The Syndicate’s Bride

22

Ryan

I noticed him the second I drove out of the manor.

He was discreet, I’ll give him that, and if not for my werewolf ability, I probably wouldn’t have noticed him when I did. But unfortunately for him, I wasn’t just any werewolf,

I was an Alpha.

“You can come out now, Owen, before I actually kill you this time.”

I heard his sharp intake of breath before he slowly emerged from behind the tree and stepped forward, his previous state of shock now replaced with irritation.

“You know what I find more annoying than you?” He asked, stopping a few steps away from me.

I corked a brow at him in response.

“That werewolf ability of yours,” he said. “I didn’t think your people actually existed until I saw them, and you, that night.”

I pushed the door open before dryly replying. “Well, you do strike me as the ignorant type.” Entering the cabin, I added over my shoulders, “Shut the door behind you.”

A few seconds later, The door closed shut with a force that told me his irritation was only growing by the second. I welcomed it.

I couldn’t care less.

Walking to the kitchen, I pulled open a drawer, took out a glass, and then went to the fridge for a bottle of juice. I had no reason to welcome him into my home, but he was like a brother to Vanessa, so the least I could do was accord him some level of tolerance.

The click of a gun echoed a few feet behind me, and I couldn’t resist a chuckle. Taking my time, I poured the juice into the glass before turning and placing it on the counter with a sigh.

“Juice?”

Still aiming the gun at me, he scowled. “Not that I’ll accept anything from you, but it’s not my preference.”

“Ah...” I trailed off. “That’s too bad.” I threw the liquid content down my throat in a loud gulp, enjoying the coolness and taste of strawberries on my tongue. It reminded me of Vanessa’s lips.

“I didn’t come here to drink f*****g juice with you, Winchester–”

“Please, call me Ryan,” I said dryly, lowering the cup on the counter. “Winchester is my father’s–”

“I don’t give a s**t what your name is,” he growled, making my eyes narrow at his tone. “I won’t hesitate to kill you on the spot if you f*****g piss me off even more.”

This time, a roar of laughter escaped me, taking the guard by surprise.

“You? Kill me?” I chuckled. “I thought you were smarter than that, Owen.” I rounded the counter, leaning against it with my arms folded.

“Look outside the window for a second,” and he did, his eyes widening a fraction at the patrolling wolves pacing outside the cabin. “let’s say you did kill me, even though you can’t, do you think you’ll leave my territory alive?”

He smirked. “Don’t underestimate me, wolf, I’ve had more intense training than you can ever know. They don’t call me the best of the best for nothing.”

“And I’m a tKavand soldier with wolf abilities,” I said as a matter of fact. “I think we both know how this will end so for Vanessa’s sake, I suggest you put that gun down and let’s talk.”

Knowing I was right, his jaw twitched for a second as he lowered his gun and returned it to its sheath.

He went straight to the point after that. “What’s your business with Vanessa?”

I scowled. “What’s your business with my business with my fiancée?”

His jaw ticked at the word. “Nominal fiancée.”

“Yet I have a more romantic relationship than you’ll ever have with her.”

His jaw and fists clenched in anger at my sentence and I raised a suspicious brow. Interesting, the guard is in love with his charge. My jaw ticked at that.

I really didn’t f*****g like him.

“You’re only going to put her in harm’s way,” his voice rose an octave. “I’m the only one who can protect her.”

I tsked. He was beginning to spout nonsense.

Leaning away from the counter, I walked to him, stopping a few inches from his face to avoid detaching his head from his body.

“Let me see, Vanessa’s able protector, were you there when a mechanical arm almost smashed her to death? or when some bastard pushed her over the terrace, causing her to almost fall to her death?”

His eyes widened. I guess Vanessa hadn’t filled him in on those incidents yet.

“I’ll go as far as protecting her from my father, her father and even you if need be,” I seethed, “so don’t you dare come in here and tell me you’re the only one who can protect her. Maybe there was a time you were the only one in her life to offer her protection, but as long as she has me now, I’ll burn the world for her if I had to.”

The truth of my words shook even me as I took a step back, trying to contain my wolf who was beginning to stir awake. I wasn’t really sure when I began to feel these heightened emotions for Vanessa but the moment I let out those words, it felt like I had liked her for so long and was only coming to terms with it now.

“I’ve been with Vanessa my whole life so I know more about protecting her than you ever will,” he snapped. “and I know I’m the best at the job, Winchester, so don’t f*****g kid yourself.”

“Her father tried to eliminate her just the other day in the race bets,” he tensed a bit. “Who stopped it? Me, and no one else. You work for the same man, who is to say Vanessa can trust even you?"

“And I bloody know that!” He exploded. “I f*****g know that that’s why I’m so hell-bent on protecting her. f**k!” He began pacing frantically near the exit, his frustration spilling over.

“What are you even talking about?” I asked, confused at his outburst. He ignored me as he frantically moved around, only stopping after a few seconds with a heavy exhale.

“The assassination attempt just the other day, it was planned by Mr. Logan, and I was used to set it into motion.”

My eyes slowly widened as his words dawned on me. An image of the two assassins cornering her in the hallway flashed in my mind , and before I could stop myself, I lunged at him.

“You f*****g bastard,” I glared.

He held his hand up. “Listen, Winchester, there’s more,” he said. I caught myself mid pounce, barely restraining my wolf from pulverising him. If he had more information, it was better to hear him out before rendering him lifeless.

“He did it to frame you,” he explained. “The assassination was meant to be fake but the bastard later told the killers to kill her for real,” he looked away with guilt. “He assured me no harm would come to her when he told me to plan the incident. I was a fool to believe him and I never will again.”

I clenched my fists.

He met my eyes. “Mr. Logan doesn’t give a s**t what happens to any of us,” he continued. “Not me, not Vanessa and definitely not you. Everyone is nothing but a pawn he uses at his freewill. That black-on-black incident was a clear example. If he succeeded in killing Vanessa and framing it on you–”

“He’d be killing two birds with one stone.”

He nodded. “Exactly. He’s moving faster than ever. We don’t have time. That’s why I’m striving so hard to protect her. My first step is to gradually pull out of Mr. Logan’s rule, that way, I’ll be able to protect her without her father’s interference. But it’s going to take time and at this point, it’s hard to admit but I can’t protect her on my own any more.”

His shoulders slumped in defeat. I examined him for any glimpse of dishonesty but I found none. All this while, I thought Vanessa was a princess protected jealously by her father but it seemed I was very far off with that conclusion. Clearly, there was more that met the eyes when it came to Vanessa’s relationship with her father, and although I didn’t know much about it, I now knew for sure that he couldn’t be trusted and she had to stay as far as possible away from him. But to defeat him, I needed someone he trusted.

Someone like Owen.

“I’ll keep her safe from her father,” I finally said after a few seconds of silence. “but you have to work with me.”

That caught his attention and he snapped his head to me. “You know him and all his dirty dealings more than I ever will. For Vanessa’s sake, you must be willing to betray the man you’ve spent years dedicated to as his soldier.” I narrowed my eyes. “Can you do it?”

“That’s all I’ve been meaning to do,” he said immediately, stepping forward and extending his hand, a sign of loyalty to his next words. “You’re not the only one willing to burn the world down for Vanessa.”

I hummed, displeased at the personal undertone in his words, but ignored it. There were bigger matters than my jealousy at the moment.

Clasping his outstretched hand I said, “Then we protect her together. We are aligned in private but enemies in public.”

“That way, no one will suspect our goal.”

“Not even Vanessa.” She couldn’t know. The less she knew about certain things, the safer she was. I could tell this secrecy was a recipe for disaster but I’d rather deal with it after she found out. Hopefully, she never will.

He nodded. “Not even Vanessa, for the right reasons.”

I hummed, letting go of his hand. “We need to make sure we are never mistaken as acquaintances. How do we do that?”

“The Rossis aren’t the only ones spying on you and Vanessa anymore,” he said. “Mr. Logan is now a party to that circus. All we need to do is give him something his spies will be more than happy to report back to him.”

“A staged fight,” I said, confirming his words.

Hi nodded. “To him, I’m the one who planned the assassination on Vanessa and you’re bound to find me out. That breeds its own hostility. We need to feed him with that.”

“Where and when?”

He smirked mischievously. “At the Logan estate. There’s an annual banquet being held tomorrow night, an event Mr. Logan is always absent from even though he’s the host. He usually leaves it to Vanessa as the heiress.”

“Vanessa hadn’t mentioned anything about a banquet.” I frowned.

“She probably doesn’t remember since she doesn’t care for it, but she’d have no choice but to go as it’s an event that cannot be cancelled without prior notice. His spies will definitely be there. Let’s give them something worth talking about.”

I nodded.

“I’m trusting you for this one thing and this one thing alone. When Vanessa isn’t involved, we are nothing more than two people tolerating each other because of our mutual connection.”

“You took the words right out of my mouth, Winchester.”

“Tomorrow night it is then.”

“Is there anything we should or shouldn’t do during the fight?” He asked.

I shrugged. “Everything is fine with me.”

“Great,” he said with a sly smile. “It’s a date.”