Chapter 113

Chapter 113
Rhys P.O.V
I couldn’t get her out of my head.
Riley.
The way her breath caught when I touched her, the way her lips trembled beneath mine, like she’d never been kissed like that before—and maybe she hadn’t. The way her body melted into me, trusting, open, hungry.
It was stupid. Irrational. Dangerous.
She was the daughter of my enemies, the bloodline I was raised to destroy.
But none of that mattered when she looked at me like I was more than the shadows I carried. When she kissed me back like she wanted to drown in me just as badly as I wanted to lose myself in her.
I told myself it was a game. A strategy. Get close to her, make her trust me, then use her when the time was right. That was the plan. That had always been the plan.
But tonight, lying in my bed staring at the ceiling, the warmth of her lips still tingling on mine, I knew I was lying to myself.
I wanted her.
Not for the mission. Not for revenge.
For me.
The door creaked open downstairs, and I sat up, dragging a shirt over my head as footsteps echoed in the hallway. I knew that sound—Zoey’s boots clicking too loudly on the hardwood. Always stomping around like the world owed her something.
I stepped out of my room and headed down the narrow staircase that led to the common area of the old estate. The place was still, cloaked in the deep blue hush of night.
Zoey stood by the fireplace, arms crossed, her long black hair falling over one shoulder. She wasn’t alone.
Sabrina was with her.
My pulse tightened.
Sabrina was the closest thing I’d ever had to a mother. She stood as a mother figure to me, because my father couldn’t take care of a baby, so he took me to her. Which she did a very good job raising me, and Zoey, who was dumped by her own parents because she turned out to be a vampire, who fed on only fresh blood. They got tired, and threw her away to the woods, while Sabrina saw and raised her as well.
Sabrina had been a good woman, and even when she has her own son, she still got time to take good care of other people children….
My mom, i was told she fought like hell before they killed her. I don’t remember her face, not really. Just glimpses. But I’ve heard the stories. She died fighting Alphas—Riley’s family.
Sabrina raised me after that. Trained me. Molded me.
But lately, she looked at me like she didn’t recognize me anymore.
“Reid,” Sabrina said, her voice soft but firm. The way she said my real name—it always stopped me cold. Like a reminder of where I came from. Of who I was supposed to be.
“Don’t call me that,”I muttered, heading for the kitchen to pour a glass of water. My throat was dry. Everything about this house felt suffocating tonight.
“You’re forgetting yourself,” she continued, following me. “And I’m sure if your mother were still alive, she wouldn’t allow such things to happen.”
I turned slowly, gripping the edge of the counter as I met her eyes. “That’s not true,” I said. “Mom—my real mom—wanted justice. That’s what I’m doing.”
“No,” Zoey snapped, stepping in now. “You’re chasing after a girl who will destroy you.”
My jaw tightened.
“I know what I’m doing,” I said evenly. “So allow me to go with any plan I make.”
“You don’t know what you’re doing,” Zoey shot back, and there it was—her voice cracking with something more than frustration. “You’re falling for her, Reid. And I won’t allow it.”
I looked at her. Really looked at her.
Zoey had been by my side since we were kids. Trained with me. Fought beside me. She was smart, ruthless, beautiful in a sharp, calculating way. And she’d always wanted me. She never hid it.
But I’d never wanted her back.
She didn’t stir anything in me but irritation. No fire. No ache. No thrill like the one I felt every time Riley looked my way.
“Enough, Zoey,” I said, my voice colder now. “Stop your dreams about us being together. I’ve never wanted you like that, and you know it.”
She flinched like I’d slapped her, but I didn’t feel guilty. Not anymore. I was tired of the games.
Sabrina stepped between us before Zoey could reply.
“Both of you, enough,” she said sharply. Then she turned her eyes on me, and I felt the weight of her disappointment. “No matter what, Reid… make sure whoever you end up with—it isn’t Riley. She’s your enemy.”
I stared at her.
She held my gaze for a long, tense beat, then turned and walked out, leaving silence in her wake.
Zoey didn’t follow. She just stood there, seething.
“You think she loves you?” she hissed finally, the edge of bitterness sharpening every word. “You think Riley would still look at you like that if she knew who you really are? If she knew what we’re planning?”
I didn’t answer.
Because I didn’t know.
And that was the worst part.
I left her standing there and climbed back up the stairs, heart pounding, thoughts racing.
In my room, I locked the door behind me and sat on the edge of the bed. I pressed the heels of my hands into my eyes, trying to shut it all out—the words, the warnings, the doubts.
But Riley’s face came back to me like a flame in the dark.
The way she trembled under my touch. The way she looked at me like I was something worth wanting.
God, I wanted her.
More than I wanted revenge.
More than I wanted blood.
I lay back, staring at the ceiling again, and whispered her name like a curse.
Riley.
This wasn’t supposed to happen.
She wasn’t supposed to matter.
But she did.
And I didn’t know how long I could keep pretending she didn’t.