Chapter 16
CHAPTER 16
ISABELLA
R yder slides his hands under my ass, lifting me off the table and heading into the back room where the cot is. I cling to him, not wanting to lose the connection between us. I’ve never felt anything like it. I’ve had sex before—lots of times, but nothing like this. Those encounters are now reduced to fumbling, inadequate gropings. Oh sure, I always made sure both my partner and I got what we needed, but those times were nothing compared to what I just experienced. There was no awkwardness with Ryder. It was as if we had been together through many lifetimes before, and this was our return to our truest selves.
He lays us down on the cot, my back against the wall as he covers me so anyone entering the room will have to go through him first. I suspect he doesn’t think I know that, but I do. Before I can say anything, exhaustion overcomes me, and I fall asleep. When I wake several hours later, I manage to crawl off the cot without waking him and make my way to the shower.
Once I’ve dressed, I return to where I left him only to find him awake.
“There will come a time I take you to task for leaving our bed without waking me,” he rumbles, the dim light casting his face in sharp relief, highlighting the shadow of his stubble and the flicker of something unreadable in his eyes.
“If there’s to be a next time…”
“There will be,” he calmly assures me.
“You’re going to tell me the truth,” I demand, my voice firm despite the swirling emotions raging inside me. “No more cryptic warnings. No more half-answers. I want to know everything.”
Ryder runs a hand through his hair, the pain from his movements easy to see. He looks as if he might say something and then doesn’t. I think he might try to leave again, to shut me out like he always does, but then he exhales sharply, his shoulders slumping like he’s carrying a weight too heavy to bear as he rolls to a sitting position on the edge of the cot.
“Fine,” he says, his voice quiet but edged with something raw. “You want the truth? I’m the alpha of the Nightshade Pack.”
“I know that.”
“Do you want to hear what I have to say or not?” He waits, and when I say nothing, he continues. “We’ve existed here, in Shadow Hollow, for thousands of years, hidden from the outside world.”
“And what about my grandmother?” I demand, my voice trembling with emotion. “What about the pain your pack caused her?”
Ryder’s eyes flash, but he takes a calming breath. I try to calm myself, as well.
“You think I don’t hate what happened to your grandmother? You think I don’t carry every decision that every alpha before me had to make?”
A heavy, charged silence follows his words, neither of us move. The space between us feels charged, like a live wire waiting to snap. My chest heaves, and I, too, take a long breath, letting it out slowly.
“You’re a part of this,” he says finally, his voice softer now, almost pleading. “Whether you like it or not. Your grandmother’s blood runs in your veins. That makes you one of us.”
I shake my head and speak quietly. “I’m not one of you.”
“You are.”
I shake my head. “I’m going to find what happened to Arthur and why.”
Ryder stands, pulls on his clothes, and steps closer, his eyes locked on mine. The intensity in his gaze makes my heart race. “You’re playing with fire, Bella,” he warns, his voice low and smooth, almost like a caress.
“Maybe, but I think it’s time somebody struck a match,” I whisper, holding his gaze.
The silence that follows is deafening, the gulf between the things we each feel responsible for stretching out between us. The unstated feelings simmer, and I know neither of us is willing to walk away.
“We’ll find a way, Bella.”
I can’t get words to form or leave my mouth, so I just nod.
Pacing the small space, the words Arthur wrote keep looping in my head. But it’s not about just shifters, secrets and my grandmother being banished . It’s about the Crimson Claw—how and why they’re being created and controlled, and by whom.
Ryder walks into the break room, which has a small kitchen, and makes a pot of coffee. His brooding presence is as infuriating as ever. He’s shut down, his expression unreadable now that he’s finally cracked open the door to the truth. He hasn’t let me in, not really. I’m trying to understand, trying to see everything from his point of view, but it’s really hard.
The sound of the clinic door opening snaps me out of my thoughts. Lucas steps inside, his easy smile disarming in a way Ryder’s will never be. There is nothing easy about Ryder. Lucas glances between the two of us, his brow quirking as he takes it all in. His wicked grin says he knows exactly where his brother has been and what he has been doing.
“Wow,” Lucas says, shutting the door behind him. “I thought I was going to be walking into a battlefield. I actually had plans to get a hose.”
I stop pacing and glare at him. Ryder smiles. “I should have told you that after a while the goofy grin and silly sarcasm begins to grate.”
“You might try the easy charm and sexy smile,” I say to Ryder.
Lucas steps into my line of sight, drawing my attention back to him. His expression is softer now, more thoughtful. “Look, Bella, I know you’re pissed about your grandmother, and you have every right to be. As for the Crimson Claw, I think you may know more than we do.”
Ryder nods. “They’re an anomaly, but I think Arthur was putting it together. Incidentally, not everyone in the pack agreed with the decision to banish your grandmother.”
That catches me off guard. “What do you mean?”
“Not everyone in the pack thought banishment was the answer,” Ryder says. “There were those who believed your grandmother’s bond with a human wasn’t a threat but an opportunity. A way to bridge the gap between our world and that of your grandfather.”
I cross my arms, skeptical. “And what happened to those people?”
“The alpha at the time had no business calling himself alpha,” says Ryder. “The decision was his to make and instead of leading, he fobbed it off on the Elders.”
“In case you missed it, my brother is kind of a hard ass,” adds Lucas. “In any event, the old traditions won out, but times are changing, Bella.”
Ryder nods. “The pack can’t survive if we keep isolating ourselves. We’re already struggling. Our birthrate’s declining, the Crimson Claw is growing bolder, and we’re being forced into tighter corners every day. Bridging the gaps—the ones between humans and shifters and between packs—it might be the only way we survive.”
His words hit something deep in me, a flicker of understanding mingling with my anger. “So, you’re saying what? That my grandmother was right all along?”
“I’m saying she might’ve been ahead of her time,” Ryder admits, a rare smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Lucas reaches out but stops short when Ryder growls. “I don’t know, maybe you’re here now to do more than just figure out how Arthur really died. You’re a vet and your blood must have a different chemical composition than ours. Maybe you can help us find a way to help improve our birthrates.”
“I don’t know what you expect from me,” I say finally, looking back at Lucas. “I didn’t ask to be part of all of this. I came to find out what happened to my friend.” I turn to Ryder. “Did you just growl at your brother?”
“I did,” Ryder acknowledges.
“Why?” I ask.
“Because big brother doesn’t share well with others.”
Ryder growls again, and Lucas goes silent, the grin still on his face.
“You didn’t ask to be part of the bigger problem, but it appears Arthur was. When you decided to find out what really happened, you threw your hat into the ring. Whether you or the Elders like it or not, you’re connected to the pack, to Arthur, and through those connections to the Crimson Claw. You might be able to help us in ways no one else can.”
“And you don’t like it,” I say.
“No, but only because I want you safe.”
I stare at him—his words settling over me like a shroud. It’s too much to process, too much to handle all at once. There is still some residual anger there, simmering under the surface, but so is something else—a growing awareness of my connection to all of this. The pack isn’t just some secretive group clinging to outdated traditions. Some of them are scared, and Ryder is having to balance that against what he knows is right.
“It isn’t an easy thing, being alpha,” I say taking his hand.
Ryder smiles ruefully as he brings it up to his mouth and kisses it. “No, it isn’t. There are times I’d like to banish the lot of them…”
“Just recently, he threatened to put the Elders’ heads on spikes,” says Lucas gleefully, “which I thought was an incredibly good idea.”
“You aren’t helping,” I admonish Lucas.” They’re fighting to survive in a world that’s closing in on them. I’m not sure how I got dragged into all of this.”
“In for a penny, in for a pound,” says Ryder. “You have to understand, things aren’t as black and white as they might seem.”
“If you want me to understand,” I say, looking at him, “then you need to stop keeping me in the dark. No more secrets. No more lies. Both of you.”
Lucas nods, his expression earnest. “Fair enough.”
Ryder doesn’t respond, but I catch the faintest twitch of his jaw, like he’s biting back words he can’t let himself say.
The energy in the room is suffocating, but I push through it, squaring my shoulders. “I’m not giving up,” I say, my voice steady. “Whatever it takes, I’m going to figure this out.”
The clinic is quiet, but the energy in the air hums like a live wire. I stand with my hands braced on the edge of the desk, staring down at Arthur’s notes scattered in front of me. The words blur, a chaotic tangle of information that feels just out of reach.
Lucas clears his throat. “Bella,” he says, his tone calm and measured. “Nobody’s saying you have to stop looking for answers. But you need to be smart about this. There are things—dangerous things—you don’t fully understand yet.”
“I understand more than you think,” I say, looking at him. “Arthur’s death wasn’t an accident. The mutants are tied to something bigger. And now I find out I’m connected to a pack of wolf-shifters that exiled my grandmother for falling in love.”
Lucas sighs, glancing at Ryder, who hasn’t moved. The caring lover I was with earlier has retreated into the brooding alpha.
“We’re not saying stay in the dark,” Lucas says gently. “We’re saying tread carefully. You’ve already seen how messy this can get.”
“I don’t care how messy it gets,” I say, straightening and looking Ryder dead in the eye. “I’m not going to let fear—or your damn rules—stop me from finding justice for Arthur.”
Ryder’s gaze finally meets mine, and the intensity in his dark eyes sends a shiver down my spine. “You have no idea what you’re getting into,” he says, his voice low and deep. “The pack’s traditions, the Crimson Claw, your wolf side—they’re all connected, and they’re dangerous. It’s bigger than you realize. We’re only beginning to figure out how much bigger”
“Then talk to me,” I challenge, stepping closer. “If it’s so dangerous, if I’m so at risk, then why not help me instead of standing in my way?”
He doesn’t answer, his refusal to answer stretching between us like a chasm. Ryder’s expression hardens, and I wonder if he’s going to argue. But instead, he turns toward the window, his jaw clenched, his shoulders stiff.
Lucas shifts, drawing my attention. “Bella,” he says carefully, his voice laced with warning, “this isn’t just about Arthur, Crimson Claw, your grandmother or even the pack. You’re connected to all of it.”
“I understand that,” I say, meeting his gaze. “Arthur was important to me. He had a great deal to do with the person—the vet—I’ve become. I came back here because no one would tell me the truth. And now, I find out I’m not the only one who thought the whole heart attack as his cause of death was bullshit.”
Lucas looks like he wants to say more, but Ryder cuts him off. “She’s made up her mind,” he says, his tone clipped. “Nothing we can say is going to change that.”
I glare at him, my hands curling into fists at my sides. “You think I’ll back down just because you tell me how dangerous this is or because I have feelings for you?”
“You have feelings for him?”
“Shut up, Lucas,” Ryder and I say simultaneously.
Ryder’s eyes flash. I can see his wolf side flickering just beneath the surface. I wonder if he might explode, but he takes a deep breath, his gaze cooling even as the energy between us crackles.
“Then you’d better be ready for what comes next,” he says quietly, his voice heavy with meaning.
“I am,” I say, lifting my chin. “The question is—are you?”
The silence that follows is thick, oppressive, but I hold his gaze, refusing to back down. Lucas shifts uncomfortably, but Ryder stays perfectly still, his expression a mask of stone.
Finally, Ryder turns and walks toward the door, his movements deliberate. He pauses just before stepping out, his voice cutting through the quiet like a blade.
“I will keep you safe, Bella, regardless of what you think,” he says without looking back.
Lucas starts to say something, thinks better of it and follows his brother. I turn back to my desk, to Arthur’s notes, and the puzzle still waiting to be solved.