Chapter 14 CHAPTER 14

Chapter 14 CHAPTER 14
Ophelia’s POV
Dad's eyes went huge. "What?"
"You said fated mates are rare. But they exist, right?" I was making this up as I went. "What if he's mine? Did you ever think of that?"
"Ophelia, you met him two days ago!"
"So? Fated mate bonds can happen instantly!" I had no idea if that was true, but it sounded good. "The Moon Goddess works in mysterious ways!"
"This is ridiculous."
"Is it? Or are you just mad because I'm not following your plan?" The tears were flowing now. "You don't understand me at all!"
"Ophelia—"
"I won't mate Richard!" I was full-on sobbing now, using every drama trick I'd learned from late-night TV. "I won't! You can't make me!"
"Young lady, you need to calm down—"
"No! I'd rather be a lone wolf than mate someone I don't love!" I turned toward the door. "Maybe Ryan IS my fated mate! Maybe the Moon Goddess brought us together for a reason!"
"Don't say things you don't mean!"
"I mean every word!" I yanked the door open. "And you can't stop me from seeing him!"
"If you keep this up, I'll send you to stay with your aunt's pack until you come to your senses!"
I slammed the door behind me and ran down the hallway, sobbing loudly.
People stared as I passed. Good. The more witnesses to my dramatic breakdown, the better.
I turned the corner, still crying—
And crashed into someone.
"Sorry!" I gasped, wiping my eyes. "I wasn't looking where I—"
I looked up.
Deep green eyes stared down at me.
Ryan.
He was standing in the shadows of the hallway, completely still. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes were glowing slightly—that golden wolf light.
How long had he been standing there?
"Ryan?" My voice came out shaky. "What are you—"
He turned and walked away without a word.
Oh no.
How much had he heard?
I found an empty storage room and ducked inside, my heart still pounding.
"Okay, Hex," I thought. "That was terrible."
"That was Oscar-worthy acting," Hex corrected. "The tears, the drama, the slamming door. Chef's kiss."
"I wasn't acting at the end! I was actually upset!"
"About the arranged mating thing?"
"Yes!" I paced the small room. "I mean, I know it doesn't matter because I'm leaving anyway. But still! The audacity! Deciding who I'm gonna spend my life with without even asking me!"
"To be fair, arranged matings are pretty normal in medieval ages."
"I don't care! It's my life!"
"Technically it's not. This is a fake life."
"Hex, I swear—"
"Okay, okay, sorry." He paused. "But you did accomplish your goal. Your dad definitely thinks you're rebelling because you're in love with Ryan now."
"Yeah." I slumped against the wall. "That gives me an excuse to spend time with him. To train him."
"Though claiming he might be your fated mate was ballsy."
"I was improvising!"
"You know fated mate bonds are serious business in werewolf culture, right? You can't just throw that around casually."
"I know, I know." I rubbed my face. "But what else was I supposed to say?"
"Fair point."
I took a deep breath, trying to calm down.
The arranged mating thing didn't matter. I'd be gone before I turned eighteen anyway.
But Ryan—
"Hex, do you think he heard me? In the hallway?"
"Hard to say. Werewolves have excellent hearing."
"Great. Just great." I groaned. "If he heard me claiming he was my fated mate, he's gonna think I'm insane."
"You kind of are insane."
"Not helping!"
I needed to find Ryan. To explain. Or not explain? Would explaining make it worse?
"Let's just go with the flow," I decided. "If he brings it up, I'll deal with it. If he doesn't, I'll pretend it never happened."
"That's your strategy? Avoidance?"
"It's worked so far!"
"Has it though?"
I ignored him and left the storage room, heading toward my private courtyard.
That's where Ryan usually was during his breaks. Sure enough, when I pushed open the courtyard door, there he was.
My private courtyard was small but nice. Stone walls covered in climbing roses. A little fountain in the corner. Some benches and training equipment.
And Ryan, sitting on the ground with a sword across his lap.
He was cleaning it carefully, his eyebrows lowered in concentration. His black hair fell across his forehead, and the afternoon sunlight made his skin look warm.
Okay, I had to admit—he looked really good.
Like, really really good.
The kind of good that made my stupid heart do stupid things.
"Stop it," I told my heart. "We talked about this."
My heart didn't listen.
Ryan didn't look up when I walked in, even though I knew he'd heard me. He just kept running the cloth along the blade, his movements precise and careful.
I sat down on the stone bench, watching him.
The courtyard was quiet except for the soft sound of the cloth against metal. Birds chirped in the roses. The fountain made gentle splashing noises.
It was peaceful.
Almost too peaceful.
"Hex," I thought. "What do I say?"
"How about 'hi'?"
"That's too casual!"
"You want to go with 'sorry you overheard me tell my dad you might be my fated mate'?"
"Definitely not!"
"Then start with 'hi' and see what happens."
I took a breath. "Hi."
Ryan's hand paused for just a second. Then he kept cleaning. "Hi."
Okay. Good start.
"How's the weapon maintenance going?"
"Fine."
"Cool. Cool cool cool." Why was I like this? "That sword looks really clean."
"That's the point."
"Right. Obviously." I laughed nervously. "Sorry, I'm being weird."
He finally looked up at me. Those green eyes locked onto mine, and my breath caught.
"You okay?" he asked quietly.
"Me? Yeah! Totally fine! Why wouldn't I be fine?"
His gaze didn't waver. "You were crying."
Damn his werewolf senses.
"Oh. That." I waved my hand. "Just family drama. You know how dads are."
"No."
I blinked. "No?"
"I don't know how dads are." His voice was flat. "Mine tried to kill me."
Oh.
Oh shit.
"Ryan, I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"
"It's fine." He went back to cleaning the sword. "What happened?"
"With my dad?"
"Yeah."
I hesitated. How much should I tell him?
"He wants me to mate someone I barely know," I said finally. "Some Alpha's son from an allied pack. For political reasons."
Ryan's hand paused again. "Do you want to?"
"What? No! God no!" I made a face. "Richard is like watching paint dry. Except less interesting."
The corner of Ryan's mouth twitched.
"Plus I'm sixteen," I continued. "Who decides their whole life at sixteen? That's insane!"
"Some people don't get to decide at all."
His voice was so quiet I almost didn't hear it.
I looked at him. At the way his shoulders were tense.
Oh no.
I'd made it weird. I'd made everything weird with my dumb comment —
"So!" I said way too loudly. "Speaking of decisions, I just made one!"
Ryan glanced at me, his expression guarded.
"I've decided we're gonna play a game," I announced, trying to sound confident and fun instead of desperately trying to change the subject.
He went very still. "A game."
"Yeah! It'll be fun!" I grinned at him. "Come on, it'll take like five minutes tops."
Ryan turned back to his sword. Started polishing it again with slow, deliberate movements.
"No."
I blinked. "What?"
"No." He didn't even look up. "I don't want to play a game."
"But—"
"No."
My face went hot. Great. Now I looked like an idiot who got rejected by a traumatized fifteen-year-old.
"Fine," I said, puffing out my cheeks. "But as the Alpha's daughter, I'm officially ordering you to play with me."
The second the words left my mouth, I knew I'd messed up.
Ryan's hands stopped moving. He set down the cloth he was using. Then he stood up slowly and turned to face me.
And started walking toward me.
"Ordering me around?" His voice was low. Dangerous.
I took a step back. "I was just—it was a joke—"
He kept coming. Step by step. His green eyes locked on mine.
"You think you can order me around?"
"Okay, okay, bad choice of words!" I held up my hands. "I didn't mean it like that!"
He stopped right in front of me. Close enough that I had to tilt my head back to look at him.
This was it. This was how I died. Again. Killed by a future tyrant because I made a stupid joke about ordering him around.
"Hex!" I thought frantically. "Help!"