Chapter 114

Chapter 114
Riley’s P.O.V
The rain had stopped just before I got home, and the clouds left a gray sheen over the sky, as if the day itself hadn’t decided what it wanted to be. I wasn’t sure I had either. When Mom asked me to bring Zoey over for dinner, I agreed because it felt like the easiest way to keep the peace.
Plus, a part of me really did want them to meet. I liked Zoey. She was bold, unapologetic, and wild in a way that made my life feel less… locked down.
But almost as soon as she stepped into the house, I felt it—the tension.
Mom didn’t say anything right away, but I could see it in the way her eyes followed Zoey, quiet but calculating. She offered her a polite smile, told her to make herself comfortable, but I’d grown up watching my mom dissect entire pack councils with just a look. That smile wasn’t warm. It was careful. Controlled.
Dad wasn’t home yet, thank the moon. He would’ve probably asked Zoey if she’s a vampire or a werewolf or if she had any felonies on record.
Dinner was simple—grilled vegetables, roasted chicken, and some garlic bread Mom made from scratch because, in her words, “if I must interrogate your new friend, I should at least feed her first.”
“Zoey, where are you from?” Mom asked midway through the meal.
I was mid-chew, watching Zoey break apart a piece of bread like it had personally offended her.
Zoey blinked slowly, like she wasn’t used to anyone asking that. “Nowhere really. I moved around a lot.”
Mom tilted her head slightly. “But you must have a home, at least once.”
“Mom,” I said under my breath, shooting her a warning look.
But Zoey didn’t seem rattled. She met my mother’s gaze with a calmness I hadn’t expected. “I’m an orphan,” she said, as casually as someone might talk about the weather. “I don’t have anyone.”
Mom set down her fork slowly. “If you don’t have anyone, who raised you then?”
“Mom,” I said again, louder this time. My tone sharper.
But Zoey touched my wrist gently, her fingers cool but reassuring. “It’s fine,” she said, giving me the faintest smile. Then she turned her attention back to Mom. “I was raised by my stepmother, who also died after i had grown. She added, before scooping another bite of chicken into her mouth.
That quieted the table. For a moment, at least.
I glanced between them, and something about the way Mom kept watching her made my skin itch. Like there were questions she hadn’t asked yet, things she was trying to piece together.
Zoey didn’t look uncomfortable—just unreadable. Like she had long ago mastered the art of saying enough to pass and nothing more.
After she left, and the house had settled into its usual hum of nighttime silence, I found Mom in the kitchen wiping down already-clean counters.
“Mom,” I said, leaning against the doorframe. “What did you think of Zoey?”
She glanced at me, then back at the sponge in her hand. “She’s… interesting.”
I waited, arms crossed. “That’s it?”
Mom sighed, finally setting the sponge down. “I could sense some truths and lies in her words, Riley. But all I’ll say is be careful with her.”
“Why?” I asked, more defensive than I meant to sound. “Because she doesn’t have a family?”
Her look softened, but only just. “Because people without roots often carry shadows. Just be careful.”
“I will, Mom,” I said quietly. “I promise.”
The Next Night
It was late when Zoey showed up again. She texted me that she wanted us to study together and even though I knew we wouldn’t actually do any studying, I told her to come anyway.
She climbed through my window like she always did, uninvited but never unwelcome.
We sat cross-legged on my bed with textbooks open between us, the words blurring together while our conversation wandered from meaningless gossip to theories about who was hooking up with who at school.
I was mid-sentence when Zoey said, “Let’s sneak out again.”
I blinked at her. “Now?”
She nodded, her eyes gleaming. “Come on. Just for a little while. We’ll be back before anyone notices.”
I shook my head. “I can’t. If my mom finds out, I’m dead.”
Zoey leaned closer, her voice lowering like she was about to let me in on some huge secret. “Rhys is going to be there.”
And just like that, my resolve snapped.
Rhys.
Just hearing his name made my skin tingle. My brain short-circuited, memories rushing in: the way he kissed me, the way he touched me like he already knew what I wanted. How his voice made me shiver and how I couldn’t stop thinking about him, even when I tried to.
I looked at Zoey, who raised her eyebrows like she already knew the war happening inside my head.
I didn’t say anything. Just nodded slowly.
“Let’s go then,” she said with a grin.
Later That Night
The club wasn’t the same one from before—it was smaller, darker, but louder. The bass thrummed through the floor like a second heartbeat, and the crowd moved like one restless, fevered animal.
I kept close to Zoey at first, my nerves tingling. I scanned the room, searching for him.
And then I saw him.
Rhys.
Leaning against a wall near the back, dressed in black, his eyes already locked on mine like he’d felt me walk in.
Time slowed. My pulse quickened.
He pushed off the wall and walked toward me, each step deliberate, like he wasn’t in a hurry because he knew I wasn’t going anywhere.
“Hey,” he said, voice like smoke and velvet.
“Hey,” I echoed, already breathless.
His hand brushed mine, and I thought I might fall apart right there.
Zoey melted into the crowd, giving us space without a word, and part of me wondered if that had been her plan all along.
The lights flickered above us.
Rhys leaned down, his lips brushing my ear. “I missed you.
And in that moment, nothing else mattered. Not my mother’s warnings, not the strange shadows in Zoey’s stories, not the nagging voice in my head that whispered I was making a mistake.
I didn’t care.
I just wanted him.
I wanted his hands, his mouth, the way he made me feel like I wasn’t just Riley the Alpha’s daughter—but someone who could burn the world down.
I wanted more.
And I knew I’d follow that feeling, no matter where it led.