Chapter 16 #2
I was covered in dried blood and dirt, I’d lost one of my daggers, thanks to one of the howlers sprinting off with it still in its side, and now I was looking at my favorite jacket that had been slashed to pieces.
“What the fuck, Ryker?” I pulled my jacket off the hook and threw it at him. “You owe me a new one.”
His lips curled back as a growl rumbled from his chest.
“Oh, fuck off,” I snapped. “Shift back. We need to talk.”
Ice-blue eyes glared at me for another moment, then between one blink and the next, the silvery grey wolf was replaced by an irritated, naked Ryker, sweat clinging to his skin.
“What is going on with you?” I said quietly enough that Rynn wouldn’t be able to hear over the running water. “Your crush on Rynn has been amusing, but you’re letting it mess with your head. She’s never going to fuck you, let alone form a mating bond with you.”
I almost laughed at the outright panic that flashed across his face. His gaze shot to the steam rolling out from the washroom and he quickly tacked on, “Don’t tell her.”
Some of my annoyance faded. It wasn’t like Cade, Warrick, or I had a good history with relationships, but at least we had a history.
I was pretty sure Ryker hadn’t so much as kissed someone before.
It figured the first time he was interested in doing so, he’d not only go all-in but choose a person who would never choose him back.
Maybe as a fuck buddy, but definitely not as a mate. Hells, even if she did, we’d never allow it.
“Signs of a potential mating bond vary, but two of the most common are a general infatuation and what people describe as a tightness in the chest that grows the longer you’re apart and only eases after hours of being around each other again.
You were rubbing your chest constantly while we were looking for Rynn.
I’ve never noticed that behavior from you before.
” Most Velesians believed mating bonds were rare, but that wasn’t exactly true.
Potential mating bonds were somewhat common.
I’d never felt one before, but Cade had.
Though the key word was potential. All it meant was that it was possible for a mating bond to form if the two or more people who felt the pull pursued it, but everyone had to accept the bond for it to snap into place, and it was entirely possible for only one person to ever feel the potential.
I’d listened to more than one sad sap tell me their miserable story about an unrequited mating bond over a pint.
“Just leave it alone.” Ryker looked back to me. “It’s my business.”
“It’s not that simple and you know it,” I pushed. “This will impact all of us if she finds out.”
“And your stupid bet won’t?!” Frustration lit up his blue eyes. “You can have anyone, Bas. Don’t mess around with Rynn.”
“Ryk.” I shook my head. “You do understand you have no chance with her, right? It’s not like I’m going to fuck her and then kick her out of my bed.
It’ll be fun and casual. She’ll enjoy it, I’ll enjoy it, and she won’t be sprinting back to Moroi territory at full speed because you told her you want to fucking tie your souls together. ”
For a second, I thought he was going to hit me. I kind of wanted him to, because we could both benefit from letting off a little steam, but then the water shut off and we moved away from each other.
“Am I interrupting?” Rynn asked when she stepped out of the washroom wrapped in a towel a moment later, her wet hair plastered down her chest. “Feels a bit tense in here.” She studied both of us.
Ryker shot me a look that clearly said, keep your fucking mouth shut.
I gave him a flat look. He and I could have it out later when Rynn wasn’t here.
“It’s a bit tense because we had to chase down our wayward packmate today instead of dealing with more important matters.
” I stalked over to the decanter filled with amber liquid and poured myself a glass before taking a seat in one of the chairs. “Explain.”
Rynn ignored me and focused on Ryker. “Yeah, about that. What the fuck are you doing here, Ryker?”
In a heartbeat, he closed the distance between them and wrapped a hand around her throat. Rynn didn’t flinch, just tilted her head back so she could continue glaring at him.
Fuck. This was why he was so obsessed with her, wasn’t it? I couldn’t exactly blame him. Rynn’s stubborn defiance was a major turn-on.
“How many times do I have to tell you?” He stroked her neck with his thumb. “Wherever you run, I’ll find you.”
“We’ll see.” She arched a brow in challenge.
“Let’s not,” I said flatly. “Ryker, let her go. Rynn, get your ass over here.”
Reluctantly, Ryker dropped his hand, but as usual, Rynn didn’t do what she was told and instead walked over to the wardrobe and pulled out a shirt from the bottom shelf. Without a flicker of modesty, she dropped the towel, giving us a view of her muscled back and perfect little ass.
Ryker muttered something before turning away, sitting rigidly in the chair next to mine. Wordlessly, I passed him my glass and he finished it off in one gulp before refilling it and passing it back to me.
“I’ll tell you what I was up to”—Rynn wrapped the towel around her hair and walked over to join us, grabbing the decanter from the table and drinking straight from it.
Then she wiped the back of her hand across her mouth—“if you tell me what the deal is between you and Draven. He told me you were an asshole. And you were cruel today.”
“Why do you care?” I asked a little too sharply.
“Usually people care about their friends and the people who are absolute pricks to them.” She took another drink.
“Fine.” I leaned forward and held my glass out. “But you tell your story first.”
“Nice try.” She snorted as she refilled my glass before leaning back in the chair and curling her legs up underneath her. “I’m not falling for that again.”
Ryker’s wolfish gaze bounced back and forth between us, but he didn’t say anything.
“The first time I met Draven, I was visiting the Sovereign House on official business and Queen Velika invited me to stay for a party she was throwing that night.” I rolled my eyes.
Velika had always thrown stupid lavish balls.
“She was trying to tempt me to her bed with Lucian, but even as adventurous as I am, I had no interest in that.”
“Shocking,” Rynn deadpanned.
A genuine smile graced my lips. She might be frustrating as all the hells, but I did appreciate her dry sense of humor.
“Despite what you think, I do have standards, and those two always made my skin crawl.” I wrinkled my nose just thinking about them. “But it kept me in Velika’s good graces, so I flirted and teased like someday they might convince me.”
What I didn’t say was that I probably would have slept with them if I’d thought there was something to be gained by it. Fortunately, it’d never come to that.
I took a sip of the liquor and enjoyed the way it burned down my throat while I thought about how to phrase the next bit. Warrick was one of the few things I refused to talk about with anyone.
“Someone had put me in a foul mood that particular time,” I said carefully, earning a snort from Ryker, since he knew exactly who I was referring to, but Rynn just furrowed her brows as she listened.
“I needed someone to take out my anger on, and there he was. The perfect Moroi Prince everyone was so in love with. He was a spoiled brat, and it was evident to me that, much like his mother, he was a waste of space. While Velika guarded her desires quite carefully, Draven did not. Samara was at that event as well, and he was so obviously in love with her, it was painful to watch. The way he’d steal little glances when he thought no one was looking.
For a heartbeat, his entire demeanor would change.
” I chuckled. “He really made it too easy. Almost took the fun out of it.”
Rynn’s mouth pinched together. “Only you would see someone madly in love and think it was a great way to torment them.”
“We all have to find our fun somewhere.” I raised my glass before knocking the rest of it back.
“At first, I entertained myself by watching how pathetically he hid his secrets, but then he said something. What, I don’t even remember, but it pissed me off.
So then the game changed to how many carefully worded truths I could fling at him like little daggers and watch as they shredded his soul. ”
Rynn stared at me for a long moment. “I understand why you might have hated him back then, but I know Samara gave you and the other Alphas a rundown of Draven’s situation.
He was doing his best to survive while also trying to undermine not one but two cruel leaders with too much power.
I would think that, given your own family history, you would cut Draven more slack now. ”
“And I would think you’d be smart enough to see the difference in our situations.
I was a child, and I still fought back. Draven went along with all the fucked-up shit his parents did well into his adulthood,” I said coldly.
“But it seems your judgment is lacking as usual when it comes to the Moroi.”
Her jaw hardened. “You’re a real prick sometimes.”
“Most of the time, actually,” I said mildly.
It wasn’t long ago that Kieran had said something similar to me, and my response to him had been far crueler than what I’d said to Rynn, so she would just have to get over it.
I didn’t like being compared to Draven, and I liked talking about my family even less.
They were dead, so what the fuck did it matter?
Matters enough that you have nightmares about it decades later.
A muscle along my jaw twitched. I didn’t want to think about my past anymore, especially with an empty glass in my hand.
“I told you mine. Your turn now.”
“A deal’s a deal,” Rynn agreed. “I want to fix that broken mirror beneath the Alpha stronghold, and I’ve been striking out, so I decided to have a chat with Erendriel.”
The glass cracked in my hand at the same moment Ryker exploded from his chair and snarled, “You did what?”
Rynn gave us both a look of pure boredom before taking another drink, then let out a satisfied sigh after polishing off the remaining liquor. “I had a lovely chat with the Seelie King. Got a few ideas to pursue.”
“You were under strict orders not to speak with him, and Samara knew this,” I said tightly. “Sooner or later, Erendriel will get free. Right now, his anger is largely directed at Samara and the Moroi. We don’t need him to also look at us.”
“Samara wasn’t there.” She shrugged. “So she upheld her end of the deal. And as for me, I’m not really feeling inclined to take orders from you assholes at the moment.”
“What did he say exactly?” I set the glass down before I could break it completely.
Rynn looked at me and then Ryker. “I realize it’s frustrating to have information withheld from you, but we don’t have that kind of relationship.
We’re not friends. We’re not pack.” Her sharp gaze fell back on me.
“If you want to know what he said, you’ll have to come up with something else to trade.
Otherwise . . . go fuck yourself, Bastian. ”