Riley Hayes POV
Riley realizes she's in trouble at 3 AM when she can't stop thinking about Garrett's hands.
Not in a scary way. In a way that makes her heart race and her skin feel too tight. She's lying in bed staring at the ceiling replaying the moment his fingers brushed her arm that afternoon. Just a touch. Nothing intentional. But her entire body had gone electric and she'd had to look away before he noticed.
Before he realized that she's falling for him.
The thought makes her sit up in bed. Falling for Garrett Cole. The Alpha of Blackthorn Pack. The man she's supposed to hate. The man whose pack is her pack's enemy. The man who saved her life ten days ago and now owns every waking moment of her existence.
This is impossible.
She doesn't even know who she is. How can she fall for someone when she doesn't know her own name? How can she make decisions about her heart when her entire past is a blank void? What if when she remembers, she realizes that loving Garrett was the biggest mistake of her life?
But then she remembers the way he looks at her.
Like she matters. Like her existence changes things for him. Like losing her would actually break him. And all her reasons why this is wrong dissolve into nothing.
Riley gets out of bed at 3:47 AM because lying there thinking about him is torture. She walks through the quiet compound in borrowed clothes, her healed shoulder moving smoothly. No more pain. Just the lingering ache of silver that's fading day by day.
She finds him in his office still working. Documents spread across his desk. His dark hair messy like he's been running his hands through it. His grey eyes tired but still sharp when he looks up and sees her.
"You should be sleeping," he says.
"I can't sleep," she replies.
Riley walks over and sits on the edge of his desk instead of taking the chair. It's bold and reckless and exactly what she needs to do. Garrett goes completely still.
"Riley," he says like a warning.
"Tell me something," she says. "Tell me about being alpha. Tell me what that burden feels like."
Garrett doesn't move. He just watches her like she's a puzzle he's trying to solve. Like he can't figure out why she's here asking this question instead of being in bed where she belongs.
But he answers anyway.
He talks about the weight of decisions. About knowing that every choice he makes affects people. About having to execute wolves who betray him. About the loneliness that comes with holding that much power. About the silence in his head where other alphas probably hear their people's thoughts but all he hears is quiet.
Riley listens and sees past the coldness he's built around himself. She sees the man underneath. The one who's been alone so long that he doesn't know how to not be alone anymore.
"That sounds devastating," she says quietly.
"It is. But that's what being alpha means. You trade your life for your pack's survival."
Riley reaches over and takes his hand. His fingers go rigid but he doesn't pull away.
"What if you don't want to trade your life anymore?" she asks.
Garrett turns to face her fully. His eyes are storm grey and full of something that makes her breath catch.
"Then I lose my pack. I lose my position. I lose everything."
"Is that what you want?" Riley asks. "To lose everything?"
"Not everything," he says quietly. His hand tightens around hers. "Just the parts of me that matter less than you do."
The words are dangerous. They're possessive and territorial and absolutely clear about what he wants from her. Riley should be scared. Should pull away. Should tell him this is wrong and impossible and dangerous.
Instead she moves closer.
"People are talking," she says. "Maya warned me. Your pack is starting to question why you're protecting me. Your enemies are watching. This is going to get worse before it gets better."
"I know."
"And you're still choosing me anyway."
"Every single day," Garrett says. "Until the day you tell me to stop. And maybe even then."
Riley's heart is pounding so hard she thinks it might break through her ribs. She's falling without permission. She's falling without a parachute. She's falling toward something that could destroy her but she doesn't know how to stop it.
She doesn't want to stop it.
Garrett stands up and pulls her close. His hands frame her face like she's something precious. Like she's worth protecting. Like she's worth starting wars over.
"If you keep looking at me like that, I'm going to do things that will mark you as mine," he says. His voice is dangerous and possessive. "And your pack will declare war."
Riley should be terrified. But she's not.
"Maybe I want that," she whispers.
Garrett doesn't hesitate this time. There's no apology. No pulling back. No pretending this is a mistake. He just kisses her like he's been waiting for permission and she just gave it to him.
The kiss is nothing like the first one. This one is confident. Certain. It's the kiss of someone who's decided that the cost is worth it. His hands move from her face to her waist and he pulls her closer until she's standing between his legs.
Riley kisses him back and doesn't hold back. All the fear and confusion and loneliness she's been carrying dissolves into just need. The need to be close to him. The need to feel his skin under her hands. The need to prove that this is real.
When they finally break apart, Riley is shaking.
"War is coming," Garrett says against her neck.
"I know," Riley breathes.
"Your pack will come for you."
"I don't care."
"You might care when you remember who you are. When you remember the life you had before this."
Riley pulls back enough to look at him. His grey eyes are full of fear and need and absolute devotion.
"I don't want the life I had before," she says. "I want this. I want you. I want whatever future we can build even if it's made of fire and chaos."
Garrett kisses her again. Not tender this time. Desperate. Claiming. Like he's trying to brand her as his so thoroughly that she could never forget what it feels like to belong to him.
And Riley lets him. She lets him kiss her like she's his salvation. Like she's the thing worth burning everything for. Like she's already his even though she doesn't remember who she was before she became his.