The Pack's Daughter (Aysel and Magnus) novel Chapter 650

Chapter 650

Aria’s POV

The moment Carmen’s arms locked around me, something inside me cracked open. Her scent-wild cedar and steel-wrapped around me like it always had in my earliest, hazy dreams. My body stiffened at first, but then her voice trembled against my ear, a single word breaking through years of fog.

“Riley…”

It hit me like lightning. Riley. My name. My real name.

The world tilted. I clutched at her leathers, and flashes ripped through my skull. Carmen was smaller once, barely tall enough to reach my shoulders, always darting around me like an impatient pup.

“Big sister!” she used to call, her dark braid flying behind her as she laughed. “When I grow up, I’ll be just like you!”

The memory stabbed through the hollow shell I had been living in. Not Aria, the mask, the blade forged for the West. Riley. I was Riley. Carmen’s sister in arms. The white wolf who had once belonged to Stormridge Pack. My chest ached as my wolf stirred inside me, stretching against the chains of years stolen.

“I remember….” My voice cracked. Tears blurred my vision as Carmen pulled back just far enough to search my face, her own cheeks streaked with wetness. “You… you were always chasing after me. Always laughing. Always…” My words faltered. The memories came like broken shards-bright, sharp, incomplete. My family. The prison. The darkness. Screams. Betrayal. And above it all, the faceless man who once swore to protect me. His face finally sharpened in the storm of my mind. Lucien.

But why… why was I in the West?

The answer stepped out of the shadows.

“Because of me,” came Maeryn’s voice.

I froze. Carmen stiffened, her sword half-lifted, but Lucien’s low growl held her back. The old professor walked toward us, her robes marked with the stains of battle and ash, her eyes far older than when I last remembered them. She looked at me as though seeing a ghost she had carried for too long.

“You deserve the truth, child,” she said, her voice trembling.

I pulled away from Carmen, meeting Maeryn’s gaze. “The truth? What truth? Why can’t I remember? Why did you give me another name?”

The air grew heavy, charged with the scent of blood and betrayal. Maeryn folded her hands in front of her, as though bracing for judgment.

“Five years ago, the wolf poison ravaged your veins. It killed you, Riley. You lay still in your coflin, and the pack mourned. But on the night of your funeral, when the moon rose high, I… I could not let you go.” Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. “I took your body. I carried you to Stormbane Pack, into the heart of the West.”

Every hair on my body stood on end. I wanted to move to snarl, to deny her words, but I couldn’t.

She continued, voice low. “There was only one thing the could restore you. The Moonshade Veyra. A relic locked away in the vault of Aedric Stormbane. Alpha of the West, once my student. He laughed at me when I begged him. Until I told him who you were. A white wolf-once in a thousand years. The power you carried could change the balance of the packs.”

Lucien’s fists clenched. His wolf surged against his skin, a snarl vibrating his chest. But Maeryn’s next words softened the blow.

“He agreed… but demanded a condition. That when you rose again, your memories would be erased. That I would weave the spell myself. You would forget Stormridge, forget Lucien, forget Carmen. You would wake as Aria, a soldier of the West, bound by loyalty to him for three years.”

Both of them turned to me. My wolf pressed against my skin, demanding I speak the truth clawing at my chest.

“I need to face Aedric,” I said. “He brought me back. He chained me. If this is to end, it must start with him. Maybe… maybe I can convince him to stand down.”

Carmen’s eyes widened with fear. “Are you insane? He’ll kill you-or worse.”

Lucien snarled, his grip on my hand like iron. “I won’t let him near you again.”

“You can’t protect me from everything.” My voice trembled, but my resolve held. “The West wants their weapon back. The East won’t forgive their crimes. If I don’t face him, this will spiral into war. Maybe I can use what he did to me against him.”

Maeryn lifted her head. her face streaked with tears but steadier now. “If this is your choice, Riley, then I will not leave you unguarded again. My magic will shadow your steps. This time, you will not face him alone.”

I let out a long breath, my wolf pacing within me, restless, hungry for answers. Scars burned on my soul, but scars could become armor.

Lucien pressed me to his chest, his heartbeat fierce and unyielding. “If you go, I go. Nothing will tear me from your side again.”

And Carmen-sweet, stubborn Carmen-raised her chin, her sword gleaming once more. “If my sister walks into the lion’s den. then I’ll walk with her. To the end.”

I looked at them all-Lucien’s fire, Carmen’s loyalty, Macryn’s guilt and love-and for the first time in years, I felt whole.

“I am Riley,” I whispered, the name anchoring me as the moonlight poured over us. “And I will take back what was stolen.”