Four
1085 Words
Chapter Four
Ryder’s POV
I exit the room, leaving Seraphina alone with her question, and make my way to the business room, where I receive my subjects. It’s almost difficult to push thoughts of her out of my mind, especially after the kiss we just shared, but I try.
This is business, whoever it is, and the last thing I need now is a distraction, even though it’s in form of a beautiful blue-eyed sexy blonde with tanned skin that makes me think of having her up against the wall and doing nasty things to her.
I find Blake already seated, waiting for me, and I take the executive chair, sitting across from him.
His face is lined with creases from the weight of age and responsibility but there is something else. Worry?
His sharp eyes settle on me as I relax in my seat before flicking towards the door as if expecting someone else to show up.
“This is rather impromptu. What is this about?” I ask, rocking my executive chair.
“I heard about the recent development in the pack,” Blake, the eldest pack member states, after clearing his throat, his voice gruff but controlled.
I raise a brow.
“You took in a stranger,” he finally says plainly.
I fiddle with a pen on my mahogany desk. “This news did travel faster than I expected.” Then, I say with a shrug, “I found her on our land, nearly torn apart by panther shifters. She was deeply injured.”
Blake exhales. “And?” He asks, keeping his tone controlled.
“She stays until she heals,” I say, my voice firm. “She’s in no condition to leave.”
His expression darkens, but his voice remains calm. “You know how this looks, Alpha. Taking in an outsider, a woman we know nothing about. She could be a thief, a spy or worse still, she could have enemies that might bring trouble to our pack. I don’t want her to be the reason why you’ll be at the risk of an unnecessary conflict with another pack.”
My jaw tightens. “If we turn away a wounded stranger, what does that say about us? About our pack?”
Blake shakes his head, lips pressed into a thin line. He doesn’t care about that. Not really. His concerns are deeper, more personal.
“I think you should have put her in the guest house,” he says after a moment. “Keeping her here—” His eyes narrow slightly. “I don’t think that looks good.”
I hold his gaze. “She stays where I can keep an eye on her.”
A flicker of irritation crosses his face, but he schools his features quickly. Then, with a forced casualness, he asks, “What about Kiera? I don’t think it will look good if she sees her in your house. Not only Kiera now, even other pack members.”
My stomach knots. There it is. The real reason he’s here. Blake, my uncle has been trying to hook me up with Kiera Donovan, his daughter. The pack elders have been talking me into finding a mate, and Blake thinks my cousin, Keira is the best option.
I let out a humorless laugh. “So that’s what this is about.”
Blake chuckles, the sound low and knowing. “Of course not,” he says smoothly. “But while we’re on the subject…Have you given it any more thought?"
He’s been pushing this for months now.
I exhale, forcing patience into my tone. “Kiera is like a sister to me, Blake. You know that.”
“You think of her as a sister,” he corrects. “But you’re not actually related. Cousins can—”
“It’s not happening,” I cut him off, my voice firm.
His jaw ticks. “She’s the only woman worthy of being your mate,” he presses still.
“I’ll be the one to decide who’s worthy,” I say sharply, rising from my chair. “And it won’t be Kiera. If you have another candidate, feel free to bring her forward. Otherwise, this conversation is over.”
Blake’s face tightens, but he nods stiffly. "As you wish."
I don’t wait for him to say more. I exit the business room, and head back to my room, where Seraphina is.
I push off thoughts of my conversation with Blake from my mind, hoping my nerves will be calm once I enter my room, and thoughts of the moment we shared before we were interrupted resurfaces.
It’s crazy that this woman is having so much effect on me. I didn’t even intend to kiss her the other time. I only wanted to offer he come kind of comfort, but I couldn’t stop myself when her scent enveloped me. It’s almost like there is a magnet pulling me towards her. It’s hard to resist the temptation to touch her.
It took every modicum of self-control in me to dress her—beginning from her panties—after she passed out again on the rock last night.
As I reach for the handle of my bedroom door, a voice stops me.
Not Seraphina’s.
She’s on the phone.
I freeze, my ears sharpening instinctively. Her voice is quiet, but there’s an unmistakable tremor in it. I don’t mean to eavesdrop, but something in her tone holds me there, my grip tightening on the doorknob.
“I don’t have that kind of money,” she says, her voice barely above a whisper. “Please… I just need more time.”
My stomach clenches.
The voice on the other end is muffled, but I can make out the harshness in the words. Whoever they are, they’re not negotiating.
Seraphina makes a strangled sound. “How do you even know about that?”
Silence.
Then, her voice drops lower, almost broken. “No. No, you can’t do that. You can’t use my father’s name to ruin me—”
My chest tightens.
The bastards are blackmailing her.
I hear her breathing turn ragged, her quiet sniffles filling the room. She’s crying.
My fingers curl into a fist, my nails digging into my palm.
I have no idea why I care this much.
She’s a stranger. She shouldn’t matter.
And yet, as I stand there, listening to the raw emotion in her voice, something inside me shifts.
I want to help her.
And I will.
- Writer
