Page 51 of Hunted By the Wolves
Riley woke slowly,dragged up from sleep by a dull, persistent ache behind her eyes.
Her first conscious thought wasalive.
The second wassafe.
Light filtered through the reinforced glass walls of the medical suite, muted and soft.Not harsh.Not urgent.The steady hum of E.S.E.systems wrapped around her like white noise, familiar enough now that it grounded instead of startled.
Her head throbbed when she shifted, and she stilled immediately, breathing through it.There was a tightness around her wrists—raw, sore, bandaged.Bruising bloomed beneath the medical wrap, dark and ugly where chains had bitten into skin.
She flexed her fingers experimentally.
Pain, yes.But nothing broken.Nothing lost.
“Easy,” Dorian murmured.
She hadn’t heard him move, but he was there now, sitting close to the bed, one hand hovering at her wrist as if afraid to touch without permission.Rafe stood on the other side, solid and unyielding, his presence anchoring the room.
“I’ve had worse hangovers,” she said, voice rough but steady.
Relief cracked across both their faces.
Rafe exhaled hard, one hand coming to rest at her ankle, grounding, real.“You scared us.”
She swallowed.“I remember ...helping someone.Then nothing.”
“You were hit in the back of the head, slight concussion,” Dorian said gently.“You were out for a while.But you’re okay.”
Okay was relative, but she let it stand.
They didn’t leave her side as the debrief unfolded around her, pulling chairs in close so she remained at the center of it without ever feeling interrogated.
Malik stood near the foot of the bed, tablet in hand.“Christian wasn’t a rogue,” he said quietly.“Not originally.”
Riley frowned.“What does that mean?”
“It means he was an alpha,” Victor said from the doorway.One massive shoulder leaned casually against the frame, but his eyes were sharp.“Taken from his pack by Chimera.Altered without consent.”
Her stomach twisted.
“He fought them,” Ivan added, stepping in beside Victor.“Hard.Took a lot from them before he turned on his own.”
“Enough,” Malik said, “that Chimera lost a significant foothold.Facilities.Data.Assets.”He paused, then added honestly, “We’re ...a little impressed.”
Riley let that sit.
“Whatever he was before,” she said quietly, “that’s not who he became.”
“No,” Dorian agreed.His thumb brushed lightly over her knuckles.“It isn’t.”
Elara slipped in then, quiet like a shadow, carrying a mug.“Tea,” she said softly.“For the headache.And because you’re too stubborn to ask someone to make it for you.”
Riley smiled as Elara pressed it into her hands.“You know me too well.”
As the room shifted and people came and went, she noticed the small things.
Victor and Ivan each paused as they passed, a hand settling briefly on her shoulder—solid, reassuring.The Razorbacks hovered near the door, Jarek asking gruffly if she needed anything, Aleksy offering snacks like contraband.
The Gorillas checked in through comms, voices warm and practical.“We’re pulling everything from your old life,” Malik told her.“Apartment.Records.Loose ends.If you’re staying—and we know you are—we’ll make the transition clean.”
