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And now, almost a year and a half after she whispered that we were supposed to be together, we’re not—not really—and he’s clearly suffering because of it.
Feral.
Chains.
Weak.
And I thought I felt queasy before.
“Your turn. What are you doing here?” Ryker says, turning the question back on me. “You’re supposed to be in Muncie.”
If he was vulnerable enough to open up to me, the least I can do is return the favor. “I came looking for you. I… I thought we could talk.”
“I think we talked enough. If you want, we can talk more after the full moon. Now, though? You have to go.”
“I can’t.”
“You can, Gemma—”
He doesn’t understand. “No. Really. I can’t.”
As quickly as possible, I tell Ryker all about what’s happened to me since I arrived in Accalia—starting with running into Audrey. From her sweet nature to the doctored Coke all way to members of his inner circle bringing me—
I pause. “Where are we?”
“My basement,” Ryker tells me. They’re the first words he’s said since I started talking aside from his growled, “I’ll kill them. I’ll kill them all. They shouldn’t have done that to you.”
He’s not wrong, but I think killing them is a little drastic. Now that I’ve seen what the full moon does to Ryker, I can’t blame them for hoping I’d help him out somehow. Even if they did trap me in his—
Hang on.
“Your basement,” I repeat. “In… in the Alpha cabin?”
He slowly shakes his head. “No. Those idiots might think this is Alpha business, but it isn’t. It’s mine. This is my cabin. The one I had before I took over for my dad.”
Oh.
Welp.
Didn’t expect that.
Is it worse that I’m here? I wasn’t meant to enter the Alpha cabin until I became his bonded mate, but now I’m in his personal home and… I don’t know what to think about that.
Later, I tell myself. I’ll think about that later.
For now, all my worry is for Ryker.
He’s sweating. It drips down his face, plastering his dark hair to his forehead. That only means one thing and, Luna help me, I hope I’m wrong.
Even so, I can’t resist the urge. Dropping to my knees, I reach out to him, aiming to push one particular lock of hair out of his face.
His voice is hoarse as he warns, “You shouldn’t touch me.”
“You don’t want me to?”
“I do. Luna, I do. But it’s taking everything I have to restrain my wolf. These chains… they had to know that they weren’t strong enough to keep you from me. Especially with the fever…” His words trail off, but both of us know exactly what he was about to say. He shakes his head, and I have to admit that I was right. “Maybe if you’d stayed behind in Muncie, you might’ve been safe from me. But this close…” Ryker’s cheeks ripple, fighting the shift. “Just… just stay on the other side of the room, Gemma. Please.”
Holy hell. He’s begging.
