The Wilderness Deception

"That was a brilliant move on the cliffs, Ryker. Making her fall was a stroke of genius."

"Otherwise, her instincts would have led her out of this forest long ago."

A sharp voice echoed from the communication crystal.

I knew that voice all too well. It was Selena, the impostor who had stolen my life, shamelessly claiming the honor that should have been mine for two decades.

Her tone was triumphant as she applauded Ryker's methods.

Ryker's voice was utterly cold, a stark contrast to the deep affection he faked for me during the day.

"Selena, if she hadn't insisted on coming back to fight you for what is rightfully yours, I wouldn't have had to go this far."

"She brought this on herself."

He had fooled me completely.

I had thought he was a gift from the Goddess, the one mate in this wilderness whose blood called to mine, the one to whom I could give myself without reservation.

It was all a lie.

Ryker promised Selena I would never set foot out of this forest again.

But Selena's suspicions lingered.

"But Elara's wolf spirit is strong. What if she manages to heal herself one day? And how long can the dark magic holding this false mate bond together really last?"

Ryker didn't hesitate. "That's impossible. Don't worry, my love."

"The poultice I apply to her leg every day is laced with a slow-acting wolfsbane. Before long, her flesh will begin to rot, and her wolf will fade along with it."

Selena let out a sickeningly sweet laugh. "Ryker, I always feel safest when you're around."

"But… what about the side effects? They go beyond her leg, right? One of the herbs in it… it prevents a she-wolf from ever bearing pups, doesn't it? You know how important his bloodline is to Alaric."

A wave of dizziness washed over me. I couldn't believe he could be so cruel.

If not for the necklace suppressing my wolf and dulling my senses, and the way he always masked its scent with strong black pine whenever he brewed the herbs, how could I not have recognized the deadly scent of wolfsbane?

Just last night, he had pinned me against the cave wall, his hot breath brushing against my ear as he asked if I'd bear him a litter of pups.

He had said we would make this wilderness our territory. He would wake me with a kiss every morning, and we would live out the rest of our lives here in quiet bliss.

We had even agreed that he would officially mark me on the day my heat arrived.

And the moment my back was turned, he was feeding poison into my blood.

Ryker's voice, laced with indifference, drifted over. A casual "Yes" that instantly plunged me into an abyss.

I couldn't bear to hear any more.

I dragged my festering leg and stumbled backward, my entire body trembling with a violent mix of fear and rage.

I pressed the back of my hand to my mouth, swallowing the sobs that clawed their way up my throat.

The wound on my leg throbbed with a pain so intense it felt like my bones were shattering inch by inch.

How was I going to survive this? The wave of betrayals hit me like a sledgehammer, squeezing the air from my lungs.

"Elara, where are you?" Ryker's deep voice drifted on the wind as he searched for my scent.

I hastily wiped away my tears and forced myself to look up, pretending to gaze at the moonlight filtering through the leaves.

The moment he saw me, he let out a sigh of relief.

He knelt beside me, his strong arms pulling me into his searing embrace, his long fingers stroking the back of my neck in that familiar, intimate way.

In my presence, he seamlessly switched back to the sweet-talking, devoted "mate" who would do anything for me.

"Elara, why did you wander off? I'd go mad without you."

"I was praying to the Moon Goddess," I lied, pointing toward the moon, which was shrouded by clouds.

Ryker swept me up into his arms and strode back to our cave, then bent down to kiss me deeply. His breath smelled of pine, his tongue parting my lips with possessive force.

I fought back the bitter bile rising in my throat and pushed him away, using the pain from my wound as an excuse.

I feigned a yawn, turned my back to him, and pretended to fall fast asleep.

Thinking I was lost to the world, Ryker slipped silently out of the cave.

I had woken up in the middle of the night before and found him gone.

Whenever I asked, he would say he was patrolling our territory. He claimed the wilderness was full of vicious Rogues and that he feared for my safety.

But the fresh, high-quality prey he sometimes brought back couldn't possibly have come from this outer part of the wilderness.

I used to feel sorry for him, for all his hard work, and even offered to hunt with him.

But he told me that the deep woods were filled with out-of-control Rogues and rabid beasts.

The trap with the rabid bear had left me so terrified that I clung to his every word. Now, any rustle in the woods makes me flinch and instinctively cry out his name.

But if that bear was also Ryker's doing, then the supposedly dangerous deep woods must hide some other secret.

Tonight, I was going to find out everything.

Following his scent, I discovered that there were no beasts in the deep woods at all, only a log cabin shrouded in a concealment spell.

I pressed myself against the trunk of a massive, ancient tree and saw something that made my blood run cold.

Ryker was speaking to Selena's image in a communication crystal.

As he spoke, he sent her a video he had recorded earlier. It was a clip of me dragging my injured leg, struggling through the mud.

Selena was practically giddy with laughter. "Ryker, you know me so well. Watching these videos every day helps me sleep so soundly."

"And by the way, stop giving her fresh prey. She's a cripple now. She deserves to eat the same rotting carcasses that even Rogues wouldn't touch. I want you to film it for me!"

Ryker lowered his head, his voice laced with a hint of dejection. "It's my honor to put your mind at ease, my future... no, the future Mrs. Alaric."

He never looked at me with such hopeless devotion.

Selena relished the videos he sent, the ones showing me trembling in pain, desperately clutching my leg and crying.

For a fleeting moment, Ryker's gaze shifted away from the crystal, as if he couldn't bear to watch any longer.

Selena immediately noticed his hesitation. Her triumphant expression vanished, replaced by a pitiful, vulnerable look.

"Ryker, do you think I'm cruel? I never meant to push her to this point... but I'm so scared."

"I'm scared that if she comes back, Alaric will be forced to marry her because of the betrothal. Then I won't just lose my chance to be his Luna, I'll lose everything I have!"

Her voice trembled with emotion. "If I hadn't asked you to trick her into wearing that necklace that suppresses her wolf, the pack might have found her by now. Ryker, am I a selfish monster?"

Ryker rushed to soothe her. "You did nothing wrong."

"She was the one who was delusional, trying to take what was rightfully yours. You were only protecting yourself."

"Besides, suppressing her wolf was my idea. I was the one who put that necklace on her. The blame falls on me, not you."

So that was the real reason my wolf had been dormant. I had thought the necklace was something he'd made for me by hand, a symbol of our bond.

I had even worn it close to my heart, never daring to take it off, no matter how badly I was hurt.

Ryker's cunning was unfathomable, a world away from the seemingly desperate Alpha who used his body and sweet words to win me over.

Every time he watched me, helpless and unable to shift, panting beneath him, he must have been laughing at my stupidity.

Once she got the answer she wanted, Selena's imperious attitude returned.

Before ending the call, she issued one last command.

"Ryker, make sure you destroy Elara's family crest."

"I want her to vanish completely from the werewolf world, with nothing left behind."

"Be patient just a little longer. Once I officially take over the territory and marry Alaric, you can come back."

Ryker fell silent. At the mention of "coming back" and "getting married," he actually hesitated for a second.

The smile on Selena's face in the crystal froze, her lips pressing into a thin, cold line.

"You haven't actually been ensnared by that dark magic and fallen for Elara, have you? You can't bear to part with her? Don't forget, you're my childhood sweetheart. You promised you would be loyal to me for life!"

I held my breath. His denial was instant, his tone cold.

"She's just a broken she-wolf. I could never fall for Elara."