing fine.” “Riven.” “Kade.” He straightened and looked at me. Really looked, the way he hadn’t in months, clear-eyed and direct and present. “What happened out there,” he said quietly. “In the forest. Tell me.” The torches crackled. Somewhere past the yard wall an owl called once and went silent. I held his gaze. “Before the audience,” I said. “I’ll tell you everything before the audience.” He held my gaze for a long moment. Then nodded. Once. The nod of a
Claire’s pov His gaze searched mine for a heartbeat longer than usual. Then he covered my hand with his own. Warm. Steady. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “I always do.” I smiled up at him, sweet, perfect, practiced. Inside, my pulse thrummed with something sharper than affection. Not this time, Alpha. The sun was climbing now. Voices drifted in from the yard, pack members gathering, banners snapping, the trials ground humming to life. Dominic would be here soon. The incense had done its job for months. One more morning. One more round of haze. Then everything would fall exactly where it belonged. I slipped my arm through Kade’s and let him lead me toward the doors. The day was just beginning. And I intended to end it. ** The hall doors were already open to the morning chill, voices rising from the trials ground like a distant tide. Kade moved fast, long strides, cloak thrown over one shoulder, purpose in every step. He was almost through the threshold when I hurried after h
Claire’s povHis gaze searched mine for a heartbeat longer than usual.Then he covered my hand with his own. Warm. Steady.“Yeah,” he said quietly. “I always do.”I smiled up at him, sweet, perfect, practiced.Inside, my pulse thrummed with something sharper than affection.Not this time, Alpha.The sun was climbing now.Voices drifted in from the yard, pack members gathering, banners snapping, the trials ground humming to life.Dominic would be here soon.The incense had done its job for months.One more morning. One more round of haze.Then everything would fall exactly where it belonged.I slipped my arm through Kade’s and let him lead me toward the doors.The day was just beginning.And I intended to end it.**The hall doors were already open to the morning chill, voices rising from the trials ground like a distant tide. Kade moved fast, long strides, cloak thrown over one shoulder, purpose in every step. He was almost through the threshold when I hurried after him, robe flutteri
Beta Riven’s POV I stepped to the side, mimed an incoming strike with my left hand slow, telegraphed. “See how Fenris always cocks his left shoulder before the feint? He’s been doing it since we were fifteen. Use it. When you see the tell, don’t block. Slip outside, hook under his guard while he’s still extending. One clean shot to the floating ribs. He’ll fold like wet paper.” Kade’s eyes narrowed. He replayed the motion in his head, I could see it, then tried the slip. His footwork was cleaner this time, body angling away instead of meeting force with force. The imaginary hook snapped out crisp. “There,” I said. “That’s fighting smart. You don’t have to be the strongest wolf on the field today. You just have to be the sharpest.” He straightened, wiped sweat from his brow even though we’d barely started. “You’ve been watching them. All of them.” “Every damn day since I got back.” I shrugged. “Someone had to. You were… occupied.” The word hung between us. Occupied with incense ha
Beta Riven’s pov I stood up before the sky had decided whether it wanted to be day or not, crossed the cold floorboards of the guest room, and leaned my palms against the window sill. Down in the yard the omegas were already moving, silent shapes in the blue pre-dawn, unfurling pack banners that snapped like warnings in the frost. Poles rose, fabric stretched taut, canopies taking shape along the ridge. The trials ground was waking faster than the rest of us. Last night still clung to me. Kade and I had stolen an hour in the old sparring yard before dinner, him in worn training leathers, me watching more than fighting because my ribs still sang when I breathed too deep. His footwork was there, muscle memory sharp as ever, but the timing… off. Half a beat late. Eyes glazing for fractions of a second when they shouldn’t. I’d seen that dulling look too many times these past months: the slow poison Claire fed him through those endless sticks of incense smoldering in his chambers. No sc
Riven’s POVKade was better than I expected.Not trial-ready, not even close and I wasn’t going to lie to myself about that. But better than I expected. The footwork was coming back, the instinct was still in him somewhere underneath everything, and by the end of the second hour he was moving like himself again. Not the sharp focused Alpha I’d trained alongside for years but something closer to it than the man I’d watched deteriorate from a distance.It was enough to work with.Maybe.We ran the combination drill one last time as the light started going flat and grey and I watched him land it, adjust, land it again, and thought about the trials tomorrow. The format. The other Betas he’d be up against. The particular weaknesses in his stance that we hadn’t had enough time to fully correct.It was going to be close.But close was better than impossible.“Alright,” I said.Kade dropped his arms and breathed. He was sweating despite the cold, his chest heaving, and he looked tired in the
Chapter 25Claire’s POVWas Kade just about to walk out on me?I sat there on the couch, head still tilted from where he’d yanked it off his lap, staring at the empty space he’d left. My skin prickled with heat, rage, humiliation, something sharper twisting low in my gut.He was running to her. Tha
Claire’s pov I screamed, my throat-tearing as the scalding soup continued to eat into my skin. It burned everywhere. My eyelids, my cheeks, even the delicate skin around my mouth. “My face! my face!” I shrieked, stumbling blindly, my arms flailing for anything: a towel, a sheet, just something, a
Claire's POVI slammed her back against the heavy oak door of the supply room so hard the hinges rattled. The head omega, tall, broad-shouldered, and always carrying herself like she owned the place let out a sharp gasp. Her tray of folded linens clattered to the floor between us.“Luna… what… what
Kade’s POVThe guards hauled Riven away like he was any other traitor. He didn’t beg, shout, or even look back at me with hate. Just that same steady, disappointed stare until the corridor swallowed him whole.The sword trembled in my grip long after they were gone. I forced my fingers to unclench.







