Destined for Vengeance ✔️

Chapter 57

More than two weeks passed. Ellis had written to Alder, detailing what had passed between Ryleigh and Austin, and suggesting he up his security. Alder had done accordingly, though he – and everyone else with him – hoped it would be a false alarm. Still, they all knew one of two things was going to happen: either Ryleigh was going to go home and join the cause again, or she was going to try to get vengeance on her own. Either way, Andior hadn't become a safer place.

Ryleigh wasn't known for her patience, so when a week had passed, they had little doubt that she had opted for going home. In all honesty: she had considered it. When her wolf led her away from the forest and contemplated a direction to take – homewards or towards the Royal Wolves – she had steered into the direction of home.

She knew she would never be able to kill Alder and walk away from it. If she was honest with herself, she had always known as much. She had better chances with the cause. Or perhaps that wasn't even the point. She still didn't agree with the cause. She still didn't think her pack should try to do something that stupid. Ryleigh ought to be the only one to throw her life away. That's what alphas were for. To take the fall. So it was not because of the cause. It was – Goddess forbid – because she wanted to say goodbye.

She was ready to die, but she wished to see her loved ones one more time. Paige, Parker, even her father. She even longed to see her three insufferable half-siblings. She had never gotten along with them, but they were her blood, and that mattered. Jade wouldn't be able to take on the role of heir – she had made her choice. That left Royce, her thirteen-year old half-brother to take the sceptre from her. The kid would mess up dramatically, but it was what it was.

She hadn't moved in the direction of home for an hour, when she changed her route. She remembered her father's words. He was going to make her get on her knees and beg to be admitted back into the pack. And then what memory would she leave behind of her? The last time her family would see her, would be when she was utterly humiliated. That being so, it was better not to come back at all. At least then they would remember her the way she was: strong, reckless, more than a little crazy.

She course-corrected towards Royal Wolf territory, but didn't immediately attempt regicide. She knew Ellis well enough to know he was going to let Alder know about the situation. None of them would be able to deny the possibility of her finally doing what she had promised to do since the moment she had met them. And they were right. She was going to kill Alder, be it the last thing she ever did. 

Ryleigh was many things, but not patient. It took everything she had to stay hidden for two weeks, but she knew she was never going to succeed with security being extra tight. She needed to wait for them to relax. Jade would surely tell them she was the most impatient person ever, and before long they would believe she'd gone home.

That's what she was waiting for. She had stayed on the edge of the Royal Wolves' territory for the first week. Then she crossed the border. She managed to sneak past patrol unnoticed. It was funny, really. She was right back where she had started almost exactly three months before. Ironic how things always came full circle. But this time she wouldn't go to prison. This time she would succeed and die, or fail and die. There was no alternative.

She blitz-attacked a villager who had strayed just a little too far from the paved roads and stole his clothes. Then she hung around the marketplace for a week. It was a dangerous game she was playing. If someone recognised her – she wasn't sure whether Alder had decided to spread her image – or if someone realised she was inside the territory without permission, she would be dead and all would have been for nothing. She stole a cloak and made sure to keep the hood drawn over her head at all times. If there was one thing Ryleigh was good at it, it was hiding. After all, she'd had fourteen years of practice.