Lahat ng Kabanata ng Riley and The Riptide: Kabanata 41 - Kabanata 50

“So, like, one of you is going to die?” Maria wipes a tear away from her eye.“Yep.” I hug my knees and lean on Caleb’s arm.“And you don’t know when or how?” Taylor gawks at us.“No, and no.” Cal squeezes my pinky for reassurance.“And there’s no way to tell which one of you it will be?” Freya shakes her head, sniffing back tears.“Nope.” Cal replies for me. “There’s a piece of paper with a prophecy in the vault in the Alpha’s office. He and our mom said they would show us, but it’s been almost a month since Ainsley’s been home and we haven’t seen it. I don’t think it has any of those details, anyway. If it did, the adults would have done something by now.”“Yeah. All they’ve done so far is react when something happens to us.” I bite my lip.“So when Gavin attacked Ainsley, he attacked you too?” Taylor points at Caleb in disbelief. “He just didn’t know it? Cause I saw what he did to Ains. We all thought she was dead meat. When she got up, the pack warriors all stopped us from followi

Ainsley's POV“You’re sure you felt nothing when Caleb’s wolf took over?” Luna Eva checks my pulse.“That’s kinda the problem. I can usually feel how he’s feeling at least low level, ya know? And when his wolf came forward, it was like he was totally gone. It kind of scared me.”“Caleb, is that how it felt when Ainsley’s wolf presented herself? Like she was gone?” Dara presses her hands to the sides of his throat. “Open your mouth.”“Yeah. It was like one second she was there, the next… a light switch flipped off.” He opens his mouth for her to look in.“Did he speak to you?” Dara rolls back on her stool and puts her stethoscope to his chest. “Alpha Nick said he fought against the order to give his name.”I feel a stir of his emotions. Fuck off. That’s how he feels. It’s Caleb’s default. It’s what he says when he doesn’t want anyone in his business. He’s hiding something he doesn’t want even me to know.“What’s wrong, Cal?” I murmur into his mind.He looks out the window of the exam r

Ainsley's POVThe waxing gibbous moon is high in the sky above us just outside the training pavilion. It’s almost midnight, and there’s a warm breeze in the air. The smell of barbeque and the sound of music waft towards us. I hear people laughing and clapping from the party, waiting for Caleb and me to arrive. I look toward the patio of the packhouse. There are tiki torches and red, white, and blue decorations everywhere. Our birthday being on Fourth of July works out perfectly. Humans think our ‘country club’ is having its Independence Day celebration a night early.“You look beautiful.” Beckett gently drags his fingers over my jawline, bringing my attention back to him.“Thanks.” I lean into his touch. “I’m kind of nervous.”“No, you don’t need to be.” He gives me a confident nod. “You’ll be stronger at midnight, and you’re expecting Paragon to wake up this time. You’re gonna be fine. And if you’re not, you’ve got half the pack guards to stop Paragon before she can cause any damage.

Ainsley’s POV It feels like I’m dropping into a tall wave on a cheap foam board, but the drop isn’t leveling out. A warm wind is rushing past me, but there’s no ocean spray with it. I reach my hand out. I can’t feel the face of the wave or see the trough to know when to pull up. Everything is pitch black. The movement suddenly stops, but there’s no jerking movement. I should be falling forward, tumbling into water and trying to drive down so my board doesn’t hit me in the head. There is no landing. No churn of the water. No pressure in my ears. There is no actual movement. It’s almost like I have no body to react to it even if I did. Paragon said she needed me to step back for a moment. This can’t be what she meant. What’s happening to me? All my senses feel like they’ve disappeared, but they haven’t. They’re just misplaced somehow? Does that mean I’m dead? I can’t be dead. I would know if I were dead. Right? No, that can’t be right. I have to get out of whatever this place is. How

Ainsley’s POVThere’s a blur of activity. My friends pull me into a chair and make adjustments to my makeup with multiple hands working at once. They giggle and laugh and focus a little too intensely on keeping me distracted. I mean, my mascara and eyeliner need to be cleaned up, but that’s about it. Maybe a little more lip gloss. There’s no need for this much fuss. I look out of the corner of my eye and realize what’s happening. Keeping me in the chair is a ruse. Freya has somehow coerced Caleb and Taylor to get photos taken in front of Alpha Lucas’s fireplace… together.I suppress a squeal when I see Cal slide his arm around Taylor’s back. His hand rests dangerously close to her ass as if she couldn’t break his nose on a whim for trying to cop a feel.It seems casual on the surface, but there’s a sparkle in his ocean blue eyes. Inside, he’s kind of losing his shit about it. I can feel it. You would never know by looking at his controlled expression complete with a lazy smile. An un