Chapter 180

Chapter 180
Ryker

Ariya stared at me wide-eyed as the memories flashed through her mind. She had a vacant look in her eyes. Ivan looked at me concerned. 
“There’s a lot of memories. It’s going to take a minute. You only had memories of me tied to one time frame. Ari on the other hand has many more.” I explained. 
Ivan growled, “Why are you calling her Ari?” 
I couldn’t help the smirk that showed up on my face, “Who do you think started calling her Ari in the first place?” 
“Her brother, Keothi.” Ivan confronted me. 
“That’s where you’re wrong, kid. You didn’t see me the night you lost your parents. So I never had to lock your mind. Not until you came walking in here. Ariya’s words changed slightly. She left out that 3 people called her Ari. You were traumatized that night, I didn’t want to make anything worse. The day you got here I adjusted that memory on you slightly. That way you couldn’t give me away ever. I also helped lock your memories more to keep you safe. That part you should remember now.” I explained. 
Ivan seemed confused but didn’t ask any more questions. Ariya came out of her dazed state. Her eyes refocused and she looked at me with new eyes. 
“Ryker?” She breathed. 
“Long time no see, Ari.” I smirked at her. 
She jumped up and hugged me tightly. 
“I want to say I missed you but I didn’t remember. I would have missed you though!” She told me, burying her head into my chest. 
“I missed you too, little one.” I laughed, “You bit me, you little runt!” 
Ariya looked down sheepishly, “Sorry Uncle Ryker.” 
“Uncle?!” Ivan said, shocked. 
I smiled down at Ariya and gave her a big squeeze before releasing her, “He needs you. You’ll need to show him your memories so he’s caught up to speed. You both need to catch Zayne and I up to speed as well. We’ve been gone for a long time and clearly don’t know what’s happened. You’ll need to have Drake adjust your lock to include Zayne and I. Ivan’s too. I can force my way through but it would hurt both of you. It’s better if Drake just does it. I’ll fix Drake’s lock when I see him. That said, you have until Zayne and I get back to get it done. Don’t delay. We’re going to go talk to Boss and then we’re all leaving for a bit.” 
“Ari can’t leave here. Boss isn’t going to allow that.” Ivan said, worried. 
Ariya immediately went to Ivan and snuggled into his arms. 
“Ariya is going to have to stay in the room. But she can come with us mentally. Specifically with you, Ivan. You can be her voice when we meet with Drake. Boss is going to expect me to break your mind outside of here. He’ll let us leave for a bit.” 
“Won’t he come in here then? What if I’m with you guys?” Ariya asked. 
“He won’t because he’s going to think you’re unconscious. You only need to pretend to be asleep. Boss will think you are if he goes in there. But you’ll be able to tell because a part of you is still aware of your body even when you’re with Ivan. I need to adjust my lock and Zayne’s lock so we remember when you guys are the only ones here.” I added. 
“We need a way to know that you are you. Ivan always flashes his wolf eyes at me and his hair changes. That’s how we know it’s just the 2 of us. If someone else approaches it’s like an early warning system because his hair will change back.” Ariya told me. 
“Keep it that way for the 2 of you. When it’s us 2 coming in here, I’ll flash my eyes, Zayne gets his memory back that way, and as long as no one else is nearby or watching then we’ll all have our memories. I’ll also make a contingency for us, that if Ivan’s hair is ever his true color that we’ll automatically get our memories back. That way we can’t hurt you guys by accident.” 
Everyone nodded in agreement. I put my hands on Zayne’s head and adjusted the lock on his memories. Then I closed my eyes and focused on adjusting the lock on my own memories. Ivan and Ariya would reach out to Drake as soon as we left and get their locks fixed. I wasn’t completely sure if Drake would just adjust it automatically without knowing who he was adding but I was sure that Ariya and Ivan could show him enough proof that Drake would be willing to. 
“You’ll only have a small window of time. Make sure to show each other memories but also have Drake adjust your locks. The lock takes priority.”