Chapter 3: He Stole My Mate

Riley POV

“You have got to be kidding me? His mom, who’s name I still don’t know, gasped.

“What?!” Ryeln snarled.

“I went to the doctor yesterday, she confirmed it.” She handed him a black and white first picture of their pup. “I was going to tell you at dinner tonight, but you cancelled, so I decided to come by and tell you.” She wrapped her arms around her belly. “I didn’t think I should wait.”

“How far along are you?” Drake asked, looking up at the ceiling pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Four and half weeks.” She whispered.

“If you would please excuse me.” I said pulling away from Ryder. “I need some air.” I said. Seraphina whimpered at the loss of contact.  “This can’t be happening.” I said to myself.

“Riley, please go back to mate.” Seraphina begged.

“I need to be able to absorb all this.” I said as I shifted mid-air. The cool dirt felt good between my paws, the wind blowing through my fur, nothing feels better.

“Except the touch of our mate.” Seraphina snapped.

“Sera don’t you think all this is crazy.” I asked, plopping our butt down next to a small pond. Seraphina leaned down and lapped up some water, it was so refreshing and soothed our sand dry throat.

“Riley.” Seraphina whispered.

“Hhmmm…” I responded.

She sighed… “Are you going to reject him, our mate?”

“Honestly, I don’t know.” I rested my head on my paws.

“Please Riley, don’t reject them. He and his wolf want us.” Seraphina said. “He acknowledged us and scent us.” She said like she needed to remind me. I sat in silence for Goddess only knows how long, my silence was interrupted by rustling from the trees.

Ryder POV

“Riley, please.” I begged as she pulled away from me.

“I need some air; this is just too much. I…I need to think,” she said shifting mid-air as she ran into the shadows of the forest. Damn, not many females can shift mid-air like that.

“Ryder give her some time; she has had a very eventful day so far. She’ll be back.” Draven, her dad, said. “Ryker will follow her.”

“Son, things will be okay.” My dad said patting my back. “The Goddess is bat shit crazy, but she knows what she’s doing.” He assured me.

“Oh please! He stole my mate! How is everything going to be, okay? Everyone seems to be forgetting about me!” Rylen yelled.

“Frist of all, you tool!” Remi grumbled. “You didn’t even acknowledge her as your mate this morning. Second, you let George put his hands on her ass.” She continued to yell, and I started to see red and would have to deal with George. “Ryder, she dealt with him like the badass she is.” Remi said with pride for my mate. “I don’t think he will be doing that again anytime soon.” She smirked. “Especially once he realizes she’s the Elite trainer.” She laughed, more like a cackle. “Third,” she turned her attention back to Rylen, “you stood there and allowed another female to fall all over you and kiss you. You didn’t even notice the pain she was feeling when Steph shoved her tongue down your throat.”

A small gasp was heard, “I had no idea.” Stephanie said, falling into the chair next to her.

“It’s called betrayal marks. I also noticed the light handprints on her arms and the small bruises on her cheeks from where you kissed Rylen.” Remie told her. “Did not pay attention in wolf biology?” she asked. Stephanie lowered her head in shame, she never paid attention in any of her classes, she thought she was going to be the next Luna of the pack.

“Look,” Dad started, “Rylen, Riley rejected you and I don’t blame her with the way you treated and spoke to her. You now have a responsibility to Stephanie as she is now carrying your first pup.” He looked at Stephanie. “Stephanie, have you told your parents?” He asked her.

“No sir, like I said, I just found out yesterday.” She whispered.

“Agatha, my love, would you please call them and ask them to join us.  Looks like we have a few ceremonies to prepare and plan.”  He said caressing my mom’s cheek. 

There it is, that’s what I want with my mate, my sunshine, my Riley.  Our connection was still building and wasn’t strong yet, but I could feel her confusion, her doubt, and her pain.  I wanted to run to her, but I knew her dad was right, I needed to give her some space.

“Rylen, you will need to accept Riley’s rejection.” Our dad told him. Rylen glared at him. “Don’t you dare look at me like that. You have already mated with Stephanie and have created a new life. You will marry Stephanie and after the pup is born, you will mark each other.  You will not run this pack. That responsibility will fall to your brother, Ryder. If he chooses to give you a ranked position, then that is going to be up to him.” Dad told him.

“Drake, David and Clara are here.” Mom said walking in with Steph’s parents.

“David, Clara, thank you for coming in so quickly.” He said greeting them.

“Of course, but is there a problem?” Clara asked with worry etched on her face.

“No, no, nothing bad, just some surprising news is all.” Dad said, trying to sooth Clara’s worry. I should be the one speaking with them, but this involves my brother and their daughter. Dad decided to take the lead, which was fine with me because I could only think about my mate, and I might end up ripping Rylen’s head off. My wolf doesn’t care that he is our brother, all he knows is that Rylen showed our mate, who was also his mate, disrespect.

“Seems that we are going to be grandparents.” Dad announced and motioned to Rylen and Stephanie, who were barely standing next to each other. Mom pushed Rylen closer to Stephanie and narrowed her eyes at him.

“What? Stephanie, sweetheart, is this true?” Clara gasped. Stephanie nodded yes. “Oh, my baby!” she squealed embracing her daughter.

“So, what is the plan?” David asked.

“Well, since they have already mated, we will have their mating ceremony and once the pup is born, they will complete their bond by marking each other.” Dad explained.

“I will NOT claim or mark her.” Rylen gritted out. “She’s NOT my mate!” He snapped pointing at Stephanie.

“You should’ve thought about that before you went and stuck your dick where it didn’t belong.” I growled at him.

 “Are we missing something?” David questioned.

“She’s, MY mate! NOT yours!” Rylen was now standing eye to eye with me. I am about three inches taller than he is, so he was not quite eye to eye with me.

“What are we missing?” Clara yelled out.

“Rylen found his mate!” Stephanie lightly sobbed. “She rejected him because of me; she’s now Ryder’s mate and Rylen still wants her.”

She was full blown crying, and I mean full on ugly crying. I felt bad for her, all this is messed up, but she and my stupid ass brother brought this upon themselves. The Moon Goddess is one twisted bitch, why would she mate Riley to Rylen, only to have her reject him and then be mated to me. She is one batshit crazy Goddess.

“No, I didn’t reject him because of you.” I heard my beautiful say. I was by her side in just a couple of strides and pulled her into my arms. She tensed slightly but she slowly relaxed and melted into me. After a few minutes she pushed away from me and smiled at me.  Be still my heart, she smiled at me, her first smile at me! She’s so adorable, I could get lost in her eyes. “We will speak later.” She giggled at me and then turned her attention to Stephanie and Rylen. “Stephanie, I am sorry that you are stuck in between all this but you did bring this on yourself, having a relationship with a male who wasn’t your mate. You are not the only reason I rejected Rylen.” She started. “I rejected him because he doesn’t love me, he could never love me. There was never a bond otherwise he would have claimed me, at least he would have verbally said something.”

“Then it was because of me.” Stephanie sighed.