"Let's get you seated first." Julie got up and walked over to Ryleigh. Austin was still standing inert in front of her, looking as though he had lots of things to say but no means of saying them. Julie shot him a look, nodding towards his seat. Then she grasped Ryleigh's arm and led her away, putting her down on a chair beside her own. "Are you hungry?"
Ryleigh blinked, returning from whatever region of distraction she had gone to. "No. Thirsty, though. You'd think after nearly drowning, I'd have had enough to drink for a while, but clearly not." Her head shot up as Austin moved back to his chair. Every time he moved – every time he breathed – her attention was drawn towards him. And she didn't need to look to know his eyes were unwaveringly fixed on her. Her mark burned and she urged to touch it, but refrained.
"You smell like Austin," Carry said. "Ellis said the mark does that to you. Do you feel different? Austin says he feels different."
"Carry, shut up," Conall said. "This isn't a joyous occasion. She didn't want him to mate her, so leave her alone about it."
She scoffed. "You're just being nice because she took an arrow for you."
"Yes. I hope it'll wear off soon."
"Me too," Ryleigh said. "It's uncanny. O, thank you, Julie." She took the cup of tea that Julie offered her and clenched it in her cold hands. "I guess you all know who I am." She raised her eyes to glance around the table. "Full disclosure: I'm much better at lying than at telling the truth."
"O, we know," Julie said. "You've told us a pretty convincing lie. We all believed you were from Golden Dawn. You even got Ridge to help you."
"Yes. Sorry about that. I had my reasons to lie, as I'm sure you understand. You guys are so loyal to Alder you might as well start calling yourselves Royal Wolves." She let her gaze rest on Ellis. "Did you tell him yet?" Before he could answer, a breath escaped her. "No, you haven't. Good."
"How did you –"
"Magic, of course. But before I get into that, I should tell you the truth." She took a sip of tea and studied the tablecloth. Silence hushed over the table. She put down her cup and chewed the inside of her cheek. "I don't know where to begin."
"Let's start with how by the Goddess you're alive," Conall said.
Ryleigh sat back in her chair. "I suppose that's as good a place to begin as any. Fourteen years ago, the Royal Wolves attacked my pack. I was eleven at the time. We didn't see it coming. Or not in time, anyway. But even if he we had, it wouldn't have made much of a difference. There were too many of them. There were a few hundred of us; the Royal Wolves' army counted thousands. They call it the Shadow Walker battle, but it wasn't a battle. It was a massacre."
She rose from her chair unexpectedly and moved over to the window, pushing one of the heavy curtains further aside. It was a beautiful morning. Birds were singing. That night – that long, dark night so long ago – all the birds had fled.
"It was stormy, that night. I remember the wind. It was the middle of the night when it started." Her fingers found the windowsill for support. She had never told the story to anyone not sharing her blood – people who, even if they hadn't been there, understood the tragedy. People who shared her rage, her pain, her loss. These people, even if they had the compassion to understand, didn't have the background, didn't have the scope of understanding necessary to fathom what had occurred that night.
"Our pack's centre was near a river. There was a bridge across it, and not many soldiers on the other side. I told my little sister to run. I was going to let her cross the bridge and burn it down after her, so that at least she might survive. After that, I was going to return to the battle and die honourably. That was the plan, at least. When my sister reached the bridge, I saw a soldier getting ready to shoot her. I guess I have a history of taking arrows for people. I jumped in front of her. The arrow hit me right in the shoulder." Her hand travelled up to her right shoulder, tracing the raised scars through her shirt.
"The force of the arrow knocked me off the bridge, into the river, and because I was standing in front of my sister, I took her down with me. Like I said, it was stormy. I nearly drowned. Eventually, I made it to shore. My sister didn't." She paused only for a second, exhaling slowly. "Once I made it to shore, I passed out. It was hours later when I woke up again. By then, my body had started healing my shoulder. Or it tried, at least, but the arrow was still lodged in there, so it wasn't pretty. That's why the scar is so hideous. It never healed right."
She fixed her eyes on two pigeons in a nest, right outside the window. Behind her, everyone was quiet. She didn't have to look to know they were all still listening. She could sense it from the tension hanging like a storm cloud over the room.
"I made my way back to the pack. When I got back, the army was gone. Funny to think about, but nearly dying in the river saved my life." She shook her head. She would have preferred to die in battle. "There were dead bodies everywhere. Men, women, pups. All dead. The ground was soggy with blood. At some point I was wading through it." She turned around, leaning against the window sill.
"You all think Alder is so great. Who kills pups? Who slaughters a whole pack? I've seen the corpses of children, clenched in the arms of their dead mothers, with their dead fathers lying only feet away." She wanted to turn away again, but didn't. She needed to look these people in the eye while she spoke. "I checked to see if anyone was alive. No one. I searched for hours. There were so many corpses. The Royal Wolves had been with so many, they'd hardly suffered any losses. In hindsight I was crazy to hang around there. I wasn't thinking straight. But seeing your family dead does something to you. I found my grandfather with his head severed from his torso. He was the alpha."
"You're an alpha," Ellis said. "Should have known."
"I'm sure it doesn't surprise anyone. I came across aunts and uncles, friends, children my age, children younger than me. I can still see them like they're right in front of me. Some of them were my cousins." She crossed her arms, pressing them tightly against herself. "It took hours, but I found someone. Six hundred wolves, and I found one survivor."
She paused there. Not for dramatic effect – the story needed no theatrics – but because she had reached the point of no return. The truth had consequences.
"It was my father," she said. "He was badly hurt. Broken bones, deep wounds. I don't even rightly remember it all. But he was breathing. All our healers were dead, so there was nothing I could do. I sat with him for hours, expecting him to breathe his last breath right beside me. He didn't. He survived."
She wasn't sure what she had expected. This was the first time she had ever admitted there were still Shadow Walkers out there. She thought she would feel more. She just felt numb.
"From then on, it was just him and me. We lived like rogues, always in hiding, never able to tell anyone who we really were. We couldn't trust anyone. The only thing we had going for us was that everyone thought we were dead. We spent years that way."
"What changed?" Julie asked.
Ryleigh blinked at the simplicity of the question. The answer was too multi-faceted to satisfactorily explain. Some aspects of it would have to do.
"I grew up. The way we lived, there was little chance of me ever finding my mate." She glanced at Austin, the mark on her neck flaring to life. "He wanted me to mate someone else. Someone of his choosing. Did I mention that he's a mind-controller? That's where my 'attacks' come from, in case you were wondering. He is too far away to link me, and he's too far away to read my mind, but he can use his magic to control me, though only just. It's complicated and I can try to explain it in more detail at a later stage, but let's suffice to say he can be very persuasive."
"A mind-controller," Conall said. The times he had been at a loss for words could be counted on five fingers, but this was one of them.
"Yes. He doesn't often use his powers against me, but when he does, there's little I can do against it. Anyway, he wanted me to mate someone. Even had a candidate lined up."
Austin stiffened at hearing that, but said nothing.
"I couldn't do it," Ryleigh said. "So I ran. I ran hard and I ran long, and I ended up – of all places – in Royal Wolves territory. They caught me, and the rest is history." She glanced around the circle, her eyes at last resting on Austin. "This is why I need to go. I'm all he has. He's looking for me and he won't stop until he has me back. He's probably the most powerful werewolf alive. If I stay, I'll be putting you all in danger." She clacked her tongue. "Not that you've given me a choice. I can't reject you until this stupid mark fades. Ridge said it could take up to two weeks. Chances are he'll have found me before then. Austin, you need to seriously consider if you want to take that risk."
She moved back to the table. She didn't sit down, but did pick up her cup again. She took a few tiny sips, then placed it back. "Ridge didn't want me to leave the infirmary, so I should probably be getting back there."
"I can walk you back," Austin said, rising from his seat.
"No." Her neck itched and it took all her discipline not to bring her hand up to it. Her stomach clenched at his crestfallen expression and she was almost tempted to change her mind and let him escort her, but she wasn't ready to talk to him.
"Before you go, I have a question," Conall said, leaning forwards in his chair.
Ryleigh waved her hand around. "Ask away. Take your chances now that I'm being honest. Who knows when you'll get another opportunity."
"What's your gift? Are you a mind-controller too? That would explain how you fought those wolves and made them believe you'd gone somewhere you hadn't."
"And it would explain why you always seemed to know everything," Julie said.
"No," Ryleigh said, "but good thinking. I read memories."
________
A/N: It took 48 chapters, but Ryleigh has given some answers at last! Is it what you were expecting?
As always, thanks for reading!