Ryker Dare
I followed the two from a distance, watching as Kei dodged the trees with ease and grace.
She called us ill-mannered. That’s a first, Axel remarked dryly.
Can’t really say I’m surprised, I retorted back. I felt the presence of four other wolves, all keeping their distance from us.
They all must be part of this pack.
This is the Black Stone territory, the second biggest pack after ours. How would Kei know them? Axel sounded mystified yet impressed at the same time.
At this rate, anything to do with Kei won’t surprise me any longer.
Kei had stopped as we entered an open field, a large mansion in the distance.
This is the one place that I can truly call home. Kei sounded almost distant as she slowed down to a walk. I caught up and strolled beside her.
How do you associate with this pack? From what I can recall, the alpha and the luna never had another girl.
She shook her furry head. I’m not their kid or anything. They just took me in when I trespassed onto their territory. Of course, I found it strange that they would want to keep a half-deranged pup, she said the last part bitterly as if recalling something unpleasant.
I didn’t say anything in return until Kei stopped suddenly. I stopped beside her and gazed at her. She nodded her head towards the girl, Maria, and they seemed to be having their own silent conversation. I waited patiently and watched as the girl jumped off her back and ran the rest of the way back to the house, now noticing a young man standing in the doorway with a guarded expression.
Thick, coppery brown hair glinted brightly in the sun, his features similar to that of the little girl.
“Rav!” The girl jumped into his arms and the man’s face transformed into a bright smile. He whispered something into her ear, and she nodded before hopping out of his grasp and disappearing inside the house.
His smile faded, however, when he looked back at me.
Stay here, Kei ordered.
I growled lowly in response. Only in your dreams, Lune.
She didn’t say anything but shook her head again. I followed closely behind her as we made our way towards the house. She turned her head and shot me a look of annoyance before hitting me in the face with her tail.
I do have a bubble, you know? And right now, you are too deep in it.
Fine, I muttered back to her and moved back just a little. Once we were a foot away, we stopped. The man and Kei stared at each other, a silent conversation in their eyes.
“I’m going to do give Alpha a quick call about you guys. You can just wait out here for a second while I get their approval.” He turned and went into the house.
Kei surprised me by sitting next to me, nuzzling my side playfully. Don’t look so vexed. It makes you look like a grumpy old man.
I huffed and gave her a look.
I don’t look like an old man, I retorted.
She let out a bark.
Besides, how can you even tell what I look like unless you’re not really blind?
She rolled her eyes. I am blind, and if I recall, you said something about being over two hundred years old. In my book, that’s called old, pretty much ancient. Plus, you forget that I can see your aura. She headbutted me gently, her laughter ringing in my head.
I tried to give her a menacing glare but instead smiled wolfishly. It’s not my fault. I don’t start aging until—
Before I could explain, the door slammed open, and the man from earlier came out with a wide smile on his face. “As I thought, they can’t say no to the king. Now, why don’t you two come in and we can have some dinner?”
“Sounds good to me,” Kei answered, already shifted back. “What are you serving?”
“Coincidentally, your favorite.”
Kei brightened and ran up to him, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him. “I’m glad I decided to come here after all.” She pulled away and turned around to face me with a grin, but her smile slipped away from her lips as she saw the air around my raging emotions. My whole posture was stiff, and I didn’t doubt that my eyes were darker than the night sky at this moment. Not only that but I would bet Kei was seeing the strong emotions of jealousy and anger emanating off me right now, whatever that looked like to her.
“Well, I’ll go set up everything.” The man looked at us uncomfortably before turning and disappearing into the house.
I stared her down, trying to get not only my emotions but also a raging Axel to calm down.
I swear to Goddess, I will sink my teeth into his neck and let him bleed beneath our feet. He snarled.
“You really shouldn’t have done that, Kei.” I managed to say through my clenched jaw. She grimaced and scratched the back of her head. “You should know by know how possessive I get of you. Yet you go and do something like that?”
“Ryker, you know that I don’t like him like that.”
I snarled viciously at her, my patience towards her waning so thin it was almost nonexistent at this point. She didn’t even flinch away as I stalked towards her, the rising moon shining down on her like a spotlight.
“How? Explain to me, Kei. How would I know what you’re feeling towards that man? I barely know you at all, and you just expect me to know?”
She looked up at me sharply, her ruby eyes shining brilliantly with emotion. “Yes, well, I can see your distrust in me quite clearly, and yet here I am, still trusting you with the people I consider family. So let me ask you this, Ryker.” She stepped closer, the distance between us now only a centimeter as she stared me straight in the eyes. “What do you want from me?” It was heartbreaking, feeling the weight of her eyes as they stared into mine unblinking as she waited for my answer and honestly, I could not give her a good answer that would make the guilt that I was feeling go away. “I am not trying to make you feel guilty, but instead, I want you to honestly think about it.”
“I just want to know you,” I said softly, the words hanging between us like a rope that she could take yet hung precariously by a thread.
I reached up and cupped her cheek in my palm while leaning my forehead against hers, sighing quietly as I closed my eyes. “I understand that a day has barely passed that we even knew about each other’s existence, but that still doesn’t mean that I don’t want to know every single detail about you.”
I opened my eyes to see hers shut instead, hiding the thoughts that I wanted to see so desperately “It doesn’t help how you fight my every word, going against everything that I ask—”
She interrupted me with a scoff, and her lashes lifted to reveal the shining emeralds. “Ask? Ryker, that word hasn’t been in your vocabulary since you were a kid.”
“My point, Kei, is that I would like for you to just open up more.” I finished.
“Ryker—”
“Hey, you guys ever going to come in?” The man stuck his head out of the doorway.
“I’m sorry, Draven, but something came up. Do you mind if we just head out?” Kei asked apologetically.
He nodded his head while giving her a concerned look. “Is everything all right?” I didn’t miss the way his eyes slid to look over at me.
“Yes, everything is fine. We just need to—”
“Actually, do you mind if we borrow a room for the night?” I interjected.
He nodded again but slowly while his brows furrowed. “Sure, Kei can pick a room. She knows where everything is.”
I nodded my thanks, and Kei grabbed my hand and pulled me inside the house, walking briskly through the rooms. It seemed we had entered what appeared to be some sort of laundry room before entering into the kitchen. An amazing smell filtered through my nose, but before I could properly register what it could have been, Kei barreled through another door that led to a dim hallway. She was a woman on a mission as I hardly noticed where we were going with the twists and turns of the house, finally barreling through a dark room. I closed the door behind me, leaving us in the dark.
“Is this what you see?” I muttered to myself, but she heard me anyway.
“Thankfully, not all of the time. I’m assuming that there isn’t a light on in here.”
“You would be correct, of course,” I answered.
Her hand slipped away from mine as she walked through the dark room with ease. In a moment, the room was filtered with light from a lamp by the bed. “This is my old room,” she said softly, and I instantly began studying the room.
It was empty except for the queen-sized bed that she was currently standing by and a wooden vanity desk pushed up against the wall off to the left. Another door to the right had me guessing that it was a connected bathroom. Overall, the dark red walls were bare of anything, and the bedding was just a plain white comforter.
“It doesn’t really show the fire that you have,” I said.
She laughed lightly and nodded. “I imagine. I never wanted anything due to the fact that I couldn’t see it, and so I thought, it was just a waste of space.” She smiled so achingly sweet up at me before walking back over to me and reaching for my hand, entwining our fingers together. She proceeded to lead me over to the bed across the spacious room, our footsteps muffled by the plush carpet. She sat down on the edge and pulled me down with her. Once I had settled fully onto the bed, she crawled into my lap, and I automatically wrapped my arms around her and placed my chin on the top of her head. I felt and heard myself and Axel purr as our mate lay safe in our arms. The silence between us was comfortable and more relaxed than the atmosphere from earlier.
“I guess I should tell you what you’re getting into. I mean, I can’t blame you for being wary of me. I’m not in a pack nor am I a rogue. But I know who is behind this whole ordeal about the attacks,” she said.
“I’ll let you start wherever you want,” I told her quietly.
She didn’t say anything in response for a long moment, probably trying to figure out her next words.
“I lost my sight at the age of six,” she suddenly blurted out.
My arms tightened slightly in surprise, her answer catching me off guard. Her finger traced patterns absentmindedly on my chest, and I felt myself relax once more.
“One year passed before my pack was attacked by a group of rogues. I don’t know if I was the only survivor or not, but I didn’t meet anybody else when I was escaping, so I could only assume that I was. Now, just imagine a little seven-year-old me wandering around the woods with no sight, terrified beyond belief, but I guess you could call it a gift in disguise because along with this crippling fear, a new sense came along.” A small smiled tilted up her lips as she recalled a memory. “That’s when I acquired this sight, so to speak. Yet the history of my bloodline is quite unique already, but I should actually tell you who my parents are.”
“That sounds like a good plan.” I smiled and shifted back, pulling her along as I settled my back against the headboard and kicked off my shoes off and pushed them off the bed. Once we had become comfortable once more, her head on my chest and my hand in her hair, she began her story.