GIFTED RILEY by Lacy Mierr

Chapter 42: Back to the Beginning

*Riley*

I didn’t have to turn around to know who it was. I could hear the venom and hatred in her voice. I wasn’t sure I was ready to see her. Things didn’t go so well between us the last time we saw each other.

From the sound of her voice, it sounded like she wanted a fight. I didn’ t want to fight with her. I didn’t have it in me. My soul felt weak. I was still in denial, not ready to believe that my father was in fact, dead. It couldn’t be.

I wanted to ignore her, but she was in front of me, and I didn’t want her to think I was scared of her. So, I squared my shoulders and faced

her.

“You!” she yelled again, pointing at the tears streaming down my face. “How dare you come back here, how dare you show your face here?”

I didn’t have time for this. There was no time for whatever petty games she was playing. The pack was in trouble for goodness sake, and Ava still considered me enemy number one. I couldn’t say I was surprised, it was Ava after all.

I stared at her for a moment, trying to decipher my emotions. Her once luscious black hair was now faded and flaky. The curves she once had

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were gone now, she almost looked sick. Was it the stress from the attack? Or was karma finally catching up to her?

Looking at her in this state, I wasn’t sure what I felt. A part of me was satisfied to see that Ava looked terrible, to see that the odds were in my favor. A part of me was angry that she still rudely spoke to me.

But another part, the foolish part, was concerned about her well-being, even though she didn’t deserve my emotions.

My eyes spotted Liam, kneeling by father’s side. His expression was a stark contrast to Ava’s. He at least looked happy to see me, but he couldn’t form any words.

I understood. It must have been so hard on him. At least my brother was someone I was happy to see.

“What’s wrong with my dad?” I said to no one in particular, but I hoped no one would answer, no one would confirm what I already knew.

“You’re just going to ignore me?” Ava continued. “You think you’re better than us now?”

There was no need to speak to her. The way she was acting, she wasn’t worth my breath. My heart was breaking at the sight in front of me. He couldn’t really be dead, right? Maybe he was just sleeping, or resting from a bad injury.

My eyes were fixed on his body, I couldn’t tear them away, couldn’t stop myself from looking.

Ava snorted bitterly, fixing her venomous gaze on me. Before I could react, she gripped my arm and shoved me violently. I reared back, struggling to steady myself. But I lost my footing and hit the ground hard, winded by the impact and the cruelty of her words..

“This is all your fault. You did this to him. How does it feel knowing that you killed your own father?” she continued, and her attempt to rip me apart was working.

How did it feel? I didn’t know. Was it really my fault? I didn’t know. I was on the ground once again, in the hands of my bully of a sister. How foolish of me to think things would be different this time. That she would finally leave me alone and I would no longer be the designated punching bag.

Being back here brought back memories, bad memories. Being on the ground after being shoved violently made me think of the time when this was a norm. I was angry at her, but mostly at myself for allowing this to happen again.

I had promised myself that no one would ever treat me in any way apart from how I deserved to be treated. And now? Things were still just as bad.

I felt Nicolas wrap his warm hands around me, lifting me. He took a step forward, fixing his steely gaze on Ava.

“You forget yourself, Ava,” his voice cut like ice. “And I would be kind enough to remind you. If you ever touch the future Lycan Luna again, I will make you regret it terribly. This is the last time I would spare your life. If you wish to join your father on his deathbed, I might be generous enough to grant that wish.”

“Nic, I’m fine.” I choked out, my voice breaking. “But my dad, he’s…”

The tears kept coming. I didn’t think it would hurt so much, but it did. But why did it hurt? He didn’t love me, he didn’t want me. He bullied me, treated me like s t, like I didn’t matter in this world. But seeing him like this, I couldn’t help but mourn him.

I couldn’t help but mourn the father I never had, the relationship with him I never had the chance of experiencing. Now, I would never get that. I would never get him to apologize or to explain why he treated. me the way he did. He did it without giving me any answers and it hurt like hell.

“Let’s go,” Nicolas grunted out, leaving no room for argument.

My throat tightened. “No… I…”

“I’m not leaving you here to drown in tears,” he cut in, his jaw set. “Show me your room.”

Defeated, I nodded. But before following him, I stole one last glance at my father. Then, turning to Liam, a raw question tore from my lips. “Did the hunters do this?”

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He nodded, his expression grim. “They were ready for us. Everything they did was calculated. They used ecstasy first, and then they sent men to ambush Father and Noah.”

“Ecstasy?” Nicolas repeated his voice hardening. “How did they get their hands on ecstasy?”

“I have no idea. And the moment one of us went down, they killed them,” Liam responded.

My mouth hung open. Did that mean… no, it can’t be. If he were dead then the pack would have been in a worse state than it was already. Noah can’t be dead.

“Let’s go,” Nicolas pressed, nudging me forward. My heart ached, I didn’t want to leave, but I knew he wanted to be with me alone, to hopefully make it all better.

I led him to my room, and as I reached for the doorknob, I heard footsteps coming from the opposite direction.

“Riley,” someone said from behind me. “You’re back,”

The words were like a whisper. It was a voice I hadn’t heard in a long time, one I didn’t think I would hear ever again..