Chapter 147 They Answer To Me - Riven's POV

Chapter 147 They Answer To Me - Riven's POV
The words echoed across the clearing and for one brief moment, everything stopped. The crowd, the tribunal, even the packs were silent. Alric looked at me from across the ring, his dark eyes tracking my movements.

“Fight me,” he claimed.

I shook my head. “No.”

The bond between Callista and I flared violently, my skin glowing brightly around the mark. It felt like liquid fire around it.

My eyes widened as the demon screamed in agony. For months, well no, years, I had feared him. I had believed he was the monster and that I was just as bad as him. But standing here now, with the truth laid bare before me, I finally understood that he was afraid of losing. He wanted to be free and would do anything to get it, including putting me through misery.

So, you finally figured it out. Congratulations.

His voice came into my mind, making me recoil.

“You’re done. This is over.”

My gaze snapped toward my father, the Alpha King. The smile was gone and I could see him clearly.  He was the man who had spent years pulling strings and repeating the mistakes that had been made since the first demons were summoned. He was the man who knew what they were and had gathered all four pieces together in hopes that we’d destroy each other.

With us losing our minds to the demon, he would be free to rule. 

“Fight,” he said sharply.

When I shook my head, his gaze narrowed.

"Riven." His voice carried across the clearing. It was far too calm. “Do it or else.”

“Famous last words,” I uttered, my voice barely audible.

“Is it?”

Suddenly, movement caught my eye and I turned just in time to see Callista being yanked backward by masked men. She thrashed and threw her hands, trying to get free.

“Fight,” my father’s voice commanded. “Or she dies. It’s blood on your hands either way.”

“Let. Her. Go.”

“Fight and she might live.”

I growled low in my throat as I turned to see Callista being held against the man. An old blade was held to her throat. Her teeth were partially shifted with her eyes glowing. She couldn’t shift without hitting the knife.

“Let my mate go,” I groaned.

“Fight and become what you must,” my father stated, his voice firm. 

“I’m not going to become the demon,” I hissed. “I refuse.”

“Refusal gets her cut.”

I smelled her blood instantly. My head jerked to the side, my eyes finding a small trail of blood dribbling down her throat. Her eyes were locked onto my face, pleading with me to do something.

But I wasn’t sure what. If I attacked my father, she died. If I fought Alric like he wanted, I would lose myself to the demon and go on a killing spree.

What was I supposed to do?”

For the first time since this nightmare began, I truly didn't know. Every path led to disaster. Every choice ended with blood. And now the demon was laughing inside my head as if he had already won.

My father's eyes remained fixed on me. He was certain I would cave to his demands and I almost would.

But then I heard Callista in my mind. 

“Don’t do it. Attack your father,” she whispered. “Don’t worry about me.”

I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye. “What?”

“End this. I love you and we’re going to have our happily ever after. Please don’t lose yourself to him.”

This entire thing had been designed for one purpose. It was to force me to choose. My father knew exactly which option I would pick.

His smile slowly returned. "You know what needs to happen."

I stared at him, then Callista.

Blood continued sliding down her throat. The scent was driving my wolf insane.

Save her.

My jaw clenched as I heard his words. Was he agreeing with me?

Become me.

"No." The word came out rough.

My father's smile faltered slightly. I looked at Callista again. There wasn’t a speck of fear on her face.

To end this, you must become me to save her. That’s the only way to fully end this cycle. Now what do you choose?

The voice didn’t feel like a lie. That was the worst part.

It didn’t feel like manipulation or rage or desperation anymore. It felt like truth spoken through exhaustion, like something that had been repeated so many times it no longer knew how to be anything else.

My breath hitched.

The bond between Callista and me flared again, sharper this time, like she had felt the shift in me. Her eyes were still locked on mine even as blood traced down her throat, even as the blade pressed too close for comfort.

My chest tightened painfully.

No one else was speaking now. The clearing had become something else entirely. 

My father’s gaze sharpened. He knew I was wavering. Not because I was weak. I was listening and thinking, because for the first time, I wasn’t just reacting to him.

Alric stood behind me, hissing. “Are you going to move?”

“If you wanted to fight so badly, why haven’t you yet?”

I turned and glanced at him once, then to both of our brothers. All of their eyes were black now. But they were listening to me and not moving. 

I was the one in charge.

“You think I don’t understand what this is,” I said quietly, turning back to him.

My voice didn’t carry. It didn’t need to. He heard me anyway and something flickered in his expression.

“You’ve been guiding this whole thing,” I continued. “And you’ve been waiting for it to break exactly this way.”

I swallowed hard, my eyes flicking briefly to Callista again. She didn’t move, flinch, or even beg.

“You didn’t just gather us here,” I said firmly. “You made sure we’d reach this point.” My jaw tightened as the truth started to form properly in my mind. “You wanted this alignment, but you didn’t think this through, father.”

A silence fell so heavy it felt like pressure against my ribs. My father didn’t deny it. Something cold spread through me.

“You don’t care if I lose myself,” I said, voice tightening. “You don’t care if they lose themselves either.”

My gaze flicked toward Alric and Dorian. Both of them were shaking now, barely holding on.

“You just want control over what comes after,” I finished.

My father’s expression finally shifted.

“Control is what keeps order,” he said evenly. “Order is what keeps your kind alive.”

My laugh came out broken.

“Alive?” I echoed. “You call this alive?”

I gestured slightly at the clearing, at the fear, at Callista being held at knifepoint like she meant nothing.

His eyes didn’t move. “Do it,” he said again.

“You missed one key detail.”

“I didn’t miss anything,” he growled.

“Their demons answer to mine.”