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RYKER“ Send all the injured to the infirmary. ” I tell Zio, staring down at Anne who fainted after bearing the pain for a while.“ Sure, Alpha. ” It was so hard to get rid of the fire burning her skin. But the moment Natalie ran away, the fire died on its own. And Anne lost consciousness.“ You are going to be fine. ” Her other friend pats Anne’s hand, whispering to her while tears roll down her cheeks.My eyes are drawn to Anne’s face. Her cheeks are burned so bad. The skin has peeled off, leaving nothing but exposed flesh and blood. The other friend’s skin didn’t catch fire when her clothes caught fire last time. So, she is unaware of the fact that the wounds barely heal. Even after healing, the nasty scars remain behind—a constant reminder of what happened.The state Anne is in, makes me doubt that she will stay alive enough to feel horrified about the marks. She is almost dead, barely holding on to the frail thread of life. The pack members help Zio take everyone to the infirm
RYKER “ Stay away! ” She yells, standing up with a jerk and pushing herself in the farthest corner of the shower room.“ Love. You will never hurt me. ” I whisper tenderly, lifting a hand to grab her wrist.She shakes her head hysterically and tugs her hands back to keep me away. “ I thought the same about Anne. I can’t hurt her. I can’t hurt her. I can’t… ” Tears stream down her blood—shot eyes, disappearing into the water, becoming one with it. “ …hurt her. It was not me. I can never do it. ” “ I know. It was…not you. ” I murmur, feeling the pain in my heart intensifying ten folds. “ It was an accident. You can never hurt her deliberately. ” Even if that snake betrayed you, you can never do the same to her. She pauses and cranes back her neck to peer into my eyes. The dull look in her eyes scares me.“ It was a dream. I am sure. ” From disbelief to shock to disbelief. She is swinging back and forth.The worst thing that can happen after such incidents is your refusal to accept
NATALIERyker takes me to the infirmary which is filled with injured pack members and rogues. The putrid stench of burned flesh is hanging in the air like a haunting ghost taunting my very existence.My fingers tighten around Ryker’s hand as the grief and guilt threatens to consume me as a whole. Each step which carries me close to Anne sends my mind into a trance of numbness. I can’t feel my body, my wolf, my heart. I feel cold and the only thing keeping me warm is Ryker’s hand intertwined with mine, assuring me that it is going to be alright.“ Here. She is inside. ” He halts outside a room and pulls me ahead.The door is open, allowing me to peek inside. My eyes land at the back of an unfamiliar man first. He stands beside the bed, staring down at Anne.My gaze travels to Anne’s face and my breath gets stuck in my throat. My lungs ache, my face heating up.There are stained bandages covering her cheeks, pressed down on the wounds to stop the bleeding. I can’t see her face except f
NATALIE“ Anne. ” I call out her name again, higher in volume this time.She doesn’t respond. The sound of her heartbeat drowns even more until it’s a weak tik-tik in my ears and nothing else.“ Anne. ” I yelp, tears sliding down my cheeks.I drop my head down, anger taking the place of hurt quickly. A thorn pierces my heart, making me bleed inside.Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath. It’s all my fault. My hold tightens around her hand until I am unconsciously drawing her blood. The surge of energy shoots down my hand to her flesh, quick and soothing.All the memories, all the moments, all my life flashes before my eyes. Her bright smile, the wicked ways, and those odd habits all make me cry harder.We have been friends—true friends. She looked after me better than my own family. If anyone says it’s not true, I will never believe it. And I—I killed her. The words knock the breath out of me. My eyes snap open, landing on Anne's hand, which I am holding. There is some kind of blue
NATALIE The weakness doesn’t go away even when I wake up the next morning and wash up. Searching for Ryke, I go down the stairs and find him sitting on the couch leisurely. Zio is standing in front of him, staring down fiercely. Their eyes are shadowed, giving away their communication through the mind—link. “ Seriously? ” I scoff, capturing their attention. Zio shoots me an annoyed glance which he covers up with a flat smile instantly. Ryke slowly turns to me, his eyes roaming my body before finally holding my gaze. “ You two are doing something secretly again. ” I huff, raking my fingers through my hair. “ And, Baby Love? ” Ryke smiles lazily. “ And I need to know what it is. ” I lower my voice, mumbling. “ You and Zio were not here yesterday night. No one was able to mind—link you two and the rogues were wreaking havoc. ” “ And you killed fifty-six of them. Problem solved. ” Zio claps his hands, chiming in a bitchy fake tone. “ And almost burned one of the few people I con
NATALIEI feel…calm. Strange!I should be livid, ready to turn into some fucking dragon and go suck the life out of the woman who claimed to be my friend yet betrayed me for so many years in secret.But, my feet refuse to move. My emotions cheat my mind, compelling me to stand by the glass wall and stare at the Beta’s house.Fucking rain has decided it’s the best time to blur the world and create a loud enough noise to drown all my non—existent thoughts.“ She slept with someone to pay for the potion? ” A ghost of a whisper slips past my lips.It’s so…unbelievable for me.“ Zero confirmed it. He followed her for a while. ” Ryker answers.“ Her mate? ”Her mate caught her prostituting herself. Can it get any worse?The same calmness reigns over my mind and keeps my eyes glued to the view.“ Is this some kind of calm before the…fire? ” Ryke asks, standing in the corner, his back against the glass wall while his eyes assess me.“ This can not be fixed with random distracting shit, Ryker.
RYKER Little miss pesky is changing. I don’t know if she is growing up or what the fuck but I can see the change. She no longer wants to be the second lead in her own story. She wants to get involved, and shift the flow of her fate. I stare at her sleeping figure. Her skin lights up now and then, giving me unnecessary anxiety. I haven’t felt this cautious towards anyone before. It’s like I am scared she might do something again and then she will regret it. I don’t give a fuck about damages, but I care about her state of mind. I don’t want to see her on the bathroom floor, sitting like a lifeless body. ‘ He opened his mouth. Finally! ’ Zio huffs in my mind, making me jolt up. ‘ What did he tell you? ’ I growl down the mind—link. There were only a few rogues alive after the whole situation and one of them was able to talk. He was hard to break but Zio was up to it for the whole night before he came in the morning and asked me to let him kill the rest of them to scare the bastard i
NATALIEI can’t believe this bullshit. That jerk left without even telling me where the fuck he was going right after the pack was attacked and the danger still lurked.Besides, he promised to accompany me everywhere and I woke up to find out that he was gone.My energy was back, not to its full extent but enough to make me want to burn his whole fucking house down to get back at him.I sip on my smoothie which Rhianna has made to calm me down. My glowing skin scares the shit out of her and everyone else.“ When is he coming back? ” I place the glass down, not so politely, and question her.She gives me the same cheeky, sunshine look which is getting old by now.“ If only I knew, I would have told you yesterday. ” Rhianna slumps down on the kitchen stool, turning to face me.It’s been two days already. And he hasn't returned. To make things worse, I keep feeling miserable now and then. I am sure it’s his emotions and it’s making me worry about him.What the fuck is going on with him t