“I was trying to sleep,” she said. “I don’t know if you’ll believe this, but I felt a strange pain in my chest and I thought it might have something to do with you.”
"Couldn't stand to be away from me?" Ryland took a risk. It worked. Krista laughed her musical laugh, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "It's more of a theory I have," she said. "I know I haven't really shown off my…abilities as an oracle yet. But, I still think that maybe…I don't know. Maybe, we're connected somehow. That my powers are also attached to your curse."
"An interesting theory," Ryland said as he took a spot next to her. His knee just barely brushed against her bare thigh as he sat, and he couldn't help but look at how her legs were delicately folded to the side. He noticed her bare feet, her toes curling as she worked diligently on her sketch. "Listen," he said, remembering that they had left off on an odd note. "About the other day, with the shifter-"
"Honestly, I was shocked, and quite terrified," Krista said. "But, it's okay. Something told me that it wasn't really you in there." She turned, her bright eyes looking right into his. Ryland was taken aback and averted his gaze to the table.
"It's spreading more,” he told her sadly. "It's getting harder for me to figure out what's me and what's…this thing. ”
"Well, if it makes you feel better. I think it was really you that night on the hill," she said with a smirk. "If you remember as well as I do."
Ryland did remember, and he wanted to continue where they'd left off. He'd been told so many times how dangerous it would be to fall in love, but with Krista sitting next to him, and the lamp on the coffee table casting a soft glow on her red hair, he knew that tonight he wouldn't be able to restrain himself.
"You've thought about it?" Ryland asked.
"Here and there," Krista said with a smile. Suddenly, it faded as she finished her drawing.
"It's that symbol," Ryland recognized Krista's drawing of the star, cut in half with an arrow, the marking left around Central City.
"I saw it in a vision," Krista explained, her tone shifting. "I'm really sorry about the meeting. I really thought it would help to try-"
“You don’t have to apologize. I knew there were a lot of people there.”
“It’s not just that. I haven’t been able to really use my abilities to help much.”
"You found Henna and the oracle bones. I'd say that's extremely helpful." He didn't want her to feel inferior.
“I just feel like everyone is counting on me right now,” she said.
“Tell me about it. I’m leading a pack that’s terrified of me. I can barely hold an alpha meeting without something going wrong.”
“It looks like we’re both disappointments.”
“You’re not a disappointment to me...”
The way she looked at him was driving him wild, a plan of some kind forming in her eyes. He hoped it was the same as his. There was something enticing about being alone in the dim light with her, while the rest of the world was asleep. There was a warning, something pulling him away from her, but he couldn’t resist it anymore. He had regretted that night on the hill, his pride too strong to let him keep going.
He took another chance, reaching out, just to cup his hand around her soft cheek. She closed her eyes and leaned into it, giving a cautious glance before she tilted forward on her knees, wrapping her arms around him while their lips met. Ryland didn’t know what to do, but the touch of her lips had softened him, and he melted into her arms, holding her body tightly against his.
She kissed him harder, hungry for him. Ryland was going to chase this as far as he could, and he pulled her onto his lap, letting her silky legs weave around his waist as she pressed her chest into his t-shirt. Ryland felt her unrestrained breasts and longed to touch them again as he had the other night.
As they kissed, he began to explore. She wove her fingers through his hair while his fingertips trailed from her thighs, caressing the skin on her stomach before reaching for her supple nipples. She sighed softly as he worked his thumbs in small, delicate circles, the buds underneath them growing more aroused. She worked her hips into a slow grind, gently at first,. Those shorts were so thin, sending Ryland’s imagination into a flurry.
“I thought you said this would complicate things,” Krista breathed.
“It’s even more complicated to keep myself away from you,” he replied.
The room was hotter as their bodies grew more familiar. Ryland felt the blood pumping to other places, the more Krista ground into him, her hips swaying in a beckoning rhythm. She pulled away and smirked as she reached down to grab his throbbing erection through his jeans. Ryland felt a moan escape his lips while she caressed him, her fingers spreading far apart to cover every inch of his thick cock. She kissed him again, her lips trailing to his neck in a string of soft kisses. Ryland leaned back but found himself caught off guard as something sharp grazed against his skin.
“Ouch!” He pulled away from Krista, who only gave him a devilish grin. “You’re not the only one who bites,” she said, a wild look in her eye. Ryland found- himself wanting her right then, his arousal peaking into a deeper hunger—yearning to be satisfied. He grabbed her thighs, holding her around him as he cleared off the coffee table in one swoop of his arm before placing her firmly onto it. A heavy breath rose from Krista, her eyes excited for what was to come.
Ryland pulled the thin fabric from her legs and tossed them aside. He pulled his t-shirt over his head, turning so she couldn’t see the dark markings across his chest. “I’ll get the lights,” he said, not wanting to frighten her with the curse. He felt a pair of arms lash out, grabbing for his waist as they spun him back around. “I don’t care,” Krista said, pulling her knees apart to reveal her lacy black panties. “Let me look at you.”
Her eyes sized him up, and she seemed pleased with him. She sat up on her knees on the table as she undid his pants, slowly pulling down the zipper and everything else with it. Ryland felt goosebumps prickling his skin as she caressed her fingers along his tightened shaft. Her lips grazed against the veins in his cock, teasing him until finally, she put him in her mouth.
Ryland hadn't felt anything like this in so long—it was hard enough not to finish just from her lips alone. As she sucked on him, her tongue rolling from shaft to tip, he couldn't control himself any longer. His wolf was dying to mate and had been for far too long. Just as her lips rounded his soft tip, he grabbed her by the shoulders, pinning her onto her back on the table.
He hovered over her, pulling the last scrap of fabric from her legs. His wolf was sensing her heat, and he was ready to give her anything she wanted. He bent over kissing her thigh, his lips trailing to her blossoming flower. She tasted sweet, and Ryland couldn’t get enough as he licked at her clitoris. Krista moaned softly under her breath, crossing her arms over her to pull off the rest of her clothes.
Ryland was nearly floored at the sight of her glorious breasts, heaving as Krista’s breath quickened. There was a soft glow about them, but he stayed focused on her lips, his tongue navigating around them as they swelled to the touch. He prodded her, tasting further inside. Krista’s back arched as he continued to pleasure her, until she was soaking wet to the touch.
She grabbed for his cock, guiding it inside of her. She took him in with such ease, her warmth seeping around him as he pressed further. Krista was shocked at the size of him, but the look in her eyes told Ryland she loved every inch of him. With his hands firmly planted on either side of her, he worked himself into a gentle grind inside and out.
Krista wrapped her arms around him, wanting his body to be closer to hers. He lowered himself, letting her breasts fill the space between them. Krista held on tightly, as Ryland began to thrust harder, her walls sliding around his veiny erection. He was struggling to hang on, and Krista’s breathy moans were driving him wild. There was so much more he wanted to do to her before he finished, and he picked her up under her thighs, his cock still inside of her while he rammed her into the books
helf.
Books fell from their place onto the floor as he fucked her harder. She was dripping wet now, her back arched as she closed her eyes and moaned in ecstasy. Her legs wrapped tightly around his waist as she bounced up and down on his cock. Ryland pressed her harder into the shelf as he grabbed for her breasts, one after the other. They were full in his hands, and he bent down to suck on them.
"I'm getting close," Krista whimpered. Ryland was on fire. He lowered her, turning her to penetrate her from behind. Her luscious, firm ass slammed into him as he thrust deeper. He grabbed it with both hands, his thumbs digging into it as he pulled it closer to him. Then, he reached around, his fingers prodding and rolling around her clit. Krista's moaning soared higher the more he pleasured her, until she finally and breathlessly exclaimed she was going to come.
He could feel every second of it as she contracted around him while she climaxed. His cock was throbbing now as he rammed her harder and harder, Krista crying out in pure ecstasy as warmth poured from between her lips, coating him completely.
It was enough to send him spiraling into his own wave of pleasure. His teeth clenched as he finished. He throbbed inside of her until he could no longer breathe until he had nothing left.
Finally, he removed himself. Their naked, sweaty bodies heaved as they caught their breath, relishing the act they'd just completed. Krista turned, tired and dizzy with pleasure as she wrapped her arms around him. "Definitely didn't see that coming," she joked between breaths. Ryland smiled, and at that moment he was overcome by a great sense of peace and quiet.
13. ALPHA
Krista sprawled out on Ryland's bed, her naked body barely covered by the fur blanket. She closed her eyes and sighed, never expecting to have shared such a moment with someone, let alone a wolf shifter…let alone Ryland. Since they made love, her body had been overwhelmed with a buzzing sensation that numbed her toes and fingertips. Ryland's hand reached down to move a strand of hair from her face.
"What have we done?" he asked, though he didn't seem too concerned.
"Quite the dirty deed," Krista said with a smirk. "You're lucky. Most guys hardly get a second date with me."
“Color me surprised,” he said.
“Well, I kind of brought it on myself. As you know, I tend to keep to myself. It makes things a lot easier in the long run.”
“Well, you haven’t had a horrible vision of us yet, have you?”
Krista thought it over. "If you don't count the visions of ominous shadows and wolves devouring people, I would say that our relationship was going rather well," she said.
She rested in the crook of his arm, gazing at the dark patterns of the curse working its way through his body. "Do you really think we're connected?" Ryland asked as her fingers trailed along the black strands of skin. "It would make sense if you're the oracle," he added. Krista noticed him looking at her longer than usual, his eyes more concerned. "You still don't think you're the oracle, don't you?" he asked.
“I don’t really know what to think anymore,” she told him. “I have these visions, but the second I’m in front of everyone trying to show them my potential, I just…crack. It’s all static to me. Maybe I just didn’t train hard enough.” She wanted to roll over—to settle and sulk in her failure from the meeting, but Ryland’s arms drew her closer, his warm body mingling with hers.
“You’ve been training your whole life,” he said calmly. “And you’ll always be training. That doesn’t make you a failure. You’re only a failure if you give up.”
The words settled over her, calming her busy mind. “What if we can’t find a way to lift the curse?” She asked. “What are you going to do?” She turned her head to look up at him. He was deep in thought.
“I’m going to lift it,” he said with determination. “My pack needs me.”
"Your pack doesn't show it," she told him. "They seem afraid of you. In fact, I haven't seen them do anything else other than train. Don't you ever let them get out once in a while?"
“They’re not afraid. They’re devoted to their pack and its cause.”
“And what exactly is your cause?”
It concerned her that Ryland took so long to answer. "To be the best, of course," is what he came up with. "Central City needs a strong alpha to keep the other factions together. A few years ago it was chaos. Territories were fought over constantly. We were all on the brink of war until my brother suggested the Rogues intervene with the peace treaty."
He tensed up, bothered as he looked down at his blackened arm. “This curse is my burden to bear, and if it isn’t lifted we may find ourselves facing another shifter war.”
“But why is it your burden? Weren’t you the one who sought me out for help?” Krista asked.
“You don’t understand what it’s like having this,” Ryland said fiercely, to her surprise. It was the other Ryland talking to her now, not the one she knew.
“I’m trying to do my best here,” she retorted sternly. Cursed or not, she wasn’t going to let Ryland’s unpredictable anger get between them.
"Sorry," Ryland relaxed as if something had passed over him. Krista forgave him. She thought of how hard it must be to be an alpha, to have everyone looking up to you constantly. Then again, she remembered everyone had been counting on her with the oracle bones. Now the shifters were going out on their own—possibly going to give up on the curse and the prophecy altogether.
She rested her head against Ryland, listening to his breathing as the soft glow of the city radiated through the warehouse windows. Tomorrow she would try again. Ryland had dozens of reference books she could use. I can’t give up now, she thought as she drifted off to sleep.
Usually visions and dreams were indiscernible while Krista slept, but tonight, something was taking a firm hold of her mind. It was if she were a ghostly spirit, soaring through all of space and time—an inky void splashed with colors that would take shape into things she recognized. She saw flashes of Ryland and her, their naked bodies entangled in one another in passion. A wave of satisfaction engulfed her spirit, but the images fast-forwarded into something much more terrifying that ripped her from her pleasurable fantasy.
Ryland and she disappeared, leaving Krista's ghostlike presence in the dark. Then, a voice called out to her as she found herself traveling through a dark tunnel, lit by a flickering candle in front of her. As the light danced on the walls, she caught a glimpse of the woman in the cage, the same drawing she had found scrawled in the cemetery with Ryland.
The voice was crying out in agony now, calling out for help. It sounded familiar, but it was wavering, warping into something inhuman as Krista drew closer to it. The tunnel opened up into a more cavernous area, though she couldn't recognize where she was. There was low chanting, and she felt intense heat.
Her vision was starting to falter now, and she could only see the blurred shape of someone. Without thinking, she heard her own voice. “Ryland!” It echoed thousands of times off the walls, reverberating back to her and shaking her to the core. Then, the screams came. Terrible wails of agony as her vision flashed to an image of a crystal dagger. The blade plunged into the blurred figure’s side and they fell, face first, onto the ground.
Krista ran towards the lone body she recognized. Twisted vague shadows shaped like monsters watched them, all standing in a circle. As Krista turned over the body, her heart stopped. She was looking right into Ryland's cold, lifeless eyes. His body began to tremble, but Krista held onto him, desperately trying to cling to him. Suddenly, his eyes opened wide, and a deafening roar emerged from him.
In a flash, large tongues of fire burst from his mouth and shot out from his eyes, nearly setting Krista ablaze. It consumed them. She could feel the flames licking at her clothes, at her skin. She panicked—trying to put them out, feeling the intense searing pain the fire brought her. She refused to let go of Ryland, not until they were completely engulfed in flame. The last thing she saw was a dark -hooded figure, holding tightly to the crystal dagger. A flash s
hone in the middle of the hood, but she couldn't see who it was.
A gasp tore at Krista's lungs as she ripped herself from her nightmarish vision. Ryland was going to be killed, and she needed to figure out when and where or it was bound to come true. She clutched at her chest, her breaths ragged and her skin dripping in a cold sweat. Where was she? It was light now. The morning had come to ease her fear, but it couldn't erase the vision she had.
The bed was cold beside her. Ryland was up by now, training. Of course, she had trouble believing that. What if she had a vision of something that had already happened and Ryland had been killed in the night? She pushed that thought from her mind. She could only see the future, not the present, and she needed to warn Ryland before he did something dangerous.
Harsh voices emanated from the training room. Krista tied up her still-wet hair from the showers and cautiously stepped inside. There was Ryland, standing on the mats with Tristan and two shifters standing around in a circle. It was a relief to see him alive, though a tense argument was taking place.
"We can't send anyone out, not after what happened with Henna." Krista recognized Tory, a scout who often stayed quiet around the warehouse like everyone else. It was surprising to see him standing up to Ryland.
“I didn’t train all of you so that you can cower in the warehouse whenever something goes wrong,” Ryland commanded. His voice was rough. Not in his typical teacher-like tone. “And if you don’t like that, you can go back to the streets where I found you.”
“Sir, you should consider the meeting that took place yesterday,” Tristan said firmly. It was odd for Krista to hear him this worked up. “The rest of the Rogues are worried the same thing will happen to them. If you have any respect for your pack, you’ll keep them here until this whole thing is figured out.”
“How the hell do you think we’re going to figure this out, then?!” Ryland was heating up now. “We’re not like the other factions. I’m not going to sit around and wait for someone else to clean up the mess. This is up to me, and my pack!”
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