RYKER
Did she love the way he kissed her more than I did?
The question burned through my mind like acid because I could not stop replaying the sounds she made under him, the way her fingers had gripped his hair while she moaned.
Was it louder than when she was with ?
Why the fuck did I even care?
I did not care if any other man had her. Or if Rowan did. She was just a ans to an end, just another weapon to use against my father.
Except my hands were still clenched into fists and my wolf was still snarling to rip my brother’s throat out for touching what belonged to .
The door shut behind Amaris and the sound echoed in the sudden silence.
Rowan turned to glare at , his chest still heaving and his hair completely ssed up from her hands. "What the fuck is your problem Ryker?"
I laughed and the sound ca out more cruel than I expected. "Asking that when you were the one just fucking her on your bed?"
He moved back toward the edge of his mattress like he was trying to put distance between us, like he knew this was about to escalate into violence. "We were not fucking."
"Oh really?" I challenged, taking a step into the room. "Then what was that exactly?"
"We were not there yet," Rowan interrupted, his voice tight.
Sothing about that statent made satisfaction bloom in my chest even though I tried to suppress it.
It was not like I had a problem with anyone having her, I told myself. But I had only fucked her once and it had been more pain than pleasure for her considering it was her first ti. I wanted to be the one to have her the most, I wanted to ruin her for any other man who would ever touch her again.
Especially when that man was Alpha Corvin.
"Why are you acting like she is yours anyway?" Rowan demanded, crossing his arms over his bare chest.
"I am not," I defended, even though we both knew it was a lie. "I just hate how you make look like the villain when you are actually worse than I am."
Rowan stood up abruptly, his fists clenching at his sides. "How am I worse? You have fucked her, have you not?"
The question wasn’t one I was prepared to answer and I went silent because I knew Rowan was not asking because he did not know - he was asking because he already knew the truth and wanted to admit it.
Maybe Amaris had told him. Maybe he could just sll it on both of us. Either way there would be no point in denying it.
But I kept quiet anyway, watching him.
"I was in her room this morning," Rowan continued when I did not respond. "I know what a room slls like after sex. And you have definitely been involved in that room Ryker."
"So is that why you wanted to have her too?" I shot back. "To get your share of her as well?"
"She is my mate," Rowan stated firmly, taking a step toward . "She is our mate."
I scoffed and felt anger surge through at the reminder. "You are engaged. Are you forgetting that part?"
"And you being single makes this better?" Rowan countered, taking another step closer. "Or are you forgetting that she is mated to our father?"
"I am not forgetting," I snarled, my hands clenching tighter. "And I do not fucking care because I will have her and ruin her before he can ever touch her."
Rowan closed the distance between us almost completely now, his face inches from mine. "Can you even hear yourself? What does that even an, ruin her? Why would you want to do that?"
"You know why," I stated, eting his glare with my own and refusing to back down.
"Because Dad caused Mom’s death," Rowan responded, his voice dropping to sothing dangerous. "That is why you want Amaris. Because she is Dad’s mate-to-be." He paused and his expression shifted to one that looked almost like pity. "Do you hear how fucked up your reasoning sounds?"
I rolled my eyes because here it ca, the lecture from my perfect brother about morality and doing the right thing.
"There you go again being all high and mighty. You know you hate him just as much as I do. You just want to be Alpha more than you want revenge. That is why you will not break up with Lila despite how much you clearly want Amaris."
Rowan was quiet for a long mont and I could see the internal war playing out across his face, the struggle between what he wanted and what he thought he should do.
His jaw clenched and unclenched repeatedly while his eyes darted away from mine.
"Well," he finally said in a tone that sounded like defeat, like resignation to sothing he could not change, "then it is a good thing she is leaving."
The words hit wrong, made sothing in my chest constrict uncomfortably.
"I am not going to let her leave," I stated firmly, my voice coming out harder than I intended.
Rowan actually chuckled but there was no humor in the sound, just bitter acknowledgnt of how impossible our situation was. "What are you going to do? Stop her from leaving? Beg Dad to keep her?"
He poked a finger into my chest hard enough to hurt, hard enough to leave a mark.
"News flash, Alpha Corvin does not listen to anyone."
I smirked because he was right that our father would not listen to words or pleas or rational argunts.
But actions were a different story entirely.
"She will not leave if she does not get to leave," I responded, keeping my voice deliberately cryptic.
Rowan stared at with confusion creasing his forehead, his eyes narrowing as he tried to decode what I ant. "What the hell do you even an by that?"
He paused and shook his head like he was clearing it.
"You know what, I do not even want to know because knowing you it is sothing either illegal, dangerous, or morally compromising."
Perfect. He was already talking himself into it without even knowing what "it" was yet.
User Comments
0 comments from readers