Alpha Ryder's Revenge

Chapter three

Aria took the last spoon of cereal reluctantly to her lips. She looked across the table at her father who seemed quite invested in the food he was savoring. She kept her eyes low, never allowing their eyes to lock. When he had finished the last steak, he smiled tightly and put the napkin on the table. Aria nodded back, knowing that he was heading back to his study. They never had time alone together, did they? She could barely hold a mental picture of his face for very long. She smiled wistfully when she wished her mother had been alive. That's all the more reason she should find and kill the man her father asked her to.

After placing the last dish on the dish rack, she stepped outside into the night. The sky was just the perfect color and the crescent hung there like a jewel. She inhaled deeply as the night air washed over her face, welcoming her into its embrace. She walked down the drive-in and strolled on the street. She had nothing in mind but suddenly, she caught sight of blonde hair. She remembered her encounter earlier today at the library. Her senses heightened and she pursued the figure hotly.

“Hey, wait!"

Ayla-Diana turned round and looked at the wolf coming after her. She smiled and took off, running across the street into a long, dark alley.

Aria chased her quarry hotly. She wanted to speak with this blonde girl but it seemed the girl was good at eluding people. She continued to chase her, making many turns and running into several alleys. After a few more dark passages between buildings, Aria stood in the middle of a street. She walks a few feet further and turns to look back at the alley she just exited. A different kind of fear came over her. Had she gotten lost? She approached the open park and caught sight of the blonde hair again. She huffed and tan into the park.

She looked around and found a male figure sitting on one of the benches. His pose was so still that she thought he was just one of the monuments. Curious to know what he was doing there, and threatened by the possibility of him being a predator, she put her hand lightly on his shoulder. With the speed of lightning, he brushed her hand off and tackled her onto the damp grass.

On seeing the female face, Alpha Ryder restrained himself and helped her up.

“I'm sorry. I thought you were an assailant. Forgive my manners."

Aria looked at him, and his face clicked. This was the owner of the self-defense academy for humans and werewolves. She smiled in her head, knowing that luck was definitely on her side. She brushed invisible grass off her body.

“It's alright. I just wanted to know what somebody was doing out here in the middle of a park at night."

“I should be the one asking that. Why are you out here, as a young lady?"

Aria couldn't tell him that she had been chasing a blonde girl all the way from the street where she lived down to this place. Alpha Ryder couldn't seem to get his eyes off of her.

“I was just taking some fresh air. I felt too full after dinner, so I decided to take a walk."

She wished though. She really hadn't felt full after cereal, and she wasn't taking that walk for fresh air. She had felt detached. Alpha Ryder nodded and led her to the bench.

“Do you live around here?"

Aria already knew what to do. She couldn't afford him tracking her down to her father's house. She really didn't enjoy it when people came to know that her father was the alpha of the Ravenclaw pack. She suddenly seemed all too insignificant.

“Yes. Just around the corner. I'll be heading back home soon." She knew she had to make that statement happen by tomorrow. After all, her father could make it happen. She could live on her own and take care of herself. She had been left to nannies from a tender age. She started seeing her father when she turned eighteen. For five years, she had been his killing machine.

“Alright. Can I see you tomorrow, by this time?" Alpha Ryder requested, beginning to feel strangely drawn to this random, dark-haired wolf. He held her hand.

Aria couldn't give him her word yet. She tilted her head from side to side in contemplation, as if turning over thoughts in her head and weighing them.

“I can't say. I don't come out very often. This night is purely by chance."

He held onto her hand more tentatively, but subconsciously.

“Just give me something I can hold on to."

She smiled.

“You're holding onto my hand.”

Alpha Ryder instantly let go of her hand. Aria took advantage of the opportunity and took off at breakneck speed. She didn't want to fall in love with the man she was meant to kill; a tool to bring her mother back to her. She didn't want to harbor sentiments. Alpha Ryder made to go after her, but he stopped as soon as he had begun.

“Let her go. She'll return to you because she is yours." Ayla-Diana cooed behind him.

Alpha Ryder turns to face her.

“My mate? Why did it take you this long to let me know? I wouldn't have let go of her hand."

“Patience is key, Ryder if you really want to unlock your full potential as Alpha of Ravenclaw."

“Another wolf owns that title. I'd rather be the Alpha of a pack I created."

“Patience still. I led her to you tonight."

“Thank you."

Ayla-Diana disappeared into the shade of the huge oak tree close to the low fence. Alpha Ryder stayed glued to the spot, looking down the street at the alley into which the young lady had disappeared.

He looked with so much longing that he felt his heart palpitate. He hoped she would be willing to come back to him and stay, even after she had known everything about him. He walked back to his mansion, hoping against hope.

From the distance, he could see Caden waiting on the porch for him. He smiled and picked up pace as he made for the front door. They had a lot to talk about.