Chapter 35: The Broken Alpha
1081 Words
Ryker’s POV
I stood like a watchdog outside her door for what I could call an eternity. My palms were all messy with sweat. How possible is it that me, Alpha Ryker, of all people is sweating profusely just the way a freaking pup would have done on his first shift.
She came back alive, breathing, glowing beyond recognition, and even powerful.
To worsen it, with all these qualities, she's still not mine.
After standing like someone who came to borrow, I knocked once and tried the second one. That was when the door opened, but in slow motion, slower than my heartbeat.
“Come right in,” that was her voice. She seemed very calm, like she wasn't the one who pulled the stunt outside, but she was still distant and dangerous.
The moment I stepped in and my gaze landed on her, my heart skipped a beat. It wasn't because I was seeing a stranger other than the one I had come to see. No, it was because she was unreachable, looking stronger, fiercer and worst of all, colder.
“You look exactly like hell,” she vomited without considering my emotions.
“I feel worse than that,” I admitted truthfully. I didn't allow my pride to hinder me from saying that.
She didn’t as much as flinch. She just sat there, staring at me like I didn't matter, with those beautiful eyes that once softened greatly under my touch. But right now? They are like blades.
“I had to come around to see you myself,” I said. “I had to confirm you are truly real. After I had sleepless nights, harboring the thoughts that I've lost you forever."
She backed as she faced the direction of the window. “You never lost me, Ryker. You only did what you are best at, happily handed me over to your enemies. But this time, with a pen and a contract.”
“That’s not fair to say,” I said, moving closer to where she stood. “You won't still understand if I explain this to you...”
“Then do the explanation!” she snapped, already whirling around. “Give me the perfect explanation for why you made me sign away my life! Explain why you didn't come clean to me, but chose to lie about everything! From the contract to the inheritance, including having researched and found out who I was all along before I even came to work for you!"
“I wasn't even aware of the full truth until the very minute it was too late,” I confessed. “Yes, I wasn't totally innocent, though I had an idea. Yes, I wanted to use you, but..."
“But what exactly?” she challenged.
“I fell in love with you, even when I didn't want to, dammit!” I yelled angrily.
There was silence everywhere.
My heart pounded to the extent that even my wolf suddenly went quiet.
“I didn’t plan to fall for you,” I said softly now. “It was never in the plan. Lucy, you were supposed to be used as bait to gain more wealth. But you defiled my resolve, and every damn day, all you did was get under my skin. From how you argued with me to how you smiled without knowing it, Eli, on his sick bed, manages to say something funny each time. You laugh like a baby, not minding if it's funny or just anything to make him happy. The way your presence adds a unique scent that makes everything else vanish.
Her eyes shone, but unfortunately, they never softened for me.
“You don’t get to turn around and start loving me now,” she said instead. “Not after breaking me, and ensuring I was buried deep with no remains."
“All my thoughts were that you died, Lucy,” I whispered, my voice still shaking. “I almost lost my mind at that very thought. My wolf could not let me rest, nearly tore me apart. I roamed around like an insane being, searched every riverbank, still, I didn't get any trail that...”
“But when I returned after many days of declared missing, what exactly did you do?" She interrupted me before I could finish. “You tried your best to own me again. Like I was some property.”
I stared at the floor, clearly ashamed of myself. “I panicked, everything ringing that I had lost her forever. I thought if I didn’t do anything to at least lay a claim on you, I might lose you forever."
“You shouldn't bother yourself because you already did,” she said calmly. “You lost me that very moment; instead of standing for the truth, you intentionally allowed power to matter more than people.”
“I don’t even desire the empire again,” I said. “I don’t care what happens to the throne that led me into doing this. All I crave for this moment is just...you. And as for the pups, I would love to build the family, which I have never had the opportunity to be a part of."
Lucy stared weirdly at me, like I had grown horns.
“I need space to process,” she finally said after a long silence.
My throat tightened. I didn't know what to make of the space she was requesting. “Space from me?”
“From everything that has been happening,” she replied. “You just professed love to me, Ryker. You should prove it to me. But first, you would do that by letting me breathe.”
My wolf whimpered at that scent from her mouth.
“Okay, I will do that,” I nodded. “I’ll patiently wait. But all I need to hear from you is the assurance that we can come together again.”
She didn’t answer, not even a blink.
She just turned away from me and went back to her seat.
For the first time, I have fallen in love. The great Alpha Ryker is now held captive by a woman; my happiness now lies in the hands of Lucy. I took the walk of shame, traced my way out of the abode of the woman I loved more than anything, but as I did that, I hoped above everything that she would come back on her own—or call me back herself!
- Writer
