Chapter 92: Why Are We Here? - Callista's POV

That hit me harder than anything else he said. Worse? What kind of worse? How much worse could it get?

I felt Riven tense before I noticed it in the set of his shoulders. The bond snapped tight between us, as if it had been pulled too far and was seconds from breaking. His breathing hitched, then slowed again, but not in a way that seemed like he was calming down.

It was far too controlled and focused to be that, which meant this could be dangerous.

“You don’t get to decide that,” Riven said, his voice low and unsteady. “You don’t get to decide what I’m involved in or what I’m not.”

The Alpha King didn’t back down. “I already have.”

Something in the air shifted again, heavier this time. It pressed down on my lungs, making it harder to breathe.

Riven laughed, but there was no humor in it. “Of course you have,” he muttered. “You’ve been deciding everything for me my entire life without me even knowing it.”

Raze hummed softly, clearly entertained. “He’s catching on.”

“Shut up,” Riven snapped, not even looking at him this time.

But Raze only smiled wider.

I took another small step forward before I could stop myself. “Riven—”

His head snapped toward me again, faster this time. His eyes were still black.

“Don’t,” he said again, more sharply now. “I mean it, Callista.”

The way he said my name made my chest tighten. There was something else underneath it. Fear for me. That scared me more than anything else in this hallway.

“You’re not going to hurt me,” I said quietly, even though my pulse was racing.

His jaw clenched. “You don’t know that. Nobody knows that. I could have already doomed you.”

“I do know Riven and you haven’t doomed me,” I pleaded. “Listen to me.”

For a second, something flickered in his expression. It was small, but I saw it, and then it twisted.

Raze let out a low chuckle. “That confidence is cute,” he said softly. “It really is, but you should listen to him. He’s being honest with you.”

My eyes snapped to him. “You don’t get to talk about honesty.”

“Oh, I absolutely do,” he replied easily. “I’m the only one here who isn’t pretending this ends well.”

The Alpha King’s voice cut through sharply. “That is enough. Shut up and go to your room already. You’re just—”

But Raze didn’t stop. “Ah, is daddy dearest getting upset because I’m speaking the truth? Maybe you should try doing it sometime. You know how this ends. It always ends the same.” He glanced at Riven then. “Do you think you’re in control? Look at you. You’re barely holding on and we’ve only been standing in the same hallway for a few minutes. Think of what overnight will do.”

Riven’s hand curled into a fist again, his claws threatening to break through skin.

“Every second we’re near each other,” Raze went on, almost conversationally, “it gets worse. Faster. Stronger. You can feel it, can’t you?”

I could.

The bond wasn’t just emotional anymore. It was erratic. Spiking and dipping in ways that made no sense. Then there was that coldness clutching around my heart.

Riven didn’t answer, but he didn’t have to. The tension in his body said enough.

Raze’s gaze shifted to me again. “And you,” he said softly. “You’re tied to him now. That makes you part of it.”

A cold chill ran down my spine.

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“It means,” he said, tilting his head slightly, “if he loses control, you won’t just feel it.”

My stomach dropped. “You’ll be right there with him. Do you even know what happened to those poor women who were mated to the ones before us? They felt their mate coming for them. They knew he was gone and that they would die.”

“Stop,” Riven snapped, his voice breaking through like a crack of thunder.

Raze’s grin didn’t falter, but he leaned back slightly, as if satisfied he had pushed far enough. “She needs to know. Having a mate bond, even as new as yours and not fully complete means you can track her. It means when you lose control, there is nowhere for her to run.”

Silence fell again, thick and suffocating.

Riven dragged a hand through his hair, pacing once before stopping abruptly. His movements were sharp, restless, like he didn’t know what to do with his own body anymore.

“This is insane,” he muttered. “All of it.”

“Yes,” the Alpha King said quietly. “It is.”

Riven’s head snapped toward him. “And your solution is to throw me at it and hope I survive?”

“It is more than hope.”

“It sounds exactly like hope,” Riven shot back.

The Alpha King held his gaze. “You are stronger than he is.”

Raze laughed immediately. “Oh, that’s rich.”

Riven didn’t look convinced either. “You don’t know that.”

“I do,” the Alpha King said firmly. “You were separated and raised away from this. You weren’t exposed to the same influence. That means you have a chance at stopping it more so than him. And you’re Moon Marked. No one who has ever had this condition has been marked by the Moon Goddess as you have.”

Riven laughed and looked down at his clawed hands. “And yet I’m like this. So, how exactly does this make me stronger?”

That question lingered.

“Because you haven’t broken yet,” he said simply. “The demon hasn’t taken over as much with you as he has with me.” Raze shifted his gaze toward me. “You probably have her to thank.”

Riven jerked his head up, glaring at Raze. “So having a mate does help?”

Raze shook his head. “There is no clear answer. You can ask and try to figure it out, but the curse, or demons, whichever you want to call them, will never tell. He could be playing you and letting you believe she helps when really she sets him free.”

“That means being here is useless,” I snapped. “If you all don’t know the answers, then Riven doesn’t need to be here at all. If we stay away, then there is a chance that Riven won’t lose himself.”

Raze laughed as soon as I finished speaking. “Oh, no, Callista. He will lose control. It’s only a matter of when. We’re both in this together and it doesn’t go away.”

The Alpha King stepped forward, breaking through the tension and focus. “Go to bed. All of you. We’re done for tonight.”

“But—” Riven began.

“Tomorrow. Go to bed,” he snapped and then left.

I glanced at Raze, my eyes briefly staying locked on his. He grinned.

“Go on, little bird. Fly away while you can, but you’ve seen his future. Now, what are you going to do about it?”