Chapter 96 Old Flames
Ryder POV
The second I see Seraphina Cross walk through those gates, my blood turns cold.
She's not some abused mate running from violence. She's my ex-lover from years ago, and the last words she ever said to me were a promise to destroy everything I love.
"Fuck." I breathe the word under my breath, watching Jolie guide her toward the clubhouse with such gentle care it makes my chest ache.
Cass appears on my shoulder. "That's her, isn't it? The one from the Eastern Territories."
"Yeah." My hands curl into fists. "That's her."
"You need to tell Jolie." Cass keeps his voice low. "Right now, before this gets worse."
"I know." But I'm frozen, watching Seraphina lean on Knox like she's fragile and broken. "I just need to figure out what she's playing at first."
"Ryder." Cass grabs my arm. "Tell. Your. Mate."
He's right. I know he's right. But by the time I force myself to move, Jolie's already disappeared into the medical bay with Seraphina.
I wait on the back porch, trying to figure out how to explain this without sounding like I deliberately kept secrets. The mate bond hums with Jolie's compassion, her determination to help someone she sees as broken and scared.
She has no idea she just invited a viper into our home.
When Jolie finally comes to find me, I can barely meet her eyes.
"You wanted to see me?" She approaches carefully, probably picking up on my tension through the bond.
"Seraphina Cross." I force myself to look at her. "You invited her in without vetting her."
"She needed help." Jolie moves to stand beside me, and the trust in her face makes me feel terrible. "I couldn't turn her away."
I try to explain my concerns without revealing too much. Background checks, verification, being careful. All true, but dancing around the real issue.
The truth that's burning a hole in my chest.
That night, I lie awake while Jolie sleeps curled against me. My wolf is pacing, snarling, demanding I tell her everything.
But what do I say? That Seraphina and I had a relationship that was more toxic than passionate? That we brought out the absolute worst in each other? When I finally got my head straight and tried to leave, she swore she'd make me regret it?
That was years ago. Before Aria, before everything fell apart and I built these walls around my heart.
I thought Seraphina had moved on. Last I heard, she'd mated someone from the Clearwater Pack and settled down. Clearly, I was wrong.
The next morning, I'm in the garage working on my bike when Seraphina finds me. She's alone, which tells me this was a calculated act.
"Ryder." Her voice is soft, almost tentative. "Can we talk?"
I don't look up from the engine. "Nothing to talk about."
"There's everything to talk about." She moves closer, and I catch her scent. Honeysuckle, exactly like I remember. "It's been years."
"Years ago since you told me you'd destroy anything I ever cared about." I finally met her eyes. "What are you doing here, Seraphina?"
"I told you." Her expression is carefully neutral. "Running from my mate."
"Bullshit." I set down my wrench, standing to my full height. "You're here for revenge. What I don't know yet is how you plan to execute it."
Something flickers in her eyes—surprise, maybe, that I figured it out so fast. Then she smiles, and it's nothing like the vulnerable act she's been putting on.
"You always were perceptive." She leans against my workbench. "Too bad you weren't perceptive enough to realize what you had when you had it."
"What we had was toxic." I keep my voice low. "We were poison together, Sera. You know it as well as I do."
"What we had was passion." She corrects. "Real, raw, honest passion. Not this..." She gestures vaguely toward the compound. "Domesticated version of yourself you've become."
"I'm mated." The words come out harder than I intend. "Happily mated. To someone who's infinitely better than I deserve."
"The little moon goddess." Seraphina's smile sharpens. "She's very sweet. Trusting. Naive, even."
My wolf snarls, pushing forward. "Stay away from her."
"Or what?" Seraphina pushes off the workbench, moving into my space. "You'll tell her about us? About how we used to set the Eastern Territories on fire with how explosive we were together?"
"There is no 'us.'" I don't back down. "There hasn't been for years."
"Then why didn't you tell her?" Seraphina tilts her head. "When I showed up at your gates, why didn't you immediately tell your precious mate that I'm your ex-lover?"
Because I'm a coward. Because I was trying to protect her from exactly this kind of manipulation. Because I thought I could handle you quietly and she'd never have to know.
All terrible reasons that sound like excuses even in my own head.
"That's what I thought." Seraphina reads my silence correctly. "You kept a secret from her. A big one. How do you think she'll react when she finds out?"
"What do you want?" I'm done dancing around this. "You didn't come here just to reminisce about old times."
"No." She studies me with calculating eyes. "I came here because I was hired to break your mate bond."
The words hit me like a punch. "What?"
"Someone very powerful wants your little moon goddess destroyed." Seraphina's voice is almost mocking. "They hired me to seduce you, destroy your bond, and make sure she ends up broken beyond repair."
"Who hired you?" My voice comes out as a growl.
"That's confidential." She smiles. "Professional ethics, you understand. But I'll tell you this much—they're willing to pay a fortune to see her ruined. Must be quite the threat, your divine little mate."
My hands are shaking with the urge to shift, to let Shadow tear her apart. "Get out. Now. Before I forget we don't kill guests."
"I'll leave when I'm done with the job." Seraphina heads toward the garage door, then pauses. "Oh, and Ryder? I'm going to enjoy watching her face when she realizes you lied to her. That moment of betrayal, when she understands you're not the honorable alpha she thought you were."
She's gone before I can respond.
I stand there in the empty garage, my wolf raging, the mate bond tight with anxiety. I need to tell Jolie. Right now. Before Seraphina poisons everything between us.
But when I get back to the main house, Jolie's in the middle of a healing session with one of the pack members who got injured on patrol. She's glowing with that silver light, pouring her divine energy into knitting broken bones.
I can't interrupt. Can't distract her when she's using her gift.
"Later." I tell myself. "I'll tell her tonight. I'll explain everything."
But that night, there's a pack dinner. Seraphina is there, playing the grateful refugee perfectly. She compliments the food, asks thoughtful questions about pack life, and manages to make everyone laugh with stories about her travels.
Everyone except Phoenix, who looks like he wants to bolt every time she speaks. And me, watching her work the room like the professional manipulator she is.
“Ryder must have told you about the Eastern Territories.” Seraphina's voice carries across the table. “ We spent quite a lot of time together there, years ago… didn’t we, Ryder?”
My eyes snap to hers. She's smiling innocently, but there's calculation in her gaze.
Jolie looks at me from across the table. Those eyes searching my face, looking for answers.
The guilt must show on my face because I can't hide it fast enough.
"You two know each other so well." It's not a question from Jolie. It's a statement, heavy with hurt and confusion.
"We met once." I try to keep my voice steady. "At a Council gathering."
"Twice, actually." Seraphina corrects gently. "But who's counting?"
The conversation continues around us, but I can feel the distance opening between Jolie and me through the mate bond. The first crack in the foundation I've built with her.
And Seraphina watches with barely concealed satisfaction, knowing exactly what she's done.
After dinner, I try to catch Jolie alone, but she's surrounded by pack members asking about the upcoming wedding. Every time I get close, someone else pulls her away with a question or concern.
By the time everyone disperses, she heads straight to our room without waiting for me.
I find her standing by the window, arms wrapped around herself. The light around her flickers with emotional turmoil.
"Jolie"
"You knew her." Her voice is quiet, which is somehow worse than if she'd shouted. "You knew exactly who she was, and you didn't tell me."
"I was going to"
"When?" She finally turns to face me.“Before or after I spent two days making friends with this woman you obviously know and won’t tell me anything about? You knew her. You recognized her the second she walked through the gates, and you’ve been acting strange ever since. What aren’t you telling me?”
"It's not what you think." I take a step toward her.
"Then what is it?" She doesn't back away, but I can feel her pulling back emotionally. "Explain it to me, Ryder. Make me understand why you lied."
"I didn't lie." Even as I say it, I know how weak it sounds. "I just... I didn't tell you the whole truth."
"That's the same thing." Her eyes shine with unshed tears. "You saw her walk through those gates. You knew who she was, what she meant to you, and you let me invite her in. Let me trust her, let me make a fool of myself by being kind to her."
"You're not a fool." I close the distance between us. "You have a good heart. That's not foolish."
"Then why do I feel so stupid?" A single tear escapes down her cheek. "Why do I feel like everyone must have been laughing at me? Poor naive Jolie”
"No one was laughing." I reach for her, but she steps back. "Baby, please. Let me explain."
"I don't want explanations right now." She wipes at her face angrily. "I want to be alone."
"Jolie"
"Please." Her voice cracks. "Just... Please give me space. I need to think."
Every instinct screams at me to refuse, to hold her until she lets me explain everything. "Okay." I force myself toward the door. "I'll be in the garage if you need me."
She doesn't respond.
I leave her standing by the window, and every step away from her feels like I'm tearing my own heart out.
Shadow howls inside my mind. Fix this, go back. Make her understand.
But I can't. Because the truth is, I did lie to her. By omission, maybe, but still a lie. I kept something important from her, tried to handle it on my own instead of trusting her with the truth.
And now Seraphina has exactly what she wanted—a wedge driven between us, doubt planted in Jolie's mind, and three days until our wedding to let it all fester and grow.
I slam my fist into the garage wall hard enough to leave a dent.