Destined for Vengeance ✔️

Chapter 2

*****

Ryleigh, meanwhile, had trailed about outside and still not found Jade, which added to her already moody state of mind. "Jade, where are you?"

"Woods. Follow my scent." She paused for a tick. "And you'd better shift. I'm pretty far away."

Sighing, Ryleigh sniffed the air. There were dozens of smells lingering in the air, but she was able to pick out her sister's without any effort. There were few scents she knew better in the world. In fact, the only one she'd be able to detect easier was Austin's – but that would change as soon as she rejected him.

She walked to the treeline and pulled her shirt over her head, hanging it over a low-hanging branch. She kicked off her shoes and shimmied out of her trousers.

"How far are we talking?"

Jade chuckled, the sound reverberating through Ryleigh's skull. "Rest assured you'll get plenty of time to run off that anger I'm hearing."

Ryleigh's groan turned into a growl as she shifted. She took off, her head low to the ground to follow Jade's trail. She sped up, zipping between the trees. As much as she didn't have the patience to look for Jade, the run did help sort out her mind. She increased her pace to a sprint, enjoying the wind tickling her coat.

"I can hear you," Jade said, after Ryleigh had run for a good fifteen minutes. Moments later, Jade appeared from behind a large boulder, already shifted back to her human form. Ryleigh did the same, panting.

She loved running, and she loved that she was once again free to take off the way she had, but physically it probably wasn't the best idea she'd ever had. The more energy she spent, the quicker her health deteriorated. She coughed and pressed a hand against her chest.

"Are you alright?" Jade asked, leaning against the rock and studying her. Ryleigh glared at her. She hated that her ill state was getting harder and harder to hide. For one second, her eyes burned silver. Then she blinked, and they darkened into their usual black.

"I'm fine."

"Does Austin know?"

"That I'm fine? Sure."

"That you're not?"

Ryleigh rolled her eyes and kicked against a pinecone. "I am fine."

"You don't look fine. You're paler than the full moon, and your eyes are turning silver again. You forget I've seen you recover from silver at least a dozen times. I'm not as easy to fool as those friends of yours."

"I'm fine, Jade."

"I hate to be a voice of reason, but you need Paige's help."

Ryleigh shook her head. Her legs were burning, so she set herself down on the forest floor, leaning her back against a tree. "I'm not going home yet."

"Have you tried rejecting Austin? It might work."

"No, not yet."

Jade cocked her head. "You know Father has only agreed to give us a little while. He does expect us to return home."

"I know." She glanced up. "You haven't told me any details about your conversation with him yet."

"I'm not sure I should." Jade lowered herself down, moving to sit against the boulder. "I'll tell you what. If you tell me what went through you when you saw King Alder today, I'll tell you how Father reacted."

Ryleigh stared down at her bare legs. Her fingers moved up to her right shoulder, where the most disturbing of her scars crawled across her skin. "When I saw him, I saw us. Our pack. Dying. It took me right back. I know he wasn't even there, but he's responsible. All our pain, everything we've lived through the past fourteen years, all the people we've lost – he's responsible."