A Broken Alpha Heiress' Revenge (Riley) novel Chapter 290

Chapter 290

Chapter 290

Riley’s POV

My heart clenched so hard it felt like it might tear apart.

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“Lucien, are you alright? Don’t—don’t waste your strength on me! I’m nothing but a cripple. I’m not worth this!”

But he didn’t answer, or maybe he couldn’t. He only held me tighter, his body pressed against mine, shielding me from the crushing storm of stone and mud.

In that suffocating darkness, every breath was ragged, every heartbeat sharp in my ears. I could feel his heart against me-strong at first, steady as an Alpha’s—but then weaker… slower.

“No…” Tears blurred my eyes. Guilt crashed over me harder than the landslide. If not for me, Lucien would never have been dragged into this. He’d never have been broken beneath this mountain.

“Lucien Duskgrave, you can’t die! You promised me-you said you’d stay by my side!” My voice cracked, swallowed by thunder and the grinding avalanche.

His lips brushed my ear. A whisper, so faint I almost imagined it.

“Don’t… be afraid…”

Then nothing. His body went still against mine.

Terror flooded me. The kind that claws and tears, that drowns the soul. I screamed for help, the sound raw and frantic, but no one answered. Only the storm, only the weight, only silence.

The mud pressed tighter. The air thinned. My lungs burned, my head spun, and the world around me began to fade. My last thought before blackness took me was his face-his eyes, his strength, his vow to protect me.

And then there was nothing.

I woke to the sting of antiseptic.

Before my eyes even opened, I knew the scent: hospitals. The sharp, sterile tang of

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8:28 pm ED

Chapter 290

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death fought back with human tools. My chest seized, memory slamming back- the landslide, Lucien’s body over mine, the weight of stone, his heartbeat weakening.

I snapped my eyes open. White ceiling. White walls. Machines chirping steadily like false heartbeats.

I was alive.

But Lucien-where was he?

I tried to sit up, tried to throw myself out of the bed, but my body betrayed me. Nothing moved. My limbs were heavy, numb, lifeless. Panic clawed at me. Was I paralyzed?

“No…” I whispered, voice breaking. Then louder, desperate: “Nurse! Nurse!”

A woman appeared, pushing a wheelchair. Her body was rounder, her face hidden behind a mask. She moved without urgency, without warmth.

“Lucien,” I gasped. “Lucien Duskgrave-where is he? Tell me, is he alright?”

Her voice was flat, almost cold. “He’s fine. If you wish to see him, I can take you.”

Something about her tone scratched at me. Familiar. Wrong. But my chest was filled with only Lucien. My mind burned with the need to see him, to know he still breathed.

“Yes-take me. Please, now.”

She leaned closer, lifted me from the bed with surprising strength, and settled me into the chair. My body sagged, useless, my nerves still poisoned with whatever they’d given me. She wheeled me into the hall, down to the elevator.

I sagged against the chair, impatient, my wolf snarling inside me to run, to find him, to feel his heartbeat again.

But then-I saw the button she pressed.

Bl.

My heart lurched. “The basement? But… the patient wards aren’t—”

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8:28 pm ED

Chapter 290

She didn’t answer. Silence smothered us, thick and heavy.

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A prickle of fear crawled over my skin. Slowly, I turned my head toward her. And met eyes that burned with hate.

“You’re not a nurse,” I whispered. My chest tightened. My wolf bristled, restless, warning me. “Who are you?”

The mask came off.

I froze. Recognition slammed into me. “Selene Ashford…”

I’d only seen her once-at Carmen’s birthday gathering in the Silverfang Den. But her face was burned into memory. The bitterness in her smile, the venom in her gaze. She’d changed-softer, rounder, but those eyes… I would never forget them.

Her lips curled into a smile that reeked of poison. “Surprised, Riley?”

I swallowed, my hands gripping the useless arms of the chair. “What are you doing here? Where’s Lucien?”

Her laugh was sharp, cutting. “You’re still thinking of him? Even when you’re at my mercy? Gods, you really are a whore, aren’t you?”

I tried to rise, tried to summon strength-but my body refused me. My limbs were dead weight, the anesthesia still thick in my veins.

She saw my struggle, smirked. “Don’t waste your strength. The drugs haven’t worn off yet. You’re not going anywhere.”

My blood ran cold. “Drugs…? You-you drugged me?”

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