Chapter 60

Chapter 60
After flicking through TV channels, I tossed the remote on the bed with a frustrated moan. A knock at the door sounded. His scent pricked my nose.
“You cannot come in,” I growled.
“Are you sure about that?”
“Absolutely.”
“Perhaps use your nose, then reconsider,” Ryker said from the other side of the door.

I lifted a brow, then sniffed.
Oh, God.
“Are those… sugar cookies?” I asked.

Ryker pushed the door open and stepped in. Balanced atop his hand was a plate of freshly baked sugar cookies. I could only stare at Ryker, slack jawed.
With a smirk, Ryker said, “Your favorite, right?”
“H-how do you know they’re my favorite?”

“When you first invited me into your office. That day I saw the half-eaten sugar cookies on your desk. There was also the faint odor of cookies that clung to your skin a few times since then, signaling you ate them a lot.”

I swallowed past the ball of emotion lodged in my throat. Moisture gathered in my eyes, but I blinked them away. I couldn’t make sense of it. If he was so disgusted with me being a latent—if he regretted touching me, then why bring the cookies? I licked my lower lip, too scared to ask. Ryker placed the sugar cookies on the nightstand and tiptoed back. He looked me over, his brow furrowed. I blinked up at him.
“I’ll…leave you to rest then.” Ryker gave me a nod.

Yet, he didn’t move. He remained, his gaze fastened on me. I cocked my head to the side. As if I slapped him, he shook his head and turned, heading for the door.
“Ryker?” I called after him.
He cast a glimpse over his shoulder.
I wet my lips. “Thank you.” I gestured at the plate. “For the sugar cookies.”

A slow smile spread to his cheeks. He nodded, then slipped out of the room, closing the door behind him. I allowed a grin to crease my lips. Maybe I could forgive him. After all, who could say no to sugar cookies?

I discovered I was no longer bored while being confined to four walls. But I guess I had Ryker to thank for that. When the alpha male wasn’t investigating the murders, he came to keep me company. I tried to ignore him by watching TV while he sat in bed next to me, but avoiding him was like ignoring a rhinoceros in the room. His presence demanded acknowledgement.

One day, I kept the channel on an Asian drama. My gaze riveted to the show, enraptured by the plot. It was a romance drama with the main protagonists skirting around their true feelings for each other for most of the season. The current scene was the climax where the female had confessed her love, leaving the male shocked.
I clasped my hands in front of my chest.
Please don’t reject her, please don’t reject her, I chanted in my mind.

Ryker shifted in place beside me. “You know, I’m figuring out why you love these sappy shows so much.”
“They’re not sappy.” I cut him a narrowed look. It piqued my curiosity. “Why do you think I love these shows?”

Ryker popped a kernel of popcorn in his mouth from the bowl resting between us. His eyes remained leveled on the TV. “Because you live through the characters falling in love…”

My blood turned to frozen slush. The breath fled from my lungs as I gaped at him.
Ryker continued, “I can sense your joy. It’s deep and eternal, like the sea.” His gaze slid toward me, blue eyes covering me. Pity shone in their depths.
Pity for me…

He’d gotten too close. Could see into me… seeing too much! Anger whirled with fear like a maelstrom.
“Get out,” I said, my voice low, deadly.
Ryker rolled his eyes. “You’re being ridiculous.”
“Get. Out.”

He glared at me. “Is that all you can say, ‘Get out’? You need to work with some new material.”
I scrambled out of the bed and in my rush, the popcorn bowl tipped over; the kernels showering the sheets. “Fine! If you won’t leave, I will.”
I marched toward the door. A blur stirred the hair at my temples. Then Ryker stood in front of me. My brows snapped low over my eyes and noticed he was blocking the exit. Ryker raised his hands. The placating gesture only fueled my anger, making it even more volatile.

“Go back to bed, Lyra. You need rest. Your wounds still need to heal.”
“The only thing I need…” I growled, “is for you to get the hell out of my way!”

With my arms raised, I gave Ryker a forceful shove. He didn’t budge an inch.

I stepped forward, snarling in frustration, and threw my body into the motion. I thrust out and then my world spun; the floor reaching up to meet me in a wave of dizziness. A powerful arm encircled my hip, another arm catching me around my chest, stilling my fall—careful to avoid my wounds.
“Are you okay?” Concern filled Ryker’s voice.

I thrashed in his arms, kicking out like a wild animal. Ryker’s hold slipped somewhat before he tightened his grip on my writhing form.
“Calm down!”
“Don’t tell me what to do,” I snapped. “Damn you!”

I landed a blow to his ribs with a backward swing of my elbow. A low grunt satisfied my ears. “You’re all talk! Nothing but lies.”

Ryker heaved me upright, his arms trying to wrap around me without disturbing the wound, but my rage granted me strength and I broke out of his hold.
I whirled on him, snarling, “You’re no different from the other males at the were-bar.”
His eyes snapped wide.

Tears of anger burned my eyes. “Saying that a man shouldn’t treat a female poorly just because she’s latent, but you’re no different from those werewolves. You know I ache for love, so you throw salt into the wound differently, only to torment me.”
Ryker threw up his arms. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

I jabbed a finger at the TV, at the drama still unfolding. “By saying all that shit about how I live through the characters!” One tear slipped down my cheek unbidden. “Isn’t it enough to know it, to know that I know it?” I punched a finger into my chest. “But no… You have to give voice to my darkest thoughts.” More tears filled my eyes, and I sniffled. “You bastard!”

Ryker remained still and watched me. His eyes grew hard like flints. Then he moved with predatory speed and grabbed hold of me, lifting me into his arms.
“Let go of me!”
His grip only tightened, and he stormed out of the bedroom, hanging a left, and stalked down the hallway.
“Where the hell are you taking me?”

He didn’t give an answer, just swung the front door back, causing it to thwack against the wall from the force. Ryker stepped down the porch steps and headed across the yard. I gasped in mortification as the werebears milling about turned their attention toward us—but more toward me. I was being carted away in Ryker’s arms like a sack of potatoes. Many eyes glittered with confusion, others in amusement. Ryker paid no mind to the looks. He just weaved around log cabins.

Heat crept over my cheeks and down my neck. I writhed in his arms. “Put me down,” I hissed.
Still, he ignored me. Just when I felt tempted to slam a fist into his jaw, we arrived at a cabin. Ryker rapped a fist against the door.
“Ryker, I swear to God⁠—”

The door opened. I swung my head toward the person on the other side. It was a female. She had dark black hair, a shade lighter than Ryker’s, that fell to shapely hips. A peach dress molded to her form. My brows rose as my gaze dropped to her abdomen. Her very rounded belly. The female was heavy with child. Her eyes glittered, lips twitching at the corners. The female glanced up at Ryker.
“What is this?” she asked Ryker. Her voice was soft like wind chimes, at odds with the brash behavior and characteristics one associated with bears.

Ryker jerked a chin toward the female as he told me, “Lyra, meet Nara.” He gestured toward me. “Nara, Lyra.”
I gaped up at him.

A brow arched in Nara’s forehead. “Glad we got the introductions out of the way. Still don’t tell me why you’re here, baby brother.”
I blinked. Baby brother? This is his sister?
“Can we come in, Nara?” Ryker asked, his eye twitching in annoyance.