Chapter 9

_Emma's POV_

The word echoed inside my mind.

Protect him.

I froze. My eyes stayed on Ryker as he stood a few steps away from me. I did not understand why those two words affected me more than anything else I had heard from that strange voice.

It was telling me to protect him. The man who should have been the person I feared since he belonged to a very dangerous world.

“Why?” I whispered.

Ryker’s expression shifted slightly as he looked at me. “Why what?”

I swallowed hard. “Why does it care about you?”

For a moment, he said nothing. His eyes changed slightly. It was as if he already knew an answer I was not ready to hear.

“Emma…”

“No.”

I shook my head and stepped back slightly. “I need answers. I need you to stop acting like this is normal.”

Ryker stayed silent. I stepped closer. My frustration was growing.

“Yesterday I was human.”

“You still are you.”

“That is not an answer!”

My voice cracked. I hated that. I hated feeling weak in front of him.

“I woke up yesterday morning thinking about my job. About my normal life. About what I was going to eat for dinner.”

I pointed at my chest. “And now there is something inside me.”

My breathing became uneven. “I hear it. I feel it. It moves when I am angry. It reacts when I am scared.”

I looked at him. “How can you stand there and tell me that everything is fine?”

Ryker’s eyes softened. “Because it is.”

I stared at him. “How?”

“Because you are still Emma.”

I laughed softly but there was no happiness in it. “You keep saying that like it changes anything.”

“It does.”

“No, it does not.”

My hands curled into fists. “You are not listening.”

Ryker took a step toward me. “I am listening.”

“No, you are not.”

My voice lowered. “You see a wolf. You see a mate. You see something that belongs to your world.”

I looked away. “But I see something that is taking my life away from me.”

The silence that followed was painful. Ryker looked at me for a long moment. Then he said quietly, “You think I want to take something from you?”

I did not answer because I did not know what to say.

Ryker’s voice softened as he looked at me. “Emma.”

I slowly lifted my eyes to him.

“You are fighting yourself.”

My heart tightened at his words. “What?”

“You are fighting the part of you that is trying to tell you something.”

I shook my head immediately. “Because I do not know what is happening.”

Ryker moved closer. “You do not have to understand everything right now.”

“Yes, I do.”

The words left my mouth before I could stop them.

“Because everyone else seems to know.”

I looked around the empty room, at the place that was filled with secrets I could not understand.

“This world. These people. They all know something about me that I do not.”

My eyes returned to him. “And you…”

I stopped when I saw his expression change. A small flicker of pain crossed his face before he hid it.

“You think I know everything?”

I stayed silent because I did not know how to answer. Ryker looked down for a moment. It was as if he was choosing his next words carefully. Then his eyes met mine again.

“I know one thing.”

“What?”

His voice became quieter. “That I have been searching for you.”

My breath caught. He moved closer but he stopped before he reached me. “My whole life, I thought I understood what my wolf wanted.”

His gaze stayed on mine. “But the moment I found you, everything changed.”

I looked away quickly. I did not want to hear those words. Because a part of me wanted to believe him. A part of me wanted to believe that this impossible connection between us was real.

“Stop,” I whispered.

Ryker frowned. “Emma.”

“Stop saying things that make this feel real.”

His eyes darkened. “It is real.”

I shook my head. “No.”

The voice inside me whispered again.

Mate.

I pressed my hands against my ears, even though I knew that it would not make the voice disappear.

“No.”

Ryker noticed the change in me immediately. “What happened?”

I looked at him. My breathing was becoming uneven. “Make it stop.”

His expression tightened with concern. “What?”

“The voice.”

“What is it saying?”

I looked away because I hated admitting it. Saying it out loud would make it feel more real. But I could not keep pretending that nothing was happening.

“It keeps saying the same thing.”

Ryker watched me carefully. “What?”

I hesitated for a moment before forcing the word out. “Mate.”

For a few seconds, he did not move. Something changed in his face. But before I could understand it, I stepped back.

“See?”

My voice became more desperate. “That is not normal.”

“Emma.”

“I am losing my mind.”

“You are not.”

“How do you know that?”

Ryker slowly moved closer, his eyes never leaving mine. “Because I can feel you.”

The words made me freeze. “What?”

“My wolf can feel your fear.”

I stared at him. I was unable to understand what he meant.

“My wolf can feel your confusion. And right now, it can feel that you are fighting something inside you that is not trying to hurt you.”

I shook my head. I could feel the panic rise inside me again. “I cannot do this.”

I turned away because I needed distance. I needed space to think. I needed a moment where I was not surrounded by things I could not understand. But before I could take another step, Ryker reached out.

He did not stop me by force. He simply took my hand gently. I looked down at where our hands were connected.

“Ryker.”

“Trust me.”

A small humorless laugh escaped me. “Trust you?”

“Yes.”

I looked back at him. “After finding out you are a werewolf?”

“Yes.”

“After finding out I might be one too?”

His answer came without hesitation. “Yes.”

The certainty in his voice frustrated me.

“You make everything sound so simple.”

Ryker shook his head slightly. “It is not simple.”

His thumb moved slightly against my hand. It was a small gesture that somehow made me more aware of him.

“But you do not have to face it alone.”

Before I could respond, he slowly lifted my hand and placed it against his chest. I froze. His heartbeat was the first thing I noticed. It was steady and calm.

It was completely different from my own heartbeat, which was racing with fear and confusion. I could feel the warmth of him beneath my palm.

“What are you doing?”

“Listen.”

I wanted to pull my hand away. Every part of me told me I should. But I did not because something strange happened. The storm inside my mind began to settle. The fear that had been suffocating me slowly faded. The confusion became quieter. Even the voice inside my head became softer. It was still there but it was no longer fighting. My eyes widened.

“How…”

Ryker watched me carefully. “Because your wolf trusts mine.”

“I do not even know if I have a wolf.”

“But something inside you knows.”

I stared at him. And for a moment, I hated how safe I felt. Because I did not want to depend on him. But my body betrayed me. My fingers tightened against his chest without me realizing it. Then something shifted inside me.

There was a sudden pull. It was a strange instinct that felt older than my own thoughts. Before I could understand what was happening, my body moved on its own. I grabbed onto him.

Ryker barely had time to react before I buried my teeth into his shoulder. The world seemed to stop. Everything around us disappeared. I released him almost immediately and stepped back in shock. My eyes fell on the mark I had left.

“What did I do?”

Ryker did not answer immediately. He remained completely still, as if he was trying to understand what had just happened. Slowly, his hand moved to his shoulder. He touched the mark I had left behind. His expression was different now. He was becoming emotional.

“Ryker? I am sorry.”

My voice trembled. “I did not mean to do that.”

His eyes lifted to mine and he said, “You marked me.”

My blood ran cold. “What?”

My gaze dropped to his shoulder again. The mark. It was something I did not understand.

“No.”

I shook my head quickly. “No, no, no.”

“What does that mean?”

Ryker looked at me as if he still could not believe it had happened. Then his voice softened.

“My mate…”

The words sounded almost impossible coming from him.

“You finally chose me.”

My eyes widened. “I did not choose anything!”

My voice rose as fear took over. “I attacked you.”

“No. That was not an attack.”

“Then what was it?”

"Your wolf answered mine.”

“I do not understand.”

“I know.”

Ryker slowly reached toward me. This time, I did not step away. Not because I was no longer afraid but because I was too overwhelmed to move.

Then he lowered his head. Before I could ask what he was doing, his teeth pressed against my shoulder. A sharp pain flashed through me.

I gasped but the pain disappeared almost instantly. It was replaced by a strange warmth that spread through my body. It felt like something had opened. Like an invisible door between us had finally unlocked.

Ryker pulled back slowly, “Now we are bound.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you will feel me.”

I frowned slightly. “What?”

“My emotions. My thoughts when they become strong enough. My wolf.”

My chest tightened at the thought. “And you?”

“I will feel you too.”

I went completely still. “You will know when I am afraid?”

“Yes.”

“When I am angry?”

“Yes.”

“When I am hurt?”

“Yes.”

I looked away. This was too much. Only yesterday, I had believed my life was normal. I had known exactly who I was and where I belonged. Now everything had changed.

But then I felt it through the bond between us. I felt his relief and the fear he carried of losing me. And beneath all of it…his love.

My heart tightened. Because for the first time, I understood something. Ryker was not afraid of what I was.

He was afraid that I would never accept what we were. And somehow, that frightened me even more. Because now I could feel him.