RYKER
Yes, you might call a prick.
Feel free to judge for what I did last night, for taking Amaris’s virginity and walking out the second I realized it was pointless. Go ahead and think I am a monster, that I used her and threw her away like she ant nothing.
But I never said I wanted a relationship with her.
Never pretended to be the good guy or made promises I had no intention of keeping. I was honest about being selfish and cruel and only caring about hurting my father, and she still let touch her knowing exactly what I was.
So what use would it be to have her if my father would never know?
The whole point was revenge, was taking sothing he wanted before he could claim it, and ruining her for him in ways he would discover on their wedding night. But if there was no wedding night, if he planned to artificially inseminate her like she was livestock instead of a woman, then what was the fucking point of any of it?
I was not the bad guy here.
My father was the monster, planning to inject his genetic material into her without even having the decency to fuck her properly if producing an heir was the priority. At least if you were going to use soone for breeding purposes you should do it right, should give them the experience of actual intimacy instead of treating them like a science experint.
But no, Alpha Corvin was too in love with a dead woman to touch the living one he intended to mate.
And sohow I was the villain in this pack.
Now I had to find a way to turn this whole situation around, had to figure out how to make having Amaris matter again because walking away last night felt wrong like a half completed story, I need to find a way to get the ball rolling.
"You look like hell," Cole’s voice cut through my thoughts.
I turned to find him walking toward down the hallway, his hair slightly ssed up and his clothes rumpled like he had slept in them or not slept at all.
"Yeah?" I shot back. "You don’t look much better. Nia kept you up all night?"
Cole opened his mouth to confirm but I leaned in and sniffed him, catching the unmistakable sll of whiskey and smoke that clung to his clothes.
"Nah," I corrected. "You were drinking. And definitely not with Nia because she is too uptight to do shots."
Cole sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Fine, you got . I went to the pub just outside town, to Carlos, had a few drinks."
"Was that where you were all day?" I asked, starting to walk toward the board room.
He fell into step beside . "I had a couple of errands to run."
The vague answer told he was lying or at least not telling the whole truth, but I did not push because we all had secrets we were not ready to share. Marco had co that morning to inform us that Alpha Corvin wanted a eting with everyone, which was the last thing I wanted after the disaster of last night.
Seeing Amaris again before I got my shit together felt like asking for more complications I could not afford.
"I heard you killed Commander Bruno," Cole ntioned casually. "I leave you alone for one day and you go around murdering people."
I smirked. "What can I say? You are the only bit of control I have in this pack."
We both laughed and the sound echoed off the stone walls.
"Seriously though," Cole’s expression shifted to a more concerned gaze. "What were you thinking? Killing our commander, especially now that Victor has resurfaced, is pretty reckless."
"Commander Bruno was not the one who stopped Victor the first ti," I countered, my voice hardening. "I did. We don’t fucking need him." I paused. "Plus this is an opportunity for you to beco commander."
Cole stopped walking and stared at . "No way. I am too young and I don’t even have the fighting experience."
"What the fuck are you talking about?" I turned to face him fully. "You are more skilled than everyone I know. Yes, you were a late bloor and practically got your wolf at twenty-five, but that gave you hand-to-hand combat and sword advantages that no one else has."
He looked at suspiciously. "What has gotten into you with the ass kissing today?"
I laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "Man, I believe in you. And I will make sure you beco commander. Else I will just have to kill every other potential candidate."
"And there is the sick bastard I know," Cole muttered, but he was smiling.
We stopped in front of the board room doors and Cole’s expression shifted to sothing more serious. "The files about Victor, who has them?"
"Already acting the role I see, Commander Cole," I teased.
He punched my arm. "Shut up and answer the question."
"Beta Marco," I supplied. "He handles all the filing and docuntation."
I pushed open the doors and we walked in together.
Rowan was already seated on the right side of the long table, his posture perfect and his expression carefully neutral. Alpha Corvin sat at the head looking as imposing as ever, dark eyes tracking our entrance with that calculating gaze that missed nothing. Beta Marco stood near him with folders stacked in front of him.
I scanned the room looking for her even though I told myself I did not want to see her yet.
She was not there.
Disappointnt hit harder than it should have and I pushed it down, taking a seat across from Rowan and trying to look like I gave a fuck about whatever eting was about to happen.
The doors opened again and I looked up automatically.
Amaris walked in with Nia by her side.
Our eyes locked imdiately and the mate bond slamd into my chest so hard I actually felt my ribs compress. She looked tired, her eyes red like she had been crying all night, her hair pulled back in a simple braid that made her look younger and more vulnerable than I wanted her to look.
She was wearing a navy dress that showed the marks I had left on her neck. It was simple but sohow looked so elegant and exquisite on her. Especially with the marks.
My marks.
Proof that I had touched her, claid her, ruined her in ways that would not wash off no matter how many showers she took.
And looking at her standing there trying to pretend last night never happened, trying to hold herself together in a room full of people who would destroy her if they knew the truth of what we did, I realized sothing that had been gnawing in my mind since I left her room.
I wanted to fuck her again. Needed to.
What a sick bastard I was.
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