Chapter 53: MISUNDERSTOOD OR DELUSIONAL
AMARIS
No one had ever stood up for me before.
Not when my brothers locked me in closets, not when my father beat me in front of the entire pack, not when I was forced to eat scraps off the floor like an animal.
No one intervened, no one said stop, no one put themselves between me and the cruelty because standing up for me meant becoming a target themselves and I was never worth that risk.
But today Ryker killed a man for me.
Ripped his throat out in front of hundreds of people because Commander Bruno disrespected me.
Maybe Ryker was not as bad as everyone said, maybe I had misunderstood him from the start, maybe he just found it hard to show care except through action and violence was the only language he knew how to speak fluently.
"I hope you don’t think Ryker did that for you."
Nia’s voice cut through my thoughts. I turned to find her staring at me with raised eyebrows, reading my face like it was an open book
"No," I lied quickly. "I don’t think that."
"Good," Nia responded, linking her arm through mine as we walked back toward the residential wing. "Because he didn’t. He already hated Commander Bruno and you were just an excuse to finally get rid of him."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know," I muttered, but my brain refused to let it go.
Ryker did care about me, I had seen it in his eyes when he shifted, felt it through whatever bond connected us when Commander Bruno called me just a woman.
And I definitely saw the anger when he realized I had kissed Rowan, saw him freeze mid-fight.
That meant something. It had to mean something.
"Amaris," Nia interrupted my internal spiral again as we stepped into my room. "The full moon will be approaching in three days. How are you preparing for it?"
I gazed at her blankly. "What do you mean by preparing?"
Nia’s piercing gaze met mine too as if she expected me to understand, "Well, you will soon be mated to Alpha Corvin so most likely you will be spending the night with him."
My heart skipped a beat or two as her words hits me. "I don’t think so. What Alpha Corvin and I have is not like that."
Nia sat down on my bed and patted the space beside her. "I don’t mean to be intrusive but what exactly do you people have? I know he wants to use you to breed an heir but I haven’t even seen you two trying." She paused. "Or are you waiting for after the official ceremony?"
I sat down next to her and tried to figure out how much I could say without revealing the humiliating truth. "Am I being nosy?" Nia asked when I stayed quiet too long.
"A little bit," I admitted. "You don’t see me asking you why you are fucking Cole knowing he loves someone else."
Nia gasped and smacked my arm. "Ouch, it seems like Ryker has started rubbing off his dark humor on you."
He might just rub off more on me tonight, my wolf beamed unhelpfully at the thought of tonight.
I could not tell Nia about the artificial insemination plan Alpha Corvin had for me, could not admit that he found the idea of actually touching me so repulsive that he would rather use medical intervention than put his hands on my body. It was too degrading, too pathetic, too much proof that I was exactly as worthless as everyone had always told me I was.
Besides, if I told Nia she would tell Cole because that is what people who sleep together do, and Cole would tell Ryker because they were best friends, and if Ryker knew his father had no intention of sleeping with me he would use that information to destroy me more thoroughly than he already was.
Not that he was not already using me plenty.
"I haven’t seen Cole all day," Nia mused, as she noticed the awkward silence between us and decided to change the topic. "That’s strange. He usually checks in at least once."
I could not resist the urge to tease her, "Maybe he is with Lila."
Nia threw a pillow at my face. "Ha ha, aren’t you the comedian. Cole hates Lila now after she left him."
Sure he does, I thought but did not say out loud because I had seen the way Cole looked at Lila during the engagement party, had noticed how his eyes tracked her movements even when he was pretending not to care. That was not hate. That was the same way Ryker stared at me.
A knock on the door interrupted whatever response I was about to make.
Nia looked at me. "I didn’t know you were expecting anyone."
"I am not," I confirmed, my heart rate picking up because unexpected visitors in this house were never good news.
It was not the twins, my wolf would have sensed them before they got close enough to knock. She stirred whenever Ryker or Rowan were nearby.
"Let me see who it is," Nia offered, standing up and walking toward the door.
"Well since you don’t have any mate yet," she called over her shoulder, "you don’t have any issues during the full moon."
I sat up straighter. "What do you mean by issues?"
Nia’s hand was already on the doorknob. "Full moon is practically mating night. The wolves are in control, especially fated mates."
"What the hell?" I stood up so fast I nearly knocked over the lamp on my nightstand.
Nia pulled the door open and froze.
Alpha Corvin stood in the hallway looking as imposing as ever, his dark eyes finding mine over Nia’s shoulder.
Nia bowed so quickly she nearly gave herself whiplash. "Alpha Corvin," she stammered, backing away from the door.
She shot me a look that clearly said we will talk about this later before practically running out of the room, leaving me alone with a man who had made it very clear he wanted nothing to do with me.
The door clicked shut behind her and my breath hitched at his all consuming presence.
"I wasn’t expecting you," I managed, my hands twisting together nervously.
Alpha Corvin stepped further into the room but maintained careful distance, like he was afraid getting too close would contaminate him with whatever weakness I carried. "What happened between you and Commander Bruno that made Ryker kill him?"
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