by Dover, L. P.
Eyes glowing, Ryker growled and his fangs lengthened, but he drew them back. “They promised you to someone who wasn’t your mate? Why the fuck would they do that?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to them since I left. I kept running until I found my way here.”
Taking my face in his hands, he tilted my chin, demanding I look at him. I knew he was trying to see into my mind, but I couldn’t let him. With as much force as I could muster, I envisioned a wall to block him out, just to see if it could work. Thankfully, it did. I could feel him attempting to penetrate through, but with no success. “What aren’t you telling me, Bailey? You can’t keep me out forever. That kind of power only lasts for so long.”
He was right. “It’s not easy to talk about. I don’t even know where to begin.”
“How about the beginning? If you can’t speak it, show it to me. Don’t make me force my way into your mind. I’ll do it if I have to.”
Judging by the heated look in his eyes, he would do it. “Fine, I’ll let you in. Then maybe you’ll understand why I can’t stay here.” Reluctantly, I closed my eyes and let the memories of the night with Kade flood my mind. Everything from the beginning when he tried to claim me, to the part where I ripped out his throat.
Trembling with rage, Ryker was close to shifting, but he held it back. If we were bonded I could help control his wolf, but at this point, there was nothing I could do.
“Ryker, look at me.” His eyes flashed and his fangs lengthened again. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to know, but that’s what happened. Now you see why I can’t stay here. I will be found and there will be a war. I don’t want you in the middle of it.”
He growled low, his voice more animal than human. “It’s too late.” Getting to his feet, he stormed toward the front door and kicked it open, sliding his jeans and boxers to the floor. The magic began to shimmer around his body, but disappeared when I spoke.
“You’re not a part of this fight, I am!” I shouted.
He turned to look at me, his gaze heated and full of rage. “You are my mate, and he had no right to fucking claim you. If his pack comes for you, they will have to get through me first.”
“I can protect myself. I’m an alpha and just as strong as any of them.”
“That’s not the problem.” He rushed down the front steps toward the woods.
“Then what is?” I shouted, going after him.
He paused and turned around, his shoulders rising and falling with his rapid breaths. “Kade was my brother, Bailey.”
I gasped and watched him shift into his wolf before disappearing into the woods. How could someone like him be related to a sadistic bastard like Kade? I had just shown him images of ripping his brother’s throat out. What the hell was I going to do now?
Bailey
My first instinct was to chase after him, and if there was one thing I’d learned in life, it was to always trust my instincts. Shedding my clothes, I rushed out into the snow and shifted as I ran. Ryker’s trail was strong, and even more so because he was enraged. An angry alpha was a deadly one. Up ahead, Ryker slowed his pace and I finally caught up to him, approaching slowly.
“Ryker, please shift back so we can talk. I wish I could apologize for killing your brother, but I can’t.”
His eyes glowed and he bared his fangs. Since I hadn’t taken his blood yet, I wouldn’t be able to hear him if he spoke. He stared at me before the magic swirled around his body, turning him into his human form.
“I don’t want a goddamn apology. I should’ve been the one to kill him.”
“So you’re not mad at me?”
Breathing hard, he closed his eyes and knelt down on the snow in front of me, clenching his teeth. “No, I’m not mad at you. I saw what my brother did, and he deserved much more than he got. It kills me I wasn’t there to protect you.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“I know.”
“Why did you run off?”
He moved closer to me, putting his hands in my fur. “I’m pissed, Bailey. Watching your mate almost get raped by your brother isn’t exactly a walk in the park. All I could see was red. If you hadn’t ripped out his fucking throat, I would be halfway up to Canada by now.”
Closing my eyes, I let the magic take over my body so I could shift back. When I did, Ryker pushed me back and rolled us onto our sides. His hands went to my face and he kissed me, opening my lips with his tongue. I pulled away, even though I didn’t want to.
Breathing hard, he rested his forehead to mine. “I’ve wanted to do that since the first moment I saw you.”
I couldn’t deny it felt amazing. In fact, all I could think about was how good it was going to feel to let him claim me. Chest rumbling, his body reacted to my thoughts. My wolf wanted to mate, but the logical side of me wasn’t ready. “What would’ve happened if Kade and I had . . .”
“Fucked?” he finished for me, wrapping me in his warm embrace.
I nodded. “You never told me what happens to those who end up mating with the wrong person.”
Sighing, he leaned his chin down on the top of my head and placed his hand on my bare hip. The more he touched me, the more I wanted. It didn’t help when he rubbed his rock hard arousal against my hip.
“Being forced to mate with another wolf is forbidden; it’s punishable by death. If your parents came down here looking for you, I could legally kill them.”
“No,” I growled, trying to move out of his arms but he held me firm.
“Calm down, I’m not going to kill them. But I do hope they think twice before coming down here.”
“I don’t think it’s them you should worry about. The Yukon pack will be the ones who’ll want to avenge Kade’s death.”
“Then they’ll be surprised when they find me.” He gave me a humorless grin. “Back to your question, if you and Kade had mated, it’d feel like a part of you was missing. That’s what it’s like when you mate with the wrong person. You’re not ever fully happy. Some wolves are okay with that and find whatever happiness they can in others, while some of us wait an entire lifetime, refusing to be with anyone other than their true mate.”
“And when the need to mate drives you mad, how does that affect the older males? In my pack, I saw a lot of violence, but Sebastian made sure to keep me away from everyone.”
His haunted gaze stared wearily down at me. “They can let out their frustrations by fucking human women. It appeases them for a time, but there’s always a need there that never gets satisfied. Eventually, it gets to the point where something has to be done.”
“Like what?” I asked, already knowing the answer by the look on his face.
“Putting them down. There are times when the wolves ask their pack to kill them. Those are always the hardest. I hope I never have to go through that again.”
“Who was he?”
A sad smile splayed across his lips. “Odolf. He was a good man too.”
“I’m sorry. I know that couldn’t have been easy. To be one of the strongest wolves in my pack, I don’t know shit about them. If my parents had their way, I’d still be in Canada with Kade, plotting every single way I could kill him. I need to know why my parents kept me in the dark. There’s something I’m missing.”
Ryker held me tighter and lifted one of my legs so he could drape it over his. “If my parents were still alive, I bet they would know. My banishment has to be a part of it somehow. Kade was allowed to stay behind and I never understood why. It can’t be a coincidence. I never spoke to him after we left, not even after all of these years. For all I know, he thought I was dead.”
Visions of Kade swam through my mind. “Promise me you’re nothing like him.”
Tilting my chin up with his finger, he kissed the tip of my nose. “That I can promise. But if you don’t believe me, take my blood. You’ll feel everything I do, and our minds will be connected.” He leaned down and kissed me gently on the lips. “The full moon isn’t until another
three weeks. I’ll wait as long as you need me to.”
Ryker slid his fingers along my neck, on down to my collarbone, making me tighten in all the right places. He tensed, growling low in his chest, sensing my excitement. It probably didn’t help that my heart pounded out of control.
“My wolf is ready for it all, but I’ll need answers before I can take that final step. The thought of biting you though . . .” I sniffed his neck and bit my lip, “excites me.”
What I was about to do was going to either be the best or stupidest thing I’d ever done. Taking Ryker’s blood felt right, just like the moon in the night sky. My wolf knew what it wanted, what it needed . . . and I was going to take it.
Opening my lips, I took a deep breath and lowered them to his, grasping his face with my hands. His arms snaked around my waist and pulled me firmly into his body. Growling low, he twisted so that he covered me, burying me into the warm grass and mud—where our body heat had melted all of the snow.
“Let me taste you,” I murmured.
Spreading my legs with his knee, he rubbed my clit with the tip of his cock. “Then do it, angel.”
I allowed my fangs to lengthen and found his lips again, but he forced his tongue inside, slicing it across my teeth. Warm blood flowed down my throat. Almost immediately, everything changed. I could see things, feel things that weren’t coming from my own body. The link was open.
“Can you feel me inside of you?” he asked silently.
“Yes.”
“What do you want to see?”
“Everything.”
Opening his mind, he let me see the past, the time when he found me alone in the woods. It was so long ago, I barely recognized myself. I was dressed in a little pink sundress, my blonde hair in pigtails, and I was so dirty it looked as if I’d been in the woods for days. Closing my eyes, I tried to think back to that time, but there was only a black hole from that age and younger. It was almost as if it was erased from my memory somehow.
“Why don’t I remember you? I should be able to remember that time in my life.”
He furrowed his brows. “I don’t know. When I introduce you to the pack, I’ll get Seraphina to work her magic on you. She’ll be able to figure out something.”
“Who’s Seraphina?”
“She’s one of the pack elders and very wise. I was hoping she’d help me find out why my family was banished, but she couldn’t. Hopefully, she’ll have more luck with you.”
My skin tingled where his hands caressed me, and I didn’t even want to stop him when he cupped my breasts. His fingers traced over my nipples and my whole body throbbed in anticipation. “You know this is dangerous. If you keep letting me touch you, I won’t be able to control myself.”
“Then why do you keep touching me?”
His eyes changed to that of his wolf. “I can’t help it.”
Lowering his lips to my breasts, he sucked on my nipple and bit down, drawing blood. I gasped and arched my back as he licked the blood away. Then, I was sucked into a vision.
“Angel, where are you?” Ryker calls.
I hide behind a tree, snickering, with a snowball in my hands. He steadily approaches, and I peek around the trunk. He hasn’t found me yet, but he has a sly grin on his face as if he thinks he’s going to fool me. Before he could attack, I attack first, throwing the snowball right at his head. He falls to the ground, laughing.
“You’re gonna regret that.”
I stood there, smirking, with my hands on my hips. “Don’t think so. I’m not afraid of the big, bad wolf.”
“We’ll see about that.” He jumps to his feet and chases after me, and all I could do was laugh. It slowed me down, but I wanted to get caught. We’re running through the trees out in the middle of nowhere, with only our footprints in the snow. It’s not long before Ryker lunges and we go tumbling down to the ground. Chuckling, he pins me down.
“I let you catch me,” I say to him.
He smirks. “You would’ve tired out eventually. We both know I’m stronger.”
“Want to put that to the test? I’ll fight you, right here and now.”
Brushing his thumb across my lips, he leans closer, smiling. “So stubborn. You said the same thing to me when we were kids. I wish you could remember. We used to play out by the lake and ice skate. Every time you would fall, I’d laugh. It used to piss you off.”
“Please tell me I kicked your ass after that.” I don’t remember those times, but I long to get those memories back. One way or another, it’s going to happen.
He shakes his head, smile growing wider. “Nope, but you did break the ice and I fell through.”
“Serves you right.”
“You weren’t saying that when I never resurfaced.”
My smile disappears. “What happened?”
“Nothing bad, just playing a little joke on you. I heard you screaming my name and then watched you jump in the water to save me. You were so young and small, there was no way you could’ve gotten me out of the water. It was then when I knew something had changed. I had the overwhelming sense to protect you. When you couldn’t find me in the water, you panicked. I ended up rescuing you and getting you out. I felt horrible for playing the joke on you.”
“You knew I was your mate back then?”
“I’m not really sure what I knew, but I knew you were special. Mine to protect.”
“And what do you know now?” I ask.
Cupping my cheek, he leans down and kisses me, long and deep. He pulls back and gazes down at me. “I know that whatever happens, I’ll protect you no matter the cost, mated or not. I love you.”
I look up at him and smile. “I love you too.”
“Bailey!” Gasping, I woke up from the vision with Ryker staring straight down at me, his gaze concerned. “Did you have a vision?”
I nodded. “You didn’t see it did you?”
“Something held me back. Was it you?”
“Not that I know of, or at least not consciously.”
“What was it about?”
I closed my eyes and remembered every second of it, only giving him images from it. “I guess you’ll have to find out when it happens,” I teased.
He bit my lip. “Fine, but while you were out, take a look at this.” He traced his finger over my nipple where he had drawn blood just a few short minutes earlier. The wound had completely healed.
“Wow, do all mated couples have this ability?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No, that’s something completely new. If just bonding through blood makes us this strong, imagine how powerful we’ll be when we actually complete it.” Biting his lip, he slid his fingers up my thigh and I shivered. Chuckling, he gazed down at me, his wolf eyes shining through. “I know you don’t want to move too fast, but we can always give our wolves a taste of what they want.”
Opening my legs, I smiled. “Oh yeah, like what?” My hand traced down his body, to the V of his lower abs.
He pushed his hand between us and rubbed a thumb over my clit before pushing a finger inside. “Like this.”
I moaned. “But what about this?” My fingers found his cock and I stroked him, squeezing the tip on each upstroke.
He swore out loud and thrust his hips into my grip. “We wouldn’t want to disappoint our wolves, now would we?” I shook my head, unable to respond, and he lowered his lips to my breasts. Sucking on my nipples, he went back and forth between them both. My thighs were drenched, growing wetter as my release drew near. I could feel it building more and more the harder he pushed inside of me.
Our hips moved against one another in time with our hands. When I was close, I pulled his fingers out of me and brought them to my mouth. Sucking on his fingers, I looked deep into his eyes and rocked my clit up and down the length of his shaft. Pushing against one another, I gave into the need, screaming out his name as I trembled. His abs jerked and spasmed as he coated our stomachs with his release.
His dark chuckle echoed in my ear and I could fe
el his warm breath tickling my neck as he kissed me. “I love hearing my name on your lips.”
Pushing him over, I sat on him and looked down. “Next time, I’m on top.”
Ryker
“Take this,” I said, handing Bailey one of my credit cards.
Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes and took it. “What’s this for?”
I glanced down at her bare chest and then over to her one set of clothes on the floor. “I think you need more clothes. Don’t get me wrong, looking at you is nice, but I can’t have you meeting the pack naked.”
She giggled. “Probably not. Did you sleep okay?”
“It wasn’t too bad.” After our time in the woods, we came back and I let her have my bedroom while I slept in one of the spare ones. The temptation to fully claim her was too strong to even consider sleeping next to her.
“Thank you for letting me have your bed. You could’ve slept in here with me.”
“Trust me, there would have been no sleep going on.” Grabbing my ranger hat off the dresser, I turned and started for the door. “There’s plenty to eat downstairs. I’ll be back this afternoon. And don’t worry about the limit on the card. Buy whatever clothes you want.” Opening the bedroom door, I glanced over my shoulder at her. She nodded, her gaze troubled. “What’s wrong?”
She held up the card. “I have my own money . . . I just don’t have access to it right now. After what happened with Kade, I had to get out of there fast. I left everything behind. I don’t even have my license.”
“And if you brought that stuff with you, you would’ve been easier to track.”
She groaned. “So basically, I can’t do anything with my life.”
“Not yet, but you’ll get it all back. Blake will be able to help us. He can get your license, bank records, everything. He can even make you untraceable.”
“He’s that good at undercover work?”
“One of the best. I’ll talk to him about it next weekend. Every Saturday, the guys all get together at the local bar for drinks. Tyla will be there too.”
