Ryder
~~~
I growled, running my hands through my hair as I watched Brook run from me. What happened? I didn’t understand any of it at all - the lying or acting like I was going to hit her. With heavy footsteps, I stomped through the halls and into the pool room where my brother, Andy, Kara, and Beth were waiting. I slumped into one of the lounge chairs next to Dean.
“Didn’t find her?” Kara asked.
“I did, but lost her again,” I told them.
“Weird,” Andy said, looking thoughtful. “She wasn’t like that the first day. Wary, but she never seemed to avoid any of us.”
“Actual
“See, normal,” Ryder said, leading me to a table in the cafeteria-style dining room. He only let go of my hand when we sat down with the others. I said nothing back. What could I say? He was just so nice and seemed authentic. It left me so confused. Harry made it seem like I’d lose everything if I stayed, but Ryder was only asking for a chance to prove himself. It seemed wrong not to let him. God, this was such a mess and gave me a headache. “Hey Brookie,” Dean said, waving to me. Several people from the other tables looked over at ours, and I hunched up. “Hey,” I said in a grumble. “You’re grumpy. Is it that time of the month?” Dean asked. He did not just ask me that? Andy groaned, glaring at him. “Dude, seriously. Shut
My heavy eyelids, little by little, opened. Pain shot through my eyes and bounced around my head. I lifted my left hand, but there was a twinge of pain, and something held it down. I was in bed, like a hospital bed type of bed. My left arm was in a sling. My whole body ached. Great, I passed out. “Brook, you’re awake,” Mom said. Her eyes looked red and puffy. Oh, no. She’d been crying. “Mom, what’s wrong?” “What’s wrong? You get into a fight with Beth, end up with a dislocated shoulder when you already have a concussion, and you ask me what’s wrong?” “Oh.” “Yeah, oh. What were you thinking, Brook? She’s a werewolf. Beth could’ve killed you? And for what? Because she was an idiot?” Mom’s face flushed red, looking torn between bursting into tears and yelling at me some
Getting up from the bed, Ryder led me through the maze of the house until he reached a door. He opened it, revealing a small living room. We continued to wind through the maze of the house when Ryder opened a door, revealing a small living room. In the center was a huge overstuffed couch and across from it was a just as huge flat screen. There were a couple of love seats scattered around the room and a coffee table in the center. “Movie night, what do you think?” I smiled at the slight nervous strain in his voice. “It is your last night alive, so yeah, this is cool.” Ryder grinned, walking over to a couch and sat down, tugging on my hand to sit with him. “What would you like to watch? It can be anything but a chick flick.” “Those are usually depressing, so I’d rather
I groaned as someone shook me. “Come on, Sleeping Beauty. Time to get up,” someone said, sounding way too cheerful. It took me a minute to realize it was Ryder. “What time is it?” I groaned, trying to hide under the pillow, but the jerk stole it from me. “Almost four in the morning, so you better hurry.” I peeled one eye open to glare at him. “Are you kidding me? Four in the morning? Why are you bothering me at four in the morning?” “Kitchen duty remember.” I groaned, covered my head with my hands. “Nu-uh, none of that,” Ryder said, forcing me to roll over onto my back. “Go away,” I complained.
I wasn’t sure who was more surprised, Mom or me? How did I outrank him? Was it the mate thing with Ryder? Had to be that. Harry continued. “Some other packs have gotten involved, some for us, some for Ryan. I heard Alpha Ryan promised to give Beth to an alpha thirty years her senior as a mate if the alpha supports him against Brent.” Ew, gross! Did Beth know? Was that why she was so angry? I took a breath to ask the question I had been dreading. “Is Alpha Ryan winning?” My stomach churned at the thought of it. “No one is really winning. Both sides are matched, both in force and in casualties.” “Brook,” Mom said, patting my hand with hers. “You shouldn’t think about this. There is nothing you can do.” I nodded, but I wasn
Ryder ~~~ I hurried down the hall when I ran into the gang. “Where are you off too ? Lost your mate again,” my brother teased. I narrowed my eyes at him. “Brook’s friend is running away from Black Mountain and asking for help to enter the borders. I’m heading over there now.” “What friend?” Beth asked. “I don’t remember the name,” I said as I tried to move past her, but Beth grabbed my arm. “Ryder, what was her name? Was it Anna?” I shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe. Why does it matter?” “It matters a lot,” Beth said, and a wave of guilt washed over her face. “Because Br
“Let me go, you bastard!” I shouted, but surprise, surprise, Mike didn’t listen. Instead, he pulled me away from the clearing and through the woods. Mike dragged me through the brambles and brush. He didn’t slow until we reached a quiet residential neighborhood. Mike marched me over to a large red van parked across the street. He opened the door, shoving me towards it. I cried out as a couple of men grabbed my arms, ignoring my pain, and pulled me inside. Anna sat across from me with a satisfied, smug grin. I couldn’t help myself. I had to ask the dreaded question. “Why?” “Why not? Finally, all those years of listening to you whine have paid off,” she said, then smiled a sly, flirty smile at Mike. “I did well, right?” Something in me shriveled and died at her words. She had been playing with me this whole time. All this time… “You,” I said through gritted teeth. Anger flooded through me and lept at her. As I grabbed a handful of her hair, I punched her as hard as I could. Anna screa
I pulled on the restraints, growling in anger. How they could hold me down. I’m a werewolf! No cloth cuffs should be able to keep me tied to the bed. This was unbelievable. Alpha Ryan had Brook, and here I was, strapped to a hospital bed. Who knows what he was doing to her? It was my fault. I should have been faster. I failed my mate, and I had to fix it! My whole body ached with my wolf being so close to the surface. My nails had grown longer and darker, while dark hair peppered my arms. The new sharpness of my teeth cut the insides of my mouth, and I tasted blood. It only made the wolf even more anxious. I pulled on the cuffs again, to no avail, and howled in fury. “If you want out of bed, you’re going to need to calm down, Ryder,” Dad demanded from the door. His face was uncharacteristically hard. In his eyes, I saw the wolf and something that looked a lot like fear. I stilled, confused. Was Dad afraid? Did my uncle do something to Brook? “How am I supposed to calm down? He has m
It’s been five months since Antoine took over the pack back while Harry agreed to let me be the alpha of his better packs project. After a few days of arguing, we settled on the name Genesis pack. It’s not a large pack. We only have thirty members. I, Dean, Harry, Jon, Andy, and a woman named Ambria serve as the ruling council. As Alpha, I deal with the physical threats to the pack from the outside. Harry manages our finances, Jon, and Andy work on our security. Kara deals with intelligence with Ambria, who does public relations.Dean serves as the voice of the pack. If anyone is unhappy with what we’re doing, they can contact him about it, all the while remaining anonymous to the council. This way, they will never have to fear retribution from us. He also helps resolve internal conflicts between members and I’m not being biased when I say he does it well. He’s very good with
“Thanks, Dean,” I said as we left the infirmary.He grinned. “You need to stop thanking me for doing normal, decent stuff, Beautiful.”I rolled my eyes and hugged him as a red-faced Marquice marched up to us. “Where have you been? Do you realize what’s going on?”I stiffened, narrowing my eyes at him. “Yes, my father was attacked. I was with him now.”“I’m not talking about that,” he said. “That… that pretender. He’s been taking over, acting like he’s alpha. Do you know he’s been organizing the enforcers to search and track Brandon?”“And? Marquice, did you forget he is the alpha now?”
“Come with me,” Wesley said, eyeing Antoine and Beth with obvious distrust. He tried to herd me away from them.I stepped away from him. We didn’t have time for these stupid games. We should be over that by now. “Tell me whose blood that is now!”Giving me a look that told me he didn’t approve of my reaction, Wes blew out a breath. “Your father’s.”“What happened?” I demanded, and waved for Antoine and Beth to follow. Wes licked his lips, glancing at the others. “Stop being an idiot, Wes. These are the new alphas. They may hear whatever you say.”“I was heading back when I saw it,” he began, grief washing over his face. “I didn’t realize what was happening at first. Your
The next two days, I spent training hard, preparing myself for what was going to be an awesome fight. What wasn’t so awesome was the amount of ‘helpful’ tips everyone thought they were entitled to give. I appreciated most of them, especially those given to me by Wes, Jon, and above all, Dean, but the ones from my old pack members or my father were, honestly, unwelcome. I finished listening to anything my father had to say, just about anything. If it wasn’t for Dean running interference, I’m not sure what might have happened.I couldn’t be more thankful to Dean. He had been just what I needed since I came. Thanks to him, I knew no matter what happened in the challenge fight, Father and my old pack were safe. My instincts told me his intentions were honest. He only wanted to protect his growing family. I don’t think he’d do any kind of ‘cleansing’ w
Dean~~~“Antoine Bell is our challenger,” the man, Marquice, said as we sat around a large oval table. The name sounded familiar to me, but I couldn’t place where I’d heard it. “He’s been in the country for ten years, and we’re not sure what exactly brought him to this country. He’s been living down in Louisiana—”Louisiana. It hit me. I knew who Antoine Bell was, and that he was challenging Nic’s father couldn’t be an accident. “Did he come with someone?”Everyone turned to look at me, confused. “What does that matter?” Marquice demanded.“Answer the question,” Nic said, though I could tell she was as co
“This is crazy,” Marquice demanded, and to ensure it was very clear, he gave me the look of bewildered horror. “Your father will never agree to this.”“Then that’s his choice, but if he wants my help, he is going to agree to those terms. I will not save his ass, just to have it all fall apart at the next turn. What happened to Father’s dignity?”He scowled at me, but took out his cell and tapped the screen. “Alpha,” Marquice said with a much softer voice when the call connected. “She’s agreed to help, but with conditions. Yes, Sir, I told her the pack was at risk. Yes, she still insisted.” Marquice glared at me for good measure, and I replied with a grin. “The first condition is Brandon may never become alpha, no matter what happens in the future, and second—”
Brent allowed me the use of one of his larger offices. Whatever Marquice had to say, I wanted all of my people to hear it. Dean joined us as well. Brent and his mate — Emily, were there as well.“I appreciate your help, Alpha Brent. However, this is a Golden Plains matter to be discussed,” Marquice told him.Before I said it, Brent did. “None of the people here present are members of the Golden Plains pack per your new alpha’s orders.” I appreciated the icy edge to his voice as he spoke.Marquice looked from the alpha to me. “Nic, this is a pack matter, and I’m under orders to tell you what I have to say, and only you.”“As the alpha said, I’m not pack. I am a guest here and in no position to ask the alpha
“So,” Dean said as we sat down on one of the couches in the small room. “What is it you want to talk about?” He sounded almost nervous.I chuckled to myself. He was nervous? Dean had nothing to be nervous about. “Well, I told you I appreciate what you’ve been doing for me since I arrived and well, I wanted to let you know that I, uh, am ready to accept you as my mate,” I told him then added, “And, I understand if you aren’t. We know little about each other, so it’s okay if you’re not sure or if you’re not ready.”When he said nothing for a moment, my nerves ratcheted up, and I ran a hand through my hair. Perhaps I was doing this wrong? Perhaps I misread things. When he asked, “You’re kidding right?” I stared back at him, not sure what he meant. He scooted over closer
“Relax,” Sadie said as I paced the room.Relax? How could I relax when I was waiting for Dean to come here to ask him on a date? An actual date. Me and him. On a date. “This was a bad idea. What was I even thinking?”“It’s a fine idea. You only have to relax,” she insisted.Easy for her to say. She wasn’t going on a date. My stomach tightened, and I was pretty sure I was going to get sick soon. The knock on the door nearly made me jump right out of my skin. Sadie chuckled as she opened the door.“Hey, Sadie, right? I heard Nic was looking for me,” Dean said.“She’s right here,” Sadie replied, opening the door as I contemplated jumping out the window