Chapter 11
1495 Words
RIDER POV
I’ve never been the jealous type.
I don’t compete with guys,I don’t watch other men and wonder what they have that I don’t.
So I don’t understand why I keep noticing Taylor. He’s like a brother to me yet I’m still jealous about his relationship with Daniella.
It starts with her laughter. It drifts down the hallway and slips under my office door like it belongs there. Soft, unrestrained and real.
She doesn’t laugh like that with me.
With me, she’s careful, and always has her guard up.
But with Taylor? She sounds free.
I tell myself it doesn’t matter. Taylor is loyal. If there’s one man in this building I trust around her, it’s him.
That should be enough, but it wasn’t.
I step out of my office and there they are again. Taylor leaning against her desk like he owns the space and Daniella looking up at him with that light in her eyes.
She nudges his arm, and he laughs.
My jaw tightens before I can stop it.
They’re standing too close, not inappropriately and also not obvious. But just close enough that I notice. And I hated that I noticed.
I created this distance. After our last argument, I told myself stepping back was necessary. If I kept her at arm’s length, I wouldn’t have to deal with the mating bond inside my chest.
But every day that I stay silent, she drifts away from me and toward him. And I feel it like something slipping through my fingers.
Yesterday, I walked past the conference room and saw them sitting side by side on the couch. Shoulders brushing as they looked at something on his phone. She leaned in to see better and she smiled. It wasn’t the polite smile she gives clients and neither was it the careful expression she wears around me.It was warm and extremely real. .
Something dark and irrational coiled inside my chest.
That’s when I called Taylor into my office.
He walks in relaxed, shutting the door behind him.
“You look like someone stole your heart,” he says.
I don’t smile. His expression shifts immediately.
“I don’t like how close you and Daniella have become.”
The words come out controlled.
They don’t sound like the storm inside me.
He blinks. “You dragged me in here for that?”
“This isn’t a joke.”
Silence fills the room.
“You don’t trust me?” he asks.
“That’s not it.”
I trust him, but something in me doesn’t like the closeness between both of them.
“I don’t like it,” I repeat.
“You know I wouldn’t cross that line.”
“I know.”
“Then what is this?”
I exhale slowly.
“I don’t like anyone near her, she’s mine.”
“She trusts you,” I continue. “She lets her guard down around you.”
“And?”
“And if anything ever happens, she’ll run to you first.”
The thought burns.
Taylor studies me carefully. “You’re jealous.”
I don’t deny it.
But it’s more than jealousy.
It feels instinctive and territorial, like something in me reacts before logic can intervene.
“I don’t know how long I can fight the mate bond,” I admit.
“You don’t need to fight it Rider, just accept it and see how things go.”
I don’t answer. Something in me loses control whenever I see her with someone else. And I don’t lose control. I can’t put the pack at risk by having her beside me. For the sake of her and my pack, I’ll have to stay away but for how long?.
DANIELLA POV
I’m tired of the silence, tired of pretending like everything is okay. I’m okay with Rider helping me get back to my happy self , but I don’t like the fact that he keeps trying to fix things between me and Rider.
He “accidentally” schedules lunch at the same time Rider steps out. He brings Rider up in conversation like he’s planting seeds. He once left me alone in Rider’s office under the excuse of forgetting his tablet.
It backfires every single time.
The more he tries, the colder Rider becomes.
“Stop,” I finally snapped one afternoon.
We’re in the break room. Taylor’s eating chips like the world isn’t emotionally collapsing around me.
“Stop what?”
“Stop trying to fix something he clearly doesn’t want fixed.”
He studies me.
“You don’t believe that.”
“He hasn’t spoken to me properly in days.”
“He speaks.”
“He gives instructions.”
“He’s not used to letting people close,” Taylor says quietly.
“That’s not my responsibility.”
“I know. But it explains a lot.”
I fold my arms. “Explain.”
“He keeps everyone at a distance. That’s why his secretaries never last longer than two weeks.”
I blink. “What?”
“They don’t leave because they’re bad at their jobs. They leave because he makes it impossible to stay.”
Something inside me tightens.
“He pushes people away before they get the chance to matter,” Taylor adds.
I swallow.
“He didn’t push me away at first,” I whisper.
Taylor’s gaze softens.
“Exactly.”
That night, I left late.
The office is nearly empty, lights dimmed, hallways quiet.
I press the elevator button and stare at my reflection in the mirrored doors.
You’re done chasing him. I said to myself.
The doors slide open and I step inside.
A hand stops them from closing, and Rider walks in.
The space shrinks instantly. Everything I told myself left my head as I stared at him.
He presses the lobby button without looking at me. And I felt that pain in my heart, but I didn’t bother to do anything.
The elevator descends.
Halfway down, it jerks violently. The lights flicker and then stop working and we’re met with darkness.
The emergency light kicks in, casting everything in a dim red glow.
“It’ll restart the elevator.” he says calmly, pressing the emergency button.
“You’ve been avoiding me,” I say before I can stop myself.
“I’ve been busy.”
I almost laughed.
“I don’t like him near you,” he says suddenly.
My heart stumbles. “Taylor?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
His eyes meet mine.
“Because I don’t like people around what’s mine. .”
My breath catches.
“What does that mean?. You keep saying in yours and yet you act like you don’t even know if I exist. What’s your problem Rider?”
He steps closer to me, and my breath hitches.
He didn’t touch me, he just got close enough that the air felt thinner.
“It means every time I see you with him, I feel something I don’t like.”
“So you’re jealous?”
“Yes.”
The honesty shakes me.
“Then why push me away,” I whisper.
His hand braces against the wall beside my head.
“You won’t understand,” he says.
“And I don't want to lose control. You don’t know what you do to me Daniella.”
His voice drops.
His hand lifts slowly toward my face, His fingers hover near my cheek. His eyes drop to my lips, and I can feel my pulse is deafening.
“Just standing beside you alone makes me go crazy. I’m trying to resist, but you’re not making it easy for me.”
“Then don’t fight it. I want you Rider”
I felt him hesitate
“You don’t know what you’re getting into.”
“Rider…” I whisper.
He leans in and kisses me, cutting me off. Our lips met instantly, and my inside folded. f**k he was a good kisser. We started fighting for dominance, and he bit my bottom lip. I gasped, He uses it to deepen the kiss, claiming control fully. My body reacts instantly. My knees weaken and I grip his shirt to steady myself.
“f**k Daniella.” His voice was already breaking, and I could see how badly he wanted to control himself but he couldn’t.
“Mhmm Rider.”
My sound caught him off guard, and he pushed me against the elevator wall, his body pressing into mine.
“You’re mine and I don’t share what is mine.” He growled inhumanly, but I was a mess to think much about it.
But nature was against this sexy moment.
The elevator jerked violently and he finally came back to his senses.
“I’m so sorry Daniella.” He backed away from me and straightened his suit.
And I don’t know if I’m more shaken by the sudden drop
Or by the fact that he pulled back.
All I know is my feelings had gotten worse.
- Writer
