Chapter 24

Ryker ushered everyone into the club and toward a lounge opposite from the bar that some patrons could pay extra so they could have more privacy. There were no closed walls around it, just a balcony over the dance floor, but it was a more comfortable place than the bar stools.

Ruby sat in the middle of the couch, her mother and father sat on either side of her, Jeremy sat in the lounge chair next to the couch, and Ryker sat across from Ruby in another lounge chair. Heather held onto Ruby as if she thought she would wake up from a dream, and this would all be gone. Ruby did not mind. She nestled into her mother like she used to when she was a kid.

When everything happened a little over a month ago, Ruby was not sure if she would ever see her family again. After a week, she gave up on the idea of ever trying to go back. She knew she would have been pronounced dead because Tyson’s ego would not allow for two mistakes to be on his record. One being allowing Ryker to get away. The other for not killing her himself so his men would not have added that mistake as well. Even though they didn’t find her body, Tyson would have felt her flat line and assumed her to be dead. So, to Tyson, there was no way that Ruby could be alive. The only problem was that Mackenzie had found her and Ryker on that beach and told him that she was very much alive. With Jeremy confirming Ruby’s theory outside of the barrier, it meant that, even though Tyson knew she was alive, he didn’t tell anyone that little secret.

But instead told everyone that Ryker was found in that area.

Ruby had a million burning questions to ask her family, but her mind could not settle on which one to ask. Ryker broke the silence and asked the first question.

“If you thought Ruby was dead, why were you around my sanctuary?”

Heather was still wrapped around Ruby, so Davis answered. “Tyson sent out an alert to every pack in the sanction that you were spotted around here. I doubt he intended to alert us as well, but if a sanction is alerted, it’s kind of like a group-message. Everyone knows. You are really made out to be a traitor to the packs now. He has everyone believing you killed his mate.”

Ryker’s expression did not change, but his eyes darkened, and his tone was emotionless, “I did kill his mate.”

Davis’s eyes widened at Ryker’s admittance. “Why in heaven would you go and kill his mate?”

Ryker glanced at Ruby, and his eyes softened as he explained. “She betrayed my mate and put us both in danger, which extends to putting Wolf’s Den in danger from Tyson’s men coming in here and possibly killing everyone.”

Jeremy spoke up. “I thought you weren’t about the pack life anymore?”

“I didn’t want to be. Bad part of being an Alpha? The life always finds you.”

Ruby hated herself for wanting to know, but she had to ask. “When did Mackenzie become the She-Alpha?”

Jeremy frowned. “The day after you were supposedly killed.”

It felt like another small knife was being pushed into her heart. Tears stung her eyes as the words swam around her mind. They planned this from the day I transferred.

Ryker must have felt her heart breaking within the mate bond. A low growl emitted from his throat, and for the first time in her life, she watched all three of her family members bow their heads in submission.

“What exactly did Tyson report about Ruby?”

Davis growled, not at Ryker, but in thinking about his response to the question. Ruby noticed his clenched jaw, and his eyes flashed to his wolf’s for a moment. Jeremy was doing the same but somehow managed to keep it contained more than her father did. However, Ruby knew her brother all too well. If their dad was pissed about things people are saying or threatening toward his family, Jeremy was damn near nuclear, but Jeremy was always the calm before the storm.

Well that is not a good sign.

Jeremy relayed the story. “Tyson told the whole sanction that Ruby was the whore of the pack. Opened her legs to anyone who flashed her a smile.” It was Ryker’s turn to have his jaws clenched. Before Ryker could interject, Jeremy continued. “When she came back from Red Cove and her wolf emerged, Tyson felt the mate bond form officially between them. As soon as Ruby felt the bond, she opened her legs for him. He felt helpless to the bond and gave in to her advancements. His wolf figured out that she had seduced them and did not allow Tyson to mark her. When he was finished, he rejected her.” Jeremy stopped once more, taking a few deep breaths to keep himself calm. “Ruby, apparently, did not take the rejection well. She shifted into her wolf and attempted to attack Tyson. That is when he announced to the pack that she was a traitor and needed to be killed on sight. Tyson then went into how two of his men went after her when she fled. Ruby killed the two men, but they wounded her enough that she died, too.”

Ryker was holding onto his wolf by a thread. Rainer’s silver eyes were staring back at her while Ruby watched Ryker clench his jaw, a vein inside of his forehead looking as though it was threatening to burst. Ruby untangled herself from her mother’s arms and walked over to Ryker. With their relationship and bond still being fairly new, she had no idea if this would work or not, but Ruby did not hesitate or wait for permission. She sat down on Ryker’s lap and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Ruby felt some of the tension leave Ryker’s body the moment that she sat on his lap, and even more when her arms wrapped around him. Ryker leaned into her neck and took in her scent.

Ruby looked over at her family and frowned. “I can clear the air a little bit with that, Dad. I did not sleep with the entire pack. Actually, I did not sleep with anyone from that pack. I will say, I was not a virgin when I left home, but you kinda knew that. I have only been with four guys. Two from home, Tyson, and now Ryker.”

Ryker growled at the mention of the other guys, and the growl deepened when she said Tyson’s name, but she massaged the back of his neck, hoping that it would calm his ass down, and continued.

“The day that I returned and found out that Tyson was my mate, I unfortunately did give myself to him. We had flirted endlessly from the time I arrived at that pack until that day. He felt the mate bond when I transferred and made it seem like he would accept the bond. Then he did reject me. That much is true” Ruby waited for the pang of pain she usually felt when she thought of that moment, since she used to always feel the rejected bond, but it never came. “I did shift into Scarlett and chased after him when he left. I wanted answers. He used many adjectives when he rejected me to say how disgusting I was to him because I was not a virgin, and I wanted him to face me when he explained why that made me unfit to lead the pack, especially considering he was clearly not a virgin either. Scarlett caught up to him, snapped at him, and he made the announcement that I attacked him. I ran for my life, fought off two wolves, apparently flatlined, but Ryker got me to a doctor before it was too late, and the doctor revived me.”

“Explains why Tyson thought you were dead even though we didn’t find your body. He felt you flatline. You didn’t complete the rejection ritual, right?” Jeremy questioned.

“No. He didn’t give me the chance.”

“Then he was able to still feel you until you flatlined. How long were you gone?”

Ruby shrugged her shoulders. “Nick never said.” Ryker pulled her tighter against him.

Davis looked over to his son to give Ryker a moment to hold onto Ruby, “had to be for a few minutes for the mate bond to die.”

“What is his plan?” Ryker spoke up, changing the topic to a more serious note than the current one.

Davis frowned. “We are all out here to find you. He feels as though you are a threat. Mackenzie mentioned before her link snapped that you had found your mate, so you would be even stronger now. Tyson thinks you are trying to become stronger to take the Western Sanction back.”

Ryker shook his head and laughed. It made Ruby’s hair on the back of her neck stand up. Not once had she ever felt how dangerous he was underneath until that threatening laugh came out of his mouth.

“I left for a damn reason. Challenged every time I turned around as if I was some horrible leader. My family had run that pack for centuries. Not once were the Western Sanction’s wolves malnourished, unsupported, or living in rags. My family had always been able to assist wolves with getting jobs to achieve the lifestyle they dreamed of. I followed in those footsteps. I tried to be a hero, yet somehow I was cast as a villain.”

Davis looked directly into Ryker’s eyes. Something Ruby was not sure was a good idea to even try. As Ryker spoke, each word rose in intensity.

“You were never the villain, Ryker.”

“I was challenged for my title more times than any sitting Alpha in history, as if I was unfit for the position.” Ryker pointed out.

Heather smiled and shook her head. “You are not seeing the bigger picture here, Ryker. All of those men challenged you because they wanted what you had. You are highly intelligent, a methodical leader, charming, attractive, and worst of all, the Alpha of a Sanction. The ‘men’,” Heather made sure to use air quotes to accentuate the men part, “who challenged you, were jealous little boys, including our current Sanction Alpha.”

“It doesn’t help that Mackenzie told Tyson that it was Ruby by your side when he thought she was dead,” Jeremy added.

“He threw me away! Why does he care?”

“You are a naturally born She-Alpha, giving Ryker a bigger boost in power with your pairing.” Davis explained.

“So? He didn’t want me!”

Davis shook his head. Ruby knew that head shake. He was going to say something that made him angry at how stupid it was. “After he found Mackenzie dead, he told the packs that Ryker had taken his Chosen Mate from him… and his True Mate. That Ryker has now broken multiple pack laws and will answer to his crimes through death.”

“You didn’t believe it for a second, did you?” Ruby already knew the answer, but she wanted Ryker to hear it, too.

“That Ryker was the monster that Tyson was portraying him to be? No. I have known Ryker since he was born. He may not remember me much, but I always got along with his father. I knew he was not the man everyone made him out to be. Then, hearing that you were alive and standing next to him? Even more of a reason to not believe those words. You don’t put up with that shit.”

No one spoke for a few moments. Ruby figured that her father’s words to Ryker would make Ryker see that he needed to let go of what happened and move on with his life. People had done him wrong, but not everyone saw him as the person that only a few tried to paint him to be.

Another few moments passed, and no one made the move to speak. Ryker stared at the wall as if he was in deep thought. Ruby knew she could use the mate bond and mindlink to talk to Ryker about everything that was going on in his head but chose not to. Right now he seemed to need to sort through how he felt and what he wanted to do.

But her father was not a patient man.

“Ryker, what is your plan? Tyson will eventually figure out that this place exists. He could have a man stationed around every inch of your barrier, waiting for you to leave.”

Ruby tried to move off his lap and onto the arm of the chair. Ryker held her in place.

Do not move from my lap.

Sorry, Alpha. Thought you may need some room to breathe. This is a heavy conversation.

A rumble emitted from Ryker’s chest. Don’t call me Alpha with your snarky mouth. I don’t need to be pitching a tent with your father sitting directly across from me.

Ruby wanted to smack him but knew it would only draw attention to them. Are you going to answer him?

Ryker took a deep breath before answering. “I don’t want this town to be at risk. I fought for this to be a sanctuary. The Witch who cast the barrier is a powerful one, and Tyson will never be able to penetrate the magic. There isn’t even a stronger Witch for him to hire for that to be possible.”

Well damn… That means… Rozalind is affiliated with the Fates or Gods… Ruby realized. The thought made her heart skip a beat. That meant Ryker had a friend in a very high place. Which could be a very good thing… or one that could cost him.

“I am going to have to challenge him.” Ryker’s eyes flashed silver and returned to his blue. “This needs to end once and for all.”