When The Goddess Lied

CHAPTER 3 - Sanctuary

We ran for what felt like hours.

Riven moved through the forest like he was part of it. Silent. Fluid. Every step deliberate, avoiding branches that would snap, roots that would trip, patches of ground that would leave tracks. I tried to copy him, but my feet screamed with every step, leaving bloody prints I couldn't hide.

He noticed. Of course he noticed. But he didn't slow down. Didn't look back. Just kept moving deeper into territory I'd never seen before.

The trees here were different. Twisted. Wrong. Their bark was darker, almost black, and the air tasted bitter on my tongue. No birds sang. No insects chirped. Even the wind seemed reluctant to blow through these branches.

We shouldn't be here, my silver wolf whimpered. This place is forbidden.

Good, my golden wolf snarled back. That means they won't follow.

But they would. I knew they would. Cael wouldn't stop until I was dead or captured.

Until whatever I was, whatever threat I posed to his perfect image, was erased.

Riven finally stopped at the edge of a steep ravine. Below, a river cut through the darkness, its water black as oil in the moonlight. He turned to me, his grey eyes scanning my face. Looking for something.

"Can you swim?"

I blinked. "What?"

"Can you swim?" he repeated, more slowly this time. Like I was stupid.

"Yes, but I…."

"Good." He grabbed my hand. His skin was warm, calloused, and the moment our palms touched, both marks on my wrists flared with light. Gold and silver. His fractured mark answered, bleeding fresh through the bandage.

We both hissed in pain, but he didn't let go.

"Jump on three," he said.

"Wait, what? No. I'm not…."

"One."

"Riven, I can't…."

"Two."

"Please, just…."

"Three."

He jumped, dragging me with him.

The fall lasted forever and no time at all. Wind screamed past my ears. My stomach dropped into my feet. I opened my mouth to scream, but the river swallowed the sound as we hit the water.

Cold. So cold it stole my breath and locked my muscles. The current grabbed us immediately, vicious and strong, pulling us under. I thrashed, my lungs burning, my vision going dark at the edges.

Riven's hand tightened on mine. Yanked me upward. We broke the surface together, gasping, choking on water that tasted like metal and earth.

"Swim!" he shouted over the roar of the rapids. "Don't fight it. Let it take you downstream."

I wanted to argue. Wanted to scream at him for throwing us into a river that was clearly trying to kill us. But I didn't have the breath. I just kicked, fought to keep my head above water, and let the current drag me along like a rag doll.

The river carried us for what felt like miles. Slamming us into rocks. Dragging us under. Spitting us back up. My body went numb from the cold, my fingers barely able to hold onto Riven's hand.

But he never let go.

Finally, blessedly, the current began to slow. The river widened, grew calmer. Riven pulled me toward the bank, and we crawled out onto a strip of rocky shore, collapsing side by side in the mud.

I lay there, shivering so hard my teeth rattled, staring up at a sky I could barely see through the canopy. Every part of me hurt. Every breath felt like swallowing glass.

"That," I gasped between breaths, "was insane."

Riven rolled onto his side, water streaming from his hair, and actually smiled. Not a big smile. Just a small quirk of his lips. But it transformed his face, made him look younger. Less dangerous.

"Worked, didn't it?"

"We could have died."

"But we didn't." He sat up, wringing water from his shirt. "The river will wash away our scent.

They'll lose the trail. We just bought ourselves time."

I forced myself upright, my muscles screaming in protest. The marks on my wrists had stopped glowing, but they still ached. Two half-formed bonds, pulsing with a pain that went deeper than skin.

"Why are you helping me?" The question came out before I could stop it.

Riven went still. His smile faded, replaced by something harder. Colder. He looked at me for a long moment, and I saw something flicker in his eyes. Guilt, maybe. Or regret.

"Because," he said quietly, "I owe you."

"You don't even know me."

"I know enough."

"That's not an answer."

He stood, offering me his hand. I stared at it, at the blood still seeping through the bandage on his wrist, at the fractured mark that matched the silver one on my own skin.

"No," he agreed. "It's not."

I took his hand anyway. Let him pull me to my feet. My legs wobbled, barely holding my weight, but I stayed upright through sheer stubbornness.

Riven studied me, his expression unreadable.

Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out something small and dark. A piece of cloth. No. Not cloth. Leather. Old and worn, with symbols carved into its surface.

"Put this on," he said, holding it out.

I took it carefully. It was a bracelet. Simple. Crude. But the symbols etched into the leather seemed to shimmer in the moonlight, shifting every time I tried to focus on them.

"What is it?"

"A ward. It'll mask your scent. Hide your energy. As long as you wear it, they won't be able to track you by the marks."

I frowned. "Where did you get this?"

"Someone who knew I'd need it." He gestured impatiently. "Put it on. Now. Before they pick up the trail again."

I slipped the bracelet onto my left wrist, over the golden mark. The moment the leather touched my skin, a strange coolness spread through me. The constant throbbing in my wrists eased. The chaotic screaming of my two wolves quieted to a distant murmur.

It felt like I could breathe for the first time since the ceremony.

"Better?" Riven asked.

I nodded, not trusting my voice.

"Good. Because we still have a long way to go."

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere safe. Somewhere Cael's reach doesn't extend."

"There's no such place."

Riven's smile returned, sharp and dangerous. "You'd be surprised."

He turned and started walking into the forest.

After a moment, I followed. What choice did I have? Go back to Silvercrest? Let them kill me for being an abomination? At least with Riven, I had a chance.

Even if I didn't understand why he was giving me one.

We walked in silence for a long time. The forest gradually changed around us. The twisted trees gave way to normal pines. The oppressive atmosphere lifted. Moonlight filtered through the branches again, painting everything silver and shadow.

My feet had gone beyond pain into a strange, distant numbness. I watched them move, one in front of the other, and wondered distantly when they would simply stop working altogether.

"Almost there," Riven said quietly.

"Where?"

"You'll see."

Ten minutes later, we broke through the tree line into a clearing. A small cabin sat in the center, barely more than a shack. Its walls were rough-hewn logs, its roof patched with moss and bark. A single window glowed with firelight.

Someone was inside.

Riven must have seen me tense because he said, "It's alright. They're expecting us."

"Who?"

He didn't answer. Just walked up to the door and knocked three times. Pause. Twice more. Some kind of code.

The door opened immediately.

A woman stood in the doorway. Tall, lean, with wild red hair that fell past her shoulders and eyes that burned with barely contained fire.

She looked at Riven, then at me, and something like satisfaction crossed her face.

"About damn time," she said. Her voice was rough, like she'd spent her life shouting over wind and war. "We've been waiting."

"Waiting for what?" I asked.

The woman's smile was all teeth. "For you,

Split Alpha. We've been waiting for you."

My blood turned to ice. Split Alpha. She'd called me Split Alpha. How did she know? How could she possibly know?

Riven's hand found the small of my back, steadying me. "Seren, meet Thalia. She's going to help us."

"Help us do what?"

Thalia stepped aside, gesturing for us to enter. "Survive. Learn. Get strong enough to make those Silvercrest bastards bleed."

She looked me up and down, her gaze sharp and assessing. Then she nodded, like I'd passed some test I didn't know I was taking.

"Come inside. You look like death, and we have a lot to talk about. Starting with what the hell happened at that ceremony and why half of Silvercrest wants you dead."

I looked at Riven. He nodded.

I stepped inside.

The moment I crossed the threshold, something inside me shifted. Settled. Like some part of me recognized this

place. Recognized these people.

And in my mind, buried beneath the exhaustion and pain and fear, my golden wolf whispered something that made my blood run cold.

Welcome home.