"I said WHAT the hell are you doing here!" My voice echoes in the room, my eyes filled with hate as I glare at these pieces of my past."Layla.." Damien's deep familiar voice begins. His eyes hold a softness that I have never seen in them before and It irks me.Where was this kindness when I needed it? I try to sit up but I wince as a sharp pain around my ribs momentarily stops me from doing so."Shit, are you alright?” He asks softly, "Please don't strain yourself." He says, his hands wrapping around me but I quickly slap it off."I'll do as I please, and don't touch me." I see the tight clench that appears to his jaw but I couldn't care less about that.Damien withdraws his hands hesitantly but he still watches me closely as I right myself. I wince again, trying to find a more balanced position to sit.Everything hurts."Are you sure you’re…?"He stops the moment he notices my glare and I try to gather the thoughts in my head. My eyes seem to spin as I think about it, because the

Ryan's POVMy hands clench into angry fists as I watch Layla turn away from me, her way of avoiding my questions.One moment she’s all sweet to me and the next she’s being a little prick! Sometimes it feels like I'm talking to a toddler and it irks me.I run a hand through my hair just to loosen that fist up and i take a deep breath.I want to understand she's probably still feeling the aftermath of the accident, but I doubt that's the reason she's being evasive. She doesn’t seem to like the guys who were in here just now, and she even went as far as saying she can’t wait to go home with me.I huff at the thought of that, the sound leaving my lips laden with the disbelief that inspires in me.That probably put a sour taste on her tongue.Layla will say anything to get what she wants.My eyes roam the bit of skin peeking out the shoulder of her hospital garb and a feeling runs through me, like a deep chord being struck in my heart. She drugged me, and almost killed herself, yet she’s

Ryan’s POV. Layla’s pinching me. I swallow all the spite that brings out in me because this might have been a result of my actions. She wasn’t walking fast enough to the car, and I had a meeting I wanted to catch up with, so I swept her off her feet and put her in my arms, ignoring her yelp and making for the car. Except getting to the car is proving a little bit of a problem. “Stop pinching me.” The words drop from my clenched teeth in a cold frigid manner but if Layla hears that she makes no indication of it. She does respond cheekily, however, “Put me down then.” Layla’s voice is meek and almost silent, and that is all the more reason why I do not put her down. She’s feeling shy. Embarrassed. It occurs to me that she’s probably never had anybody carry her like this. Bridal style. My father would have never, not in a million years. He might have once though, when he was younger, and if Layla had been someone else, someone like my mother. The pictures of his and my mum’s

Ryan’s POV.“NO.”My response rings out strong and terse and I can hear the reaction that elicits from the brothers though we’re only over the phone.The buffer one, Damien, chortles like an asshole, and the other one sighs, like he’s tired of putting up with my shit and they’re both on their last strand of patience.“There’s no “No” about this sadly, Ryan.Layla will continue making these attempts unless we are with her.”The chuckle that slips out my lips is cold, and it lacks mirth.These guys must think I'm some fool if they think I'd believe this.“So what both of you mean to tell me, if I heard well, Mr Damien and Alek, is that Layla is attempting suicide because she feels she doesn’t have a pack anymore?”Their individual grunts make me chuckle one more time and I respond.“I should remind you, that my father never believed in the hierarchy or idea of a pack. I haven’t been in a pack ever since I was given birth to, my parents have lived as lone wolves, and so have I.I have ne

Ryan’s pov.My heart thumped like it’d collapsed in on itself when I saw the quirk that manifests itself at the side of Layla’s cheek.I’m all the happier because that quirk on her face might have been because of my smile. I saw the smile on her face when she saw mine.She didn’t let it out, but I saw it.Doubt casts a heavy cloak on me as I make my way back downstairs. There’s a shroud of melancholy sadness over me because I can tell she has no idea they are around yet.She can’t feel their presence, and I don't know what she’d have done if she could. There’s a part of their mate bond I don't understand yet.For the past four days, I've been making findings of my own.I watched Layla sleep and I watched her have nightmares the day I brought her back home. I still don’t know why she’s trying to kill herself, I initially thought it’s maybe she’s regretful of the fact that she was sleeping with some of my father’s friends.But I realized that nah, that couldn’t be it. She’s a young wo