Chapter 145
Chapter 145
Kael Vale’s POV
Her eyes didn’t flinch.
Not a single flicker of emotion. Not even disgust. Just…. nothing.
I stared at Riley like a desperate man clinging to a cliff’s edge, hoping for a hand that would never reach back.
+8 Pearls
Once upon a time, those eyes were filled with light whenever they looked at me–pure, unguarded, full of the kind of admiration a little sister had for her big brother. She used to run to the door when I came home, barefoot on cold floors, always smiling, always eager
“Kael, you’re home! You must be tired. Sit down, let me rub your shoulders p>
Those memories used to warm me. Now, they burned like acid in my throat.
What the hell had I done?
I struggled beneath the boot pressing against my back, trying to push up, trying to lift my head to meet her gaze, but Duke the bastard assistant–held me firm like I was nothing more than a rogue caught stealing from a pack’s food store.
I looked up from the dirt like a dog begging for scraps.
“Riley.” I choked, throat dry, pride bleeding out of me by the second. “I’m your brother. You re really going to stand there and watch an outsider treat me like this p>
She didn’t answer.
She didn’t even look at me.
She stood there, spine straight despite her thin figure, calm and detached like a Luna handing down judgment to a disobedient warrior. There was no softness in her anymore. No trace of the girl who once cried when I scraped my knee, or clung to my arm during thunderstorms.
This Riley? She was cold steel forged in fire. A she–wolf sharpened by betrayal.
And for the first time, I realized she wasn’t pretending.
She had truly, completely, shut me out.
My throat tightened with something I couldn’t name–rage, maybe, or grief–but it curdled inside me, bitter and sharp. 1 couldn’t let it end likeshis.
“Forget our parents for a second.” I snapped, my voice breaking with fury. “You let them shave Scarlett’s head like soine damn prisoner, you know how much she values her appearance! And you still have the nerve to stand there like you’ve done nothing wrong p>
I emphasized the words-“like always–because I needed to believe she hadn’t changed. That the version of her I remembered was still somewhere inside. That if I pushed hard enough, maybe she’d crack
She didn’t
“You think I did it?” she said quietly. “Then fine. Let it be so
No anger. No defense. Just quiet dismissal. It landed harder than a slap.
Lclenched my fists, the need to scream building in my chest. “You won’t even deny it p>
She just looked at me Like I was a stranger shouting in the streets.
“You thank this is over! Im going to get Scarlett out of that hellhole she didnt want your stupid embroidery. You ruined it yourself and blamed her because you’re still the same vindictive little-
46 PM P P
Chapter 145
+B Pearls
“Enough,” she cut in. Not with words, but with movement.
She turned to the man beside her. Lucien Duskgrave.
She tugged lightly on his sleeve. “I don’t want to talk to him anymore. Let’s go p>
Lucien looked down at her, and damn it all, the expression on his face made my skin crawl.
Wolves like him weren’t capable of gentleness.
And yet, he looked at Riley like she was something sacred. Untouchable.
“Get in the car, ” he said softly.
She obeyed, moving like mist–graceful, quiet, gone.
A driver–one of Lucien’s people, no doubt–stepped forward and carefully shielded her as she entered the vehicle, even adjusting her gown so it wouldn’t snag.
I lost it.
“RILEY!” I roared; struggling against Duke’s hold. “GET OUT HERE! YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST LEAVE?! YOU THINK YOU CAN LET SCARLETT ROT IN JAIL WHILE YOU RIDE OFF WITH A MURDERER p>
Lucien turned then. Slowly. Like a predator bored of playing with its prey.
He stepped toward me, towering like a stormcloud with eyes.
He grabbed my jaw in one hand–his grip was cold, strong, inescapable. I had no choice but to meet his gaze.
His eyes were black. Not from color, but from weight. Depth. A bottomless cold that I felt in my bones.
“You care about Scarlett?” he asked, voice soft but slicing. “You love her, little Vale p>
I recoiled, blinking rapidly, heart thundering in my ears. “What–What are you talking about p>
He smiled.
Not kindly.
“Disgusting.” he murmured. “Absolutely disgusting”
I didn’t know if he was mocking me… or if he saw something I’d been too afraid to admit, even to myself.
How absurd. How utterly insane.
Like Scarlett She was my sister. My little sister,
Not by blood, no–but what did that matter? I grew up with her, protected her, watched her cry, laugh, grow.
I treated her like family Like my own blood.
W
that a sin now? Was caring for her suddenly something dirty and shameful?
Lucien let go, and I stumbled back, fists clenched, heart pounding with fury. My knees hit the cold ground, but I didn’t feel the pain
All I could feel was the burn of humiliation rating me alive
The pack shadows moved around me, brushing past like I didn’t exist
I looked up one last time, just in time to see Riley’s silhouette vanish behind tinted gl
Than