Chapter Seven

(Riley's POV)  

I didn't know what my mother had against Alpha Thane and his father, but she had agreed to come with me after I had persuaded her. I had to tell her what Ryker had wanted me to be—a little pet for him—and that was all she needed to finally change her mind. Though she didn't like this idea and I knew it, we both knew we had no other choices, and I would rather die than leave my mother here.  

She helped me pack up. I had only a few things; I picked out only the important things, and a single bag was enough to contain my stuff.  

.  

Alpha Ryker walked into my room, not bothering to knock.  

"You know it is very unappropriate to walk into a lady's room without knocking, right?" I questioned, and my mother gave me a questioning look, but this time I didn't listen.  

"Now the true Riley shows herself; I knew you had all that pent-up anger in you for a long time; I actually expected you to slip in the mating ball last night, and I am totally surprised you didn't."  

"That's so unfortunate," I cooed, walking past him to pick up a single framed picture of me and my mother, the only one I had. I couldn't imagine; I had almost forgotten it.  

"You really think it changes anything? The fact that you are mated to Alpha Thane," he asked and I could sense his anger, but I couldn't bring myself to care.  

"It does change everything, Ryker. I am the Luna to an Alpha; I bet you know the consequences if you do try touching me."  

"Or do I?" He asked, walking closer. For a moment, I believed he was going to hit me. For a moment, I believed he wouldn't be able to control his anger and would forfeit getting beaten up by my Alpha Thane just to get a mark on me, but his punch never got there; it landed at my side, his fist digging into the wall.  

I watched him, a small smile on my lips—the same one I had itched to give him when he watched me walk away with Thane in the ballroom. He was powerless when it came to me; in some way, I was protected just by Alpha Thane's claim on me.  

"When you go, know that I will make your mother's life a living hell."  

"I am sure you think you could do that," I say. I didn't miss the slight look of surprise in his eyes before he masked it yet again. I pushed past him. "Sometimes I wondered why you care so much; I am no longer your mate; you rejected me; you told me straight to my face that I could never and would never be your mate. What changed? Aren't you interested in Luna Zara anymore?" I wondered aloud.  

"You are mine, rejected or not; you were fated to be with me, and I was going to have you... till he took you away from me."  

"Is that what you thought? that you were going to have me and Zara?"  

"I would have; perks of being the Alpha."  

"Well, what a fool you must have been if you think I would let you use me one more time after all the filthy lies you whispered into my ears. I would never let you touch me."  

"It must have hurt you when I lied to you, when I had said all those same words to my mate Zara."  

"You deserve each other, but do you know what you don't deserve? my tears."  

"It must have hurt you when I took your virginity, promising you falsities, and you were the pathetic one to believe me."  

It was my mother's turn to speak now. "Hold it there, young boy; you will not speak to my daughter in that manner."  

Ryker chuckled. "You are nothing but a slave; shut up, old hag."  

"Get out," I said, the furry building up in my room. "Get out of my room, or else I promise you will pay for this."  

There was a smirk on his lips, one I would so love to wipe away.  

"You might think Alpha Thane would be your little savior, but I promise you, you won't last two weeks with him. You would come back and beg for forgiveness, ready to be whatever I want you to be just to remain in this pack, and do you know what I would do then?" He asked without waiting for an answer, which I wasn't really going to give him, and he continued. "I would let you back in, just for my ego's sake, and if you think the life you are living now is bad, I would make it worse for you and the old hag," he said before walking away from my room.  

.  

I shouldn't care about Ryker's word, but I did. The fact that he thought I would last two weeks with Thane gave me a shiver. Why would he think that?.  

.  

Alpha Thane kept to his words, and by sundown he was at the pack house. I knew he had arrived even before I saw him. There was this strange edgeness in every single pack member present. 

I was summoned to Ryker's office by an omega; that was the last place I wanted to be, yet I knew Alpha Thane was also present and for some reasons I felt protected. 

I shouldn't feel that way. 

Deep down I knew I had not made the right decision, but I couldn't see myself remaining in this pack under Ryker, not after everything I had said to him and how badly he wanted to satisfy his stupid ego that had been wounded and bruised.  

Still, I found myself walking towards Ryker's office. I gave a silent knock before pulling the door open, and there Alpha Thane stood like he owned the place. His eyes landed on me, and maybe I should have listened to my mother, because now that I could clearly see him, everything about him screamed danger. My mother had been right to be afraid of him.