I was just Ryder. Just the beta. The one who cracked jokes and lightened the mood and stayed out of the way during the important moments. The one people looked past because there was nothing special to see.
They never looked twice at me.
The old wound throbbed, familiar and sharp.
But then I looked at Alyssa. At the woman I loved, who was carrying the weight of an entire realm on her shoulders. At my brothers, who’d already sacrificed so much. At the impossible odds stacked against us.
If facing a Guardian was what it took to give them a fighting chance, then that’s what I’d do.
Because there was nothing I wouldn’t do for her. For them. For this family we’d built out of blood and battle and bonds that couldn’t be broken.
“Okay,” I heard myself say. “So I fight a Guardian. How hard can it be?”
The joke fell flat. I could hear how hollow it sounded, but Maddox gave me a small, grateful smile anyway.
“In the meantime,” I continued, forcing my voice steady, “there’s one more thing we need to deal with. One more brother who needs us.”
I didn’t have to say Damon’s name. Everyone knew who I meant.
“Ryder’s right,” Alyssa said. “We’ve talked about the bite, about the risks. But we haven’t talked to him. Not really.” She looked around at all of us. “We go to him. Together. And we let him decide.”
Dean nodded slowly. “And if he says yes?”
“Then we do it,” Tank said. “Not here. Not on the ship. We wait until we reach the Fifth Court. Safer that way. If something goes wrong...”
“Nymeria might be able to help,” Alyssa finished. “Or at least, she might know more about what we’re dealing with. About the nightmare.”
“The nightmare is old,” Fizzle said quietly. We’d almost forgotten he was there. “Older than Arik. An ancient secret of the Winter Court, buried and forgotten until he dug it up. But yes, Nymeria may know how to destroy it. Or at least how to contain it.”
It wasn’t much. But it was more hope than we’d had an hour ago.
“So that’s the plan,” Alyssa said, and her voice had steadied, strengthened. The queen was back. “We set out for the Wildling Forest. We find the Fifth Court. We meet Nymeria. And along the way, we figure out how to save Damon and how to prepare Ryder to face the Guardian.”
She looked at each of us in turn, her gaze fierce and certain.
“Any objections?”
No one spoke.
“Then let’s go tell Damon he has a choice to make.”
We filed out of the cabin together, leaving Fizzle alone with the weight of his confessions. I was the last one through the door, and I paused at the threshold, looking back at the small owl griffin who had held so many secrets.
He looked... diminished. Smaller than I’d ever seen him. Like the secrets had been the only thing holding him upright, and now that they were gone, there was nothing left.
“For what it’s worth,” I said quietly, “I think you did the best you could. With what you knew. With what you had.”
Fizzle’s eyes met mine, and something like gratitude flickered across his features.
“Thank you, Ryder. That means more than you know.”
I nodded and turned away, following my brothers and my mate down into the hold where Damon waited.
The fear was still there. Fear of the Guardian, fear of failing, fear of not being enough. But underneath it, something else was growing. Something that felt almost like determination.
I would face a Guardian. I would prove myself worthy of the Autumn Court’s magic. And then I’d help tear Arik apart piece by piece until there was nothing left of him but a bad memory.
They never looked twice at me.
