Stopped being Riley-the daughter, the sister, the mate.
And became something else entirely.
I pressed my forehead to the cold wall, breath ragged, fists clenched.
Let them live their perfect little lives.
Because one day, that door would open.
And when it did, I wouldn’t be walking out as the girl they threw away.
I’d be walking out as the storm they never saw coming.
The clang of a deadbolt jolted me from a fitful sleep, the sound ricocheting off the walls like a gunshot.
“Prisoner 4729,” a voice boomed, followed by the scrape of heavy steel. “Stand and face the door.”
I pushed myself up from the cot, bones creaking like rusted hinges. The guard’s uniform was stiff and starched, his expression unreadable. But there was something different about his stance. Then I saw the warden behind him, holding a sheaf of papers. His usual scowl was replaced by a cold, neutral mask.
“Riley Ebonclaw,” he began, clearing his throat. “By order of the Werewolf Corrections Board, your sentence has been served in full. Effective immediately, you are granted release from-“
The rest of his words bled into static. My eyes fixed on the open doorway, a rectangle of blinding light beyond. For five years, that threshold had been a taunt. A mirage.
Now it gaped before me-real, raw, and waiting.
“-proceed to intake for processing.”
He extended a clipboard, but my hands trembled too hard to take it.
I stepped forward. Each footfall was leaden.
The air beyond the cell felt different-thicker, richer, laced with forgotten scents: antiseptic, metal… and freedom.
As I crossed the threshold, the guard snapped a bracelet around my wrist.
I braced for the shock collar.
But it was only a plain tracking band, humming faintly with suppressed magic.
“Good luck,” the warden muttered under his breath.
I didn’t answer. Couldn’t.
My gaze locked on the glowing red EXIT sign ahead-a beacon blazing through the long corridor.
For 1,825 days, I’d survived by crawling. By choosing pain over pride.
Now, stepping into the courtyard, sunlight hitting my face for the first time in years, something deep inside me stirred-
Something ancient. Something wild.
Something that hadn’t whispered in a long, long time.
The door creaked open, and I squinted against the light.
They thought they’d broken me.
They thought I’d crawl forever.
But as the fresh air filled my lungs, I smiled.
Let them tremble.
The storm has just stepped outside.
Riley’s POV
The prison gates groaned open like the jaws of some ancient beast.
Light hit my face for the first time in five years. It should have felt warm.
It didn’t.
The clothes I wore when I entered-now sagged off my body, hanging loose over skin stretched too tightly across brittle bones.
I limped forward, one foot dragging behind the other. Not because I wanted pity.
Because that’s all my body had left to give.
A black Bentley idled at the curb. The window slid down with a soft mechanical whir.
Kael.
His gaze dragged over my legs, a sneer curling his lips.
“Still pretending to be weak after five years in
A Broken Alpha Heiress’s Revenge a cell?”
His voice was sharp, cold-like glass dipped in poison.
My throat tightened. The sting behind my eyes caught me off guard.
My brother.
The one I once tried so desperately to please.
I said nothing. Just kept limping past him.
Kael stiffened behind the wheel.
In his memory, I was the eager puppy, always rushing to serve him, always begging to be seen.
He remembered me waiting outside his office with homemade soup during winter storms.
He remembered me massaging his shoulders when he came home late, pressing slippers to his feet with trembling fingers.
He remembered the girl who adored him like a god.
But that girl died somewhere between the prison bars and the courtroom bench.
“Get in,” he snapped.
When I didn’t move, he huffed and softened his tone-just a touch.
“Mom and Dad arranged a welcome dinner for you.”
Mom and Dad.
The words felt foreign now.
Three years in that house taught me a bitter truth: I was never their daughter.
Not really.
I was the inconvenient reminder of a life they tried to forget.
And Scarlett? She was their sun, moon, and stars.
I said nothing. Just kept walking.
Kael cursed, slammed the door, and came after me.
His hand clamped down on my wrist and yanked hard.
“Are you done playing this little drama?”
I stumbled, hitting the ground hard. Pain shot through my leg like a knife. I tasted blood.
Kael towered over me, face twisted in disgust.
“Still acting fragile? Five years wasn’t enough to knock the lies out of you?”
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