Chapter 174
RYKER’S POV
“Princess,”
She continued sobbing. Her back was still turned away from me. I pulled her close to me, her back resting on my chest while I wrapped my hands around her. “I’m sorry,” I whispered into her hair. She kept sobbing, and we stayed that way until the clouds turned dark, lit by just the stars. Only then did I manage to get her to turn and face me.
Her blue eyes still shimmered with tears. “Please don’t cry, princess. I’d do anything. Anything you want. Just don’t cry.”
She sniffled and gently eased into my arms, then slowly wrapped her arms around me.
My entire body went still at the single action she made. She didn’t need to say it. I could feel it in the warmth of her embrace. In the heat of her touch, in the quiet way, she eased into my warmth and sighed evenly.
My chest constricted, overwhelmed with the emotions of her finally forgiving me and giving us a chance.
“You forgive me,” I looked into her eyes, waiting.
“I have to. After all, you’re going to be my husband.” She replied and stepped out of my embrace.
I was relieved. But at the same time, I felt torn. She was doing this out of duty.
“Oh.” I swallowed hard, then stepped closer to her. “I’m sorry. I’m probably not what you want, and you’re right. I don’t deserve you. And I’m sorry about everything in the past. About—”
“You don’t have to,” She cut in. Her voice sounded harsh, but I didn’t care.
“But I need to let you know—”
“Can you just stop it, Ryker?” She screamed at me. “You keep saying you’re sorry, but it doesn’t change the fact that you’ve hurt me too many times. And don’t you dare say you love me!” She growled, awakening something primal inside me.
“Then what do you want me to say?!” I moved closer to her. My eyes flared wide as I stared at her in desperation.
“Say you hate me!” She screamed in my face. “Say you detest me. That would make things easier for me. Make it easy to hate you. To fight you. To continue this revenge of my own.” She gasped, hitting me in my chest. “Gods! I hate you so much, Ryker! I hate you so much it hurts! And yet…” She looked into my eyes wildly, with my arms wrapped around her.
My heart hitched, and my eyes widened as realization dawned on me.
“Say it,” I whispered against her lips. For a split second, neither of us moved, separated by just a breath and our hearts beating wildly in our chests.
“I still have feelings. Feelings I shouldn’t have,” She bit back angrily.
“Gods! Lyra,” I groaned and claimed her lips with a passion that threatened to consume me whole. Our lips collided, and our tongues glided over eachother’s rhythmically. The kiss was passionate and fierce; it threatened to consume us both.
Our breathing became ragged as we both sought something deeper. Our hands hurriedly roamed each other’s bodies in earnest passion.
This was a reunion between two lovers. Yet it felt more than that. It was like two souls connecting under the moon goddess’s aura. Neither of us stopped. Lyra pressed against my body, my arms wrapped around her slender waist as her scent enveloped me.
Gods! She was mine!
“Mine,” I growled low in her mouth, and she moaned. Her heat exploding around us. She gently pushed me against a wall made of rock and paused to look at my eyes. A slow smile spread across my face at her boldness. She was taking control, and I liked it.
Then I saw it.
A faint light that didn’t seem to belong made glowing ominously under the full moon, illuminating behind her caught by her golden mane of hair.
She frowned slightly, sensing my change of mood. Just then, I looked up, and there was an arrow aimed straight for her right in front of me.
“No!” I growled, pulling her towards me and moving swiftly to the side while the arrow struck the rock behind us.
I watched as her eyes opened in shock. My eyes found the assailant hurriedly running away, but I couldn’t leave her alone. Slowly, I tried to lift her, but then I noticed she had been injured. Blood seeped out of her thighs.
“Go,” She murmured.
“No, you’re hurt.” I insisted, using my claws to rip through the leather fabric of her pants to assess the injury. My eyes narrowed at the sight of her beautiful skin marred. She had fallen roughly on a jagged rock steeping out from the rocky ground. She winced slightly as I gently tore a fabric from the already ripped pants and tied it around her legs.
“Ryker,” She called me again, and I looked up to find her looking at me sternly.
“Find whoever dared to do this. Now! I’d be fine,” I felt the certainty in my bones. She wasn’t the weak woman from our past. The woman before me was powerful. Had led a pack through sandstorms and sea storms. She had ruled over powerful men and rogues, fought against deadly Lycans.
I gave Rider control and nodded before shifting and running after the path the assailant took.
I was going to catch the motherfucker even if it was the last thing I did.
After running for a while, I lost his scent.
“Not possible,” I growled. He couldn’t have just disappeared—vanished into thin air. There was no possibility that he would have used a scent blocker so suddenly while running that fast.
I looked around me. It was a wide span of land. There was only one way out of here…forward.
Determined, I kept moving until a strange light from a distance caught my attention. It looked like a portal.
It shimmered with blue light, but the inside was black and void. I couldn’t see a thing beyond that. Then a figure caught my attention. It was a huge black wolf running from the side, heading for the portal.
“Not today,” I growled and ran straight. I was going to intercept it. The black wolf ran with an unexplainable force. He was so close to the portal, about to rush in.
My bones burned, and Rider growled in anger. This wolf had dared to kill our mate. He wouldn’t escape.
Just when I thought it was over, the portal was almost closing in on the wolf. My claws stretched out and dug into its hind leg before clasping around it with full force and hurled it backward while we rolled in the grass, all teeth and fang and rage.
Meanwhile, the portal suddenly glowed like an unholy sin, sending a force of energy that crashed through us, making us shift involuntarily. However, when I looked down at the man beneath my hard grip, color drained from my face.
It was my Father.